It’s occurring to me that it’s not so random that I stumbled onto that article a couple of months ago and found out I have asperger’s syndrome (a kind of autism). Turns out there’s a lot of people, most either autistic themselves, or who have an autistic child, that have been working very hard for years to promote autism awareness.
THAT is why there just happened to be a link on a site about web standards that led to an article about asperger’s. THAT is why there’s a CNN special report about autism that will be shown on May 22. THAT is why I finally know what is wrong with me after all these years!
Some of the people who are helping to spread the word are:
Barbara Kirby – founder of the OASIS website, an incredible resource for information and links about asperger’s and other types of autism.
Alexander Plank (aka Alex) – 18 year old Gentoo developer and creator of WrongPlanet.net – a huge online community for folks with Asperger’s Syndrome, Autism, and other PDDs (site co-created by Dan Grover).
Dr. Temple Grandin – designer of livestock handling facilities and an Associate Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. She has done much writing and speaking about her experiences w/having autism.
Dr. Tony Atwood – a clinical psychologist who specializes in the field of Asperger’s Syndrome. He has also written several books and travels around the world giving workshops and seminars about autism.
I haven’t personally read much by Dr. Grandin, or Dr. Atwood, but their names appear everywhere where there is information about autism. I HAVE extensively browsed both the OASIS site and WrongPlanet.net, and really can’t say enough about the amazing resources and community that both of these sites provide!