I Speak of Dreams

Huzzah! Square8 Has Returned to Blogging

One of my all-time favorite bloggers is and was Bev at Square8*.  Bev took a hiatus from blogging for a career-change, but she's back!

If you have a new autism diagnosis, or have a child newly diagnosed, reading through her archive might be really useful.  Some of the posts that have really advanced my understanding are:

• For Parents It's an introduction to neurodiversity and an introduction to why "cure" talk is so painful to autistics
• I Am Joe's Functioning Label High Functioning Autism (HFA)? Low Functioning Autism (LFA)? "I serve many purposes for people who like to discuss Joe. What I do for Joe himself is less clear, depending often on Joe’s Point of View."
• Scripted Language and Authenticity This essay touches on how a person's ability to use expressive language can vary, day by day, and some of the  functions scripted language can fulvill.

I had better stop, or I will end up indexing the whole of Square8.  But I find the categories Humor and Square Talk. 

Bev has four new posts up:

• Puzzling Excuse Number 128: It Doesn't Represent Autistic People, which is crossposted to the group blog (and project) unpuzzled.net, whose purpose is to collect work by autistic people and allies who oppose the use of the puzzle piece as a symbol for autism.
• Cripples, Idiots, Lepers and Freaks, the first part of Bev's distance participation in the 2012 CUNY Graduate Center English Student Association Conference, “Cripples, Idiots, Lepers, and Freaks: Extraordinary Bodies / Extraordinary Minds.” Bev promises more later.
• Attention a meditation on the month of April, and what needs to be done
• BADD: Connecting the Dots  BADD is the acronym for "Blogging Against Disablism Day" -- May 1st --and is in honor of Katie McCarron (2002-2006)

 

Go and read and laugh and be challenged and learn.

---

*formerly AspergersSquare8--she dropped the Aspergers when the news about the DSM5 dropping Asperger's as a diagnostic category came out.

A Confused Young Reporter Needs to Get Up to Speed on Social Media

(click to embiggen all images)

 Late Friday night (June 17, 2011) a young reporter for the Desert Times tried to make a to-do out of nothing, posting a story entitled Something odd afoot on @CalFireNews Twitter account, which began:

We were surprised to get an odd string of messages from Cal Fire last week — including one about cracking open a beer and another chatting about Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.

Oh dear, the young reporter failed to investigate.  If she had (say by clicking on the link at the  @CalFireNews twitter homepage), illustrated to the left, she would have found that @CalFireNews also has a website, and that website prominently displays the message:

CAL FIRE NEWS IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH CAL FIRE AND CONTAINS UNOFFICIAL FIRE AND DISASTER INFORMATION, NEWS, AND EDITORIAL OPINION
*INFORMATION PROVIDED RAW MAY NOT BE TIMELY OR UPDATED REGULARLY*

 

 

 

The young reporter could have used another tool, http://howlongontwitter.com/, and discovered (as I did, it only took a few seconds) that @CalFireNews has been on twitter since October 24, 2007; that @Cal_Fire and @CalFire_PIO (the official California Department of  Forestry twitter accounts) had been on twitter since February 18, 2009; and neither of the official counts are very active.

But she didn't. Instead she went on to write

@CalFireNews has posted nearly a whopping 50,000 tweets on Twitter so far.

Not so fast, says the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

“That twitter acct is not run by us,” @CALFIRE_PIO, a spokesman for the fire department, told us via Twitter.

The Twitter profile offers no hint to @CalFireNews' real identity.

We're still waiting to see if the state will do anything to reclaim the Twitter name to protect its reputation — and the thousands of followers duped into reading its posts.

The only person duped is the naive (and, as least as far as investigative reporting goes, not very adept) young reporter.  She also needs to learn the difference between anonymity and pseudonymity.

Full story:

update: that "whopping" 50,000 tweets works out to about 38 tweets a day.  I know @CalFireNews has exceeded that daily average in an hour when there is important breaking news...like earthquakes or major fires.

When you introduce friends...

I got to have lunch today with three people I like and admire a lot: Sullivan, who blogs at LeftBrain/RightBrain, mostly on autism research, who I have known in real life for at least four years; Shannon des Roches Rosa (Squidalicious), and Jennifer Byde Myers (Into the Woods), who I have also known in real life for at least four years. (Shan, Jen & I are co-founders and editors of The Thinking Person's Guide to Autism.)

