Notices by Hanno Zulla (hzulla@infosec.exchange)

It's World #Autism Awareness day, so I'm asking you to share some facts:

- Autism isn't rare, it's pretty normal. It's estimated that >1% of the population is affected. You probably know at least one autistic person. (Hi there!)

- Autism isn't more common now than in the past, we just have better diagnostic criteria today. (Your eccentric uncle may have never been diagnosed with it, but maybe he wasn't just eccentric. And that's okay.)

- A society that's more inclusive to the neurodivergent also causes less suffering for the neurotypicals. So be kind to your neighbours, whatever their plight may be, it will make a better world for all of us.

- The popculture trope that autistic people have zero empathy is just wrong. We're bad at interpersonal stuff, yes. But please read up on the "double empathy problem", it's a thing.

- Empathy is not a weakness. Elon Musk is just self-diagnosed. While he checks many of the boxes and may plausibly be on the spectrum, he's abusing the label of autism as a shield against criticism for being an asshole. Surprisingly, being autistic doesn't necessarily make you an asshole.

- RFK jr. and Andrew Wakefield are grifters who got kids killed and are willing to see more killed over their conspiracy theories about vaccines. Fuck them for all eternity.

- If you need a good present for a kid who just got diagnosed with autism or for their relatives to explain what's going on, get the graphic novel "Schattenspringer" or its English translation "The world beyond my shadow" by @Fuchskind - she's an autistic comic artist based in Berlin and her autobiography explains things really well. (Buy books by actual artists!)

Be kind to yourself and those around you. Thanks.

@davidgerard AFAIK the holy grail of household robotics is ironing, folding and sorting your laundry. (I'm not claiming that this is possible for current humanoid robots.)