Zoochat awareness and inclusivity A short foreword Please keep in mind that I have only the best intention. In case this had been handled on here before it may be forgiven since I can struggle to navigate the huge amount of information this forum meant for me. It had happened several times on here that texts of mine were read differently than I had originaly intended. I was not aware of a potential interpretation. Now to reason behind all of that. Short note It is not easy to talk about this publicaly but I think this note is very much needed. Please be kind. My statement does neither imply any negative association with being on the autism spectrum nor a specific social background. I based this post on personal experience and social stigma. It is not easy to talk about autism in general when most people seem to be less familiar with the extent of the disability. Those that I used to come across allways used to react either one way or the other. a. U do not seem autistic b. they treated me differently in a way that implied they associated my disability with limited cognitive comprehension. What my autism meant to me. My brain functioned differently, what translated to a different way of experience and evaluation of my enviorment and my abilities to express myself. What seemed to be common sense for me appeared to be greek to others, what I think might stem from my habit to dive deep into a specific theme and forget thru out the process that this is a rather rare tactic and not all people know what I know at that specific state (hope u know what I mean) I use to built very long sentences, with a lot of subordinate causes, nobody ever seemed to be able to follow. So I tried to adapt my style for Zoochat, cut out a lot, what caused rather a chaos, with two sentences fused together that created no sense any more. My disability also affected my chances for a professiobal career designed for neurotypical people. I wanted to be professional but I d not, yet I d like to be accepted in conversations despite my lack of faniliarity of what might be called scientific culture. My parental home was rather a worker class. Tho they managed to climb the social ladder up a bit educational wise, their language still had a certain imprint. Financialy we were ok, but in general education can cost a bit. My parents cut their personal interests expenses to enable their curious boy books and zoo visits. Most people seemed to associate my social status with a low iq. I do not like to talk about this because i was raised to never brag and i do not intend to mentioning I had to take an iq test when I was tested for autism and the result showed that I was not less inteligent. - not all of us native tongues also different social groups might have slang and it can be hard to not fall back into the dialect or we might not even know how to speak properly - working in science meant an increased level of education and a certain iq none the less all people d be invited to the conversation - some of us do nor have a proper computer, and to write on a phone is much harder, i try my best but olease do npt blame all of it on me - some of us do or might have disabilities may these be geneticaly or product of a mental health issue I d ask politely to remember we do not intend to irritate just because i express myseld differently does not mean i might have a valid idea so please do miss my abilities just because of my difficulties i do know i can be challenging but this inability to adopt can also mean a different view on to all sort of matter
There are a lot of autistic members on this forum, @LARTIS - you might be surprised to know how many! I'm one of them
I'm another one I'm also unable to hold a regular job because of it - I've been offered positions in the past, including with my favorite animal organization, that I've had to turn down. I tend to do really long sentences as well. Even for neurotypical people, it can be difficult to understand intent and meaning of written words. Even coming from us autistics; I tend to seem rather blunt, which can come across as mean or antagonizing, when I'm not trying to be.
Thank you Lartis for your post. It is an important reminder to all of us on Zoochat to be kind. I think that there are a lot of members on this forum that do not post very often, Even though they love zoos, because of past behaviour by other members.
Ok Lartis but I really think you are taking things quite personally when it came to my comments about your writing style and as I said before it was in fact not outright criticism but rather constructive criticism so please try not to take offense at it as it wasn't intended as such. I can of course never fully understand / grasp the way that an autistic person would experience the world because I am not autistic. However, I am not at all neurotypical (far far from it ) and I would be the last person to be discriminatory or prejudice against someone who wasn't, as I've said many times neurodiversity within conservation and science is essential to avoid group think and to improve the field. As I mentioned before in that thread I am dyslexic and when I was younger actually severely dyslexic and so education and higher education has been an uphill struggle and battle for me too for many reasons ( both because of my learning disability and for other reasons too). If I have got anywhere in the world it has not been due to being born with a silver spoon or being an efficient regurgitator of information (or "student" as it is known) but rather putting myself repeatedly in the trenches. Again, I think your threads really posed some interesting questions that could promote very pertinent discussions here on the forum but it just is a little bit hard to understand the writing style thats all.
First of all thanks to @TeaLovingDave , @TinoPup and @kiwimuzz ur reaction made me feel much better No worries, I neither implied anjthing nor attacked anybody Short note I am not allways online so if I d nor respond I am probably just off or feel unable to do so but that is not because of anybody I have never personally experienced any rude comments on here the only time I viewed such a behaviour both parties spoke thenself self afterwards but back to the topic I do not mean adress anybody neither u nor any other party I d have texted u directly and never go behind sombodies back All i intended was to share a thought I had afterwards I struggled once more express myself properly This is nobodies fault I concluded that if I d try to improove my writing style and people d know my difficulties slash background it d become much easier to understand each other and actualy communicate short note please ask if my texts cause any confusion I am aware my words might provoke associations but I d like to be able measured on what I meant and not an implication I think this is forum held probably one of the best social clinate I had ever come upon online I am incredible thankfull I was and am allowed to share my story I intended neither pity nor anjthing but a reminder
Did not quite know where to post this and did not want to create another new thread, but does anybody know a bit about inclusivity in zoological and botanical institutions. Especialy educational experiences that do not require booking a specific tour. Like touching signs, not just braille, but also models.
This has become an important topic in the AZA with a member committee created to promote awareness among zoo professionals and sessions at the annual meeting. The work has been led by some very informed and passionate young professionals who identify as autistic Examples: Meeting the Needs of All Guests Association of Zoos and Aquariums Receives Funding to Support Modeling Zoos and Aquariums as Inclusive Communities of Science
I’d like to make another plea to be kind and remember that this is a diverse community. I really think it should be core to the standards expected of participation on the forum.
It is a challenge. With members ranging from the very young to the rather old, from very immature to overly ripe, members from many nations and many cultures, maintaining a set of behavioral norms (even agreeing on what they would be) requires very hands-on moderating. This forum has benefited from eagle-eyed moderators but there is only so much they can do. Identifying which posts are not kind would challenge any mod.
