Autistic in NYC Mini-Blog

by Mona Pereth

• July 12, 2022:  The puzzle piece symbol
• June 9, 2022:  Social media and progressive movements
• March 18, 2022:  Autism research priorities survey
• February 28, 2022:  Intersectionality
• February 27, 2022:  Everyday Feminism
• February 6, 2022:  Twitter etiquette
• February 6, 2022:  Hello

The puzzle piece symbol

July 12, 2022:  Below are some articles explaining why many autistic people dislike the puzzle piece logo that has been used by many (mostly parent-oriented) autism-related organizations:

• The Autism Puzzle Piece: A symbol that's going to stay or go? by Debra Muzikar, The Art of Autism, April 20, 2019

• The Ableist History of the Puzzle Piece Symbol for Autism by Cassandra Crosman, March 20, 2019.

• The Autism Puzzle Piece Debate: Is it Time for a New Logo? by James Ward-Sinclair, Autistic and Unapologetic, July 14, 2018

• The Problem with the Autism Puzzle Piece - Learning from Autistic People, October 20, 2015.

• A piece of the puzzle - Kipple kipple everywhere, tumblr, June 4, 2014

• Why you need to stop using the puzzle piece to represent autistic people by Autistic Alex, April 12, 2014

See also the following threads on Wrong Planet, in which varying views are expressed:

• The changing puzzle piece symbol for autism - begun 12 Feb 2020
• Do you find the jigsaw piece symbol offensive? - begun 07 Feb 2013
• The Puzzle Piece Logo - begun 05 Aug 2012
• Autism Awareness Puzzle Piece - begun 29 Nov 2011
• What does the Jigsaw puzzle piece icon mean? - begun 22 Nov 2011
• Puzzling Piece - begun 01 Apr 2011

Personally, I like to say that the puzzle piece is a symbol, not of autistic people, but of Puzzled Parents and Puzzled Professionals, too many of whom have no idea what it's like to be autistic.

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Social media and progressive movements

June 9, 2022:  I recently came across Less than social media: How hashtags have hindered progressive movements -- and fueled the right by Kathryn Joyce, Salon, February 23, 2022: "Gal Beckerman explains how social movements like the Arab Spring were undermined by the very tool that enabled them."

Gal Beckerman is the author of the book The Quiet Before: On the Unexpected Origins of Radical Ideas.

I too have felt, though for somewhat different reasons, that today's social media are not the greatest at creating a sense of community and are thus a mixed blessing, at best, for progressive movements, although they have certainly helped a lot in SOME ways.

For some of my own recent thoughts about social media, see this post of mine on Wrong Planet..

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Autism research priorities survey

March 18, 2022:  Recently on Wrong Planet, a nurse at the University of Vermont posted information about a research study to ask autistic people and other "stakeholders" what the priorities should be in autism research. See the Wrong Planet thread What is important to you when it comes to autism research?. More about the study itself here.

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Intersectionality

February 28, 2022:  While reading up on intersectional feminism via the Everyday Feminism blog (see previous post), I decided to look into the origin of the concept of "intersectionality" (as used in law, academia, and political activism). To that end, I've located and read most of the following paper, in which the idea is said to have been coined:

• Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics by Kimberle Crenshaw, University of Chicago Legal Forum, Volume 1989, Issue 1, Article 8

I also watched the following videos, in which Kimberle Crenshaw spoke:

• What is Intersectionality? National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), Jun 22, 2018
• The urgency of intersectionality, TED talk by Kimberle Crenshaw, Dec 7, 2016

Until I saw these, I had assumed that the term "intersectionality" was derived from mathematical set theory, and that it referred literally to the intersection of two or more sets of people. But it turns out that what Dr. Crenshaw had in mind was a metaphorical intersection of roads, requiring people to look out for traffic coming at them from multiple directions when crossing the intersection.

More about Kimberle Crenshaw:

• Kimberle Crenshaw: the woman who revolutionised feminism – and landed at the heart of the culture wars by Aamna Mohdin, The Guardian, Thu 12 Nov 2020.

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Everyday Feminism

February 27, 2022:  Today I discovered a website called Everyday Feminism, which looks like it might be a useful resource when discussing general social justice matters on Wrong Planet.

One potentially very useful article is How To Talk About Privilege To Someone Who Doesn't Know What That Is by Jamie Utt, December 7, 2012. It has the following sections:

• 1. Start By Appealing To the Ways In Which They Don't Have Privilege
• 2. Stress That Privilege Is Relative
• 3. A System of Privilege and Oppression Hurts Us All
• 4. Privilege Does Not Have To Mean Guilt!
• 5. Offer Concrete Ways That They Can Undermine the System of Privilege and Oppression In Their Own Life
• 6. Make It a Conversation of Actions, Not Character

Some general intro articles on the concept of "privilege":

• Privilege 101: A Quick and Dirty Guide by Sian Ferguson, September 29, 2014.
• Ever Been Told to 'Check Your Privilege?' Here's What That Really Means by Sam Dylan Finch, July 27, 2015
• 4 Uncomfortable Thoughts You May Have When Facing Your Privilege by Robin J. Landwehr, January 25, 2015
• Kyriarchy 101: We're Not Just Fighting the Patriarchy Anymore by Sian Ferguson, April 23, 2014
• 5 Ways Marginalized People Can Recognize Their Privileges In Other Areas by Michal 'MJ' Jones, December 8, 2014
• 10 Common Things Well-Intentioned Allies Do That Are Actually Counterproductive by Cody Charles, October 6, 2015

