Are you going to Autscape 2011?

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So here is a link to Autscape's website:
http://www.autscape.org/

If you have questions about Autscape, then please ask. I am happy to answer.

Theme

The theme for Autscape 2011 is: Owning Autism

Theme Description

Autism Spectrum Conditions (including Aspergers Syndrome) can be officially diagnosed by clinicians. They are examined, thought about, and commented on by academic researchers, journalists and parents. These people contribute to defining what autism means in society. However, autism is experienced from the inside by autistic people.

We want to examine who currently "owns" autism and how ownership is expressed. We invite consideration of the ways autistic people own our condition.

Broad Outline

Each of the main days (Tuesday and Wednesday) follow a similar pattern, morning and afternoon. Two presentations, then a half hour break followed by concurrent discussions of the presentations.

The afternoon sessions, however, will not commence until 15.00. This allows for a leisurely lunch/rest period 12.30-14.00 and opportunities for leisure activities 14.00-15.00.

Evening activities will include entertainment, informal discussions, DVDs, and a chance to relax and chat.

Anytime

There are always opportunities to go for walks, explore the surrounding area, spend time relaxing in the grounds, socialise or play board games.

Autscape fees also include meals and plenty of coffee and tea.

Presentation Types

Lectures

Lectures are scheduled one at a time so anyone can attend without having to choose. They are generally more of the presenter speaking and less interactive than workshops, but each lecture should have an opportunity to ask questions. Don't let the word "lecture" put you off, it's only an explanation of the presentation style, not an indication that it will be long and boring.

Workshops

Workshops are usually more interactive than lectures. They are also usually done in smaller groups. Autscape workshops may be scheduled at the same time as some other activities, so some choices will have to be made. As well as allowing us to have a more varied programme and fewer people in each group, this stimulates discussion outside of the sessions as participants share what they learnt in the sessions they attended.

Structured Discussions

Throughout the conference there will be a number of unstructured and structured discussions. Some of these, including those following main presentations, may be scheduled at the same time as other discussions or activities, so choices may have to be made. Structured discussions have a facilitator who has some information to share on the topic and will help participants each have their say.

Hi, KenG! Apparently indefatigable publicist for Autscape on WP.

As you know I have attended Autscape once, in 2009, and got a 33% discount on the fees because I gave a presentation, but I didn't go last year and I'm not going this year either.

Partly it's the money, and also the journey, ( all the way to the north of England this year too, and to the far west of England in 2010, whereas in 2009 it was held very close to London which significantly reduced both journey time and cost for me, coming from France ), but more than anything else I think it's that although it was "interesting" ( and "agreeable" ), and I met some nice people, it was not interesting enough; it didn't appeal enough to any "special interest" urges/drives of mine despite my giving a presentation on what was my special interest of 17 years at that point, ( nutrition and mental health ... which has oddly enough almost totally evaporated since then, as if exorcised! :lol ).

And it also wasn't particularly "exciting" from a social point of view, and seeing as almost all of my "exciting" social interaction ( now mostly in the distant past ) has been under the influence of lots of alcohol, and/or marijuana, accompanied by music/dancing, etc and Autscape didn't feel like the sort of place/event at which drinking a great deal, or gettting completely stoned, would be appropriate ... ( the sort of noisiness, thoughtlessness, reckless/wild/"irresponsible" etc behaviour which is a frequent by-product of the alcoholic disinhibition which makes "pure"/intense/concentrated socialising "possible" for me being very definitely not welcome because so many people on the spectrum, including my own *undrunk*/sober self, hate noise and like a good night's sleep, etc :lol ), I can't imagine ever being able to pursue that sort of "fun" at Autscape, except as a pissed-off black-sheep/reprobate/truand/rebel who would get in trouble/be banned for it too, and as I am not forced to go to Autscape I can hardly justify going and "being pissed-off enough about it to disturb everyone else"! :lol

It feels as if it falls between two, or in fact several stools to me. Neither "cool", mega-party/festival nor mega special interest event like a games conference, nor healthy sport/walking/nature sensibleness worth it for the invigorating air etc.

