From: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org (alloy-digest) To: alloy-digest@smoe.org Subject: alloy-digest V12 #222 Reply-To: alloy@smoe.org Sender: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk X-To-Unsubscribe: Send mail to "alloy-digest-request@smoe.org" X-To-Unsubscribe: with "unsubscribe" as the body. alloy-digest Saturday, May 24 2008 Volume 12 : Number 222 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Re: Alloy: OT: For Dennis Alexander (jamac) ["J. Kara Laidlaw" ] Re: Alloy: Howard the Duck -- the Musical [John McJunkin Subject: Re: Re: Alloy: OT: For Dennis Alexander (jamac) ============================================================ From: Merujo Date: 2008/05/22 Thu PM 12:09:56 CDT To: alloy@smoe.org Subject: Re: Alloy: OT: For Dennis Alexander (jamac) On Wed, May 21, 2008 at 3:05 PM, J. Kara Laidlaw wrote: > > I hope I remembered your name correctly--I got a little overzealous with > the deleting last week, so I had to rely on my memory. I read your Alloy post > about your suspicion that you might have autism, and yep, it could be, and > you're probably the only person who can figure it out. Diagnosis and/or help > isn't readily available for adults, so many of "us" have self-diagnosed. I > just wanted to pass on a few links. :^) > Since autism has recently touched my family, I find this very interesting. It's been agonizing to read e-mails about niece in Canada, who has been professionally diagnosed and actually has been regressing in development. ````````````````````````````````````````````````` How old is your niece, if I may ask? It's good that she's getting the help that she needs now, instead of having various teachers unhelpfully saying, "There's just something *different* about her," as my teachers used to say to my mother. Did they think my family and I hadn't noticed that?! And, who the heck wants to be labeled as 'different', anyway? I think perhaps that our self-diagnosing is the first step in coming to terms with why we've never quite been able to function. I always knew there was something 'odd' about me, but I tried to act 'normally'. Yet I don't think I ever quite managed to fool anyone. You see, Asperger's syndrome is loosely defined as 'social dysfunction'. If someone like me can't make small talk, we are labeled as 'shy' or perhaps as having 'social phobia'. No, actually, it's not that I'm afraid of being in social situations, it's just that no one at a bridal shower would probably want to talk about, say, the ancient Egyptian mummification process, or string theory, or archaeology. In my experience, they only ever wanted to talk about the happenings on this or that soap opera, none of which I watch. But I do watch "The Big Bang Theory', and I'm tellin' ya, those are my kind of people! :^D But, Melissa, did you grow up feeling as though you weren't necessarily homo sapien but, perhaps a walk-in space alien? With human hardware, but alien software, so to speak? Not really believing that, of course, but having so little in common with so-called 'peers' that you had to logically conclude that you might be a separate species? Well, lots of people with Asperger's grew up feeling that way, and if you want proof, check out the icon for . ;^) ```````````````````````````````````` The scholar who created the autism quotient test (Simon Baron-Cohen - yep, Sasha Baron-Cohen's cousin ````````````````````````````````````` Oooooooooooooo, am I supposed to be awed by the fact that Mr. Baron-Cohen is cousin to a celebrity? ;^) We Aspies [as we call ourselves] are immune to the whole 'celebrity worship' thing. We don't understand it. To me, Sasha Baron-Cohen is just a very smart man, as is his cousin Simon. Actually, I'm more impressed by Simon than Sasha! ;^) ````````````````````````````````````` notes that if you score high on the test and exhibit a high degree of the spectrum disorders - and particularly if it affects your ability to work, interact appropriately/"normally" with others, etc. - taking your score to a specialist as a discussion point is helpful, but it's not a definitive diagnosis. That test was reprinted in Wired as a "Geek Quotient" test, btw. A close friend of mine, Dr. Dougal Hare, is one of the UK's leading expert/researcher on autism, with particular emphasis in Asperger's in adults. You can see Doog on the "squeeze machine" link on this BBC website for the Horizon television show - it's an episode called "The Woman Who Thinks Like a Cow", which is how autistic scholar Dr. Temple Grandin describes herself: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/broadband/tx/temple/ ````````````````````````````````````` I read one of Dr. Grandin's books about 10 years ago, "Thinking in Pictures", which I do, but then I went right back into denial about my 'difference'. ````````````````````````````````````` I've spoken to Doog about autism at length on several occasions. He is increasingly concerned about the growing number of adults