The Ethics of Autism: Among Them, but Not of Them

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments Myinterest in philosophy and autismis long-standing. For that reason Ihavemanypeopletothankforthetransformationofthatinterestinto this book. The editorial board and staff at Indiana University Press were enormously helpful. I owe thanks to Anne Clemmer for being available to answer every question. Robert A. Crouch, Miki Bird, and Marvin Keenan put in great time and attention at each editing phase. The book’s design and incorporation of Seth Chwast’s stunning imageswereaccomplishedbeautifullybyJamisonCockerham .Mygreatest thanks at Indiana University Press are reserved for the editorial director, Robert J. Sloan. Valuable insights of the students enrolled in my spring of 2005 graduate seminar on philosophy and autism were incorporated into the first three chapters of this book. Those students are Joseph Bocchicchio , Caemeron Crain, Alexander Cox, Brianna Miller, and David Schrapee. Intellectual assistance from my colleagues in the Philosophy Department at Kent State University was substantial. Each of them was helpful, although a few deserve special mention. Deborah C. Smith’s helpfulsuggestionscontributedtoaclearerpresentationofmaterialin the first chapter, in particular the material on philosophy of language. Linda Williams offered insights that allowed the discussion in the second chapter to take a more cogent turn. Susan Roxburgh, a colleague in the Sociology Department, offered suggestions that improved each “Voices of Autism” section. In addition to these contributions, support from and discussions with the remaining SB’s—my good friends xii • Acknowledgments MarthaCutter,JeffKriedler,RobertTrogdon,andGinaZavota—were innumerable and invaluable. Julie Aultman, my colleague and friend at the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, offered insight, as well as her personal library. KentStateUniversitygrantedmesubstantialtimetocompletethis project, awarding me sabbatical leave in fall of 2005, as well as a Research and Creative Activity Award given by the Division of Research and Graduate Studies in spring 2006. I greatly appreciate Kent State University’s dedication to faculty research. My family, and in particular my father and my sister, have always been remarkably supportive, for which I am very grateful. My husband, colleague, and closest friend, Gene Pendleton, deserves the most thanks for his indefatigable willingness to discuss autism, philosophy, and bioethics during the time I worked on this project. He read every word of this manuscript; his efforts improved myworkineveryaspect.Hisintellectualandemotionalsupportmeans more than I can possibly articulate. This book is dedicated to my brother, Michael, the hardestworking man with the keenest sense of justice that I know. This book would not have existed without him. TheEthicsofAutism Seth Chwast, Six Self-Portraits ...