Some possibly useful articles on sexiam, male privilege, rape culture, etc.:

• 160+ Examples of Male Privilege in All Areas of Life by Maisha Z. Johnson, February 25, 2016
• 30+ Examples of Male Privileges by Sam Killermann. Not as useful as the following:
• These 25 Examples of Male Privilege from a Trans Guy's Perspective Really Prove the Point by James St. James, May 30, 2015, and 25 (More) Examples of Male Privilege as Experienced By a Trans Man by James St. James, June 21, 2015
• Pondering Male Privilege Post-Transition by Brynn Tannehill, November 14, 2014.
• This Is Not "Female Privilege" -- This Is Misogyny by Blythe Baird, January 15, 2015
• Does Female Privilege Exist? by Celia Edell, May 29, 2016
• 7 Reasons People Argue That Female Privilege Exists -- And Why They're Mistaken by Nikita Redkar, January 25, 2016
• 4 Ways Sexist, Macho Culture Hurts Men by Erika L. Sanchez, September 6, 2014
• 50 Ways People Expect Constant Emotional Labor from Women and Femmes by Suzannah Weiss, August 15, 2016
• 25 Everyday Examples of Rape Culture by Shannon Ridgway, March 10, 2014
• The Impossible Demands of Dating Under the Pressures of Rape Culture by Robot Hugs, April 6, 2015
• 5 Simple Ways Men Can Better Respect Women by Melissa A. Fabello, July 8, 2014

A collection of articles on race issues:

• Explaining White Privilege -- The Best of Everyday Feminism by the Editors of Everyday Feminism, June 22, 2017 - includes links to various other posts

Other possibly useful articles on race issues:

• Proof of the Outrageous Difference in Media Coverage of White Riots and Black Protests by Brave New Films, December 14, 2015
• 3 Examples That Show Even White Privilege Needs to be Viewed Intersectionally by Jamie Utt, January 31, 2016
• 7 Actual Facts That Prove White Privilege Exists in America by Zerlina Maxwell, September 20, 2014
• How White Americans' Hatred of Racism Actually Supports Racism Instead of Solves It by Jon Greenberg, August 16, 2016
• 10 Insidious Ways White Supremacy Shows Up in Our Everyday Lives by Kali Holloway, September 1, 2015
• 13 Ways White Male Privilege Shows Up as Early as Elementary School by Maisha Z. Johnson, December 28, 2015
• 10 Simple Ways White People Can Step Up to Fight Everyday Racism by Derrick Clifton, September 27, 2014
• Here's What You Can Do About Police Brutality Right Now by Ijeoma Oluo, March 12, 2017

Possibly relevant to some discussions on WP about relationship issues:

• 5 Reasons We Need to Ditch the Idea of 'The Friendzone' for Good by Sian Ferguso, August 7, 2015
• 7 Ways Social Justice Language Can Become Abusive in Intimate Relationships by Kai Cheng Thom, February 17, 2016

Miscellaneous:

• Don't Believe in Christian Privilege? These 15 Examples Will Leave No Doubt by Maisha Z. Johnson, January 17, 2016

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Twitter etiquette

February 6, 2022:  Recently, on Twitter, I ran into the following advice by Autistic Max (@MaxieMoosie):

Pro Twitter etiquette tip:

If you're replying to someone you've never talked to, limit your reply to three tweets. It's really irritating when strangers write essay replies and most of us don't read them.

In fact, three should be the upper limit. Shoot for one, MAYBE two.

Makes sense, I guess.

In the past, I've had a tendency to write long tweet-threads as replies. Maybe that's not a good idea. If Autistic Max's advice is the generally accepted custom, then I've mostly likely gotten muted by a bunch big-name autistic folks.

So I've created this mini-blog as a place to write my longer (but not ultra-long) replies to stuff I find on Twitter. Still longer replies will go on my Wordpress blog. Then, on Twitter itself, I can just post a brief reply containing a link to the longer reply.

Autistic Max also gives the following advice in a series of tweets:

Hell, I'd keep the three tweet reply limit even with long time mutuals, but there's more leeway there.

Also, if someone has their DMs open, don't DM them unless you have something nice to say.

Also, don't offer advice if someone doesn't explicitly ask. Especially to total strangers. It's incredibly obnoxious and a good way to get blocked.

Remember, large accounts get swarmed and can't give everyone the benefit of the doubt.

Most of the time, I find what's best is to reply to strangers with one or two tweets in agreement but that adds a bit to what they said.

If you disagree, write about it on your own timeline. You can't always good faith with strangers.

Most of the above makes sense.

The one thing I disagree with is on the recommended use of one's own timeline, which probably works well for folks with "large accounts," but not for me. I'm still fairly new to Twitter, and I don't yet have enough Twitter followers for my timeline to get a whole lot of attention. Currently, the easiest way for me to get any attention at all on Twitter (replies, likes, AND new followers) is by writing replies to other people's replies to other people's replies to ... other people's replies to the big users, as far down in the reply thread as possible, so that my reply is seen by as many people as possible higher up in the thread.

I use my timeline mainly for retweets and quote tweets.

See also the thread The art of attracting followers on Twitter? on Wrong Planet.

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Hello

February 6, 2022:  Welcome to my new mini-blog.

Its purpose is to be a place to post brief commentary that isn't long enough to warrant posting on my Wordpress blog, but is too long for a Twitter reply.

Mostly I'll be commenting about stuff I find on Twitter, but occasionally other stuff too.

This mini-blog is being hosted directly on my own website, which was launched at the end of 2019 C.E.

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