Something Worth Reading

Autism Awareness (Photo credit:
Wikipedia)

I'm supposed to be reacting to a narrative in the Norton Field Guide this week, and I did read the one by Tanya Barrientos, but I want to talk about something else I read this morning, a blog post that was reposted (if that's what you call it) by The Huffington Post.  It's titled "The Target Post," and the author is a guy named Jim Walter.  His daughter is autistic, and he writes about a trip he made to Target where he noticed that the cashier ringing up his stuff was also autistic. 
 
Now, I thought that it was cool that Target hired the guy, but my main interest in the post had to do with what happened when Walter put a comment about this on Target's Facebook page.  According to him, the responses were overwhelmingly positive, but there were the usual Facebook jerks making their usual jerky comments, calling him names (liar, corporate shill, etc.), and this is what struck me.  It struck me because that's why I no longer do Facebook:  too many people -- and I'm talking people who are too cowardly to do this face-to-face -- use Facebook as a weapon, striking at people who are trying to do some good.  It gives bullies a forum, and I got sick of it. 

So, I guess what I want to say is, good for Jim Walter, for taking the time to let Target know what happened, good for Target for hiring the guy, and let's hope that all the 300,000+ likes his Facebook post got make some kind of impression on the jerks who will never get near that number. 

Finally, if you want to do something that translates into real action that can help (rather than just boosting Facebook numbers), go to theautismsite.com, where your click will help provide therapy for children with autism, without costing you anything or getting you on a mailing list or anything else you don't want.

Related articles

• PRISM Autism study (blogs.abc.net.au)
• Audio: Two conversations on autism (pattidudek.typepad.com)
• Tom Murro: RHONJ Star Jacqueline Laurita Shares More About Son's Autism (huffingtonpost.com)
• Seven easy ways to help a family diagnosed with autism (pattidudek.typepad.com)
• "Neurotypical:" For want of a better word. (autismandoughtisms.wordpress.com)