[Autistic] FIRST POST!

[Stephen Parkes]

Agh, remember the days before slashdot got shit and first posts were
relevant and considered?  Hopefully this is one of those posts.

As an autistic user of free software I have spotted a large number of
people showing autistic traits at community gatherings.  I know how
difficult it is to integrate into a normal LUG or any social gathering
even one full of other geeks so I have started this (virtual) LUG to
serve our needs.

Here we can geek out.  No newbie question is too newbie and no hacker
question is too hardcore eventually someone on the list will be able
to help, or at least help you formulate the right question and point
you in the direction to ask it.

It's become more and more difficult being an Autistic member of a LUG
over the last few years as Linux has become more inclusive.  The
movement gets a large proportion of it's thrust from developers on the
Autistic spectrum but as LUG meets are becoming less geeky we are
feeling marginalised.  This isn't being done deliberately (at least in
most cases) but it still makes it more and more difficult for those of
us who are ill at ease with social situations to 'fit in'.

Being Autistic has never previously been a barrier to inclusion in the
free software community.  Hell, being an aloof hacker with an acid
tongue who can stare at the arcane for days without pause and flits
from obscure obsession to obscure obsession used to be seen as a badge
of membership.  What I think we need is a little peer support from
time to time and that's why I think we should pull together and offer
that support.

If it's becoming harder for us 'old timers' to fit into gatherings
imagine what it's like to be on the Autistic spectrum and taking your
first step into a LUG meeting or even taking the leap from lurker to
poster on a mailing list?  The first LUG I joined I was the first
member.  The LUG master and I had regular geek out sessions in the pub
or at university together anyway letting other people join in was an
obvious next step.  These days a LUG might have 30+ members at a
meeting all talking in little groups about different things and a list
could have hundreds of active members.

I think this LUG can provide an important stepping stone to physical
visits to a local LUG meeting.  If you already know somebody from a
LUG due to their membership of the Autistic LUG list it will make it a
lot easier to take the step into the real world because you already
have a contact who understands how you are feeling and can provide
peer support on the night.

There's nothing wrong with being an Autistic person.  I think my
autism is what makes me me.  This group is not about sitting around
feeling sorry for ourselves for being different but about celebrating
our differences and feeling sorry for everyone else who just can't cut
it in our world ;-)  Unfortunately the buggers seem to think we should
be making attempts to conform to their world and not them to accept
us.

A little about me.  I am Stephen Parkes, I am a 33 year old Austisic
man with a 7 year old autistic son.  I am almost giving up with
getting a diagnosis for myself (Adult treatment seems to concentrate
on co-morbid conditions and not diagnosis) but my son has Aspergers
which he inherited from me.  I am sure of that, my family are sure of
that and his doctors are sure of that.  People who have met me in real
life or heard me on the first series of Lugradio have said "you can't
be Autistic, I know someone with autism and you are nothing like
them".  Nobody said we all had to be alike and I have no apologies for
not fitting in that pigeon hole either.

A little faq to kick us off until we become a self regulating community.

Do I need to declare who I am, what distro I use and what condition I
have when I join?
not at all, if people choose to it's all well and good but don't feel
you need to as well you don't have to do anything you don't feel
comfortable with.

Do I need to be on the autistic spectrum myself to join the LUG?
not at all.  If you are tolerant of people who don't always conform
and in some cases can be a little wired and weird please come on in. 
Every LUG has the nice guys and gals who are the first to welcome
newcomers, first to answer the newbie question with tolerance and
always inclusive in social situations we would welcome you to join us
any time to help flesh out the parts of LUG life we have difficulty
with.

Can I lurk here or ask questions to study the community?
I personally find it offensive that you would treat my peers and I as
lab rats we don't exist to help with your dissertation.  If you join
under the question above and are a part of our community then any
benefit you get from belonging to the community is all well and good
but please don't just drop by to improve your grades.

Who is in charge?
We are.  I might act as a dictator from time to time when deadlocks
occur, it's the users job to ensure it doesn't happen too often and
never in a way that will negatively effect the community.  Hierarchy
is a neuro-typical thing that we can leave at the door.

What about flaming?
It's inevitable that in our community there will be a certain level of
heat sometimes ;-)  A little tolerance goes a long way but don't be
afraid of letting rip from time to time.

Physical meetings?
It will be wonderful to cross over from the virtual to the physical
and meet up from time to time.  Because we are not tied to a
geographic location regular meetings are never going to happen but at
events members are going to it's going to be fantastic to hook up and
hang out for a while.  I see this as being a wonderful way for people
to get out and meet people when many of us have difficulty socially
and I look forward to meeting you all.

Thanks for joining the Autistic LUG (aren't they all Autistic in
someway?) and becoming a part of our community.

sparkes (Stephen Parkes)