Would you move to be near other Aspies?

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I am very disappointed in the computer industry for the following reason:

In 1998, I decided to go back to school and go into computer programming. I decided to pick a horse and I picked C++. And school went well. It really worked very well as a combination of class work and projects on my own. And I felt I learned a lot.

But, when I began looking for a job in the Summer and Fall of 2000, I found that these human resource people are the biggest control nuts in the world. Now, some of it is that we learned console programming rather than GUI programming. And some of it is I think that companies already hired prior to Y2K. But a lot of it was that HR departments seemed to look for very narrow ranges of what they wanted in employees. It was nontechnical people hiring for technical positions. Seeming the only thing they were interested in was years of corporate experience.

It's like my tribe won the keys to the kingdom and then gave it away to the 'popular' tribe.

And I say this even though I'm a more language arts/narrative nerd, and I tried to approach programs as kind of stories with beginnings, middles, and ends.

I’m unemployed so I’m not free to move but even if that wasn’t an issue, or even if I could get a higher paid job there, I wouldn’t move anywhere just to be closer to other aspies; I don’t see the point. Being near my loved ones means infinitely more.

As for communication style (as mentioned recently by OP), I’m a very solitary person. I thrive when I can submerge myself in my interests, I am not looking for friends or even friendly neighbours. As it is I don’t know my neighbours at all, and that’s the way I want it. I want neighbours who never say more than ‘hi’ if anything. I don't need to go to an aspie'er place to achieve that.

I'm not sure if doing this over the internet is really necessary. I.e. Just because we are Aspies who met on WP doesn't necessarily make a good enough reason to move in together. Your neighbors are Aspies... So why do you need to move a great distance to build community?

I'm gay and creating communities in large cities is how we fixed our problems. Though, eventually it was spread back to smaller cities as more positive attention was directed our way. I have no proof but I would say that it had a positive affect on gay's mental health as ostracization went away. I bet social anxiety would lessen as ostracization was lost.

We need to create communities in the big cities and be less spread out. I know power isn't a focus for a lot of Aspies but to be recognized by NT society as not crazy or freaks we are going to have to display power. This is how we'd do it.

They don't allow gay marriage because of personal reasons. Who is to tell what they would do to a community of people who they think are sociopaths? Opinions change frequently in the NT community and there is no telling what they will be tomorrow.

I support gay and lesbian persons having the same rights as everyone else, including the right to marry. Of course I support this. I know what it's like to be excluded for trivial and non-central reasons.

And I think we can learn a lot studying the history of the Gay Rights movement, with the proviso that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgend persons constitute about 10% of the American population, whereas we on the Asperger's-Autism Spectrum constitute about 1%.

I like where I am at quite a lot of aspies in my area!

No

I'm not a sociable person

It is my honest belief that something like this is going to get off the ground sooner or later. If we could resolve the employement issue (by aligning with Pro-Aspie buisnesses), that would a major step forward.

There's an Asperger community within Second Life

While I understand we may have disagreements on this issue, I personally don't believe that online communities have the same impact as offline communities.

I wasn't implying they did

I was just pointing out an example of an Asperger community that happens to be online, within Second life, which is like an online world with its own currency.

I think there would be just as much disharmony within an Asperger community in real life as there is within NT-predominant communities, possibly more

I'm not suggesting an offline Asperger's community or apartment/condo/hotel would have less disharmony than any comparable NT version, but one would think that it would at the very least be more tolerant of sensory, communication, and processing differences.

Also, an offline Aspie building/neighberhood/collection of people living near each other would have the advantage that it would allow for interpersonal networks to help with events, moving, and many of the little things that happen in our day to day lives. It would also allow for Aspie-friendly businesses to easily hire from the surrounding community.

Well I can only think that you are talking from the perspective of an extrovert person with Aspergers, as I do not have 'interpersonal networks' or events occurring in my life.

I have noticed that as discussion forums are for people who want to communicate, the communicators on them are invariably far more extrovert and social than me.

And I can guarantee that any Aspie Community would be extremely cliquey, just as these boards often are, so that I'd just be persona non grata within an aspie community as opposed to an NT one!

plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose

My aplogies if I have offended you in some way. My earlier point was to indicate that it would be easier to have interpersonal networks and/or events if there was a denser offline group of Aspies. One of the major reasons why so many of us are subject to social exclusion and (involutary) isolation is that there are not places that we can go to meet with other Aspies, that so many of us are cut off from the interpersonal networks that help with so many of the so-called "little things" in life.

You haven't offended me, I'm just expressing my opinion

"One of the major reasons why so many of us are subject to social exclusion and (involutary) isolation is that there are not places that we can go to meet with other Aspies, that so many of us are cut off from the interpersonal networks that help with so many of the so-called "little things" in life."

I disagree with this

I set up an Autistic Spectrum support group in my home town and I didn't feel I connected in any significant way with any of the people who attended and they mainly had Asperger's Syndrome, so the problem has not been lack of opportunity to mix with other aspies; it's that I have nothing in common with most of them.

If memory serves, it was my understanding that at least some of the group members were effectively taken there by caregivers, and had little interest in the proceedings. It's been a while since we exchanged posts on the matter.

I would like to take the oppertunity again to thank you for heading that support group, it's more than most on this board have done.

One would expect there to be more interest if someone moved to a given location. If someone did not have such an interest, presumably they would'nt move to be there.

Most went under their own steam and most made me feel they were looking down on me to be quite honest, even though I'd set the group up to try and benefit others.

Some of the parents who attended seemed surprised I was running the group, as if someone like myself couldn't possibly be 'in charge'

I've had this undercutting thing off most people all my life

You can't mitigate for not being the type of person people easily take to

People on the autistic spectrum can be as shallow and up themselves as the NT community

I get this thing whereby it's as if people think I'm ok but not anyone they particularly want to spend time with

I'm not impressive or entertaining enough for most people and most people aren't intelligent enough for me so we are at loggerheads

The group still takes place every month so at least it's still fulfilling a function