Due to how unreliable and inconsistent search engines are at connecting Hudson Valley Aspergers with Aspies of the Round Table on its blog hosted by Google (called ‘blogspot’), this post will hopefully act as a link to get searchers the results they may be looking for (since this blog’s host and software is more efficient than Google’s).
The term Aspies of the Round Table was chosen to reflect the same principle behind the Knights of the Round Table, → ”The table at which they met was created to have no head or foot, representing the equality of all the members.” Even though the term Aspies is used in ART¹ (rather than Auties), those welcome to attend the group extend beyond the narrow category of Asperger’s Syndrome. Anyone on the autism spectrum, including those who fall into the category of Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS),² are included.
Another reason for its name is the option its acronym gives. Those who want to be honest and vague about where they are going when coming to this group, have the option of saying, “I’m going to an ART group.” It may be easier for some to say that rather than, “I’m going to an autism spectrum support group.” Even though support is gained by attending this group, it’s healthier to think of it as being more like a club or friends getting together. People will more likely associate the term Aspies with the noble term Knights. After all, neuro-A-typicals need all the respect they can get.
It appears that ART is the only group in existence for adults on the autism spectrum between New York City and Albany. It was hoped that the url http://hudsonvalleyaspergers.blogspot.com would show up at the top of the list for the search terms “Hudson Valley Aspergers.” Sometimes it gets listed, but most of the time it doesn’t seem to. Sometimes the term “Aspies of the Round Table” doesn’t even yield the result it should, but usually it does. Maybe this post won’t fix the search engine problem, but unless I try, I won’t know.
Another interesting correlation is that Hudson Valley is becoming known as the hub for artists and cultural achievements. What better name then is there for the Aspie culture located in the Hudson Valley region than ART?
¹The majority of this group’s members are Aspies.
²So far, only one group member claims to be in PDD-NOS category.