Here's the deal: Sullivan had never met Shannon & Jennifer  in real life before.  It was kind of like a group blind date.  It was great.

We met at Mudai, an outstanding Ethiopian restaurant in Silicon Valley.  It helped that the food was really, really good and we were sharing dishes.

And oh did we talk.  Things about autism in childhood.  Things food-related.  We shared photos of our children (well, grandchildren in my case). Things about the broader autism community.

It also helped that the four of us share a lot of values.

So the moral(s) of this little post is: if you get a chance, meet your blog-friends and online acquaintances in real life.  At a good restaurant.  For lunch.  You won't regret it.

Why I Won't Be Shutting Down on November 1

I have two lists going in this post: "Autistics Speaking Day" -- posts written by people with autism; and "Autism Shout Out" -- posts written by people who do not have autism but love and/or support people with autism.  If I've missed a link or otherwise erred: (best)-- leave a comment; email  lizditz@gmail.com, or tweet me --@lizditz.

If you don't know about the communication shut-down issue, scroll down to the bottom of the post and start reading there.

Today is November 1, 2010, Autistics Speaking Day: Posts by People With Autism

1.  Corina Becker: Communication Shutdown for Autism Awareness? No Thanks! 25 Things I Know as an Autistic Person, a guest post chez Steve Silberman
2. Autistic Speaking Out Loud by Corina Becker
3. Communication Shutdown? No by Kevin Healey
4. A Message to Buzz Aldrin by Paula C. Durban-Healy
5. Reflections on Autistics Speaking Day by Ari Ne'eman
6. Autistics Speaking Day Is Today by Katy at Katy Doesn't Live in Smithton
7. Autistics Speaking Day: Autism, Communication and the Internet by Dannilion
8. Autistics Speaking Day Post by Amanda Forest Vivian
9. Supporting Autistics Speaking Day  by AS Support Group Online
10. Squawk? by Bev at  Square 8
11. Autistics Speaking Day Post by Corabelle
12. Autistic Poetry by Darcy Clarisse Reed
13. Thom Part 2 by Heather Sedlock
14. Facebook Post by John Elder Robinson
15. Autistics Speaking Day: The Path to Understanding by Matt at Dude I'm An Aspie
16. WWP Poem #26: Back Door Blues by Nicole Nicholson at Raven's Wing Poetry
17. Autistics speaking day/ jour de parole pour les autistes by Ole Ferme l'Oeil at le pays des humains volants
18. Speaking My Mind and Heart by Rachel Cohen Rottenberg at Journeys with Autism
19. Celebrating Autism by Shanti at Platform 25
20. Autistics Spoke and You Listened by Julian Frost at AutismJungle
21. Open Letter to Buzz Aldrin by Alexander Cheezem at A View from the Boundaries
22. But You Look Normal by 3laine at ONE Autistic in Ireland
23. Reflections on fund-raising for autism & Ari Ne'man's message, by Clay at Comet's Corner
24. Autistics Speaking: It's All About Tolerance by blackbird3398 at A Bird in the Hand
25. Voices for Autistics Speaking Day: Alex Olinkiewicz at ThAutCast
26. Reclaiming Love by the Untoward Lady at Vibrating Square
27. Press Pound for More Options by Sandy at AspieTeacher
28. Autistic People Won't Participate in Shutdown Day by Zach at AspieWeb
29. We Need to Talk by Julia at Flashback Dream Sequence
30. Autistics Speaking Day by AS and Their Partners
31. Speaking Up For, and Busting Myths About, Autism by Codeman38 at Normal Is Overrated
32. Using Silence by Puddleglum at Puddleglum's Marsh

Today is November 1, 2010, Autism Shout Out: Posts by People Who Support People With Autism

