SchaferAutismREport: Bram Cohen: Creator of BitTorrent Interview, Asperger's Awareness

[Guest guest]

SCHAFER AUTISM REPORT "Healing Autism:No Finer a Cause on the Planet"________________________________________________________________Wednesday, May 11, 2005 Vol. 9 No. 76__________________________________OUR CHILDREN GET BETTER - HOPE IS REAL. RECOVERY IS REAL.Autism One 2005 Conference May 26-29 Chicago, Illinois Kirby author Evidence of Harm: Keynote Addresshttp://www.autismone.org/__________________________________community service announcement - SARASPERGER'S AWARENESS* Bram Cohen: Creator of BitTorrent, Asperger'sPUBLIC HEALTH* The Age of Autism: WitnessEVENTS* Temple Grandin Believes In Microenterprise & Generating Income ForPeople With Autism* Autism Group in Australia Highlights Work Integration DifficultiesTREATMENT* Demand for Organic Foods

SoaringMEDIA* "Autism is a World"-CNN 1 Hour FilmCOMMENTARY* Student Wishes Everyone Would Be Treated EquallyLETTERS* Re: Study Refutes Link Between Childhood Vaccinations, Autism* Disturbing Evidence of Harm* Re: Autistic Man's State Of Mind Key In Trial, MaggiASPERGER'S AWARENESSBram Cohen: Creator of BitTorrent, Asperger'sAn interview with the creator of the most preeminent file sharing anddistribution system.http://www.wrongplanet.net/modules.php?name=Articles & pa=showpage & pid=98While reading an article entitled "The BitTorrent Effect" whichappeared in the January 2005 issue of Wired Magazine, I was surprised tofind out that the creator of BitTorrent, Bram Cohen, has Asperger'sSyndrome. After finishing this article, I became determined to track downCohen and ask him some questions about how Asperger's Syndrome has affectedhis very successful life. I finally found

him on IRC and was able tointerview him about how he has dealt with Asperger's Syndrome. I'd like tothank Mr. Cohen for taking the time out of his busy schedule to answer thesesomewhat personal questions.Cohen started working on BitTorrent in April, 2001. Since the releaseof this technology in the summer of 2001, it has quickly grown into one ofthe most preeminent file distribution methods, especially among open sourceproducts such as Linux. The decentralized nature of BitTorrent allows anindividual or company to share its files without needing to worry aboutbandwidth demands. Every client downloading a file from the network willusually donate part of its own bandwidth which, when added up with all theother donwloaders of the particular file, becomes quite a lot, making itmuch faster than technologies such as Gnutella (or Kazaa).Because there is already a plethora of information about BitTorrent,this interview takes a different

approach and focuses entirely on Cohen'sAsperger's Syndrome. Cohen's story is extremely inspirational to those of uswho do have Asperger's, and will probably be so even to those withoutAsperger's Syndrome (Sorry, Asperger's makes it hard for me to tell whatother people will think, so I'm only guessing that it will be ;-). I knowthat many of you with Asperger's Syndrome may be at a low point in life, butthis is only temporary! Bram has been there too and now he is one of themost respected figures in the computer science field.WrongPlanet.net: How has Asperger's helped you with your programming?Bram Cohen: Oh, heh, I dunno. I tend to get obsessed with technicalproblems, and have a very long attention span, which are obviously goodtraits for being a programmer, and seem like Asperger's traits, but [becauseof] not having an almost-identical-except-no-asperger's version of myself,it's hard to compare.WP: How was life at

school?BC: I hated school, and dropped out of college. I got picked on a lotin school, and had a lot of trouble making friends.WP: I know the feeling.BC: One thing about school - I always had this attitude that I was inschool to learn, and attempted to do whatever was involved in that process,while school had this attitude that I was there to earn grades, which Icouldn't care less about. Unsurprisingly, my grades weren't very good.WP: That's been true for me as well. I tend to have trouble focusingon anything that I'm not interested in. Do you have this problem?BC: Yes, I'm extremely bad at working on things which seem pointless(uninteresting I can mostly deal with). It's caused problems for me at someworkplaces, particularly when the whole job was to maintain a garbage legacycodebase.WP: So you taught yourself the languages that you know?BC: My father taught me Basic and rudimentary C, I learned everythingelse on my

