Yes, this is the new title of this site. Though I'm still fond of 'Shy Highway', the title I've used since 2007, my interests obviously are too far-ranging. Since I was a boy entering school, my view of the world around me has been different from that of anyone I've met. That wasn't always positive. … Continue reading Alternative World |New perspectives on autism, shyness, literature and history, psychology and science, life, the universe and everything
Autism and Love-Shyness | A message to the Incels
Yes, this is a message to the Incels from my younger self. When I published the recent post, Toronto Van Rampage III | Alek Minassian and the Incels, I didn't explain that when I was 17 yrs old I was well on my way to being one of them. Based on psychologist Brian Gilmartin's research … Continue reading Autism and Love-Shyness | A message to the Incels
Autism’s lost loners | James Michener
Because the deceased author James Michener will be a major character in my next novel, now wandering the world alone as a ghost, I've been thinking a lot about him. I realized today that he is another candidate for these lists of people who might belong on the spectrum. For he was a loner among … Continue reading Autism’s lost loners | James Michener
Autism’s lost loners|the boy who bought the Earth
Somewhere I’ve said that I think most loners are on the ASD spectrum. Enough has been written about famous loners who, in ‘real life’, have or probably have or had Asperger’s syndrome/ASD - Bill Gates, Michael Jackson, Vladimir Putin, Abraham Lincoln, etc, etc - in this series, I’m going to look at forgotten ones, … Continue reading Autism’s lost loners|the boy who bought the Earth
Autism |Toronto Van Rampage III |Alek Minassian and the Incels
Recently the Toronto police released their post-arrest videotaped interview with Alek Minassian, accused of driving a van down Yonge Street on April 23, 2018, deliberately targeting pedestrians, killing eight women and two men, and injuring 16 more. The Toronto Star published an extensive review of the released tape, and Minassian's case generally, in their Friday, … Continue reading Autism |Toronto Van Rampage III |Alek Minassian and the Incels
Autism |Neurotribes by Steve Silberman
There are so many books about autism that turn out to be disappointing because they mostly rehash all the old arguments. Many writers just want to promote their ideas while they wear blinders so they can ignore the opposition. So I wasn't particularly enthused when I came upon Neurotribes – The Legacy of Autism and … Continue reading Autism |Neurotribes by Steve Silberman
The Autism Matrix |A new look at Autism
Back in 2017 I did an earlier post on this remarkable book. Let's look at it again. The biggest problem with autism is still that there is no agreement on what it is, or what causes it. That's why the debates about it are so confusing and unrewarding. The decision of the American Psychiatric Association … Continue reading The Autism Matrix |A new look at Autism
Shyness vs Everything else |the problem with diagnoses
When I was a boy, I was intensely shy, more avoidant than anyone else I met then in any of the schools I attended. No one in the working-class neighborhood of the North-American steel town where I grew up had heard of 'autism', but my behavior fit autism pretty well. If I got myself assessed … Continue reading Shyness vs Everything else |the problem with diagnoses
Autism and Theory of Mind |Do you think like a Baboon?
Sometimes psychologists try to explain autism using 'theory of mind'. Books on psychology devote whole chapters to theory of mind, but to keep a lid on it here, I'll just quote Dictionary.com: the ability to interpret one’s own and other people’s mental and emotional states, understanding that each person has unique motives, perspectives, etc. The … Continue reading Autism and Theory of Mind |Do you think like a Baboon?
