Jason Calacanis and his derogatory use of the term Aspergers

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makuranososhi, i don't see how this is any sort of personal attack and jason calacanis certainly doesn't need to be protected. makuranososhi has been permanently removed as a moderator. I apologize for any confusion he created.

Under your rules, attacks on other individuals are not permitted, whether they are members or not. That is how the rule has been implemented in the two years I have been here, well before I became a moderator, and you have been aware of that fact the entire time. When attacks are made on an individual, there have been issues in the past when these discussions have resulted in other people or groups from other sites have come here and created trouble. At no point did I suggest that their opinions were not valid, but instigating others to attack the individual personally instead of targeting the issue itself is counterproductive, and against the rules that have been routinely enforced.


M.

Nobody has shown me how I have attacked the individual personally. He is using the Aspergers community as a means to his ends. He doesn't care what the repercussions of his actions will be. Just his seed alone can be traced forward to tens of sites in just these few days. I have even seen his word used in the same sentence as Charles Manson. It's viral and will cause far more that a few script kiddies coming over here to pick on people. It will increase harassment of Aspies everywhere that meet up with people of this mindset of understanding. Semantic drift is a dangerous thing.

I don't know how you want to live but I want to live in a world where Aspies and NT's understand each other and work for the common good. It takes so much effort to get together will old friends and tell them I have AS and explain how it effected our friendships. Kind of hard to do when their media filtered heads are popping up "amoral", "untrustworthy". or Axe-Murder as I try to make them understand. "I want them to think "Smart", "kind" and caring. I don't want my kid getting beet up by punks worried about the atrocities Jason Calacanas has attached to the stigma of Aspergers.

Your reactions suit his purposes, not your own. I made the warning, as I have in past, to prevent the discussion from degrading. The thread was not locked, and no individuals were banned or even formally warned. Previously, there had been no issue with doing so - I am still awaiting an explanation of the difference. However, it is apparently cause for your defensiveness and Alex's reaction in this case. I don't want my son teased or abused, but I have better chance influencing his ability to function in the world than controlling the actions of others.

You seek your path, I'll take mine.


M.

I wonder if we should of Don Imus'ed him, like when he made that comment about the Rutgers Women's basketball team?

We, the Autism Spectrum community, need to get to that point of influence.

I guess we'll just disagree then and that's ok. But I still don't see how reactionary is a bad word and I don't see anything inflammatory above. Are you saying that the Autistic community should not react when someone tries to create negative public awareness towards it? That's contrary to how any other mutual interest community works. We live in the communication age and we must communicate our cause or be swept away.

You never complained until I posted the links to Richi Jennings quote of Calacanis'.I don't go around pointing at people without giving it to them directly. I chated with Richi personally and invited him to discuss it here. So I don't know if there is a connection there between you. I'm sorry if it's caused trouble but I am not ashamed of my Aspergers and I will not be kicked around by media moguls looking for ad revenue.

Look at how these readers reacted to this media slur in Sweden. http://www.thelocal.se/26644/20100514/

Go Swedes that how it should be done IMO.

I cautioned against personal attacks; the timing had nothing to do with your addition, but the tone that was developing within the thread of "us vs. them" - which has frequently resulted in members encouraging others to flame and attack the offending individual on their own blog or site, in turn leading to conflict here. There were at least three significant instances in the time I was a moderator here, and there are records of other cases in the archive (I could look through those archives, but it really isn't relevant or necessary for the conversation). However, instead of taking the caution as what it was, the tone immediately became hostile and defensive, leading to the situation as it stands now.

Reactionary isn't a bad word in and of itself; it is when the reaction takes over and blurs focus so that the person instead of the idea is being attacked and addressed. Starting fights with people on the internet is a fool's errand... I prefer to avoid spending the time on an endeavor without an endgoal. And ultimately, those who pursue that sort of personal conflict end up being the ones who suffer as a result, instead of working to address the problem directly. You can't change people, but you can steer them over time - a lesson I've been taught, and agree with... more the Hari Seldon approach than Che Guevara.


M.

Fair enough. But that's something you should address if it happens not because you worry that it might happen. In fact, above I stated that I respect Jason for actually responding to my emails and conversing with me. I also stated that I agree with his position on the problems at Facebook but not with his tactic. So I think I was pretty fair with him. My only problem is his attempt to gain notoriety at the expense of me, my kids and everyone else faced with the same struggles.

I have developed many websites and currently own two forums so I know what it's like to deal with the mood of a forum community. But I also know what happens when a forum is over moderated.

I suppose we will just go on like this forever with this so I am going to stop now. I'll just get back to the topic of this thread and particular forum.

If we don't stand up to this issue, as aspies, than who will?

I feel indifferent to all this. Maybe because I don't care.

His IAS is rather silly.
I kind of know the online behavior he's probably talking about. The anonymity of the internet does allow many people, kids usually, to act out in ways that are totally out of line in reality with no regard for other people. Places like 4chan's /b/ are probably the best examples and I know it's not limited to such places like that either. But comparing their selfish behavior to Aspergers....? I don't know.
If anything, I'd compare this twisted, empathy-less online behavior to pathological sociopathy. It's just misleading to link this online behavior to Aspergers.
I would think this site itself would show how most aspies act online, wouldn't ya think?