I'm a janitor at an institute for adults who are on the spectrum mostly high functioning adults. One of them sits with me at lunch everyday and I'm told he is very agitated after lunch on my days off. He's never spoken to me. I don't think he speaks very often though he can and the staff does everything possible to get him to express himself. This story reminds me of him.
My daughter is on the spectrum and I drive schoolvusses, sometimes for the special needs kids. They are beyond razor sharp. They see amd hear everything, even if they can't communicate it very well. Some can communicate but have trouble expressing their thoughts. He sounds very much this way. ASD is very often deeply routed to forming routines. And if someone makes you part of their routine, even not seeing you can be distressing. The kids I drive know their route home by heart. If I have to go a block off for construction or whatever they know and for some it can be very distressing.
I was suspecting Gillis was autistic. Not really socializing is one thing, but the real clue to it was how focused he would be on his work all the time, even to the point of ignoring self needs.
@@Wichitan Yeah, that's understandable. It may be slang local to a specific part of the world, or a variation that the author created for the future setting, but "'tist" is intended to be short for "autist" or a person with autism. Gillis is a very accurate portrayal of how some of us are. To the point where I have to wonder if the author based Gillis on a real person in their life. That being said autism manifests in a wide variety of ways. Gillis is only one example, albeit a very good one. You've also got people like Temple Grandon, Tim Burton, and Bill Gates. And then there are those who require high degrees of support and remain non verbal. It really is a diverse condition.
High Functioning Autism used to be referred to as Asperger Syndrome, after Hans Asperger who described the condition in the mid-1940's (I think it was 1944). It's still a handy way to refer to the depth of Autism which does not require constant support. It appears that the condition was practically ignored when a description of it was first published (perhaps that had something to do with WWII going on at the time) and the condition only began to get the attention it needed somewhere around the 1980's.
to me the giveaway was the lack of social cues for communication. no facial expression, and only the occasional display of emotion mostly intentionally to get a point across.
For those who might not have caught it, 'tist is being used as slang for an autist: a person on the autism spectrum. Gillis is on the more stereotypical side of the autism spectrum. Specifically, he's what most would consider low support or high functioning. His portrayal is simultaneously respectful and highly accurate to one of the ways ASD can present itself. It's believable enough that it wouldn't surprise me if this was written based on someone the author knows. However, there's a saying in the Autism community: if you know one person with autism you know one person with autism. The autism spectrum is incredibly diverse in the way it presents even if underlying patterns in behavior may remain. You can find people like Gillis, but there are those of us like myself who are incredibly social, well spoken, and come across as simply eccentric. And there are people who cannot live independently (low functioning/high support). As someone on the spectrum myself, I always appreciate accurate, respectful portrayals of us. While awareness is growing, the old negative stereotypes are hard to dismantle. If the author sees this, let me thank you for sharing this story.
Gillis was indeed based on several people I know, including myself, all of different support/function levels. I wanted to present the human crew as being more neurotypical, but also just being kind of meh about him being autistic, acknowledging that he's different but not really caring. Doing that through alien eyes proved harder than anticipated, though, so I quickly abandoned it. I still wish I would have given it a proper editing pass...
I didn't notice anything that needs editing and I really enjoyed the story. Warmed my heart to hear about an ASD person having a place where they thrive and are just naturally accepted.
4 minutes in as as far as I can see this Gillis guy is almost exactly like me except I wouldn't work through breaks since I can't stand being hungry which is kinda funny
The one that always sitting alone coming over and sitting next to you is the greatest Honor you can recieve
I'm a janitor at an institute for adults who are on the spectrum mostly high functioning adults. One of them sits with me at lunch everyday and I'm told he is very agitated after lunch on my days off. He's never spoken to me. I don't think he speaks very often though he can and the staff does everything possible to get him to express himself. This story reminds me of him.
You are his friend.