1. Adventures in Extreme Parenting: Autism Shout Out
2. Autism Unexpected: Does Silence Promote Communication?
3. Spectrummy Mummy Social Networking
4. ASDMommy I Will Not Be Silent
5. Try Defying Gravity Voices Carry
6. Planet Josh  Picking a fight with a social media guru on twitter 
7. AS Parenting ASD: Autistics Speaking Day
8. Jen at The King and I Communication Shut Down Day for Autism-- Not for Me!
9. Gaynell at Wildflowers for Jade Autistics Speaking Day-- Autism Mom Speaking
10. Emily at A Life Less Ordinary? Autism and bullying
11. Kathleen at Autism Herd Autistic People Communicate
12. Sullivan at LeftBrain/RightBrain Catch Me on Facebook Today
13. Sullivan at LeftBrain/RightBrain Autistics Spoke and You Listened
14. Sunday Stillwell at Adventures in Extreme Parenting Autism ShoutOut Loud and Proud
15. Stacey Milbern at Cripchick Autism, Capitalism, and the Establishment
16. Sarah at Kitaiska Sandwich Autistics Speaking Day
17. Shoppin Queen Hell NO! I'm Not  Shut Down
18. Mike Stanton at Action for Autism Today is Autistics Speaking Day
19. Stimey at Stimeyland My Autism Shoutout
20. Hartley at Hartley's Life with Three Boys: Speak Loudly: Introducing My Contributors
21. Caitlin at Welcome to Normal: Advocating 101: How to Write a Letter

 

There's an Australian-based enterprise to "shut down" Twitter, Facebook, and other forms of social media on November 1. You can find the site at https://communicationshutdown.org/?view=home.

It's a global initiative to raise much-needed funds for autism groups in over 40 countries. By shutting down social networks for one day on November 1, we hope to encourage a greater understanding of people with autism who find social communication a challenge.

I think that the organization's intentions are good, but misguided.

I won't be participating.

I think it perpetuates the stereotype that people with autism "don't communicate" or can't speak for themselves.

Others who will be speaking up on November 1.  I encourage you to go visit each of these blogs and study their reasons for speaking up.

Update: for those of you who use twitter, there are two hashtags in play: #AutisticsSpeakingDay (for people with autism participating in social media on November 1) and #AutismShoutOut (for autism allies on the day)

Even if you don't use Twitter, you can see what is going on by going to

• http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23AutisticsSpeakingDay
• http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23ASDay
• Facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/pages/Autistics-Speaking-Day/162932960394619?ref=mf&v=wall

There is an allied twitter hashtag, #AutismShoutOut, which you can track at http://twitter.com/search?q=%23autismshoutout

(I will be silently adding to this list as I find new posts)

1. Corina Becker, a woman with autism, http://nostereotypeshere.blogspot.com/2010/10/real-communication-shutdown.html
2. Corina Becker,  on the design above  http://nostereotypeshere.blogspot.com/2010/10/autistics-speaking-day.html
3. Emily Willingham, parent of children with autism http://daisymayfattypants.blogspot.com/2010/10/no-im-not-going-silent-for-autism.html
4. JHolverstott, autism spectrum specialist,  http://jholverstott.wordpress.com/2010/10/15/forget-the-communication-shutdown-heres-how-to-build-awareness/
5. Rachel B. Cohen-Rottenberg, woman with autism, http://www.journeyswithautism.com/2010/10/22/speak-up-on-november-1st/
6. Woman With Asperger's, http://womanwithaspergers.com/2010/10/20/why-communication-shutdown-day-is-a-bad-idea-and-what-you-can-do-instead/
7. Astrid van Woerkom, woman with autism,  http://astridvanwoerkom.wordpress.com/2010/10/23/speak-up-on-shutdown/
8. Kim Wombles, parent of children with autism, http://kwomblescountering.blogspot.com/2010/10/in-which-i-get-pissed-off-not-shutting.html
9. Autism Blogs Directory http://autismblogsdirectory.blogspot.com/2010/10/not-going-silent-on-november-1.html
10. Stuart Duncan, parent of a child with autism, http://www.stuartduncan.name/autism-awareness-2/communication-shutdown-why-ill-be-online-nov-1st/
11. Jason Ross, man with autism, http://drivemomcrazy.com/2010/communication-shutdown-november-1-is-it-really-necessary/
12. Mike Stanton, parent of a young adult with autism  http://actionforautism.co.uk/2010/10/24/
13. Sunday Stillwell, parent of  children with autism, http://www.extremeparenthood.com/2010/10/autism-shoutout.html
14. Elise, parent of young men with autism, http://asd2mom.blogspot.com/2010/10/october-happiness-project-friends-also.html
15. Ellen, mother of a child with CP and speech/language issues, http://lovethatmax.blogspot.com/
16. Matt Yusuf Smith, http://www.blogistan.co.uk/blog/mt.php/2010/10/19/communication-shutdown-for-autism-a-bad-idea
17. The Coffee Klatch, a special-needs blogging and tweeting collective, will be running a 24-hour "Communicate to Educate" tweet chat http://thecoffeeklatchblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/communicate-to-educate-24-hour-autism.html
18. Tammy at Autism Learning Felt http://www.autismlearningfelt.com/2010/10/all-bloggers-unite-for-autism.html
19. Happy13, mother of a child with autism http://happy13-waitwhat.blogspot.com/
20. K Bjornstat, woman with autism http://autistickat.blogspot.com/2010/10/autistics-speaking-day.html
21. The Autistics Speaking Up Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=140107279369668
22. Corabelle, woman with autism http://aspiegirlworld.blogspot.com/2010/10/speak-up-on-nov-1st.html
23. 3laine, woman with autism, http://one-autistic-in-ireland.blogspot.com/2010/10/silence-speaks-autistics-speak-louder.html
24. karin, woman with autism, http://bewaretheaspie.blogspot.com/2010/10/1-november-autistics-speaking-day.html
25. Ken G., man with autism, http://www.aspiesforfreedom.com/showthread.php?tid=20840
26. Heather Sedlock, parent of children with autism, http://www.examiner.com/special-needs-kids-in-national/autism-conversations
27. Blackbird3398, person with autism, http://blackbird3398.wordpress.com/2010/10/24/speak-up/
28. Mum Accepting Autism, parent of a child with autism, http://bbsmum.blogspot.com/2010/10/shutting-up-not-shutting-down.html