own, including studying computational complexity on my own.That's more a function of my age than anything else though - back when I wasin school there were hardly any programming classes.WP: How did you meet your wife? [Many of us with Asperger's tend tohave trouble with romantic relationships.]BC: I met my wife because she knew someone I worked withh, I don'twant to go into more detail than that.WP: I understand and that's perfectly fine. How has Asperger'sinfluenced your attempts to find a job [or work at one]?BC: In terms of work I've always had a Bad Attitude in that I won'twork anywhere which requires me to work strict hours or follow a dress code.I don't know if that's an Asperger's thing or not, I think it's just beingreasonable.WP: A lot of us would agree with you on that. Do you have anythingelse you'd like to add [about Asperger's Syndrome in general]?BC: About Asperger's in general, I'd like to comment that I

neverreally identified as having it until I started to learn some basic socialsignaling and realized just how bad my problems had been.It's very frustrating now, because I can remember events in my lifewell enough to be able to realize now what people were thinking at the time,even though I had no idea what was going on back then, but of course there'sno way of going back and explaining it to myself.WP: A lot of people seem to feel that way when they find out later inlife. What do you have the most difficulty with in social situations?BC: There's no single thing which causes problems, it's a generalmissing skill set of being able to read faces, and being able to expressthoughts on one's own face properly (there are other social cues, of course,but in my case I learned starting with the face, and everything else waseasy from there).I still sometimes get tired and just completely lose it. I try to notmake eye contact when

that happens. Fortunately people are very acceptingwhen one seems to 'snap out of it', so if I act weird around someone one daythen reasonably interactive the next they generally figure that I was justtired or distracted or something-- > DO SOMETHING ABOUT AUTISM NOW < --SUBSCRIBE. . . !. . .Read, then Forward the Schafer Autism Report.To Subscribe http://www.SARnet.org/Or mailto:subs@... No Cost!_______________________________________________________* * *PUBLIC HEALTHThe Age of Autism: WitnessBy Dan Olmsted for UPI. Another in a series by UPI on autism.No web link available at press time. Noonan is a family doctor in Lancaster County. When I met himfor lunch last Saturday, he was still in golfing togs from his weekly game-- "Saturdays are my 'I can breathe' day," he says. Even so, he stayed afterour meal to meet a cancer patient who phoned him at

the restaurant.He's energetic, friendly, straightforward -- the kind of doctor peoplewant.People such as the Amish. As a family practitioner, Noonan seespatients of all ages. He combines traditional and alternative medicine in an"integrative" blend to suit the individual. The Amish like that approach --they prefer to see just one doctor for all their care, and their firstresort is herbs and supplements, not prescriptions and pills. For one thing,most don't have insurance.Based on movies like "Witness" and the image of the Amish inhorse-and-buggies, many people -- myself included -- assume they havevirtually no contact with such outside influences as modern medicine.Not so.Noonan has been a doctor in Lancaster County nearly 25 years and abouta third of his patients are Amish, making his Amish practice one of thearea's largest. He has seen "thousands and thousands" of the county's 22,000Amish residents and others who live

nearby.I found him through an Amish-Mennonite mother of an autistic childadopted from China. She told me she has seen almost no autism among theAmish, but that I should talk to Noonan because he has treated so many Amishfor so long.Based on my reporting so far, there is evidence of only three orpossibly four Amish with autism in Lancaster County, where there should bedozens at the 1-in-166 prevalence in society at large. One of them is theadopted Chinese child. Another was described as having "a clear vaccinereaction" at 15 months, after which she became autistic. I have not met thatchild and can't vouch for that description.When I called Noonan three weeks ago, he seemed surprised by myquestion about Amish autism but agreed to think about it, check around andtell me what he found. At lunch, Noonan said he hesitated to offer anopinion when I first called because it had never occurred to him.But now, he said, he realized

