[WikiEN-l] Wikipedia and autism

Tue Oct 11 15:48:21 UTC 2005

In an earlier post, Tony Sidaway advocated an inclusive policy regarding
autistic contributors.

This is a tough issue that many online communities have struggled with.

Autistic people often find themselves facing punitive measures in online
communities because behaviors that result from their autism contravene
community norms or formal community policies.  Debate ensues, as it has
here, over the extent to which the community should forebear from
enforcing its norms and policies where violations stem at least in part
from disability.  In general, there is no satisfactory resolution of
these matters because the principles of civility and inclusiveness are
in conflict and most communities are unwilling to compromise either
principle.

In deciding how to answer this difficult question for Wikipedia
particularly, I believe it is important to bear our mission in mind. 
We are not a socal club.  We are not a service organization.  We are
here to provide a free information resource to the world, and there are
a great number of would-be contributors to that endeavor who we turn
away every day because they are unable to further our goals, because
they lack a sufficient combination of knowledge, writing ability,
reasearch skills, and willingness to compromise.  We should consider
the contributions of autistic contributors in the same critical light
in which we view the contributions of others.

Regarding such stubs as the "Big-eyed bug" and "Bloody-nosed Beetle," we
neither suffer a shortage of such stubs nor a shortage of people who are
willing to create more of them.  Stubs are a resource that is both
abundant and renewable, and it seems unlikely to me that the project
will ever fall short of its goals due to a paucity of stubs.  Our
growth is limited by the number of people who are willing to organize
facts, check references, research questionable assertions, and deal
with community issues.  And an overwillingness on our part to indulge
uncivil contributors will risk alienating this rather more important
group.

Writing skill and an ability to respect group norms are both (in U.S.
regulatory parlance) essential requirements of the job.