Which means that the only special thing about it is that are in company with lots of other people on the spectrum ... which seems ironically completely at odds with why and how most people on the spectrum socialise, ( outside of very small circles of people they already know well ) which is *not* for the *people*, but the interests/activities, ( artistic, musical, culinary, whatever ) or the info/data to be gained, and/or goals which can only be achieved in cooperation with other people ( eg. construction project etc ). ... Pointless somehow.

I would like it to be more interesting, worth going to, but at the moment it feels like a gesture rather than something real and important. ...

That being said, if I could go to it without spending more than £50 or so for the whole thing I might, it is pleasant enough, ie. if I lived close by and could attend a few of the presentations, workshops and one or two meals, and even then I'm not sure why I would.
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PS.

The event in fact feels strangely ( seeing how it is meant for autists ) way too "generalist" to appeal to me.

In fact although I said above that it was "interesting" my memories of it fall into what I would describe as the "dull" category", it didn't grab me, inspire me, fascinate me. It was too safe, too surface, not deep enough nor big and bold enough.

It was very very sensible, with all its well thought-out rules for not disturbing our autist sensitivities etc.

*Too* safe maybe.

I felt as if ( apart from the incredible high involved in the preparation of my presentation and the giving of it, ... a very scary thing for which opportunity I am deeply grateful to the Autscape Committee ), it actually encourages one to cocoon, to retreat, to indulge in one's most risk-avoiding behaviour. ...

Perhaps for people living busy/stressful/high-pressure lives in "AS-hostile" environments/situations in which they perform NT all the time/as much as they can manage it is a welcome haven, a blissful "time-out" in which to reconnect with their autist rhythms and tastes, but if I had not chosen to give a presentation it would have been almost totally boring, the sort of thing I have generally avoidec like the plague.

"Nice" at best.
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Last edited by ouinon on 09 Jun 2011, 1:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Love to but I can't afford airfare to the UK. Plus, I don't have a passport and it's unlikely I'd be able to get one before August. Maybe next year.

I'm still thinking about this, your question, KenG about why so few people ( out of the 40,000 odd members of WP ) reply to or even read threads about Autscape, let alone go to it. It is odd.

I loved our 3-4 day unofficial "European WP" meet-up in Avignon in 2009! It was fun, if exhausting, and quite expensive for most people, but it only eventually attracted 8 or 9 people, and although that was probably just as well because the group would have been unwieldy if much bigger it does perhaps suggest that unless an event is concentrated on something fairly specific ( a special interest or a particularly exciting place or some superb performance art/music etc ) most people on the spectrum don't see much point in hanging out with most other autists for its own sake.

And without an attractive and "exotic"/unusual/interesting place to explore ( eg. Avignon/France ) or a special interest/activity to engage in it seems to me that the very things which Autscape prides itself on, ( its safety, consideration of AS needs and vulnerabilities, space to "be unselfconsciously autist" in, etc ), mean that there's not much reason to go to it unless already know some of the other people, or to simply see what it's like if can afford that sort of experiment, or if own life environment is pretty grim, ( although in that case just three days in Autscape's safe space is hardly likely to make much difference ), or if are on the team organising it or as animator ...

I wonder if in fact that is probably the biggest "draw" for the regulars, and perhaps its greatest gift to others ( like me ) is the opportunity to "act"/participate in ways which otherwise feel/seem or actually *are* completely impossible for many on the spectrum.

If so it would follow that most of the publicity for Autscape needs to be earlier in the year, or even the previous year, and concentrated on that, the space it provides for AS people to do things which are out of their reach, or seem to be, in usual NT surroundings. ...

Perhaps you need to emphasis that although it is no longer possible to offer to do a presentation, ( that part of the programme is complete ) ... people may still propose workshops/discussion groups in some thing they love and are knowledgeable/skilled in, or entertainment ( live musical/artistic/games or recorded collections of film, photos, etc ), for evenings and parts of afternoons, or simply helping with crucial manual/practical matters during the conference, and stress how doing something like that may be liberatory! ... Terrifying but exhilarating, and how this may trigger other changes in one's life afterwards ... as has happened with me ( since giving my presentation at Autscape in 2009 I have taken up the regular practice of yoga, completed a NaNoWriMo, sloughed off at least one gigantic old special interest, and found other new ones, and begun painting again on a regular basis, with an eye to exhibiting at a beautiful local venue where I live ).

