What was like like for an aspie in the middle ages?

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I love history, in particular the middle ages. Other than the obvious disadvantages for people living in the time, for aspies in general how do you think it was even in comparison to NT people of the day? Not that any of us would probably want to go back and live in that time, but I would see some advantages. Back then things were much more routine, you got up did your work (didn't really have to deal with interviews) and so long as you got your work done in a timely fashion that's all that really mattered. Not to mention, even for aspies getting women would be easier. Granted, it would be for all the wrong reasons, but aspie guys wouldn't have to deal with dating so much.

Also, while it's impossible to tell, I wonder if any famous kings and such may have had asperger's (or at least what we would descibe it as)? Do you think it was any more or less common back then? Do you think having asperger's would have been much of a hindrance to being a king/knight and such?

Yeah, this is a rather random idea I came up with, but I found it interesting to think about.

Neanderthalic.

I'm sure for some it would have been terrible, because people would have had no idea why you skeeved them out. And for some it might have been okay, especially common folk who lived before books like the art of the courtier. Social mores weren't super complex back then like they are today, humor wasn't so saturated and complex, everyday activities were pretty routine. I highly doubt that people cared if their shoemaker talked funny or didn't make a lot of eye contact. They were much more interested in just getting a pair of shoes made. Your life, however great or ignominious, was pretty much set out before you and you learned your trade and just did it. A very simple, very oppressive existence.

And you're right, there wouldn't be such a thing as dating. Unless you were a noble out courting, you just brought a few hogs to that other farmer you drink with every Sunday after mass or after the Wilddejaggd and he would give you his daughter. Of course you'd argue like all hell how many hogs that was going to involve, hahahahaha, someone's got to eat at least once every few days.

Considering the general living conditions I don't doubt it would have been pure s**t like it was for everyone else. I mean, if you weren't christian in the middle ages chances are when things got really dicey you would resort to human sacrifice (this was especially true with the norse, swedes, celts, gaels, franks, gauls, brits, and other such bardic and druidic groups). Life was so brutal that your religion was built around explaining why things had to be so hard. Why did your friend get eaten by wolves when he went to take a piss in the middle of the night? Well, that's because Odin was in the middle of the Wild Hunt and he either looked at him funny or he didn't take a bucket with him (it was the custom to take something iron into the woods with you if you left home, to ward off fairies and gods who couldn't stand such man-made material), so he fed you to his hunting hounds.

Last edited by Lukecash12 on 03 Apr 2014, 11:18 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Those who stim regularly would have been considered possessed and likely 'purified' .. .terminally.

Social skills back then were significantly more important for survival than it is today so its possible those with AS did not fare so well.

If they were born in a family with some wealth they could have made a good living as scribes or other repetitive task job. Those could possible have had a much easier time getting married for most marriages in those days were arranged for economic/social position.

I probably would have been burned at stake or some other form of execution for being an abomination.

Even today some people want me dead just because I am different.

Last edited by stabilator on 03 Apr 2014, 11:21 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Back then anyone odd would have been labeled a witch or possessed by demons and would have met their demise. They were very superstitious lot back then and anyone that didn't conform were expelled or eliminated.....

I would fake myself into normalcy. Just like now when I need to. And I would definately eat the moldy bread.

It seems to me that the lot of the Aspie in the Middle Ages was dependent, at least somewhat, on what he did for a living.

If he were low-end freeman, farming and working for the reeve of the manor, he might have done all right, especially pursuing farming pursuits, which took many hours, and involved much solitary work--or at least work which required muscle, rather than complex human interaction. At market time, however, when he would have to have been flexible in negotiations, know how to "play the game," he might not have been done so well. Business was rougher back than than it is now. He would have been conned, thus irritating his bosses.

It would have been perfect if he were the one who wrote up the manorial rolls, kept up the financial records-perfect Aspie pursuits!

If he were an overseer of serfs, he would have been taken advantage of by the serfs, who would have done anything to improve their lot in life. The serfs, most likely, looked for any weakness to exploit. One serf would have befriended him, thus enabling him to find ways to distract him. While distracted, the Aspie overseer would not have seen other serfs steal various manorial properties--such as cattle, grain, farming implements, etc.) The Aspie would not have lasted long in that position and, if had the lord of the manor as a patron, he would have been thrown off the manor and made to fend for himself. He would then have become one of the many people who plied the roads looking for sustenance.

The Aspie would have been perfect as a monk, a scribe, or a worker/farmer in a monastery. Again, he would have not done well if commercial negotiations were necessary. Human interaction was limited; the emphasize was on doing things properly in a spiritual sense, with maintenance of the monastery a close second.

If he were a craftsman, he would have depended on the craft. Those whose emphasize was on fine work would have suited the Aspie more; those which depended upon human interaction would have suited the Aspie less.

If he were in the nobility, unless he was a great scholar, he would have suffered. Think Machiavellian intrigue vis-a-vis Aspies.

For Aspie women, life probably would have been similar in quality to that of NT women. However, she would have had less difficulty with the long, arduous chores.

There's so much more to write--but I have to get some sleep. LOL

Ha, it wasn't the rats that caused the black death after all.

My thinking is that life being so brutal and communal, social skills were probably even more important back then. It was probably a lot harder to live alone or say Hey that noise bothers me, cut it out. You had to work back breaking jobs and nobody cared how sensitive to stimuli you were. I wouldn't mind going back for a visit, but wouldn't want to live there.

I am sooo glad I wasn't born in the Middle Ages. They use to burn people with epilepsy or schizophrenia at the stake, women were treated like sex slaves, and Jewish people were blamed for the bubonic plague. They hardly ever got it because they actually took baths! If I didn't succumb to the plague, I would very likely be accused of witchcraft, tortured and burned at the stake. I'm left-handed, a cat-lover, and believe people should bathe more than once a week. Back then that was three strikes, thou art out. People almost never bathed or even washed their clothes because they thought it was unsanitary. I can't imagine the stench! No wonder there were fleas and rats everywhere.

IF loving cats is wrong, I don't wanna be right!

They probably would have burnt us at the stake. If you weren't an obedient, god-fearing peasant back then, chances are you were either lucky enough to be born into royalty, or (more commonly), you were regarded as a heretic and a threat to the social order.

Now, I dig medieval high-fantasy settings and their aesthetics, and I think it would be really cool to live in a world where dragons and wizards are actually a thing, but I certainly would not have enjoyed living in medieval Europe as it actually was in real life.

Yeah..... I would have been one of those daughters being sold for a fat hog. I don't see the appeal.

What a lot of people don't know is that the middle ages where also the dark ages. Very little of that history was ever recorded. After the fall of the roman empire, knowledge was lost and society was plunged into chaos and everyone was scattered all across the land. For over a 1000 years, paranoia, fear of the unknown, false religion and superstition all rule the land. So yes. having any mental health issues during that time would have been a vary bad thing.

I'd say a million times worst than now.

Autistic? Probably drowned by your parents not long after birth.

Mildly autistic? Probably abused severely.

I'd have to concur with Dill.

Profoundly affected?? DEAD.

Mildly affected?? I figure life either got monastic, or really, really hot (burned alive), hard (stoned to death), or drippy (drowned for a witch).

Just my theory. Because humans suck.