In this episode of The Autistic Culture Podcast, hosts Dr. Angela Kingdon and Matt Lowry, LPP explore the hidden role autistic people play in making Wikipedia what it is today. While the platform thrives on autistic strengths like information organization, data hunger, and special interests, there’s also a darker side: exploitation, harassment, and ableism inside Wikimedia’s culture.

🎧 What You’ll Learn:

• Why Wikipedia is perfectly aligned with autistic traits like pattern-matching, info-dumping, and justice sensitivity.
• How autistic editors contribute to making content more inclusive, accurate, and diverse.
• The autistic approach to “neutrality”: focusing on what is right rather than who is right.
• Reports of harassment and bullying of autistic employees behind the scenes at Wikimedia.
• The story of “Jane,” a former autistic Wikimedia employee whose diagnosis disclosure led to burnout after facing discrimination.
• The dangers of “A-Spectrumers” and functioning labels inside the organization.
• Why donating to local Wikipedia chapter groups (often run by autistics) may be more effective than giving to Wikimedia’s central fundraisers.
• A call to autistic editors: if you have the privilege and capacity, your high edit counts could help shift Wikipedia’s culture for the better—while remembering to protect your mental health.

Resources:

• Wikipedia’s definition of ableism
• How to become a Wikipedia editor
• Wikipedia:WikiProject Autism
• Autism Spectrum Wrongly Described In Wikipedia
• Wikipedia likes us!
• Wikipedia:High-functioning autism and Asperger's editors
• Wikipedians with autism
• Wikipedia accused of bullying former autistic employee with claims of a toxic work culture
• Village pump (miscellaneous)
• Alex St John’s Ideas About Game Development Are Terrifying

Related Episodes:

Industrial Light & Magic is Autistic

Sex is Autistic (Alfred Kinsey episode)

Productivity is Autistic

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