Update: June 16, 2009
Autism Speaks has me on their email list and I downloaded some pdf files that were
the results of a think tank investigation of the situation regarding autism.
One of the things mentioned was that they record or project a cost generated by
the existence of autism and they are saying $35 billion a year. So I found out
that the US population was 306664000 when I looked at it a few days ago and with
a ratio of 1 to 150 that becomes 2044426 or roughly 2 million auts. $35 billion
and 2 million is about $17500 each per year. $1458 per month. I am not getting my
share.
Another part of the report stated that autistics are considered unemployable.
There was a day when it was possible for an employer to put a sign out front that
says "No coloreds need apply" 1964 was when that era started to end so the people
keep it to theirselves "No wierdos need apply". Unspoken. Unaddressed. Automatic.
Along comes the ADA which has some idea that they would like to make employment
by autistics more accessible and the corporations hire lawyers to thwart any
efforts to get autistics into the workforce. Educate employers about autistics
with the intent that it will sometime become possible for auts to have jobs and
the employer thinks, Oh so that is what is called those people we automatically
exclude and they take the imaginary sign in their heads that says
"No weirdos need apply" and scratch out 'wierdos' and replace it with 'autistics'
Update: December 29, 2008
I took my laptop for a sneak preview at a meeting with a group of friends and
was almost thwarted in my attempt to present something by a new security
person at Schroeder's on
Front Street in San Francisco. Story is in the link
Update: December 5, 2008
Yesterday I animated the reaction coordinate of the norbornene rearrangement
using the graphic images in TIMP
Phil Schwarz
Petition to NIH