Deviance

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It occured to me that online we discuss what 'people' do. These =
people, it seems to me are taken to be 'typical' people. E.g. in our =
discussions of signs/symbols or the survival of settings it seems to =
me that we assume the relationship of these 'typical' people to settings =
etc. Discussions about the use of the internet and identity, again, may =
not have considered how 'non-typical' people relate to this medium of =
communication. I enclose a clipping from another list that I subscribe =
to as a special educator with an interest in the field of autism. =
Hoping this will stimulate a discussion.

Regards,

Kim Cooney
Brisbane
Australia=20

The following article appeared recently in the New York Times, written =
by
Harvey Blume. Martijn Dekker allowed him to be subscribed to some of the
forums on InLv, with the full knowledge of the participants.

> > June 30, 1997
> >
> > CONNECTIONS / By HARVEY BLUME
> >
> > Autistics Are Communicating in Cyberspace
> >
> > [D] espite the diverse accounts of autism in books like
> > Oliver Sacks' "An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven
> > Paradoxical Tales" (Knopf), the prevailing image of the
> > autistic today is probably still that of the rocking
> > child, prone to tantrums and averse to touch, or of an
> > adult like the character Dustin Hoffman played in the
> > movie "Rain Man," who can instantaneously multiply large
> > numbers in his head, but cannot connect with other
> > people or take care of himself.
> >
> > Yet anyone who explores the subject on the Internet
> > quickly discovers an altogether different side of
> > autism. In cyberspace, many of the United States'
> > autistics are doing the very thing the syndrome
> > supposedly deters them from doing -- communicating --
> > often in celebration of the medium that enables them to
> > do so.
> >
> > "Long live the Internet," one autistic recently exulted
> > in an online discussion, where "people can see the real
> > me, not just how I interact superficially with other
> > people."
> >
> > Another explained why she prefers online to face-to-face
> > interaction: "Ordinarily," she wrote to other members of
> > her e-mail forum, "the giving of support involves being
> > with someone, and that's always draining for me. If
> > someone does give me support in person, I will have to
> > spend some time recovering from the experience of
> > receiving that support."
> >
> > Both writers subscribe to Independent Living, a suite of
> > e-mail forums created by and almost exclusively for
> > autistics.
> >
> > Topics addressed by Independent Living include jobs,
> > hobbies, "sexuality and being different," and the
> > recurrent question of how to relate to what the
> > autistics refer to as neurologically typical people --
> > or "NTs" in the community's parlance.
> >
> > In a sense, autistics are constituting themselves as a
> > new immigrant group online, sailing to strange
> > neurological shores on the Internet, and exchanging
> > information about how to behave upon arrival. They want
> > to be able to blend in, to pass, and are intently
> > studying the ways of the natives in order to do so.
> >
> > One recent Independent Living discussion, for example,
> > was devoted to figuring out when NTs look into each
> > other's eyes during conversation. The consensus was the
> > that the usual thing is to make eye contact when
> > beginning speech and when concluding, but that eye
> > contact in between is optional.
> >
> > Yet in trying to come to terms with an NT-dominated
> > world, autistics are neither willing nor able to give up
> > their own customs. Instead, they are proposing a new
> > social compact, one emphasizing neurological pluralism.
> >
> > The consensus emerging from the Internet forums and Web
> > sites where autistics congregate (a good starting point
> > is the On The Same Page site) is that NT is only one of
> > many neurological configurations -- the dominant one
> > certainly, but not necessarily the best.
> >
> > As a rule of thumb, it might be said that what NTs do
> > intuitively, autistics can accomplish only with great
> > effort, if at all -- and vice versa. For example,
> > neurologically typical people assess each other's mental
> > states by noting small changes in voice, eyes and facial
> > expressions. Yet this is as nonintuitive an activity for
> > most autistics as, say, long multiplication is for most
> > NTs.

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 It occured to me that online we discuss what 'people' = do.  =20 These people, it seems to me are taken to be 'typical' people.  = E.g. =20 in our discussions of  signs/symbols  or the survival of = settings it=20 seems to me that we assume the relationship of these 'typical' people to = settings etc.  Discussions about the use of the internet and = identity,=20 again, may not have considered how 'non-typical' people relate to this = medium of=20 communication.  I enclose a clipping from another list that I = subscribe to=20 as a special educator with an interest in the field of autism.  = Hoping this=20 will stimulate a discussion.

Regards,

Kim Cooney
Brisbane
Australia