Neurodiversity
23 May 2015, 10:35 am
In the spirit of cooperation and inclusion, the world annually celebrates neurodiversity with Autism Awareness Day. We’re encouraged to “light it up blue.” Last year I saw a picture of a city smothered in blue and thought about how overwhelming it might be to actually be surrounded by all of that light. You know… oversensitivity to sensory stimulation. I joked to myself that I’d find someone in charge and be all “hey can you turn that down a bit.” The entire planet is celebrating a significant part of who I am, and my first thought is how they can make it easier on me.
I’ve since been thinking a lot about how difficult we are to deal with. I’ve always found it unusual that such a thing gets a day to itself. Mothers and fathers get one. Sexual assault gets a whole month. Being quirky and difficult doesn’t hold nearly such significance. I suppose they put up with us because they don’t want to push away the next Einstein. Apparently someone told them that he was an aspie too, an interesting thing to claim in retrospect when at present the cause is still unknown.
I can’t speak for those on the extreme end of the spectrum. I do feel honored to be tapped into their view of the world. I suppose what I’m trying to get at here is that we should make more of an effort to tap into the neurotypical view. A few years ago if someone would have suggested I do that, I would have grumbled on about how sick the world is. Politics and religion and man’s primitive, leftover monkey s**t. What’s been interesting to think on lately is how we’re part of the sickness too.
So should we be proud of our ability to filter out the nonsense and get to the point? Hell yes, but not if it means ignoring our own nonsense. We’re still human which means for all our differences, our souls all want the same thing. We can’t become better, wiser, more productive if all we do is bask in what makes us great. What makes all of us great are the things we have in common. We laugh when something’s funny (assuming we get the joke), we cry when we’re sad, we have the need for love and acceptance. We’re just as vulnerable to pain and the desire to drown it out inappropriately, just as likely to mask it with anger and hatred, and just as willing to redirect that to those that love us the most.
Maybe that’s what they’re celebrating about us.
23 May 2015, 12:51 pm
I’ve since been thinking a lot about how difficult we are to deal with. I’ve always found it unusual that such a thing gets a day to itself. Mothers and fathers get one. Sexual assault gets a whole month. Being quirky and difficult doesn’t hold nearly such significance. I suppose they put up with us because they don’t want to push away the next Einstein. Apparently someone told them that he was an aspie too, an interesting thing to claim in retrospect when at present the cause is still unknown.
I can’t speak for those on the extreme end of the spectrum. I do feel honored to be tapped into their view of the world. I suppose what I’m trying to get at here is that we should make more of an effort to tap into the neurotypical view. A few years ago if someone would have suggested I do that, I would have grumbled on about how sick the world is. Politics and religion and man’s primitive, leftover monkey s**t. What’s been interesting to think on lately is how we’re part of the sickness too.
So should we be proud of our ability to filter out the nonsense and get to the point? Hell yes, but not if it means ignoring our own nonsense. We’re still human which means for all our differences, our souls all want the same thing. We can’t become better, wiser, more productive if all we do is bask in what makes us great. What makes all of us great are the things we have in common. We laugh when something’s funny (assuming we get the joke), we cry when we’re sad, we have the need for love and acceptance. We’re just as vulnerable to pain and the desire to drown it out inappropriately, just as likely to mask it with anger and hatred, and just as willing to redirect that to those that love us the most.
Maybe that’s what they’re celebrating about us.
Being aware is not the same thing as celebrating. Sometimes people want awareness to celebrate other times to warn and create fear as is the case with the organization that is responsible for the day and all the blue lights.
_________________
Diagnosed and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder
DSM IV: Moderate to Severe Asperger Syndrome
"We are convinced, then, that autistic people have their place in the organism of the social community. They fulfill their role well, perhaps better than anyone else could, and we are talking of people who as children had the greatest difficulties and caused untold worries to their care-givers.”
Quote by Hans Asperger during the era of Nazi Eugenics when it was literally a matter of life and death
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