Tarzan and the Apes: an AS allegory

Post Reply New Topic

What a lovely analogy. Especially as we aspies can neither make nor comprehend analogies, allegories, and metaphors! LOL.

We must define AS for ourselves. We must develop aspie defined culture. We can.

Aspie Independence!

YES!! !

We must define our own culture, like deaf people have done and have gained both respect and recognition!

We have specific communication and behavioral issues that we all share and all easily comprehend. We need to build on our similarities and define our abilities and strengths.

I believe that once we can achieve that we will be able to lobby for acceptance like the deasf people have, and ask accomondations based on respect for our ABILITIES not on 'disabilities.'

What if we create a dynamic group of Aspies called 'Tarzan and the Apes' sit and write down all that culturally define us, and promote this positive evaluation and attitude of our selves.

I know that many will feel it is too much. Maybe it is. It was also too much when the first deaf people took things in their OWN hands and look at them know... They even have their OWN University: www.gallaudet.edu

What if one day there will be an Aspie University, teaching classes in an Aspie fashion and focusing on the way Aspies learn the best?

A dream? Maybe. But dream of the future have their roots in the present. If we do NOT do something now it will also NOT exist in teh future. It is up to us to define now the future will be, how the future will look like.

Star

That still doesn't explain why he was running around in the jungle mostly naked with a 10 year old boy in a loincloth, and seemed to like him (and his chimp) more than Jane...

Because a common symptom of AS is that one behaves 2/3s of ones actual age. So if Tarzan was 24-25 years old then the age that he acted as was about 15-16. I think that explains his friedship with a 10-year old.

Also, many Aspies tend to have friends who are either much older than themselves or much younger than themselves.

I hop ethis answers your inquiry!

Star

Star, I applaud you for saying the exact same message I have been trying to get accross on these forums for a long time, but could not find the words for. Thankyou.

However, this "aspies act a fraction of their age" bs stereotype never really existed until about maybe a year or two ago at the most. Honestly, I think that stereotype is perpetuated by phoney aspies. A truely analytical brain and high IQ are incompatible with childish behavior.
Many NTs percieve us as childish for 2 reasons, 1. theyr intimdated by our intellectual abilities and also do not wish to see us as equals, and 2. like I said, the pretenders perpetuate this stereotype.

Dear snake 321,

Thank you for your comment! I am glad that I could say something that was in your mind. It has happened many times that others here have spoken my thoughts so I am glad I could return the favor.

Also, please, do not confuse 'childish' (= foolish, feeble minded) with 'young minded' (what many also associate with as socially immature) meaning that we (Aspies) do not see age as a factor that determines friendships, social behavior, social status, respect or respectfullness, attitude, etc.

When I say Aspies feel 2/3s of their age I mean we are YOUNG AT HEART, we do not age as fast as NTs because we are not burdened by all the social aspects and stereotypes of age and age-appropriate behavior.

BY NO MEANS DO I MEAN CHILDISH! !! !

I have an IQ above the 135 so I can assure you that I am no fool! I might behave like one sometimes but that is only because I am young at heart and feel ageless!

Star

Ah, thanks for clarifying that lol. I had initially thought you meant "childish", and I was thinking of emo kids jumping on the bandwagon.
Yeah though, the problem is so many aspies are brought up in the NT world, being taught to try to emulate NT behavior in order to fit in, and many aspies forget how to be an aspie. They get so caught up that they literally become part NT in a since. This is how environment can alter behavior, but evolution is a slow proccess.

But yeah, this young-hearted way of being is why NTs won't take us seriously.... Also consider the fact that our current society condemns people for telling the truth or being an individual and thinking outside the box.

No, I didn't say childlike behavior was a bad thing at all. I just stated that it's something NTs use wrongly as an excuse not to take us seriously

You are right child-like and pedofilia have a very thin line definition, and many times these will be confused with the wrong associations and conotations.

It is a world full of stereotypes, that NTs so much need to define their reality while we Aspies are more than happy living WITHOUT them and defining our reality using our superior intelligence LOL

That is why they can't understand why we behave as we do. We do NOT need the boxes, the labels, the social roles to define who we make friends with, whom we like or dislike, whom, we respect or not respect...

We seem confusing and stupid seen from the NT's limited perspective and point of view.

That is why I so strongly feel about creating an 'Aspie Culture'. We need to define our own 'boxes' or better the LACK or NEED for them in our Aspie society.

Star

Nicely put star, we do need to create our own culture, and some steps have been taken. However, we also need prooven aspie doctors to diagnose aspies, so we'll know who'se real and who isn't. This will weed out the emo aspie-wannabes from stealing or hijacking our culture. It doesn't have to be an official legal diagnosis, just a piece of paper that tells Aspergians that john doe was evaluated and tested to be an aspie.

Yes, I agree with you there.

Aspie doctors diagnosing and treating Aspie kids, Aspie teachers teaching Aspies, Aspie employers and Aspie employees. That is the world I dream of and I think it will be reality one day not in a very far future...

Star

Very well stated Star, and yes, your analogies and forward thinking and reasoning, I find to be very comforting. I'm presently in the slump that follows the elation. After reading your posts I think I have been motivated out of my slump and beginning to feel re-elated with the knowledge that I am Aspie.

As Star has helped me to point out here, I think autism is merely evolution in progress. NTs (not saying this to be offensive) generally have VERY limited theoretical compacity. They rely on labels, trends, group behaviors, to tell them how to act. That generally limits their perceptions, which complicates things.
Intelligence and morality are both a part of evolution, because the goal of evolution is for a species to adopt to it's environment and find happiness. Morality because, if you harm an innocent being, it will retaliate, and that's what we have now with NTs, it's like a chain reaction. So to find happiness we must all learn to get along and live in harmony. This is where the "nice guy" comes in.
Evolution struggles to adopt to the world dominated by the old breed (in this case NTs), thereby finding innovative and more productive ways to get things done (such as when man first made a round wheel), as they outsiders looking in and will learn from the mistakes of the insiders of their day and age (if this is making any since.... I'm struggling with my words trying to explain this so bear with me).
Intelligence means making better decisions, which ultimately leads to better adoptation and happiness.
Now, consider the following factors. NTs are designed genetically to live in a far less modern world, where they were hunters and gatherers, living out of caves. However, we're living in an age where modernization has far surpassed their evolutionary point. A good portion of people working in IT and even the guy who created the net (bill gates) are aspie. Silicon Valley.
We're moving into a computer age now. Everything is being done on computer. Add also that aspies are larger brained than NTs (which has always been the case, the new breed has a larger brain than the old breed). Also consider that much of modern science wouldn't be here if it weren't for 2 aspies, Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton. Plus the ever-rising autistic birth rate. And also being a spectrum disorder support my theory of evolution.