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    Galapagos Finches
    Galapagos Finches
    Galapagos Finches
    Ebook66 pages1 hour

    Galapagos Finches

    By Sally Ramsey

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    About this ebook

    Galapagos Finches is a science fiction novella which paints a portrait of a future in which the increase in technology spawns an increase in the prevalence of a subset of the autism spectrum (Aspies), given to extraordinary skills. As those with such skills occupy increasingly higher rungs in the society of the United States, a backlash takes place. It starts in the newly formed Humanity Church and gains government support. Those identified as “less than fully human,” and those who support them, are consigned to settlements with no access to communication or technology. As the availability of technological expertise plummets, the country enters a downward spiral. Those Aspies who have escaped, find refuge in religious enclaves that resist the repression of the dominant church. From there, many find their way to specialized islands where their skills are employed to produce thriving societies, with the isolation required for further evolution.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSally Ramsey
    Release dateNov 17, 2016
    ISBN9781370873159
    Galapagos Finches
    Author

    Sally Ramsey

    Born in New Jersey, Sally Ramsey lived in Manhattan in her teen years and resided in Ohio, Iowa, Minnesota, and Southern California before settling in her present home in Northeast Ohio. As the mother of two grown sons with autism, Sally spent many years as a disabilities activist and advocate. She ran both a support group and a disabilities ministry as well as re-founding her local chapter and serving as president of her state chapter and as national president of the Autism Society of America. Writing has been her special love and a potent refuge, from the moment she was able to hold a pencil. She has published poetry, non-fiction articles, and a special needs cookbook. In her day job as a chemist, Sally is the sole inventor on multiple patents and has received awards for the development of environmentally friendly technologies.

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      Book preview

      Galapagos Finches - Sally Ramsey

      Galapagos Finches

      By Sally Ramsey

      Published by Sally Ramsey at Smashwords

      Copyright 2016 Sally Ramsey

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient, If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your useonly, then please return it to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Chapter One

      Rise and Fall

      The committee demanded names of other members of what they deemed a network of subversives. When I refused, I was tossed in what was called a settlement, but was in fact a prison camp. Surrounded by walls and razor wire, and with the use of electronic devices banned for anyone except the guards, we were completely cut off from the outside world. How did I get there?

      My oldest son Elliott was born in '76, the bicentennial year. His brother Bobby followed in January of '81. By '84 they had both been diagnosed with autism, but at very different levels. At the time, autism was still often thought to be caused by refrigerator mothers. That was something our family, especially my husband's side, was more than willing to believe. They retreated at warp speed. To make things worse, services in that era were limited at best, and our nuclear family struggled along. Things hit bottom in '88 when Morty, my husband died. Our family was not left destitute. My husband was well insured and I had salable skills, but Margaret, Elliott, and Bobby Glenburg were an island of three, and a pretty odd three at that.

      By the time the '90's rolled around, things were beginning to look up. The world had slowly begun to believe that autism wasn't caused by bad parenting after all. Some of the special education teachers in the public school system even knew what they were doing, although there were still some real clunkers. Some people with what were regarded as normal kids, resented the amount of money spent on special education and services, especially if they felt their kids were getting the short shrift, but they didn't feel threatened. The higher functioning like Elliott, those called Aspies for short, seemed a pleasant curiosity. They mostly kept to themselves and were often great with computers. They sometimes produced admirable music and art as well. Now and again they made for good TV or movies, especially when they were the butt of the jokes. The boys and I made it through our days pretty well. I had a job with flexible hours and, through my participation in the choir, our family had become at least loosely integrated into a supportive church.

      But then the autism world began to change again. When Elliott and Bobby had been diagnosed, the incidence of autism had been estimated at 4 in 10,000. It was slowly becoming obvious that was no longer the case. The statistics changed and kept changing. First the experts said 1 in a few 100, then 1 in 68, and the numbers kept rising. Theories mushroomed. Some of those thoughts had been around for decades, but had been barely whispered in public. Some parents felt that autism was somehow the next step in evolution, but most of us believed that their thinking was the product of a long cruise on the foggy river of denial. After all, how could difficulty with language, social ineptitude, and a raft of mystifying behaviors, be a step forward? The idea was crazy. But as time went on, it seemed less and less so.

      Technology was growing even faster than the rate of autism. If too much of a dose of autism genes made one seriously disabled, a smaller dose actually seemed to be an advantage, a vital advantage in the new technological age. Science and mathematics based schools opened for Aspies. Recruiting agencies sprang up to market their engineering skills. Computer and engineering companies went out of their way to hire them. Suddenly virtuosity with electronics was more important than being a great guy to have a beer with. The geeks who spent their time in front of their computer screens were fast becoming the superstars of society and the right level of autism genes had given them their stardom.

      It took a while for the new situation to penetrate the everyday consciousness. The most popular show in the world garnered its ratings by making fun of the smart but weird. It was much easier for a slower populace to remain unaware, if they were kept laughing. After a while the laughter began to fade. The traditional middle class was rocked the most. With the rise of brilliantly engineered robotics, working an assembly line could no longer support a family. Those who couldn't manage the nerdy the set of high tech capabilities required in the new economy, no matter what great people skills they had, would end up in menial jobs --- or worse, no jobs. The butts of the old jokes were having the last laugh --- if they could figure out why the joke was supposed to be funny. Those who had been shoved to the edge of society were now at its center. The NTs, as the traditionally neurologically typical were

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