Survey about a WrongPlanet Gathering

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I got it now, the continent deal, okay I'm with that but just in case I still wanted to get my 2 cents into the deal in case it meant I had to fly someplace or row a boat across an ocean. I'm game for whatever so count me in, at least provisionally or maybe tentatively. What we will have to eat if we get together?

I was thinking of more regional than just continents. I'm just gauging interest per continent. If 10-20 people agree in Australia to want to meetup, then 1 meeeting might be enough for the whole Asia-Oceania. If 100+ people want to, then a meetup would be split into two, one in Sydney, Auckland, Melbourne and Perth.

For North America, if 20 people say yes, then we may hold one in Chicago. If 100 people say yes, than it'd be Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles and NYC.

they had their meetup in a rural area.
well the chicago metra(commuter train) goes far out enough I think as does the nyc commuter train (lirr , metro north etc)

lol I'll probably be in MD if this meeting ever takes off.
will this be adults only?

and i'm probably on the very low end as far as sensory stuff so not taking it into account as much as I should. I have no problem with a meetup downtown somewhere although nyc or chi might not be good for me. driving in say dc would not be my cup of tea.
at least from md to say, dupont circle. maybe upper nw . public trans is ok, though as a caution the nyc subway map can be really confusing.

A big demolition derby somewhere in Texas might be fun. There are a bunch of people from here that I'd like to smash into really hard. That sounds like a a lot of fun to me.

I love the idea of it, but I know if I were to go, I'd have to go alone. & the fact that I do so poorly in social situations wouldn't make things any easier. I'd probably spend the time feeling alone & on the outside, as I do everything else. Even in a situation like that, I worry I'd still be an outsider & possibly even looked down on/ridiculed/disliked. I'm just so used to that being the case & I would hate it if it were to happen at a gathering of people who were "like me." It also could be a little overwhelming, depending on the circumstances or the situation/environment. But I would still consider it.

Well damn garyww, what did we ever do to you?

I would love to attend but it would depend on the location....8-10 hrs travel time max.

I could attend a meetup in Denver, Minneapolis, Salt Lake or Albuquerque and I definitely would not go if I knew in advance media are filming it. Probably the best for me would be Minneapolis.

Lyricalillusions, i am going to be frank here. and the reaso i am saying ANYTHING is because you have Dr.Seuss signature and The Lorax is my favourite all time book for my son, so ther emust be something about you that is dandy.

YOU simply HAVE to find a new way of thinking...otherwise life my dear friend...wil simply pass you by. and justbecause you have AS...well...it does not have to be like that.
I would weave risk -taking into your weekly schedule. Just once a week - take a small risk an do something different and slighly exciting. It could be as little as going into a store you do not usually go into. just a litte risk.

I felt like you did once.....and if you stay there is could destroy you.
a meeting of Wp members would be good and i do not think anyone is going to ridicule your or treat you as if you are on the outer. THere may indeed be a bit of unintetnional insensitivity - but hey - don't take it personally.

go on...tek zee leetle risk zees veek and you vill be surprised at zee esteem.....

If it's in San Antonio or Austin, then I'm game.

Has anyone thought of Autreat? It is a 3-4 day gathering in the USA, ( Bradford, Pennsylvania this year ), with some presentations and discussion groups, organised by AS for AS. Their info site is at:

http://autistics.selfip.org/aut09.html

.

texas has already been done. probably should be off the radar.
we should start gathering people who are interested and where they live.

Hey, she DID say she would consider it. She is just being HONEST! I believe I said much the same in a related thread. It would probably cost me over $1000 USD, and I don't know how I could work it into my schedule.

Greentea...

