Tragically, as many as 9625 out of every 10,000 individuals may be neurotypical.

September 13, 2004 10:01 PM

neurodiversity
An amazingly wide and varied site which began as a collection of articles about Autism but which has expanded to survey such varied topics as left-handedness, gender and sexual orientation, hysteria, and a fascinating collection of articles on "Neurotypical Issues." Hours and hours of material from a wide variety of viewpoints.
posted by anastasiav (12 comments total)

Not to be a spoilsport or anything, but when a site frontpage announces that it is 'honoring the variety of human wiring', it might be nice if they illustrated this variety with pictures of human beings other than a bunch of white guys. I'm just sayin'.

I will now go and look at the site itself, which I'm sure is fascinating. Thanks, anastasiav.
posted by jokeefe at 10:56 PM on September 13, 2004

everyone's gone wireless but us caucasians.
posted by quonsar at 11:01 PM on September 13, 2004

Whoah, the links on this page are just.... Autism is the result of non-verbal receptors of the dolphin-whale kingdoms in the brain of a human. Such a mixture is the result of the creation of the 'mermaid' species by the Anu scientists. From Indigo Children, Autism, ADD and Ascencion. I had no idea that there was a whole segment of new-age belief linking autism to the 'next phase of human evolution.' (Note: these quotes are from sites linked to the Neurodiversity site, not the site itself, and there is a disclaimer at the bottom of the page.)
posted by jokeefe at 12:09 AM on September 14, 2004

(Note the header - See also: Wacko Theories - of that page.)

Anyway, I have to admit I've developed quite an interest in Asperger's as, not being a Munchausen/hypochondriac type, I suspect I may be a sufferer.

Or, OTOH, it could be one of those inappropriate interests...
posted by Samizdata at 12:24 AM on September 14, 2004

anastasiav, that is a fantastic, beautifully designed site -- one of the most valuable online resources I've seen in years. Thank you.
posted by digaman at 5:11 AM on September 14, 2004

I received the following email this morning from Kathleen Seidel, who runs the neurodiversity site:

Jokeefe and quonsar have a point there -- though perhaps you can pass on to them the message that "they" is in fact "me." Neurodiversity.com is a one-woman operation, not a corporation; I'm constantly adding to the site, and I'm always happy to hear suggestions. Their lack-of-racial-diversity comments inspire me to try to collect a few more links about Blind Tom Wiggins, so that I can make a separate bio page for him, and feature his image on the splash page. Give me a few days and you'll see some additions and changes. I'm not sure what else I can do to redress the ethnic imbalance. I'm not familiar enough with African, Asian or Middle Eastern history to be able to come up with examples of prominent possibly-autistics off the top of my head. If anyone wants to pass on to me the names of any other neurodivergent non-caucasians about whom I might be able to find enough information to warrant making a separate bio page, I'd love it. (I'm only featuring historical figures on the splash page.)

Unfortunately, the most well-known non-caucasian ND in the news these days is Darius McCollum, the train-lover from Queens, now residing at Rikers. I have a separate page about his case, listed under "Law Enforcement". Isn't it typical that the most well-known black Aspie these days is one who's in trouble with the law -- you could call it an unsual case of DWB, perhaps? (Not that he isn't competent to drive a train; he was taught how by MTA employees, who let him drive during their shifts, while they put their feet up and continued to get paid. How do you like friends like that, taking advantage of your naivete and enthusiasm, then dumping you like a hot potato when the boss starts sniffing around? What jerks! Darius wouldn't be in the spot he's in right now if it weren't for them.)

I'm planning on also putting together a page with material on both racial profiling and the new field of "neurological profiling" emerging from the writings of a small group of lawyers, psychiatrists and criminal justice types. Just last night I was involved in a discussion about the outrageousness of some the generalizations these folks are making -- the same old stereotypes linking "mental illness" with "criminality", now trotted out to defame the greater autistic population.

BTW, I added my "sublime or ridiculous?" disclaimer the day one of my daughters asked me, with respect to the Indigo Children page, "my God, Mom, do you really believe that s**t?"

Best regards,

Kathleen Seidel

posted by anastasiav at 7:21 AM on September 14, 2004

She's done an incredible job.
posted by digaman at 7:42 AM on September 14, 2004

What about the woman Oliver Sacks wrote about, and who has also herself written a great deal about being autistic? Damn, her name escapes me right now, but she became famous for designing techniques for handling animals.... hang on, I'll hit google, brb.
posted by jokeefe at 8:56 AM on September 14, 2004

Bing! Temple Grandin.
posted by jokeefe at 8:58 AM on September 14, 2004

Oh, and I'm deeply impressed that this is a single person effort-- it's an excellent and very useful site.
posted by jokeefe at 9:00 AM on September 14, 2004

I had not read about Darius McCollum before. Fascinating story.
posted by tdismukes at 9:29 AM on September 14, 2004

What do you say about this (from the neurodiversity site)? Allism – sort of like the opposite of autism – a huge, unknown mental illness, unknown because its bearers look deceptivly normal. "The effects are lifelong, and there is no cure." The beginning of it reads like satire to me.
posted by Termite at 12:22 PM on September 14, 2004