My daughter is on the spectrum and I drive schoolvusses, sometimes for the special needs kids. They are beyond razor sharp. They see amd hear everything, even if they can't communicate it very well. Some can communicate but have trouble expressing their thoughts. He sounds very much this way. ASD is very often deeply routed to forming routines. And if someone makes you part of their routine, even not seeing you can be distressing. The kids I drive know their route home by heart. If I have to go a block off for construction or whatever they know and for some it can be very distressing.
"He's like a cat" is an accurate description of some of my favorite people.
SO YOU'RE THE TYPE!!!
I was suspecting Gillis was autistic. Not really socializing is one thing, but the real clue to it was how focused he would be on his work all the time, even to the point of ignoring self needs.
I wasn't sure of the reference to 'tist'. Thanks for clarifying.
@@Wichitan Yeah, that's understandable. It may be slang local to a specific part of the world, or a variation that the author created for the future setting, but "'tist" is intended to be short for "autist" or a person with autism. Gillis is a very accurate portrayal of how some of us are. To the point where I have to wonder if the author based Gillis on a real person in their life.
That being said autism manifests in a wide variety of ways. Gillis is only one example, albeit a very good one. You've also got people like Temple Grandon, Tim Burton, and Bill Gates. And then there are those who require high degrees of support and remain non verbal. It really is a diverse condition.
High Functioning Autism used to be referred to as Asperger Syndrome, after Hans Asperger who described the condition in the mid-1940's (I think it was 1944). It's still a handy way to refer to the depth of Autism which does not require constant support.
It appears that the condition was practically ignored when a description of it was first published (perhaps that had something to do with WWII going on at the time) and the condition only began to get the attention it needed somewhere around the 1980's.
to me the giveaway was the lack of social cues for communication. no facial expression, and only the occasional display of emotion mostly intentionally to get a point across.
For those who might not have caught it, 'tist is being used as slang for an autist: a person on the autism spectrum. Gillis is on the more stereotypical side of the autism spectrum. Specifically, he's what most would consider low support or high functioning. His portrayal is simultaneously respectful and highly accurate to one of the ways ASD can present itself. It's believable enough that it wouldn't surprise me if this was written based on someone the author knows.
However, there's a saying in the Autism community: if you know one person with autism you know one person with autism. The autism spectrum is incredibly diverse in the way it presents even if underlying patterns in behavior may remain. You can find people like Gillis, but there are those of us like myself who are incredibly social, well spoken, and come across as simply eccentric. And there are people who cannot live independently (low functioning/high support).
As someone on the spectrum myself, I always appreciate accurate, respectful portrayals of us. While awareness is growing, the old negative stereotypes are hard to dismantle. If the author sees this, let me thank you for sharing this story.
Gillis was indeed based on several people I know, including myself, all of different support/function levels. I wanted to present the human crew as being more neurotypical, but also just being kind of meh about him being autistic, acknowledging that he's different but not really caring. Doing that through alien eyes proved harder than anticipated, though, so I quickly abandoned it. I still wish I would have given it a proper editing pass...
@@dagoonite Writing is hard to do well. For what it's worth, I quite enjoyed this and thought it was well done.
Damn onion ninjas.
Yeah. 😢 onion ninjas.🥹 Dirty Bastards snuck up and got me too.
🥲 maybe I should get some more light in this room.
Wow wasn't expecting to be moved by this story, well read sir, well written author bravo.
Author here. Thank you for listening. I really wish I would have edited it before posting. Thanks for all the kind words.
It is a great story. Thank you for the great and respectful representation.
I didn't notice anything that needs editing and I really enjoyed the story.
Warmed my heart to hear about an ASD person having a place where they thrive and are just naturally accepted.
Nice work Dagoonite.
4 minutes in as as far as I can see this Gillis guy is almost exactly like me except I wouldn't work through breaks since I can't stand being hungry which is kinda funny
1. one master
2. one apprentice
Damn onion ninjas at it again
Make me get all teary in a public place you evil bastard.
That was damned decent. I enjoyed that
I like this one 10 out of 10 for this one
Thank you both. UKUK
Here too.
second ??
First?
Third?
Fourth?