I'm just trying to work out what Autscape is "for", what it succeeds at, why one would go to it! :lol


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Well, someone has to do the dirty work
I have been doing it since 2006 and I should have given up on it years ago, but I am so perplexed by WP community's (lack of) attitude towards Autscape (and Autreat), I just feel compelled to continue doing it, to solve this mystery!

Thank you for helping me with this!

I can see why it perplexes you.

On the one hand I understand only too well why it wouldn't interest many people, ( including myself ), and on the other it sounds fairly appealing ( a safe space for a "holiday" with all meals organised and some "entertainment" provided ) and was indeed a "pleasant" experience.



Some more feedback from people who aren't interested/who've never been would be useful ... . :lol
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Remembering how Autscape looked/sounded to me when I first heard of it, ( from your threads! :lol! ) ie. deadly dull, stupefyingly "safe"/"protected", and do-gooderish.

I don't think the name helps, it's so po-faced ( serious sensible etc ) ! I still think that a huge percentage of WP's success is in the name, "wrong planet", and have often thought how bleh the name "autscape" is in comparison.

Who wants to "attend" a *landscape*? It's static. And linguistically, ( or is it phonetically? ), clumsy too, though Autreat is even worse in that respect.

Hypothetically, why would anyone go to it? ... Unless want to "practice" some sort of organisational or presenter/animator or other vol work skill, ( for CV, self generally, etc ), or because it's a chance to meet people who are already friends ( from previous meets ) away from stifling/restrictive/depressing home environments, or "meet other people on the spectrum" but the people most likely to long for the latter are probably among the most isolated because of poor social skills and therefore, ironically/sadly the least likely to dare/manage to go.

The Autscape web-site gives me, at least, the impression that its main goal is to provide a safe/autistic friendly space for people on the spectrum ( and my impression is that it succeeds ) ... ... ... but this seems to me to be a somewhat inappropriate/misplaced goal for something which only lasts 3 days and happens once a year. I could understand that being the goal of an all year round retreat centre for people on the spectrum, which ran courses or "rest/recovery and self-discovery" periods lasting ten days or more like increasing numbers of meditation centres do, some of them for free or very cheaply.

But for a once a year event of just three days it seems to me that Autscape is paradoxically not enough of *an event*, except for people already in the "club" who know each other, have worked on it together for a couple of years already, etc.

It's "cliquey" ( however inadvertently ) ... And I think it may be because its stated goal is not enough to appeal to anyone not already in the long-term group and small numbers of "extras" who come once or twice and then stop, unless they succeed in "joining" the group. For some unstated, and, I fully accept, unwanted reason it comes across as, and functions in, an "exclusive" way.

It doesn't feel like a public event. It feels as if it's for the people running/organising it plus a few guests.

It's a very interesting phenomenon.
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Last edited by ouinon on 12 Jun 2011, 12:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

PS. Ref. my "landscape" and "static" remark:

It's ok that WP is called a "planet" ( relatively "static" ) because it's where a lot of people hang out for quite long periods of time, but calling an *event* a "scape" seems to undermine the very idea of it being "an event", suggests that it is in fact something to come once to look at merely, or perhaps to construct ( like scenery/a stage set ) with other people, but not an event.

Language/names for things, as Martijn's workshop this year is apparently about, does make a big difference to how we perceive and experience things.
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The name "Autscape" stands for "Autistic Escape".
Autscape is an escape into an enchanted autistic space, inhabited by various autistics, many of whom are vibrant, exhilarating, warm, funny, kind and adventurous.
Autscape provides us with a unique opportunity to experience the burgeoning Autistic Culture, with its complexity, charm, mysteriousness and cutting edge philosophies.
For example, today's hot topic of discussion on the autscape-chat mailing list is the production of a "Sparklies Night" - an interactive artistic endeavour, in which all participants who so wish will be manipulating various sparkling objects (luminous powerballs, luminous frisbees, glow sticks, boomerangs etc.) to the creation of a magnificent colourful celebration.
They are even considering having a "Sparklies Night" on every night during Autscape 2011.
This is just a tiny, casual, example of what Autscape is like.

Do you still wonder why would anyone go to it?

