Feel anger towards society for treating us like garbage

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It doesn't matter what avenue of life. We are treated like garbage by neurotypicals and we are blamed for it (victim blaming).

- Peers openly mock us because of our poor social skills or they make fun of our life situation (if you are unemployed, live with your parents, don't drive, etc). Especially on the internet where they feel that anonymity gives them license to be a complete as*hole.

- Whenever we are bullied by others, we are told it's our fault and to "suck it up", "man up", "grow a thicker skin". "Oh did I trigger you?" I really hate that line.

- When we are discriminated against in the work place (the interviewer already rejects us in their mind when they see how socially awkward we are in the interview. And the difficulty of getting a job leads to work history gaps. Which makes interviewers discriminate against us even more). We are told that it is our fault. We just don't work hard enough. That using autism as an excuse is a cop-out, etc. Let's completely ignore the fact that due to automation and outsourcing, the employment rate is down to record levels (maybe not as low as 2009 peak recession levels). And the reason why the unemployment rate improved is because the chronically unemployed are being moved off the unemployment rolls onto the disability rolls (particularly people with chronic back/knee/etc. problems, mental health issues, autism, diabetes, cancer, etc). Or people just plain give up looking for work because they can't get a job and now they are no longer unemployed in the statistics.

- Those of us who manage to get a job are often underpaid (often times due to workplace discrimination against autistic people or a poor economy). And we are told it's our fault. Even though back in the 1960s the minimum wage used to be $21USD/hr adjusted for inflation in 2016 dollars. The price of the basic essentials (housing, food, electricity, gas, health care, tuition, etc.) went up during this period and wages have not kept pace at all and stagnated.

- Women think we are losers because of our social awkwardness or our life situation (being unemployed, having a poor paying job, living with parents, etc.) and mock us.

I also notice that a lot of autistic people on here actually think we deserve the treatment we get because lots of autistic people are self-loathing by nature. Our self-loathing nature doesn't do us any favours. This is why for every autistic guy who has a strong sense of feel wronged by society and seeks retribution (ie. Adam Lanza, Elliot Rodger), there's 100 autists who blow their brains out.

With the way that we are treated by society, why are we shocked that a small minority of autistic adults get thrown over the edge and end up killing a bunch of people? And far, far more of us kill ourselves and no one gives a s**t. Neurotypicals want us to kill ourselves. Good riddance they think. I'm not excusing what Adam Lanza, Elliot Rodger, etc. did but society brought that upon themselves by not doing anything to address our grievances. Just like how I don't excuse what Muslim terrorists have done in France or what some #blacklivesmatter vigilantes have done. Yet society continues to ignore the discrimination that happens to Muslims in the Paris suburb ghettos and continues to ignore the police brutality against unarmed young black males. The difference between us and blacks and Muslims is that we are poorly organized. We have no real advocates. Autism Speaks is BS. It's very frustrating. No one is going to care if we kill ourselves. So sometimes I think "thank God for (the latest autistic mass murderer). That will teach those neurotypical bullies a lesson." Much like how disillusioned Muslim youths may feel "thank God for ISIS" or disillusioned black youth may think "thank God for that cop killer."

I know it's not politically correct to admit this. But I get so angry with this society and we are not allowed to express that anger because "oh anger is dangerous, you're probably going to be the next Elliot Rodger. We need to lock you up. Tee hee hee."

Ive been bullied and ailienated for being autistic but i guess i never really saw it as "NT" vs autistic since its so rare to meet someone who is TRULEY Neurotypical.

However, being a person of colour, im more upset about racism than poor treatment of autistic people. I guess its because i dont know why.

You're justified in feeling anger, but unfortunately we are a subset (autists) of a subset (developmental disorder sufferers, or "differently abled" if this inane euphemism feels any better for you) of a subset (the generally handicapped). We can piss and moan as loud as we can but society will not budge. We are not women, who are 50% of the population, or even the LGBT, who are ~5%. Are we even 0.5%? Doubtful.

We're alone. We're saved from the biggest blows of the hate bat thanks to the fact that laughing at the "differently abled" is tasteless in polite company. Of course, this changes nothing to the stereotypes and preconceptions people have of us as either slightly quirky savants like Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock or homicidal maniacs who are prone to rage like Adam Lanza (which are encouraged by the newfound popularity of autists in media). It merely internalizes them.

