OJani wrote:
(numbering is my own)
(1) My eternal question is why people differ in their 'good' intentions. Some folks tend to think of themselves they have all the knowledge to judge over others and themselves, thus often missing the point of their original intentions declared. I think aside from obvious psychopaths (technical term), real-life people constitute a continuum from being extremely altruistic to being extremely selfish/egocentric. My problem is that no matter how I try, I can not see the subtleties of this quality per se (in itself). They are often mixed up with personal traits that include, say, autistic traits too.
Intentions are rarely obvious to anyone, NT or Aspie. Intentions are instead inferred, based on behavior. And behavior is something that is expected. Autism stands out against almost all other un-common cognitive related disorders because people with Autism do not look abnormal or different in any easily observably way. Therefore Autism behavior is not expected to be different from that of the average person. The same behavior by someone with Autism and someone with Down Syndrome will be inferred to be due to different intentions. Unexpected behavior by the person with Down syndrome will be excused by perceived lack of intelligence or knowledge. But unexpected behavior by someone with Autism will be inferred to be of malicious intent.
People expect everyone that looks similar, to act in a similar way, and they are easily frightened when they see someone who doesn't fit that pattern.
Ok, not everybody with AS looks similar to NTs, for example, I look a little bit odd at first sight (I think others may too). But then not by much. I think I tried to tell something else here. I see intentions are tricky to understand or foresee, and autistic people may face misunderstanding.
01 Apr 2011, 1:57 pm