Note:

• Terry Mauro at About.com:Special Needs Children has two blog posts (one, two) covering the issue.  She is not claiming to participate in Communications Shutdown or the alternative #AutisticsSpeakingDay (for people with autism participating in social media on November 1) and #AutismShoutOut (for autism allies on the day)

The Facebook Privacy Problem and What To Do About It

I'm not that active on Facebook, but I've been dimly aware of the evolving privacy problems. I haven't decided whether to delete my FB account.  I am going to follow Bobbi L. Newman's how-to, and possibly more.

How-tos and groups on quitting facebook

• April 20 2010 from Consumerist How To Delete Your Facebook Account
• April 22 2010 from Bobbi L. Newman at Librarian By Day How To Opt Out of Facebook's New Instant Personalization
• May 5 2010 from Jason Perlow: Lockdown or Death for your facebook profile
• May from Steven J. Vaughn-Nichols at PCWorld How to keep your privacy safe(r) on Facebook
• May 10 2010 from Read Write Web How To Delete Your Facebook Account
• Facebook Group: June 15 -- Delete Your Facebook Account Day
• Facebook Group: 1,000,000 to leave Facebook by July 4
  
• Facebook Group 20.10 2010

Sources (in no particular order)

• July 16, 2009: Report on Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) complaint against Facebook
• April 26, 2010 from Dan Yoder at Rocket.ly: Top Ten Reasons You Should Quit Facebook
• May 2 2010 from Adrian Perez at PrimeVector  Why I Cancelled My Facebook Account
• May 3 2010 from ReubenR at Deobfusticate:  Facebook's Anti-privacy monopoly
• May 5 2010 from Dan Yoder at Rocket.ly You Should Still Quit Facebook
• May 6 2010 from Heather Kelly and Nick Mediati at MacWorld Facebook Secretly Adding Apps
• May 7 2010  Goodbye, Facebook
• May 11 2010 Facebook Executive Answers Readers' Questions (NYT)
• May 13 2010 from JR Raphael at PCWorld: Facebook and Privacy: What A Mess
• ACLU's Petition: Facebook Privacy Petition
• Creating a Network Like Facebook, Only Private (NYT):
• Diaspora
• Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Coverage
• • December 9 2009 Facebook's New Privacy Changes: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
  • April 19 2010 Facebook Reduces User Privacy Controls
  • April 28 2010 Facebook's  Eroding Privacy Policy: A Timeline
  • April 29 2010 Facebook's "Evil Interfaces"
  • May 4 2010 Six Things You Need To Know About Facebook Connections
  • May 13 2010 Facebook Should Follow Its Own Principles
• Partial List of Boing Boing Coverage
• • December 6 2008: Facebook and the Social Dynamics of Privacy
  • January 11 2010 Interview with Facebook employee raises further concerns
  • April 20 2010  Facebook further reduces privacy controls for users
  • April 24 2010 Facebook's eroding privacy policies (timeline)
  • April 29 2010 What data  does Facebook publish about you?
  • May 3 2010 Infographic: Facebook's  "anti-privacy monopoly"
  • May 7 2010 Emails Facebook sends leak user IP address
  • May 11 2010 Go Ahead, Quit Facebook, but they'll they'll retain and data mine your info

