A is for Autistic: a Personal Glossary

By Andrew Coltrin

A newly revised update of Andrew Coltrin's previous personal glossary, "a is for aspergers." This new volume reflects some changes in terminology within the autism and neurodiversity communities. Andrew, also known as Partly Robot, seasons his definitions with personal experiences, opinions, and a bit of humor. 

 

The goal of Partly Robot Industries publications is to approach problems and challenges with curiosity and wonder, rather than fear and outrage. It's not always easy, but constantly getting in arguments is exhausting. This glossary is a tool to give people the vocabulary to have better conversations about autism. In no way is this meant to be the last word on the topic.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partly Robot Industries
• Release date: May 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223895312

Andrew Coltrin

Although he will often deny this at parties, Andrew Coltrin's fiction is not actually based on his own experiences as a time traveler. That line never really gets him anywhere at parties anyway. At various points in his life, Coltrin has worked in bookstores, coffee shops, and special education classrooms. He tends to regard various modes of rail transportation as members of his extended family and owns more manual typewriters than is absolutely necessary. Once upon a time he made zines about being abducted by terribly mundane aliens who forced him to wear polyester and sell tickets at a movie theater. Now he's too busy checking Facebook on his smartphone to play with photocopiers. Which is a shame. I hope he's proud of himself and what he's done to his family.

Book preview

Introduction:

This mini-book, or zine, is an updated version of a is for aspergers. I wrote the original text over six years ago. I’ve grown a lot since then. The whole world has been flipped upside down a few time since then. Some of my old understandings that I based the original text on have changed. The biggest change to my understanding is that the term ‘Asperger’s Syndrome' is a lot more problematic than I used to believe. I explain this further in the glossary proper, and it’s a doozy.

At the same time, the word autistic has been embraced by the #ActuallyAutistic community as the actual best word to describe ourselves. As the lovely pin I purchased from Margaux Wosk’s Retrophiliac etsy store states: Autistic is not a bad word.

So, with that double-whammy, my little useful book needed a new title. And if I was going to give it a new title, I might as well rewrite it.

Of course that seemed like a lot of work. I considered just letting it drop out of print and delist the ebook version. But, those have still been selling, even after six years. People are interested in what I have to say and have found the earlier zine helpful.

So, grudgingly, and even though I have four other projects that I want to work on right now, I finished this project first. And I’m glad I did. But now I have to re-draw the cover, and I really hope that doesn’t take longer than I want it to. But if it does, those other projects can wait a little longer.

Like it’s earlier incarnation, I’ve kept this mini-book organized alphabetically  like a dictionary. I did this for two reasons.

First, I really want to keep it a resource that can be flipped through, skipped around in, and digested through varying interesting paths as may be suitable to the varying neurotypes who encounter it. Like some of my favorite books, it doesn't have to be read straight through to get something meaningful and important out of it.

Secondly, after reading a few biographies of dictionarists and lexicographers, I am convinced that writing a dictionary is, in its very nature, a very autistic thing to do. While it’s not proper to posthumously give a diagnosis without multiple degrees in psychiatry and anthropology, I am almost certain that Samuel Johnson and Noah Webster were of a similar neurotype to myself.

In the process of this rewrite, I’ve also almost completely rewritten the introduction. Except for the next bit. I still stand by every word:

I hope this work is taken for what it is: an honest effort to try to make sense out of a topic that is confusing. Of course, like Samuel Johnson, I have infused my own particular opinions and prejudices into some of my definitions. It may not be professional, but I hope it’s enlightening. And even entertaining. I would not be offended if readers were entertained.

Thank you for taking up this piece of my thoughts.

-a-

ABBA - The Swedish disco-era pop sensation