AskAnAspie

If you read no other post before emailing us, read this one!

Guidelines for emailing us:

1. Read all the other posts before emailing us. I know, I implied in the title that you only needed to read this one, but I lied. I'm sneaky that way. Seriously, check around to make sure that your question hasn't been answered already. Chances are, it has.
2. Please use conventional spelling, capitalization, grammer, etc. We are likely to reply to "s0 like img wut do u thnk about that nu book lol" with a less than helpful answer. We aren't going to insist that you consult the Oxford English Dictionary, and I'm certainly in no position to critisize anyone else's spelling, but we would consider it a personal favor if you would endulge us and avoid using AIMspeak.
2a. On the same note, PLEASE DON'T USE ALL CAPS FOR THE ENTIRE EMAIL BECAUSE WE TEND TO INTERPRET IT AS YELLING AND IT GETS REALLY REALLY ANNOYING. THERE ARE BOTH UPPERCASE AND LOWERCASE LETTERS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, AND IT WOULD BE A SHAME TO WASTE THEM.
3. Please include a relevant subject line. It makes it really hard to organize the emails when none of them have subject lines.
4. Please let us know whether we may post your question to the website. If you don't tell us otherwise, we'll assume it's ok to post it. If you ever see something posted here which you had not meant for posting, just email us and we'll take it down immediately.
5. Please be specific. "How did you think as a child" is really hard to answer. It's fine to list multiple questions in one email or to have a relatively long questions, as long as you tell us exactly what you want to know. In the same veign, please don't send in rhetorical questions. We can't answer things like "Why is society so intolerent" or "Why can't life be easier". It's fine if you'd like to rant a little, but please either include a question we can actually answer or include a note saying we don't have to answer it.
6. Please do not forward us press releases, and REALLY please don't forward us information about how to support CAN, DAN, or any of the other organizations that don't allow adult austics to speak on their own behalf. Wiley still has a small scar from her last encounter with CAN and she gets grumpy when asked to support them.
6. Please be patient. We get a lot of email, and sometimes it can take a couple of weeks for us to reply to all of it.

So now that you've carefully read those guidelines and taken them to heart, feel free to email us at askanaspie@gmail.com

Our Mission Statement

The mission of AskAnAspie is to build a bridge between the Autism and Autistic communities, to provide a way for parents of children who may have trouble expressing themselves to talk to people who have gone through the same sort of experiences as their child and who see the world in the same way. While Odds & Friends, the organization behind AskAnAspie, is involved in advocacy work and many of its members hold strong views about issues such as ABA and the search for a 'cure', we try our best to keep advocacy separate from our role at AskAnAspie. In trying to explain how we think about ourselves, it may creep in from time to time, but our goal is to ensure that any parent, no matter where they come from in the autism community, feels comfortable bringing their questions to us.

The AskAnAspie FAQ

Q: Should I treat your word as infallible and follow your advice blindly?

A: NO! We are not professionals, we're just college students. We are happy to dispense information about our personal experience and to offer advice based on that experience, but what you do with that advice is completely up to you. Basically: We are not responsible for anything that might happen because of our advice. Don't sue us.

Q: My child has Autism or PDD-NOS, not Asperger's. Can I still email you?

A: Of course. We try to help parents of children across the Spectrum.

Q: Are you a bunch of wild-eyed radicals who go around yelling at people and setting things on fire?

A: Well, I was trying to bake some Challah the other day, but my oven was broken, so I put it in the toaster oven... But that's probably not what you meant. No, we aren't crazy radicals. We certainly have our opinions, but on the whole most of us are moderates, and all of us have put a lot of thought into our opinions. The two firmest rules at AskAnAspie are a) no yelling at people and b) no knee-jerk reactions to anything.

Q: Despite the fact that I am asking this question in English, I don't actually speak it. What languages can panelists answer questions in?

Well, English is really best. All of us are native English speakers. But in a pinch, one or more panelists has a high-school-level proficiancy in Spanish, French, American Sign Language, Latin, and Japanese. And we have friends we can turn to who know Russian and Chinese. But if at all possible, English is really best.

Q: I think the people in my parents' group, some of whom don't go online/speak English/own computers, would be interested in your website. Is it ok if translate/print excerpts?

A: Yes, as long as you credit the website, include the web address, and if it goes online, email us a link.

Q: I really like the idea of those "Celebrate Neurodiversity" shirts. Can I buy them online?

A: We're working on that. If you want to be sure that you'll know when they become available, sign up for our newsletter at http://groups-beta.google.com/group/AskAnAspieSiteNews

Q: I've heard some companies use slave labor to print shirts. Do you guys do that?

A: Well, Wiley does all the screenprinting herself by hand. She doesn't get paid, but we like to think of it more as "volunteer" labor.

Q: Will you come visit our support group / meet my kid / talk at our conference?

A: Yes, within reason. Here are the general "within reason" restrictions:
1) We're all college students, so while some weekday nights may be possible, weekends tend to work better. Also, we tend to disappear for the summer.
2) None of us have cars, so if where you want us to go isn't accessable by public transportation, we would either need to be picked up by someone with a car or reimbursed for taxi fare. And if you want us to go somewhere outside the Chicago area, you're responsible for any transportation/lodging costs.
3) We don't really have enough time to meet everybody one-on-one, so we mostly come meet with groups. This isn't a written-in-stone rule, but if you can get a group of kids and/or parents together, it helps us reach as many people as possible without spending our entire lives on the CTA.
4) One way we raise money to run the site, photocopy brochures, etc. is by selling t-shirts and other random things. If you don't want us to bring our t-shirts to your meeting, please let us know ahead of time. We don't require any sort of speaker's fee, but we would like the opportunity to offer our t-shirts for sale. They're very cool, they say "Celebrate Neurodiversity" on them and they come in a variety of sizes and colors. I don't know why anyone would object to them, but this is fair warning that unless you tell us not to, we will try to sell you t-shirts.