I'm also Canadian, so I have access to numerous programs designed to somewhat compensate for my autism as well as tribunals before whom I can drag egregious offenders to be judged according to the application of anti-discrimination laws if I so choose. That's honestly all we can ask for. Women are 50% of the population yet they are also victims of stereotypes and preconceptions. And actually, so are men. And so are blacks, and Asians, and even whites. I suppose humans are wired that way.

I've long since given up. People will be people, and a lot of people are crappy, so yeah, they will think of us in the stereotypes they know of, and those are not always flattering. And even if they don't know that you're neurodiverse, they can smell it on you. They will reject you and hate you and discriminate against you. There is nothing we can do about this. No amount of sensitization or outreach or even civil or criminal penalties will force people to abandon their instinctive fear of the Other, and make no mistake, that is exactly what we are. We're the kids running after the bus but never catching up with it.

At one point it's time to stop running. You know as well as I do, we'll never get inside. And while we run after the bus, we're sticking to its route only, while there are a million roads and forests and fields all around us. As much as we think otherwise, we're not bound to follow that bus for eternity. As I always recommend, it's better to learn to accept that this is what we are and explore one of these neglected streets. This is our cross to bear. It sucks, and it's unfair, but it is what is it.

Anger devours. Disconnection from society (as much as I am able under my life circumstances) is the best solution I have, it's the only way I can think of not to be miserable long-term. I do my own thing and I don't much care if the guys on the bus laugh at me for it, even though now and then I do catch myself wishing them to crash into a ditch. It's always a work in progress.

I always recommend to other autists to look into simple living and off-grid living. If you're able, why not get yourself a small homestead that you power yourself (with solar panels, for example), where you hunt, fish and grow your own food, get your own water, etc? Become self-reliant in order not to have to rely on the NTs for as much as you can. Get yourself a dog for companionship and utility if you like animals. Sounds like the perfect life to me, and it's a goal I'm working towards. But as we're all individuals, this is not a one-size-fits-all thing.

people (mostly...) don't pick on autistics because they're autistic.

people pick on people who do stupid things, or act out, or make themselves "targets", and a typical autistic lack of TOM and social awareness does not help with that.

i do not associate myself with aspies/autists as whole because WP is the only place where i can interact with them, and only recently has this been a sizeable part of my life. recently my best friend is one, but my entire life i have been surrounded by and connected to "NTs" so this "we" stuff doesn't resonate with me.

if you want someone to care about your life when you off yourself (besides your family or whatever), do something with it. this goes for EVERYONE.

*sigh* Yet another thread NT-guilting and blaming society collectively for being an oppressor. Is it really as bad as you may think?

Yeah, I too think that the only answer is for us to simply remove ourselves from society. The problem is, that's quite difficult in today's world. The thing that apparently prodded the Unabomber to start bombing people is that no matter how deep in the forests of Montana he hiked, he found garbage and other indications of the presence of "civilized" humans. He eventually concluded that technological civilization would utterly destroy the planet, and the only option he had was to strike back in the only way that would shake that civilization to its core. And that was in the 70s. Today, if you try to vanish in the forest, you will-at the point of a loaded AK wielded by somebody tending a weed plantation or cooking meth.

Buying a plot of land is extremely expensive, and then you have to avoid the losers in the main town/county seat who have all sorts of crazy rules as to how you should use your land. Even worse, some land subdivisions now have homeowner associations, which are just like the ones in suburbia, full of old ladies with nothing better to do with their time than run your life for you. And then a lot of sellers won't tell you about the HOA so they can shove their white elephant on you. I bought land on ebay I thought was a great deal-until I found out about the HOA. Now I can't get rid of it. So, the greater society would rather just keep twisting that knife, while making it impossible to escape.

I feel a bit of that anger from time to time, but I turn it into positive energy. The anger intensifies during the month of April, because of an organization of Hitler's reincarnations.

Part of internalizing stigmatization is believing all the false s**t said to the stigmatized group.

There have been a whole bunch of mass shooters named as autistic in this thread. Only one, Adam Lanza definitively was. As for the rest, their questionable associations with autism are mostly a media creation. I have put up the appropriate links a number of times and am just not in the mood to do it again. The other questionable idea is that we are only 1 to 2 percent of the population. I have been guilty as anybody of parroting that "fact".

We have every right to be angry. The idea that anger should be stamped out is wrong. It is as legitamite emotion as any other. The question is do we do what comes naturally use that anger destructively, or use it constructively?