Detailed, Thorough, Citizen Journalist Coverage of Accused Shooter Amy Bishop's Academic Non-Performance

I wrote about those killed and injured at the University of Alabama Huntsville shooting. The blog Shepherds and Black Sheep have been digging into accused shooter Amy Bishop's academic, well,non-performance.

• February 14, 2010 Student Feedback on Accused Murderer Amy Bishop, PhD
• February 15, 2010 Is Accused Murderer Dr. Amy Bishop An Academic Fraud, Delusional, or Both?
• Februrary 15, 2010 Could Accused Murderer Amy Bishop Have Made a Weapon of Mass Destruction?
• February 20, 2010 UPDATE: Mainstream Media Finally Reporting Evidence Dr. Bishop Tried To Cheat Her Way to Tenure

Whizz! Bang! Science!

I started out at the always-interesting Neurotopia, who directed me to Starts with a Bang  (who has the best personal photo ever).  Ethan is a theoretical astrophysicist who just loves science. 

Two fave posts:

• Putting the Yellow in your Urine  (the astrophysicist became interested in physiology by being asked the question of whether a human has more cells or a galaxy has more stars? )
• Do Tinfoil Hats Work?.

Also see the Revenge of Isis

In An Emergency, Will Twitter (and Other 2.0 Tools) Save Us?

updated with message from Jesse:

For the past few years I have been trying to find ways that technology can be used to "Serve those that Serve Others".

Last week I spoke about some of the lessons learned from my deployment during Operation Hurricane Katrina at a technology conference called the Web2.0 Summit.  Video is now available, and I thought you might be interested in watching it:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qogx6edklng

Please send me your thoughts, feedback, and ideas... and help me spread the word.

Here's Jesse's email: jesse.robbins@openaid.org

Jesse Robbins  refined his web chops at Amazon.com, eventually earning the  title of “Master of Disaster”.  He was responsible for Website Availability for every property bearing the Amazon brand. 

Currently, he's the CEO of a start-up in stealth mode, and is the co-chair of the Velocity Web Performance & Operations Conference and contributes to the O’Reilly Radar.

Robbins is also volunteer Firefighter/EMT and Emergency Manager, and led a task force deployed in Operation Hurricane Katrina. 

In this High Order Bit talk from Web Summit 2.0 2008, Robbins  uses examples from his Katrina experiences and other high-profile events to talk about the different learning curves for emergency services managers and Web 2.0 experts, to address the question: When and where are Web 2.0 useful in disaster response?  What is necessary for disaster services professionals and Web 2.0 professionals to learn from each other?

(I'm not fully confident the embed code will work, so here's the direct link: http://web20summit.blip.tv/file/1446474/)

disclosure: Jesse Robbins is my nephew, and I'm darned proud of him.

Is Officer Nohejl this year's Julie Amaro?

The very shortest version: Officer Nohejl is a school resource officer in Pasco County.  He set up a MySpace account--most of his MS "friends" are students in the Pasco County School District.  One of his 170+ friends had a link to a porn site.

Now Officer Nohejl is now under investigation by the Florida attorney general’s cyber crimes unit and the New Port Richey Police Department.

What?  An individual is responsible for a third-party link?  That's crazy.

Fortunately for Officer Nohejl, Karoli is on the case.  Below the fold -- other bloggers.

Way Down in Mayberry

From a post at Denise's, I became acquainted with Way Down in Mayberry.  She has five quite diverse children and an amusing view of life.  Recommended.