Aspie ethnogenesis - the formation of the Aspie indentity

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28 May 2011, 10:02 pm

draelynn wrote:

cyberdad wrote:

SyphonFilter wrote:

"Aspergian-American" will never find its way onto the U.S. Census.

LOL! we tried to introduce the Jedi religion at the last Australian census. The then prime minister warned anyone caught putting Jedi under religion would be fined.

That's crazy! Are they allowed to put Scientologist?! Same difference...

Oh, no. There are worlds of difference. The Jedi don't charge you money.

CockneyRebel
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28 May 2011, 10:11 pm

I don't go around WP calling myself an aspie. I go around WP calling myself a Kinks Fan.

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Sweetleaf
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28 May 2011, 10:33 pm

Magneto wrote:

Quote:

Aspie is not a ethnic group...

*sigh* How many times must I point this ought, an ethnic group and a proto-ethnic group, with the potential to become an ethnic group, are not the same thing? Nor does ethnicity have much of a genetic basis; you're thinking races.
.

I actually did not think ethnicity referred to race I thought it referred to people of a certain culture, sometimes a culture existing within a specific race. If ethnicity was the same thing as race there would be no reason for both of those words to exist.

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28 May 2011, 10:35 pm

SyphonFilter wrote:

"Aspergian-American" will never find its way onto the U.S. Census.

I certainly hope not....I think that would make me never want to expose that I have aspergers to anyone.

flamingshorts
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29 May 2011, 12:02 am

Hypothetically, if an isolated population because 100% autistic spectrum how would it be classified? Why is genetic variation relation to skin color and physical appearance a basis for classification but not mental variation? I am caucasian/white/european or do I just have Melanin Deficiency Syndrome.

I think the OP is not wrong in logic, just not likely to happen.

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29 May 2011, 12:06 am

flamingshorts wrote:

Well maybe because your mental state is something totally different then skin color and physical appearance....but I do not think anyone has said that skin color and appearance are the only basis for classification more that the term ethnic does not describe a state of mind.....it describes a group of people belonging to a certain culture, not a group of people with a simular mental condition.

abyssquick
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29 May 2011, 12:27 am

We're all fighting to feel "human." Part of the collective, yet distinguished in our heritage.

Sweetleaf
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29 May 2011, 12:49 am

abyssquick wrote:

We're all fighting to feel "human." Part of the collective, yet distinguished in our heritage.

what heritage exactly, I don't see having aspergers as heritage.......as heritage usually ties in with culture. Also sometimes I really feel like letting my imagination run wild with the whole 'maybe I was dropped off and the baby my mom actually gave birth to is off on some other planet just as confused as I am, because someone wanted to do an experiment to see what sort of psychological effects being raised as a human on earth would have on one of their own and what effects it would have on a human raised in their world) If I actually believed that my life would be so much more intresting. but the point being maybe all of us do not want to feel like part of humanity.

abyssquick
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29 May 2011, 1:03 am

Sweetleaf wrote:

abyssquick wrote:

We're all fighting to feel "human." Part of the collective, yet distinguished in our heritage.

Asperger's isn't heritage, you're right. I really don't think about it much actually. I was speaking generally, I guess. I used to feel like more of an alien to humanity than I do now. Kind of getting comfortable in my skin. I think what occurs to me, is that no matter what I desire to be (or not to be? ha), I am a human creature. I have no desire to part of NT society, for sure, but I have to carve something out or I will dissolve into anger, cynicism, and so on.

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29 May 2011, 1:16 am

abyssquick wrote:

Sweetleaf wrote:

abyssquick wrote:

We're all fighting to feel "human." Part of the collective, yet distinguished in our heritage.

Asperger's isn't heritage, you're right. I really don't think about it much actually. I was speaking generally, I guess. I used to feel like more of an alien to humanity than I do now. Kind of getting comfortable in your skin. I think what occurs to me, is that no matter what I desire to be (or not to be?), I am a human creature. I have no desire to part of NT society, for sure,

By definition humans are basically just a type of animal, so yes though I am human I do not think it makes me special....but it seems like a lot of NT people think humans are superior to other animals and I don't really buy into it. As a child I used to pretend I was a cat because cats made more sense to me then people. but yeah I guess that is one example of something i dislike about NT society.

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29 May 2011, 1:45 am

Sweetleaf wrote:

By definition, yes - I am looking at it now, that's also how I think about it. Eukarya/animalia/chordata/mammalia/primates/hominidae/homo sapiens sapiens - As a technical thing, inescapable, but still just technical. I understand what you say - animals (and especially mammals) have pain sensors, memories, thoughts, emotions, they only process reality differently because of their evolutionary pathway -but they are every bit as vibrant and aware as humans. I'm actually vegetarian, I can't eat meat, I stopped the day I realized this years ago, how alike us they really are. Adequate nutrition can be had without killing these magnificent creatures. --- I myself relate to plants and trees more than to people so I grow all sorts of food.

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29 May 2011, 2:28 am

abyssquick wrote:

Sweetleaf wrote:

well I personally have not gone vegan......I did stop eating most fast food though, but I also would not be that upset if an animal decided I was food, though I try to avoid that...

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29 May 2011, 7:08 am

I was using Ethnicity to mean nation, or people group....

I like the sound of white people having Melanin Deficiency Syndrome

As to Aspergers not being the basis for an ethnic group... what is? Presumably you'd say having a different culture is? What if, then, Aspergers leads to the creation of a separate culture, which was the idea I was getting at in the OP?

MichaelDWhite
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29 May 2011, 7:40 am

After reading this thread I'm pretty sure that Aspergers will not be the basis of a new culture anytime soon. You can't make a culture out of a loosely defined neurological condition. They're already changing the definition for DSM 5 and will surely change it again in DSM 6. Furthermore, there does not appear to be any one characteristic that unites all people with AS, and shared traits and beliefs are essential to the formation of any culture.

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29 May 2011, 8:23 am

Magneto wrote:

I was using Ethnicity to mean nation, or people group....

I understood you. You meant a large group based on culture. Not race. But you must understand, race and ethnicity are so often used interchangeably. Take any standardized test in the U.S. and it will ask you, "what is your race/ethnicity" and your choices are all black/white/hispanic/asian etc. Racial in nature.

Magneto wrote:

What if, then, Aspergers leads to the creation of a separate culture?

I don't think this will ever happen. You certainly will have advocacy communities, like Wrong Planet, where like-minded individuals can hang out and share ideas. Local pockets of Asperger's/Autism support groups may exist. But I don't see there ever being enough cohesion or similarities between all these people to create a separate "culture" in real life. There is too much disparity in terms of geography, language, and the "real culture" practiced by most people in any given place.

Keep in mind, we are talking about a developmental disorder. Not some hip, underground art/music scene, or high-minded philosophical consortium. People with AS/Autism will continue to identify with each other, and support and understand each other, but I don't think they are going to form some distinct cultural identity.

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cyberdad
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29 May 2011, 8:40 am

Sweetleaf wrote:

that does not mean its the basis for a culture or ethnic group(which I still do not think mental disorders are ethnic groups). The fact that people with aspergers have the same mental condition does not mean we are all like minded individuals. Not all NTs are like minded individuals. And I am not intrested in an autistic community, the disorder does not define me there are some things I even like about it but it still does not define me or the type of community I would like to be in.

People in cultures and ethnic groups are hardly like minded individuals either.

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