Autism Vox

Not all about autism: Ars Technica

by Kristina Chew, PhD on November 2nd, 2006

I think it more than important to extend the discussion about all things autism beyond the community of those personally experiencing and living with it: Autism is very much “of our times”—-it is “zeitgeisty,” as Professor Stuart Murray once referred to it to me. Autism ought not to be thought of as a “specialized” interest, or something that only “some people” should take the time know about.

When I first started blogging about autism back in June 2005, most of the blogs and other websites I read were specifically autism-related. Joining the Autism Bloggers webring and the Autism Hub introduced me to the many varieties of autistic experience. I started writing Autism Vox in March of 2006. Up till that point, my writing about autism had primarily been about the day-to-day experiences of our life with Charlie; with Autism Vox, I began to write also about autism vis-à-vis all things educational, political, scientific, literary, and more.

And so I have found myself discovering, and returning to, more and more sites that are not specifically about autism. I found Ars Technica—”serving the PC enthusiast for over 6 x 10²—thanks to an October 17th post by John Timmer of the journal Nobel Intent about the TV causes autism theory. I have since been a regular visitor to the updates of all things tech-and ‘net-ical on ArsTechnica and have benefited from the good writing and insights on the “science-centric journal,” Nobel Intent. (It also helps that the very name ArsTechnica draws on both the Latin and ancient Greek root words for “art, craft, skill,” ars and techne.)

The more autism talk there is out there (out here) on the web, the better, I think. It is a great thing to be able to talk about autism not only with autistics and parents of autistic persons, and teachers and therapists, but also with thoughtful and interested persons all around the web, and ArsTechnica is a good place to continue the conversation.

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