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People talk all the time about autistic people not understanding others but there's also the accursed autistic "saying exactly what you wanna say, straight to the point, very little nuance & then people misinterpret it because they assume there's a hidden nonliteral meaning" phenomenon

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Just picked up my new glasses. I think I'm experiencing depth perception for the first time??

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If you ever hear me breathe deeply it’s not because I’m annoyed it’s because I forget to breathe sometimes

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i got hit by nightmare lightning but im ok

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One of the hunting dog Facebook pages I follow was asking for questions to ask hunting dog trainers in their podcast and I asked:

The science behind dog training has really evolved over the last decade. What are some ways you hope hunting dog training evolves as well, or opposingly, what are some ways you hope it doesn't?

Anyway I've got some thoughts.

I actually have ways I want hunting dog training to evolve, and ways I hope it doesn't!

Please Evolve According to the Science

I want to see way more positive reinforcement foundations in puppies. I don't want to see puppies with an ecollar at 4 months. There are soooo many better ways to work according to the puppy's skill level and maturity and I want, as a group, hunting dog people to move away from use of aversives on puppies.

In a similar vein, I want to see much better emphasis on breeding good skills (eg soft mouth, innate retrieve) instead of using (reliable but outdated) methods like force hold / force fetch. I understand why they're used, but we have access to genetics like never before. We can be breeding stronger retrieve instincts and moving away from needing to force fetch dogs as a baseline.

I want to see more thought behind pairings. I'm tired of seeing two field trial champ dogs thrown together with little thought to structure or temperament, or two beautiful GCH confo dogs with no thought to bird ability. I'm not a golden person but I like the work Windmill Retrievers is doing with their genetic diversity program (caveat that goldens have a huge show/field split so they aren't confo dogs but still solid breeding program).

Please Don't Follow the Current Trends in Training

Most hunting dog homes are maintaining regular and significant exercise and conditioning programs ("creating athletes") instead of doing more quiet enrichment. I hope this never ends. Dogs that actively hunt SHOULD be athletes to maintain their range of motion, strength, and stamina for work in the field.

Starting field and terrain work immediately. Hunting dog puppies typically start training in the field between 8 to 10 weeks during the critical socialization period, despite the risks associated with not being fully vaccinated and having little baby joints made of jello. I love this as this is a risk I ALSO take with my dogs and I feel the benefits largely outweigh the risks.

Anyway this is just my personal thoughts as a random hunting dog enthusiast.

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let's awooo with mama

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i am supposed to have the energy… to do stuff...?

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I took my little brother (autistic, mostly non verbal) out and he was using his voice keyboard to tell me something, and this little boy (maybe 4 or 5?) heard him and asked me "Is he a robot??" I tried to explain to him that no, he isn't a robot, he just communicates differently, but my darling brother was in the background max volume "I am robot I am robot I am robot I am robot"

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"these researchers published a paper on something that literally any of us could have told you 🙄" ok well my supervisors wont let me write something in my thesis unless I can back it up with a citation so maybe it's a good thing that they're amplifying your voice to the scientific community in a way that prevents people from writing off your experiences as annecdotal evidence

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the ptsd is ptsd-ing today :(

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i beat myself up for not knowing enough about my special interests a lot but then i remember the average person off the street has no idea what the carboniferous is and i feel better

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“Anthropomorphization” is a hot button word in dog training circles. Used to condemn inappropriate treatment of pets (think Tricky Woo, the Pekingnese in James Herriot, whose indulgent owner gorges him on fudge and pate), the term “anthropomorphization” is also stretched to encompass what would more accurately be characterized as EMPATHY. 

Any handler has a horror story or five to share about gross misinterpretation of animal behavior, through a solidly-affixed lens of human perspective. After a relatively brief stint in the trenches of the pet industry, I have a melange of eye-rollers I could share, but would prefer to forget. lolol. There’s no denying anthropomorphization is a fixture in popular perceptions of animals. We’ve all heard “if you’re cold, they’re cold”… applied to dogs who are naturally equipped with great dense fur coats and a preference for lower temperatures. Who YEARN from the frozen outdoors. It’s a classic example of applying human characteristics, customs, and idiosyncrasies to dogs - who as a species, have different priorities, interests, and adaptations. 

My objection springs from the inclusion of simple concern for an animal’s feelings, or the idea that that animals might experience pain, discomfort, or enduring emotional fallout, from a specific handling or training choice, under the header of “anthropomorphization.” Regard for an animal’s emotional and physical experience would more accurately be characterized as empathy. 

Anthropomorphization is the inverse of empathy. Anthropomorphization says, “I am going to put you in MY shoes.” Anthropomorphization says, “I am going to imagine how I would experience this situation.” Anthropomorphization says, “I am going to subsume your experience with my own.”

