User:Tdowling

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Hi, my name is Tim. I am a doctoral graduate student in school psychology at Illinois State University, and in my spare time I do research and work at a local Apple store. I currently live in Vernon Hills with my beautiful wife and cute Miniature Schnauzer; before that, I've lived in Normal, Champaign, Mt. Prospect, Des Plaines, and Chicago (all of which are in Illinois). At some point (generally believed to be 2001), I graduated from the University of Illinois with a B.S. in psychology. You can read about all my crazy antics at my web site. And if you're really feeling friendly (or stalker-ish), you can e-mail me there too.

I'm a nut about all aspects of psychology and technology, although a good chunk of my interests lie in the domains of school psychology, autism, education, and Apple Computer. I've dabbled in a few entries on Wikipedia, and from time to time I will find myself with an urge to binge on wording and grammar corrections of pseudo-random (and often not-well-traveled) articles. I think that qualifies me as a geek of some sort.

If for some reason you care to discuss something with me or leave threatening messages, please do so on my talk page.

[edit] Thoughts/Projects

Many people know this, but regardless, I feel compelled to state it here: Wikipedia is not a source, but a resource. It is not a reference book. While many experts work on its articles, there is never a guarantee that what you're reading is the most accurate, complete, and up-to-date information available. What you read on Monday may not be the same thing you read on Tuesday. So take what you read with a grain of salt and verify all facts with other more "official" sources.

My current pet project is the article for autism. It's an important topic and an area of relative expertise for me - and it's a Wikipedia article that is in dire need of help, especially considering how much travel it sees. There is a lot of good information there, but it's often all too obvious that a whole bunch of authors independently worked on it. The cohesiveness and flow just isn't completely there. Right now, I'm moving through it systematically, trying to clean it up, organize it, and fill in holes as needed. Once that is done, I ultimately would like to see it simplified and better-cited. If anyone wants to discuss it with me, feel free to do so on my talk page.