who self-diagnose but can't, don't or won't follow up with a professional to verify a diagnosis and find the best pathways and practices for living well. ````````````````````````````````````` Yuh-huh. Get a job in a sheltered workshop. But I guess that's what I'll have to do, once I've pursued a diagnosis, as employers are not yet willing to accomodate the slight differences of people who cannot bear cool fluorescent lighting, for example. One either fits in, or they fire you. There is, usually, only one 'right way' to do things, and if you can't do them that way, they'll hire someone who can. Peace and being a square peg in a round hole, Kara ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 May 2008 12:48:08 -0400 From: Merujo Subject: Re: Re: Alloy: OT: For Dennis Alexander (jamac) On Fri, May 23, 2008 at 12:08 PM, J. Kara Laidlaw wrote: > > The scholar who created the autism quotient test (Simon Baron-Cohen - yep, > Sasha Baron-Cohen's cousin > > ````````````````````````````````````` > Oooooooooooooo, am I supposed to be awed by the fact that Mr. Baron-Cohen > is > cousin to a celebrity? ;^) We Aspies [as we call ourselves] are immune to > the > whole 'celebrity worship' thing. We don't understand it. To me, > Sasha Baron-Cohen is just a very smart man, as is his cousin Simon. > Actually, > I'm more impressed by Simon than Sasha! ;^) > ````````````````````````````````````` > Actually, I just thought it was cool to see the connection. I get a kick out of "six degrees of Kevin Bacon" stuff, and the name was unique enough that I looked it up. I don't think that counts as celebrity worship. Just a sense of amusement and curiosity. One person's celebrity worship is another person's deep appreciation. (I've been known to hang out on the Thomas Dolby forum and the Crowded House/Frenz forum, so I don't think anything I could say about the concept of celebrity worship legitimately could be taken into account.) Good luck to you, Kara, in whatever paths you take in this life. We are all unique people with unique challenges to face and unique skills to offer. I hope you find the right path for *your* unique spirit and unique skills. MRJ - -- "It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness." -- Leo Tolstoy ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 May 2008 11:48:35 -0500 From: "J. Kara Laidlaw" Subject: Alloy: OT: My 'puter's gonna be down for a while, so... It needs its OS reinstalled, so much as I'd like to be able to chat more about things, it's nagging me to activate, which I can't, as parts are failing, and so XP thinks it's been installed on a different computer! And I'm too stubborn to just phone 'em. Yeah, okay, I admit it: I'd rather not use the phone if I don't have to. That's another one of my differences, and it's a major one, considering how popular cell phones are. If you're verbally-oriented, then yep, they're a necessity, but I don't own, or need, one. Just wanted to say, I'll be back A.S.A.P. :^) "The product activation grace period has expired", ack! My computer's just old, that's the only problem with it. Please, nobody say it's because it's a PC: there's no need for that sort of thing. To each his or her own, I say. Peace, Kara ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 May 2008 12:57:54 -0400 From: Merujo Subject: Re: Alloy: Howard the Duck -- the Musical On Fri, May 23, 2008 at 12:19 AM, Elaine wrote: > http://tinyurl.com/5vxddq > > Lea Thompson says she's working on Howard the Duck for Broadway, and she'll > be playing Howard this time. She's only kidding, but it might just be a > brilliant idea...! > That's funny! She's got a good sense of humor. I'm amazed that anyone at TMZ is "culturally worldly enough" to even remember Howard the Duck! Hey - they put "Xanadu"on Broadway. Is a talking duck any worse than spandex, fluttering, flowing Qiana, headbands, and blue-eye-shadowed, well-blushed muses on rollerskates? Of course (lol) the big question would be - could they convince TMDR to write the score? ;) Speaking of Uncle George projects, anyone off to see "Indiana Jones" this weekend? Even if the story isn't the strongest (I would *love* to see the story/script by Frank Darabont that Lucas rejected) there will be Marion Ravenwood *and* lovely, lovely, sweeping, big as brass John Williams music. Ahhh, paradise! Cheers, Melissa - -- "It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness." -- Leo Tolstoy ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 May 2008 10:39:44 -0700 From: John McJunkin Subject: Re: Alloy: Howard the Duck -- the Musical Mebbe they can get it right this time - but I doubt it! LOL On May 22, 2008, at 9:19 PM, Elaine wrote: > > http://tinyurl.com/5vxddq > > Lea Thompson says she's working on Howard the Duck for Broadway, > and she'll be playing Howard this time. She's only kidding, but it > might just be a brilliant idea...! ------------------------------ End of alloy-digest V12 #222 ****************************