So....the autism thing
Since April is nearly over and it's autism awareness month, I suppose I should talk a bit about it. I guess the best way to start is to rehash the story of How I Got Here. My oldest was born in 1999. Healthy, happy and so on. One peculiar thing he did as an infant was to avoid eye contact. Our doctor assured us it was because he was so young and his eyesight was undeveloped and he was probably focusing on something in the background that was more interesting. Besides, babies don't recognize faces for a few months after birth. Only later did we find out that our doctor was an idiot. He was 16 mos. old when his little brother was born and he was walking and making wishes known by pulling me or my wife by the hand to whatever he wanted etc. He was fascinated with the wheels on toys. If you gave him a truck he'd turn it over and spin the wheels and smile. Only later would I find out this is a major warning sign. This was our first born and what the hell did I know? ...
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In 1996, I worked on the Republican campaign for Mayor of Wilmington and given the incompetence of the Democratic incumbent, we drew a lot of Democratic support. A top Democrat supporting the incumbent went on the radio badmouthing those who were crossing party lines to support us, especially attacking one person without using his name while making it clear to those in the know who he was talking about. When I spoke to the target of the attacks later, he simply responded, "Eh, I've been called worse by better.:
I think just sheer dismissiveness behind the attitude is what I appreciate.