I AM CONDUCTING AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTISM SPEAKS

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Robison provided a quote! So excited!

Why does he excite you so much?

He's autistic, he wrote a book. He has gained some dubious celebrity.

He also is (if I remember correctly) on a "science advisory board" for Autism Speaks.

Robison doesn't appear to know anything about science, let alone science relevant to autism.

Why did Autism Speaks pick him for this "science advisory board"? It can't be because of his knowledge or insight. It must have been because he's autistic 'celebrity'. An organization that is notoriously averse to having anything to do with actual autists has put him in a visible position that he is not qualified for in order to make a buck out of his 'celebrity' and to try to keep the unwashed masses (that would be us) quieted down.

Your "Gee-whiz! Look who's talking to me!" excitement doesn't bode well for a possible career as a journalist or writer. You are at serious risk of being taken for a fanboi, instead.

He is only right John...youth and enthusiasm are wonderful things, however curiously directed, but if you want a serious career in journalism you might do better to be more restrained with those you deal with...

That's great! Do you have any idea when the interview results will be provided today?

I met Vermont Governor Jim Douglas in 2004, and it's heady stuff. Let's give Tambourine-Man credit for some snap that, yes, of course he can enjoy meeting people and still do his best work.

A career in journalism, like many things, is about presenting the right image and a realistic sense of proportion is a vital part of that...

I looked at his threads and tried to find one where he even discussed TMS. I see where he provided a link to his personal blog, in reference to another issue. Research is ongoing on whether or not TMS is an effective therapy for Autism; he participated and related his experiences in his blog.

It appears he his extremely enthuisiastic in regard to his experience with it and talks about it on a link in his blog. It's a controversial, extremely expensive method, that is rarely covered by insurance, but an available one currently used for non-responsive cases of depression by neuropsychiatrists.

Considering he made no mention of it in his posts, and there was a reference to it in his blog presented about another issue; it appears like an unwarranted action; I guess one must be careful to ensure references on blogs are seen as politically correct, before they are provided there.

His posts seem very thoughtful and for the most part well received by the members there. If someone didn't like the fact that he presented a link to his blog website, I'm not sure why they couldn't have explained why it wasn't seen as appropriate on the website, instead of labeling him as a spammer, telling people to disregard his posts, but yet not banning him.

Seems like a strange policy; labeling someone a spammer, telling people to ignore their posts, and then warning the individual not to remove that information or they will be banned. Even if they are guilty of spamming, I don't see the use of allowing them to post, when advice is given members to ignore their posts.

He has got a great deal of insight to what it is like to be an Autistic adult, undiagnosed; and communicates it well I think. It is obvious, I think, that he is not welcome there for his views that are not shared by others.

This kind of thing is transparent in the internet record, I wonder if people fully understand that.

Glad to see that you respect him as an autistic individual.

He is sharing his excitement of his experience, and interaction with nationally known, notable figures, with what he considers his peers. Nothing more, nothing less. This general enthuisiasm about life, will take him farther than anything else. Keep shaking your Tambourine, Tambourine man, there is no way to go but up, if you continue in that direction.

John Elder Robison's promotion of rTMS goes from here:

Added after the following post (don't want to make him look silly and petty by not mentioning that):- Sorry, this is in a "members only" section of the site - I did not notice that, but well worth reading for yourself if you can to form an opinion.

http://www.aspiesforfreedom.com/showthr ... #pid240832

all the way to the end of the thread.

Best people read it themselves and form their own opinions, I think?

Most of his other posts seem to be promoting his own book.

Last edited by Zeraeph on 19 Sep 2011, 7:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The link here that you provide, does not reference a post. It's a link to nowhere, perhaps you have to be a member of the site to see it. I had no problem looking through the full record of his posts as listed by his bio. There is no suggestion there of it, other that what I saw on his blog link.

I would personally like to hear more about his experience with it. I was offered the opportunity for the treatment in my area, but was skeptical about it, because my insurance company would not cover it.

In case anyone else is interested in learning about it, and the research being done at Harvard, there is a whole segment of Autism Talk 10, TV, on this internet site, with a researcher from Harvard that is studying useful effects of the therapy with autistic people. Given, information that serious study is being done into the therapy, with Autism at Harvard, it is definitely not pseudoscience, and warrants no label for spam, in any serious discussion of autism.

He is also a member here and has discussed it here.

I see it as unreasonable that an Autistic individual would be censored as a Spammer for sharing knowledge about the treatment with others on an Internet Site for Autistic people. Maybe he is still allowed the priviledge of speaking there, but it is asked that others don't listen to him. I see that as a form of censorhip, and one that does not appear to be fair.

Last edited by aghogday on 19 Sep 2011, 7:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The article should be up early tomorrow afternoon!

Sorry guys, but as an autistic with no greater aspiration then to be the best writer I possibly can be, I am very thrilled to have had a stimulating discussion with Robison.

I humbly admit my admiration for him and will not put up a pretense of smugness.

Tomorrow is my birthday, so that will be a good day for the article to be published.

Great, many of us will be looking forward to reading it.

And I'm hardly a journalist. I'm just an Aspie who likes to write.

It most certainly does reference a post, but obviously on a members only section of the site, so you cannot read the relevant posts. I am sorry I did not notice that and point it out, but I am sure a lot of other people can read them so perhaps they will read them for themselves and tell you all about them?

http://www.aspiesforfreedom.com/showthr ... #pid240832

Oh I did not think you were a journalist already, you are too obviously green as yet...I just assumed that you were hyping yourself and your work so much, because it is your ambition to become a journalist, which is a very worthy aspiration...and, of course, playing up to Autism Speaks is a great way to get a foot on the ladder...they could use another high profile token Aspie...and an opportunity is an opportunity, as long as you have the stomach for it, I know I wouldn't have.