something."I have not seen autism with the Amish," Noonan told me. "And I saythat having seen a ton of Amish patients. I may be able to think in allthose years of maybe one case of (Amish) autism I've had.""I've checked with some of my colleagues," he added, "and they alltell me it's very, very sporadic that we'll see a case of autism among theAmish."From 2000 to 2003, Noonan also saw patients at the Wellness Center,which is operated by the Amish and Mennonites. About 90 percent of thosepatients are Amish, Noonan said, and he saw thousands of them. But still hesaw no autism."Absolutely none, in the almost three years I was there. We would haveseen it. It's not something they would hide. They're not like that."Noonan said he sees "a fair amount of mental retardation among theAmish." A significant percentage of people with autism have mentalretardation as well as severe speech and hearing problems. Wouldn't theyshow up on

the radar of those who track and treat such issues? And wouldn'tautistic Amish see Noonan for the same inevitable illnesses and injuriesthat bring the rest of their family to him? I tried various ways to findgaps in Noonan's account. Perhaps autistic Amish children were seeingpediatricians or specialists as opposed to family doctors ..."The Amish don't go to specialists like we do," he responded. "TheAmish go to family docs for all their pediatric care. So at least inLancaster County, where I practice, almost all pediatrics among the Amish isdone by family docs.""You'll find all the other stuff, but we don't find the autism,"Noonan said. "We're right in the heart of Amish country and seeing none. Andthat's just the way it is."In my last column, I said this interview was a tipping point betweenabsence-of-evidence (not finding many autistic Amish) andevidence-of-absence (finding there might not be many).The case is still

open, but does anyone disagree that Dr. Noonan makesa compelling witness? -- (Researcher Pearson contributed to thisstory.) -- This series on the roots and rise of autism aims to beinteractive with readers and will take note of comments, criticism andsuggestions. e-mail: dolmsted@...* * *EVENTSTemple Grandin Believes In Microenterprise & Generating Income For PeopleWith AutismLa Casa Center for Autism on May 22 and May 23, promote positive ideas thatwill help those with autism in the San Diego community develop a satisfyingand productive life.From an organization announcement.San Diego, CA - Temple Grandin, Ph.D is a well-known author (Animalsin Translation, Thinking in Pictures, Developing Talents) and designer ofanimal movement systems. Temple also has autism, and believes that "Work ismore than just a livelihood or a paycheck; it is the key to a satisfying andproductive life. For many

on the autism spectrum, it is the glue that keepsour lives together in an otherwise confusing world. Certainly, my life wouldnot be worth living if I did not have intellectually satisfying work."Temple believes that conferences such as Micro-enterprise: GeneratingIncome being held by La Casa Center for Autism on May 22 and May 23, promotepositive ideas that will help those with autism in the San Diego communitydevelop a satisfying and productive life. "Unfortunately, most children withautism grow up to become unemployed or underemployed adults dependent on thesystem. Micro-enterprise is a way for people with autism to make incomebased on their interests," says La Casa President and local autism expert,Chantal Sicile-Kira. "Micro-enterprise reflects La Casa's mission to fosterthe independent lifestyles of individuals with autism."La Casa is scheduling the same conference on both days and charging aminimal fee to make it affordable

for those who are interested in attending.The 'Micro-enterprise: Generating Income' conferences will inform parentsand support service agencies on the concept of small business ownership forindividuals with autism spectrum disorders. A second conference, scheduledfor the fall of 2005, will assist those individuals with autism who haveexpressed an interest in starting on the road to maximizing their talents togenerate income.La Casa Center for Autism was founded by Farmer of ACES alongwith Chad and Mooney. Chad and have co-chaired the primaryfundraiser, La Casa/Crosby Golf Classic for the past 2 years which has beenparamount in establishing our programs to benefit individuals with autism.To register for the conference or for more information, contact TrishMarshall, Director of Development at (858)759-1852 or emaillacasacfa@.... To learn more about La Casa, please visit our web site

atwww.lacasacenterforautism.com.* * *Autism Group in Australia Highlights Work Integration Difficultieshttp://www.abc.net.au/news/items/200505/1364904.htm?riverinaAEST - Autism advocates are warning the push to get more people withdisabilities into the workplace will be a difficult task.The Government says stricter requirements for the disability pensionwill allow more people who want to work to do so.But Dr Trevor e from Autism Spectrum Australia says only 2 percent of adults with high functioning autism have been successfullyintegrated into work.He says it will take a lot more than pension reform to increase thenumber of disabled people in the workplace."To make that transition into the... workplace they need a great dealof guided, very gradual support. I guess, unfortunately, there's not therecognition from governments of really the high level of funding that isrequired and the high level of

