• autism
• language

"What is it about autistic people that prompts the trope of the alien? How are autists different from other human beings, in such a way that a gifted autist can feel that living among humans is like living with Martians? How can a gross but effective sound bite create the sense that aliens are snatching our children to make them theirs ? I am of the school that thinks you can learn about X by reflecting on what makes something not-X. What does the metaphor of the alien, insofar as it's connected to autism, show about humanity?" Ian Hacking, ever provocative, reflects. . . . Sometimes I think the only thing I've learned in (nearly) 56 years is how many different ways there are to be human.

• Jim Aune's blog
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