Re: OT: The Geek Syndrome from Wired/ and the AQ

[Guest guest]

Holy silicon, Batman! When the hilarity over the Nerdity Test

started, I had no idea how " on-topic " it actually was. I think I'll

think twice before telling another engineer joke. The " AQ " test was

interesting, too. I got 24; anyone else want to 'fess up?

I recently attended an information meeting for the Association for

the Neurologically Disabled (sensory-motor approach). The speaker

(one of the therapists) declared: " We're *all* autistic! Most of us

just know how to deal with it in a way society doesn't condemn. "

Gail (mum to Alice,5,GDD,and Philippa,9,gifted)

> This is paraphrased from Wired Magazine's article.

.. . .One director of the Orion Academy, a high school for high

> functioning kids in Moraga CA calls Asperger's syndrome " the

> engineers' disorder. Bill Gates is often diagnosed in the press

(his

> single-minded focus on technical minutiae, rocking motions, and

flat

> tone of voice are all suggestive. One person said that his friends

in

> the Valley say many of their coworkers `could be diagnosed with

ODD –

> they're odd.'

>

> The tech culture of the Valley is a haven and dream for these geek

> warrens. . . . This kind of accommodation is not just in the

Silicon

> Valley….Temple Grandin calls NASA the largest sheltered workshop in

> the world. Common to case histories of autism, is an attraction to

> highly organized systems and complex machines.