support," he said.* * *TREATMENTDemand for Organic Foods SoaringBy Rick Callahan, Associated Press WriterMon May 9, 1:57 AM EThttp://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/business/11599663.htmDairy cows munch lazily on a grassy hilltop overlooking Traders PointCreamery as 23-year-old Marc Murnane strides into the organic creamery'sstore in search of chocolate milk - lots of it.In short order, he loads 12 one-quart bottles, at $3.50 each, into abox bound for Chicago, where his girlfriend's father is among the growingnumber of Americans who've developed a taste for organic foods."He just loves the chocolate milk - and it really is the best stuffI've ever had," Murnane says, describing the rich blend of sweet milk fromgrass-fed cows, organic sugar and cocoa.The farm northwest of Indianapolis is part of a nationwide move to putorganic foods in consumers' reach.Nationwide, the market for organic foods has soared

from $3.57 billionin 1997 to $10.38 billion in 2003, according to Organic Trade Association.The group predicts sales will reach $14.5 billion by the end of 2005 asAmericans buy everything from radishes to beef grown without conventionalpesticides and fertilizers, biotechnology, antibiotics or growth hormones.Indiana was late to join the organic food movement, which arose in the1960s in response to modern chemical farming, but the state is starting tomake up lost ground, said Cissy Bowman, executive director of IndianaCertified Organic, LLC.As the state's only government-approved organic certifier, she hasgiven the stamp of approval to more than 50 Hoosier organic farms andexpects that to double this year.Herself an organic farmer, Bowman said the organic market hasundergone incredible growth since she began raising organic vegetables 20years ago on six acres near the Hendricks County town of Clayton."Any food you can think

of, you can buy an organic version now. It'snot just that bag of whole wheat flour on the store shelf anymore," shesaid.Traders Point Creamery delivers to about 70 area stores, with weeklyshipments to Chicago-area stores, but demand often outpaces supply,particularly during the winter and summer."The cows can't keep up. We sell pretty much everything we produce,"said Robb, the creamery's manager of business development. Greene, an agricultural economist with the U.S. Department ofAgriculture's Economic Research Service, said the retail market for organicfoods continues to grow about 20 percent each year.Most people buy organic out of health concerns, she said. Some want tosupport environmentally friendly farms, but for others, it's a quest forfood with superior taste and nutrition."Whether the food tastes better or not is kind of subjective, butwhether it's more nutritious is something researchers are just

starting tostudy," Greene said.According to the USDA, certified organic cropland in the United Statesgrew nearly 75 percent between 1997 and 2001, the last year for whichfigures are available, and accounted for more than 2.3 million acres in2001.The USDA found an estimated 4,175 acres of certified organic croplandin Indiana in 2001, but Bowman said the 54 organic farms she's certified inthe state account for only about 2,370 acres.Barbara Haumann, a senior writer with the Organic Trade Association,said there is no clear gauge of the nation's organic agriculture industry."The numbers are quite hazy," she said. "The government just needs to dosome better tracking."Although organic foods can cost two to three times more than theirconventionally raised alternatives, Corinne , a Purdue Universityassistant professor of agricultural economics, said people, herselfincluded, are willing to pay."I like the idea that

right now the organic farmers are being rewardedwith premium prices for their hard work. It's really backbreaking work," shesaid.Traders Point Creamery's 140 acres of pastures are planted with a mixof grasses and meadow plants that make its milk superior to that produced bygrain-fed cows, said Robb.The pastures are enriched with natural compost and by tilling undercover crops. The nutrient-rich droppings from the 60 Brown Swiss dairy cowsalso help green the fields, he said.The fields thrive, Robb said, because they work in concert withnature."The soil is a really a living entity, and chemicals kill all the goodthings in the soil when what we really need to be doing is stimulatingthose," he said.[Thanks to Nanstiel.] === message truncated ===

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