I wonder how many people know that, apart from the people who were there when the name was decided on, and a few other relative insiders. Unless the explanation is on their website and I've simply never noticed it. To me the name "autscape" meant "scape" as in landscape"! The word "escape" never once occurred to me.


Agree with this.


I suppose some people might/must think this sounds appealing, :lol but to me it sounds ( not only desperately twee, trivial and inconsequential but ) like yet another attempt to "fill" the three days up, completely uninspiring, and also another example of how Autscape seems to "belong to" and be "for" the people running it, ( which potential role/participation may be one of its biggest gifts to people on the spectrum ) the core regulars, plus a few guests, rather than the wider autistic public.

This connects up though with something that occurred to me since last posting, which is that perhaps the reason why there is so little response to your threads on WP is that most people on WP/WP-regulars are pretty happy with WP, it is satisfying a need for social contact in a way which they really enjoy, and something like Autscape is precisely *not* what they are into, ( if they were they would be less happy with/less often on WP ).

As example: I joined WP in summer 2007 and loved the place/site like a best friend or group of best friends right from the start until sometime in late 2009 ... AND I loathed the sound of Autscape ( every thread you ever posted about it, and the website itself, made it sound completely rebarbative :lol ) and I only eventually went to it because of your talking about a "Glastonbury for Autistics" which you had stopped hoping that Autscape would become, such that a group of us tried to organise a big alternative meet, followed by certain Autscape committee members' rather off-putting/exclusionary reactions to our threads about it in which we thought about using Autscape as a first-base/jumping-off point, ... reactions which triggered a super debate :lol about meet-ups in general etc, and Autscape's role/place among them, ... and then, when all that had rather died down but I was high on the plans for the Avignon meet, ( which did happen ), I noticed that if I gave a presentation at Autscape I would qualify for a significant reduction in the fees.

But I would never have gone to Autscape based on my first, second, third and fourth impressions of it. It sounded so dreary and sensible and parental/schoolish etc.

It was the interaction/exciting debate with Autscape committee members on here in WP, plus my living abroad ( in France ) such that there was also the appeal of seeing England again, and the fees discount when giving a presentation ( which discounts were unfortunately were reduced just the year that I went, so that was not as cheap as I had thought it would be ), etc ... not what it sounded like itself at all, which caused me to go. :lol!


Yes, :lol but wonder if it's simply because the sort of people who love WP simply don't much like Autscape-stye events? That the two are almost mutually exclusive tastes! :lol
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Autscape has a new online shop on Zazzle:
http://www.zazzle.co.uk/autscape

Not necessarily:
First, those of us who do well in society may still want to meet others on the spectrum, to learn from each other and to explore our similarities and differences. Autscape is an excellent opportunity for doing this.
Second, those of us who are the most isolated may still be confident enough and interested enough to seek the company of others on the spectrum. Autscape is an excellent opportunity for doing this.

I am not saying that it isn't a pleasant event, at which I met some very nice and interesting people, just that I didn't find it "grabbed" me particularly.

It was "pleasant"; tiring and slightly stressful at times, boring at others, mildly enjoyable, but not exactly exciting.

If it's not the case that the most frequent posters/regular readers on WP are simply into a different sort of event, prefer online activity in general or more narrowly focussed conferences/special interest groups in real-life, etc, then perhaps it's a matter of "presentation", here on WP and/or on Autscape's website.

I found the Autscape website very unappealing whever I looked at it ( before signing up for it as a result of other factors, at which point my perception of it improved because it was very useful, full of info, etc ) . I don't know exactly what it is about it which seems so "exclusive" on first looking.

But I am wondering whether the reason why I have never found your threads about it on WP enrolling either, have almost always found them seriously uninspiring, ( very "dry" or impersonal or something ) is because your own attitude towards Autscape is ambivalent, ( was in 2009 anyway! ) even frequently critical, whereas when you posted ( on thread and in pm ) about your vision for an "Autistic Glastonbury" the subject/theme "lit up", you were inspiring, motivating, etc. Your enthusiasm for your ( sadly so far unrealised dream/ambition ) made a huge difference to your language use/description of potential meet-ups/AS events.

Perhaps your own dissatisfactions with Autscape subliminally "colour" your presentation of it?