I thought most europeans spoke a few languages and that many speak english(one site says 51% of the EU can speak English!). English, German, and french ARE pretty common. In fact, the "english" way of saying standard language for something is to call it the "lingua franca"! http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lingua+franca Besides, English is almost always considered one of the top three languages in use on the planet. I think it is ALWAYS within the top 5. That is especially interesting, since german and french sometimes don't even make the top 10. The very first site I found on google, for example, has this list:

1 Mandarin
2 English
3 Hindi
4 Spanish
5 Arabic
6 Russian
7 Portuguese
8 Bengali
9 Malay
10 French
11 Japanese
12 German

I WAS shocked to find a danish woman that claimed she spoke ONLY Danish! I asked her, in danish, if she spoke English, German, French, spanish, and she said she DIDN'T! She must have a boring life being stuck in denmark, and the other parts of Germany where they speak danish, or with an interpreter. Maybe though, she was pulling my leg.

So the languages I speak to a degree are #2,3,4,10,12,22 and Danish isn't even in the top 30(Swedish(a SIMILAR language) is supposedly understood by 3% of the EU. Over 86% of Danish can supposedly speak English.). #22 is almost exactly like #3 with the basic difference that it uses arabic script. I'll try to learn that later.

Lightning88,

I know what you mean. You and I might get along with each other far better than with others here. Let me know when you do start your business. I might be able to shift some business your way! You seem like a nice person.

Danielismyname,

You're comparing yourself with RAINMAN!?!?!? WOW! Many here seem to hate the claimed connection. I can't say I blame you. Apparently, the A320(as I recall that is the one) was designed with NO sensors for the flaps. Based on my queries, my understanding is fully correct. To compensate for that, they reset everything when they land, and the sound REALLY, LITERALLY, sounds like a guy is trying to saw the wings off! If you have heard, and/or felt, a normal handsaw against wood, THAT is the sound and feeling! They do it for several minutes! And that is on a PLANE! The FIRST time I heard it, I thought there was a problem with the plane, but they ALWAYS do it! You would think they would add a few contacts, and a few extra lines of code in the computers, to easily achieve it with little to no noise. Other planes seem to work FINE in that regard! On the Boeing 737, vents will open on the jet engines, and an observant person MIGHT be concerned. They do that to provide reverse thrust to slow down the plane on landing on short landing strips. A few years ago, some planes accidently did that IN THE AIR! MOST, if not all, crashed, and they had an emergency retrofit. Of course, MOST planes today have flaps that may not have any covers, so it could look like the wings are falling apart even though that is done to make them more efficient.

Still, I like the idea of usually seeing NO planes while we fly, and we are HIGH up with LOTS of room for mistakes, so it is FAR less likely to have a problem in a plane in the sky than it is a bus on the ground.

Vietnamese!

I'm back from the mini-trip. I can't believe the number of posts on this discussion since I've been gone. I haven't had a chance to read through all of them yet, but it looks like 60% would like to meet. I know there is an issue with camera shyness with many. That would easily be taken care of because you wouldn't be forced to be on camera.

Here are my thoughts on this today:

We that wanted to meet wouldn't have to have the media as a means to do this---but, there would be great costs in travel to meet at the chosen location---unless we used regional get togethers.

The media might sponsor such an event provided they felt there was a market for it on television---but I don't want to feel like a sideshow exhibit---autism isn't that well understood by the masses---but isn't that our message? Autism awareness? It would be a great way to let the masses see that we are human and can function fine---in our way.

We are not freaks, and I would never want us to be perceived that way.

By the way, my wife and I stayed at a bed and breakfast the past couple nights. That meant the ever awkward dinner and breakfast in a smallish dining room with a dozen other guests as the innkeeper tried to mingle at our tables. He told jokes---I was the only one not laughing---is that any surprise? Even after my wife explained one joke to me I still didn't find it funny. Anyway, this one couple had this frequent habit of clearing their throats every so often---wow! Did that ever get on my nerves! But overall, I had a good time.

Let's keep debating the pros and cons of this hypothetical meeting. We never know what might happen.

I just saw garyww's post. I think this is a great way to do it. I think we should all keep this way of doing the meeting in mind. Perhaps going all out with the big meeting at first could be bad. Baby steps so make sense.

garyww---have you been watching "What About Bob"? (babysteps)---I love that movie. I could watch it over and over.