Asperger's and American society

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I'm not so sure things were so great in the past. I was in junior high school in the mid-late 60's and I remember a society that was utterly cruel to those who were different and didn't fit in. In peoples' minds back then - there was no such thing as dyslexia - they were just stupid. There was no such thing as ADHD - - They were just spoiled and all they needed was to be paddled more. There was no such thing as Asperger's Syndrome - they were just weird. There were no anti-bullying programs in the schools - it was all blame the victim. At least now there is a lot more awareness about these things then there was then.

ON the other hand there was a lot less economic stress for most Americans. There were a lot more jobs available and finding employment was a lot less competitive. It may very well be that although society has gotten more knowledgeable about neurodiversity - competing in the job market in general has gotten a lot harder for almost everyone. Those who have some form of ASD and may be lacking in social skills - are probably having to a cope with this much more competitive job market.

Only Western society has recently been socially competitive? That's cute.

Vast majority of human history has been socially competitive. It's just...human.

I don't have a Facebook account. Facebook can be a scary place. It feels like walking down the hall of my high school.[/quote

Facebook is a complete lie. A fake/sham. It is all a social game invented by N.T's to look the best you can. People use facebook to, pure and simply, act like the best person they can possibly be. Facebook pages are all about 'I am an amazing, cultured, artistic, creative, funny, wonderful person with many friends and family that love care and respect me'. It's narcissist central.

The problem is if you don't have a facebook or look lonely/lame on your facebook, you are unfairly judged.

The OP is right and I definitely agree - society is less and less tolerant towards the socially awkward.

In the past it didn't matter how shy or awkward you were. What mattered was what you could do. It didn't matter if you were 'a little bit of a weirdo' - if you were hardworking, honest, determined, dedicated, helpful, useful, etc. that's all that mattered. Your social skills/how talkative you were had little influence. What mattered was how useful you were, pretty much.

Competition is unnecessary. Growth as individuals and a society can occur without it if we allow ourselves to focus on improvement instead of comparison. We are at a point of needing to chose, unique individuals have the ability to take our society to the next level, however this means letting go of the competition which often holds us back from letting in those capable of creating this change.

Contaminated isn't quite the right word, but there are cultural practices in some countries/cultures in Africa that deal with mental health in a radically different way than the West. I've always attributed these differences to differences in individualist/collectivist cultures, though it's quite possible that this is entangled with the market system as well. I wonder how non-Westernized Asian countries that still have a strong collectivist culture deals with such issues.

In Russia there's still collectivist culture, much alike China or VIetnam has. And this is terrible for Aspie - here if you are not same as others, if you have other interests, other political views, doesn't support official religion - you are outcast even for your family.

I vas living in United States - and this was much better. I wish I could find work there and move away from Russia forever.