What would an Aspie planet consist of?

Post Reply New Topic

Imagine, if you will, that there is a planet where 99% of the people are Aspies. What kinds of things would this planet have on it? For me:

- Earplugs and nose plugs available upon request
- Restaurant menus would consist of very basic food options and require the customer to say if they wanted something added to the food, instead of having all these fancy options and having to ask the server to leave things off.
- Fire alarms would be large flashing orange lights that can be seen throughout the building. They would not make any sounds.

This is all I can think of for now, but I'm sure there are millions of other things I could only dream of my planet having.

Cigarette trees

What's a cigarette tree?

For me, a primarily aspie world would have noise ordinances in all major cities, with strict enforcement and fines for those who didn't abide by the rules. This would mean that sports cars and large deisel engines would have to come up with more effective mufflers to dampen the sound to a tolerable level. Only emergency vehicles would be permitted to break the ordinance. Public transport would be far more abundant and accessible, reducing the number of cars on the roads, thereby further reducing air and noise pollution, along with the stress that many autistics experience with driving.

Stores would use natural or yellow incandescant bulbs rather than fluorescents, and would be carpeted, with no music in the background. Self-checkouts would be the mainstream means of payment, with a few employees nearby to help with any technical problems. Employees would be prohibited from asking customers if they needed help, and would have to wait for the customer to approach them. Special laminated cards that indicated when a person needed help would be available for those too uncomfortable to initiate contact directly. Online shopping would also be far more prevalent, and increased postal service expediency would be a reflection of this.

Restaurants would have segregated rooms, with no more than three tables per room, to keep noise down, and complimentary earplugs would be available as needed. Movie theatres and concert venues would play at a more appropriate volume, and "crying baby" policies would be more strictly enforced, requiring parents of disruptive infants to leave the premesis until the child was quiet.

Pets would be allowed in all homes and dwellings such as apartments to facilitate emotional support, as long as they remained quiet and non-disruptive, and building code requirements for apartments and hotels would include a degree of sound-proof insulation in the walls and floors.

Airplanes would have plastic foldable partitions stored under seat cushions with the life vests, which could be unfolded and slid between the armrests of two adjacent seats, affording passengers a degree of privacy and personal space, with a small placard to stick to it, indicating to passing flight attendants whether said passenger wanted refreshements when offered. If they didn't, they would remain undisturbed.

Politics would look very different: there would be little to no fanfare or pandering; the issues would be addressed in a logical and straightforward manner, and philibusters or emotional manipulation would not be tolerated. Citizens would not be allowed to vote until they passed a brief written exam explaining why they intended to vote for their specific candidate. If their reasoning was not based on facts or information about the candidate's platform, they would not be permitted a vote.

If 99% of the population were autistic, it stands to reason that the remaining 1% would be NT, in which case, those individuals would be taught to "fit in" as best they could to our society, much as we are taught currently. There would be NT-specific towns and cites to which NTs would be permitted (but not obligated) to move, if they desired a more social, noisy, or generally more "neurotypical" lifestyle.

Employment would be less concerned with a person's ability to be a "team player", focusing on the actual work produced rather than the means by which the work was completed. Cubicles and open-plan offices would not exist, and all office employees would have their own private office. The break rooms in customer service jobs would be set up like sensory rooms; soft lighting, quiet, with sensory chairs, blankets, swings, trampolines, fidget toys, etc. available as needed. Along with the standard break and lunch available in most retail positions, five to ten minute sensory breaks would be permitted on an as-needed basis within reason for all employees.

That's all I have for now, I'll add more if I come up with anything though. What I wouldn't give for a planet like this.

The rules and laws would be very clear in a "ten commandments tablet" kind of way. In other words, there would be few laws and everyone would know them. Advertisements would also be much more retro looking: just stating the facts and figures and no flashy colours or music. Restaurants would get rid of tipping and just have a set service charge. Of course, it goes without saying that in all likelihood, many things we assume (like nations) would not exist.

Vehicles that make no sound, such as trains, planes, and cars.

Schools that give children extremely specific instructions, in a way they can understand.

Not.

Nothing is more NT than cigarette smoking.

All tobacco users start in highschool/Jr. High school from peer pressure. Dorky aspies who have no friends (thus no peers, thus no peer pressure) dont get hooked on nicotine.Thus tend to be make it into adulthood as nonsmokers.

Actually the "active but odd" type of autistics may start for this reason. They will literally do anything to seem cool and get friends because of their loneliness. I know of multiple in the school I went to who would steal, bunk class, and miss exams just to seem less nerdy and more cool and people took advantage of that and caused them to do more. So if smoking was in, and someone was lonely, they'd smoke just to have something in common or just because they want to look cool, or even because they got told to and will do anything they're told. Autistic people can very easily get used.

Friends are not required for peer pressure, either.

One half of the planet would be loud and glaring, full of hyposensitives, and the other quiet, dim and full of hypersensitives.

Beam me up, StarTrekker!

99% I like your ideas.
I would offer more political freedom though ... methinks your Borg background is showing? * friendly grin *
I'm one of those Q who believes in individualism.

...

The 1% of neurotypicals would be very confused, and would think they were from another planet ...

Why would there be cigarette trees? I HATE cigarettes!
Since most people smoke when they are young and are being pressured by peers, and aspies, in my opinion, have a tendency to be more resistant to peer pressure, there wouldn't be cigarettes at all.

The other night I had a dream that bothered me very much. I dreamed that my mother had started smoking. She hasn't smoked for years and because of her asthma and allergies it would be especially bad for her anyway. In the dream she told me she was doing it because she was feeling stressed out. I said to her, "Well I get stressed out, do you want me to smoke?" that's all I remember.

Anyway, I'm sure clothing would be much different, especially women's clothing. Maybe all clothing would be unisex and have no tags in the back that cause itching and even pain. Women wouldn't be expected to have makeup caked on their face all the time and pantyhose and high heels would not even exist. All our clothing would be comfortable and practical, and we wouldn't be expected to spend our adult lives looking 18 years old and weighing 90 lbs.

And they'd have f*****g POCKETS. f**k fake pockets.

The fire alarms could also say "fire", too.

Hate to say this, but there is a reason we are a tiny minority of the population. I'm not liking our survival chances as a majority, frankly. Without the great majority of humanity which does not think like me, I doubt that most of the comforts of civilization that many of us take for granted would have been developed at all, since large population centers and busy trade routes are where most of scientific, technological and social advances have been made and spread.

That said, I'd have lots and lots of public parks and natural spaces where people were actually fined for making any kind of noise

"Cigarette trees" is a quote from a song called The Big Rocky Candy Mountains, which is all about an imagined Hobo's heaven, where cigarettes grow on trees.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-ftai12IOM

It appears that Asperger's is not one thing, as from what I have read I appear typical of my HF sub type. When I was young I strained to join in, but couldn't, so became a larger than life hero figure who would do virtually anything for notoriety, especially if it was rebellious and preferably disgusting and dangerous. Not conforming to peer group pressure, but besting it in many ways.

Aspies can show either great sensitivity to things or great insensitivity - like physical pain for instance. Thus, as far as my view reaches, an antipathy to cigarettes is as much an aspie quality as an overwhelming love of them, and I do love cigarettes.

Instant Sex Booths!