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>As I continue to read it, I start to wonder whether the author is just upset because they heard about SAP hiring Autistics and was disappointed that his/her sk

by phaus 12y ago

>As I continue to read it, I start to wonder whether the author is just upset because they heard about SAP hiring Autistics and was disappointed that his/her skill set wasn't a good match for the role. When OP said "I would be a disaster in the coding and software testing departments, but would be more successful in a technical writing, communications and PR role", I interpreted it as a concern about autistic people being typecast as techies. People are really excited to help autistic people join the work force, but most of the efforts I see are directed at technical jobs. To be fair, quite a few autistic people are well-suited for technical roles. I myself happen to fit the stereotype.

cbhl 12y ago
It turns out that I can answer my question about the criticism of Autism Speaks by reading the author's own blog posts[0]. Judging from the author's bios[1][2], it appears that the author is an Autistic that writes. Given this context, I'm more inclined to interpret these words literally (i.e. as in, "it's unfair that SAP is willing to accommodate coding/testing Autistics but not me") than as a general example supporting "a concern about autistic people being typecast as techies". If you're looking at Autistics on a site called Hacker News, I suspect you're going to find more technical people than not. That doesn't mean you can generalize that to the general population of Autistics. [0] http://apoststructuralautistic.wordpress.com/2014/06/19/my-autism-does-in-part-define-me-and-thats-how-i-like-it/ http://apoststructuralautistic.wordpress.com/2014/06/19/my-a... [1] http://modelviewculture.com/authors/erika-lynn-abigail http://modelviewculture.com/authors/erika-lynn-abigail [2] http://apoststructuralautistic.wordpress.com/about/ http://apoststructuralautistic.wordpress.com/about/
- phaus 12y ago
  >Judging from the author's bios[1][2], it appears that the author is an Autistic that writes. Given this context, I'm more inclined to interpret these words literally (i.e. as in, "it's unfair that SAP is willing to accommodate coding/testing Autistics but not me") than as a general example supporting "a concern about autistic people being typecast as techies". I am autistic. While either of us could be wrong, I think its pretty safe to say I have a better idea of what it means to be autistic than a person that isn't. You are basically saying that your interpretation of what he meant is based on the ridiculous assumption that we are incapable of making statements that aren't intended to be taken completely literally. If being autistic hadn't rendered me nearly immune to being offended, I'd probably be pretty upset about someone making such an ignorant statement. >If you're looking at Autistics on a site called Hacker News, I suspect you're going to find more technical people than not. That doesn't mean you can generalize that to the general population of Autistics. As a person with Asperger's that has two nephews with severe forms of autism, I assure you that my experience reading about autism is not limited to Hacker News. So basically, if I mention the simple fact that there is a stereotype about autistic people, I am attempting to generalize the population. However, at the same time its OK for you to make bigoted assumptions about a complaint that a person made without actually weighing it on its own merits. I can see how many reasonable people might end up disagreeing with the OP's claims. Unfortunately, you appear to be simply writing it off because he's autistic.
  - cbhl 12y ago
    For the record, I am also a person with autism. I am "writing it off" because the author writes in a way that suggests that their experiences represent all people with autism, but I feel that they do not represent me. I am not saying that the author's opinion is not valid. I think that it's a perfectly reasonable position. What I'm upset about is the tone the author chose to use to convey their point. (Edit: I find it ironic that I'm writing this, because the author has written articles saying they're upset with Autism Speaks because the tone in Autism Speaks' materials don't agree with the author's experiences.)

by phaus 12y ago

cbhl 12y ago

It turns out that I can answer my question about the criticism of Autism Speaks by reading the author's own blog posts[0]. Judging from the author's bios[1][2], it appears that the author is an Autistic that writes. Given this context, I'm more inclined to interpret these words literally (i.e. as in, "it's unfair that SAP is willing to accommodate coding/testing Autistics but not me") than as a general example supporting "a concern about autistic people being typecast as techies". If you're looking at Autistics on a site called Hacker News, I suspect you're going to find more technical people than not. That doesn't mean you can generalize that to the general population of Autistics. [0] http://apoststructuralautistic.wordpress.com/2014/06/19/my-autism-does-in-part-define-me-and-thats-how-i-like-it/ http://apoststructuralautistic.wordpress.com/2014/06/19/my-a... [1] http://modelviewculture.com/authors/erika-lynn-abigail http://modelviewculture.com/authors/erika-lynn-abigail [2] http://apoststructuralautistic.wordpress.com/about/ http://apoststructuralautistic.wordpress.com/about/

phaus 12y ago
>Judging from the author's bios[1][2], it appears that the author is an Autistic that writes. Given this context, I'm more inclined to interpret these words literally (i.e. as in, "it's unfair that SAP is willing to accommodate coding/testing Autistics but not me") than as a general example supporting "a concern about autistic people being typecast as techies". I am autistic. While either of us could be wrong, I think its pretty safe to say I have a better idea of what it means to be autistic than a person that isn't. You are basically saying that your interpretation of what he meant is based on the ridiculous assumption that we are incapable of making statements that aren't intended to be taken completely literally. If being autistic hadn't rendered me nearly immune to being offended, I'd probably be pretty upset about someone making such an ignorant statement. >If you're looking at Autistics on a site called Hacker News, I suspect you're going to find more technical people than not. That doesn't mean you can generalize that to the general population of Autistics. As a person with Asperger's that has two nephews with severe forms of autism, I assure you that my experience reading about autism is not limited to Hacker News. So basically, if I mention the simple fact that there is a stereotype about autistic people, I am attempting to generalize the population. However, at the same time its OK for you to make bigoted assumptions about a complaint that a person made without actually weighing it on its own merits. I can see how many reasonable people might end up disagreeing with the OP's claims. Unfortunately, you appear to be simply writing it off because he's autistic.
- cbhl 12y ago
  For the record, I am also a person with autism. I am "writing it off" because the author writes in a way that suggests that their experiences represent all people with autism, but I feel that they do not represent me. I am not saying that the author's opinion is not valid. I think that it's a perfectly reasonable position. What I'm upset about is the tone the author chose to use to convey their point. (Edit: I find it ironic that I'm writing this, because the author has written articles saying they're upset with Autism Speaks because the tone in Autism Speaks' materials don't agree with the author's experiences.)