Humans and dogs are undeniably different. We have different desires, different forms of expression, different forms of communication, different behaviors we view as polite and different behaviors we view as rude. As primates we are vision-based, canines are olfactory. Anthropomorphization entails imagining how WE would feel undergoing a specific experience. This is obviously myopic - I wouldn’t enjoy chasing a ball for hours, I don’t fight on sight with squirrels, I have no desire to gnaw on a bone or sniff eons of pee. Yet I can see how those behaviors are important to my dog. I can find a way to connect and relate to those behaviors by acknowledging our different priorities, and imaging how I might feel undergoing a similar experience regarding a priority which may differ with our species in iteration, but is analogous in emotional experience.

That’s empathy. EMPATHY says, “I am going to put myself in YOUR shoes.” Empathy says, “I am going to imagine how YOU are experiencing this situation.” Empathy says, “I am going to strive to be cognizant of the ways in which we differ, and use those variations to find the ways in which we can relate.” Empathy says, “I am going to immerse MYSELF in YOUR perceptions, and the subsequent experience I can deduce.”

Ironically, the backlash against anthropomorphization often leads to people overlooking and disregarding an animal’s true physical and emotional experience every bit as much as “furmommies” and “pet people” strapping their understimulated pet to a stroller. (Really, how meaningfully does that differ from making your dog live its life in a box?) It’s horseshoe theory, with variation on theme. “How sad for those poor dogs, limited and misinterpreted and disregarded,” say Dog EnthusiastsTM re: pet people. “How sad for those poor dogs, limited and misinterpreted and disregarded,” we could also accurately say of many Dog Enthusiasts.

The correct answer to anthropomorphization is not tossing out concern for animals’ feelings, or revoking the concept that dogs experience emotions possibly as deeply and extensively as we do. (As Dr. Patricia Mcconnell says, for all we know, their emotional experience is even greater.) The answer is empathy - trying to view the world through an animal’s eyes.

Empathy is the more difficult answer. It’s more complicated than either anthropomorphization, or viewing dogs as completely alien. Empathizing with animals requires us to ask hard questions. Empathizing with animals requires us to strain our ability to perceive another’s experience. Empathizing requires us to deliberately perceive the manifest as well as the inconspicuous discrepancies between the human and the canine experiences, in order to arrive at our true similarities. 

I think it all lies in the catalysts. It lies in the expressions and so on, too. But my point is, the specific causes of our emotions may vary. But the broader concepts remain very much the same. The mammal brain is the mammal brain.

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disabled people who do not directly "contribute" to society and need large amounts of care and resources to survive deserve not only to survive but to have comfort, stability, and fun within their lives while they do. no compromises.

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i’m gonna hold your hand with a glove on when i say this

when disabled/chronically ill people tell you they can’t do something, then that is not your cue to tell them that they can actually or that they’ll always find an excuse if they’re looking for one.

when a disabled/chronically ill person says they can’t do something, sometimes that doesn’t mean it’s outside the realm of possibility, sometimes it means if they (attempted to) do that, they will seriously hurt themselves.

when a disabled/chronically ill person says they can’t do something, sometimes it’s preventative care, and they refuse to do that thing to prevent a flare up from happening/their symptoms getting worse in the first place.

disabled/chronically ill people are not “looking for excuses”, they are giving you reasons why. something they don’t even have to do! so maybe just accept the reasons they give you.

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I hate how often some (typically abled) people will go “well, if you can’t [get a specific support], then what?” when it comes to disabilities. As if it’s a “gotcha” moment. And then act like you’re exaggerating when you answer that question honestly.

Disabled people often die from a lack of support. A lot of disability aids are not a luxury, but a basic need in order to live.

“Well what happens if—” people die. People hurt themselves. People hurt others. Disabled people don’t magically become abled if our needs aren’t met.

If a bedbound quadriplegic is caught in a housefire, and there’s nobody there to save them, they’ll probably die. They won’t magically become able-bodied out of sheer will.

If a nonspeaking/nonverbal autistic is denied access to alternative methods of communication, they’ll suffer in silence. They won’t spontaneously become capable of speech.

Disabled people are disabled all the time. Our disabilities don’t go away just because they’re inconvenient, or if we’re in danger.

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look I'm a disability studies scholar so I know why people are like this. but. people really do get so pressed about the dumbest shit. why do you care if someone has multiple people in their head? why do you care if someone is existing with a mobility aid in your line of sight? why do you care if someone takes a couple extra seconds to formulate a sentence? even if you don't believe that someone is legitimately disabled (which is bad on its own. but still). what do you lose by just taking people at face value? and what do you gain by living life as an angry little ass all the time?