Google Critic Wants You Aspies to Appreciate His Pretty Little Designs

Apparently, Google is some sort of hotbed of aspergian thought. Who knew? Google is an employer that values engineering prowess, and doesn't penalize its employees for weak social skill. That's a good thing, right?

Wrong, according to this esoteric rant:

Google was founded by extreme-male-brain nerds and, by all outward appearances, seems to hire only that type of person, not all of them male. Apart from Bowman, I can think of only two Google employees I could stand to be around for longer than an elevator ride.

See, the blogger is unhappy that Google drove its marquee designer, Bowman, to quit. He continues:

My impression of “Googlers,” which I concede is based on little direct knowledge and is prejudicial on its face, is one of undersocialized, uncultured, pampered, arrogant faux-savants who have cultivated an arrested adolescence that the Google working environment further nurtures. Their computer-programming skills, the sole skills valued by the company, camouflage the flaws of their neuroanatomy. Their brains are beautifully suited to the genteel eugenics program that is the Google hiring process but are broken for real-world use.

Ouch.

Isn't this analogous to attending Spelman College and complaining about the emphasis on African studies? I mean, really, it's Google, a company built on a search algorythm.

And for these engineers whom the blogger stereotypically dubs aspergian, Google and companies like Google likely represent an oasis in a desert of prejudice. A place where they are valued because of who they are, not in spite of it. A place where failure to comply with the rules of social order doesn't hold them back.

Here, the coin is flipped. Whereas, in the majority of society, the neurotypical blogger is in the majority, with aspergians in the minority, at Google (and companies like Google), it's the reverse. And the blogger complains: aspergians have no taste and can't entertain him longer than an elevator ride. Well, boo f ing hoo! Isn't that unfair. Welcome to high school for the average aspergian. Newsflash: life isn't fair.

So the good news is that society is moving in the right direction. There are geographic pockets and industry sectors in which aspies can thrive. Aspergians are shining, and society is valuing their contributions.

The bad news is that it appears that an ugly backlash is under way, as evidenced by the rant.

[Via Gawker]

Updated April 29, 2009

Prospective

Looking forward, in the next month I'm going to blog about various chapters of the book, The Mislabeled Child. It's a good read for parents of A Little Bit Autistic types. Just a "heads up" if you want to follow along.

Retrospective

He may still toddle in the literal sense, but he's not a toddler anymore. Bradley is growing up fast! A quick post to memorialize some of his recent transitions:

• Potty - I'm happy to report that Brad's potty strike was short-lived. To recap, we did what most parents do in the beginning - we prompted him a lot. So that he wouldn't forget. Well I think all the prompting made him anxious, which resulted in the potty strike. To remedy the situation, we did two things: (i) we chilled out, and (ii) we started him on double fiber sandwich bread, just two slices at lunch time. I don't know if it was the fiber or something else, but he got the hang of it, and today, he's solid. No accidents.
  
• Big boy bed - we finally transitioned him out of the crib. We opted for a real bed (with safety rails), rather than a toddler bed since he's a tall 3+ year old. He mounts it on his own with a little stool, but he doesn't dismount on his own. So he still waits for me to get him in the morning and at nap. But the good news is that he really likes the bed, and he didn't have any difficulty with the transition.
  

And last, my confession:

• Paci - yes, until recently, Brad was using a paci at nap and overnight. The pacis NEVER left the crib (so they're not a speech delay culprit) - they were only used as a sleep aid. We did the same with Jeremy and I credit the little sleep I was able to get when they were infants to the pacis. Anyway, I was very nervous about this one, but we ditched the pacis when we transitioned him out of the crib and...drumroll...success! It was unremarkable. I think the novelty of the new bed distracted him from the loss.

More Autism Awareness on MSNBC

If you're insatiable, here's a sensory integration-themed clip:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Nothing new here for SPD junkies, other than the latest advances in consumerism.

"Recovery" reaches the masses.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

This video segment features Karen Exkorn, author of The Autism Sourcebook, and her son Jake. I read the Autism Sourcebook early on and, as I blogged, I did not find it compelling. Bluntly, I don't personally believe that "recovery" can be sourced to ABA, so I found her story misleading. Rather, I believe that the natural process of maturation, combined with a rich environment (which ABA can provide), causes certain children to cease to meet the diagnostic criteria. (But keep in mind, I'm a blogger, not an expert.) And on a personal note, I bristled at her recommendation that a 2 year old be subject to 40 hour per week of treatment.

To be clear: I'm not discounting the benefits of ABA, where the results are short of recovery. ABA is probably the best therapy for many classically autistic children, and I don't doubt for a moment that ABA is the best bet for a positive outcome for many.

Incidentally, Jake was initially diagnosed with PDD-NOS, not classic autism.