David ‘Panda’ Mery

Almost too calm neurodivergent researcher,
bricoleur, productive irritant and flâneur

panfnordda@gizmofnordnaut.net

calm, almost too calm

1. Name of this website.

2. Description of the author when being processed, after an unlawful arrest: ‘RISK ASSESSMENT: D[etained] P[risoner] is calm on arrival, almost too calm’.

3. Title of a chapter in the book Being Autistic.

Current projects

• Research assistant, University of Glasgow, on the project: A society fit for autistics: overcoming the barriers, challenging stereotypes and enabling autistics to take their place in the world. This autistic-led two-year research project is investigating the strategies used by autistic people to understand social situations and other people’s reactions, and to empower themselves; and the barriers to using their strengths and appropriate strategies to participate in decision making, the economy and communities.
• Restarter for the Restart Project, a social enterprise that aims to change our relationship with technology. We encourage and empower people to use their electronics longer by sharing repair and maintenance skills.
• Vice-chair of the Hackney and Tower Hamlets’s Independent Custody Visitor panel, a National Preventative Mechanism statutory scheme. We make unannounced visits to police stations to check on the treatment and welfare of detainees.
• Contributor to AutAngel, a community interest company run by and for autistics.
• Freelance copywriter for a startup company.

Latest writing

Articles selection

Semantical, 'pataphysical, biographical and other occurences

  Check out my calendar of events relevant to UK-based autistics: AutEvents.

  See some of my pictures on Flickr:

A few photographs of pandas:

  Read my c.v. or find me on LinkedIn.

‘gizmonaut’

The name of this web domain – a portmanteau word made from ‘gizmo’ and ‘astronaut’.

The first use of the word ‘gizmonaut’ appears to be in ‘programmers are almost universally gizmonauts’ by Lou Grinzo (Source: EXE Magazine, November 1999) and, with a different spelling, in a book titled The Gismonauts written by Keo Felker Lazarus (Published in 1981 by Modern Curriculum Press; ISBN 0695416073)

A ‘gizmo’ is ‘1. something whose name is either forgotten or not known [syn: dohickey, dojigger, doodad, doohickey, gimmick, gizmo, gubbins, thingamabob, thingumabob, thingmabob, thingamajig, thingumajig, thingmajig, thingummy] 2. a device that is very useful for a particular job [syn: appliance, contraption, contrivance, convenience, gadget, gizmo, widget]’ (Source: WordNet)

‘What we do know about the origin of ‘gizmo’ is that it is a relatively new word -- in fact, if you've been using it all your life you can't be over 50 years old. ‘Gizmo’ seems to have originated in the U.S. Navy during or shortly before World War II, where it was used as an all-purpose synonym for ‘whatchamacallit.’ The postwar return of draftees to the civilian world brought the word into general usage, and postwar authors from Saul Bellow to Max Shulman popularized ‘gizmo’ in the late 1940's and early 1950's.’ (Source: The Word Detective)

Many thanks to everyone visiting this website. It has been developed while listening to Nahmi’s music. The self-portrait at the top of this page is based on a picture of Blow-up by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer exhibited at the Seoul Media City.