Acceptance...works both ways.

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Many people here would like to be accepted by neurotypicals and not shunned and ostracized...many want to have an equal place in society and not be considered 'inferior' and stuff like that which there is nothing wrong with....neurotypicals aren't the -only ones so they need to know how to co-exist with people on the autism spectrum or who are neuro-atypical in some other way.

However how can one expect this when they fall victim to the 'autistics are superior' mentality? I mean come on people if our messege is autistics are better and that we wish everyone's brains worked like ours or that we're too 'cool', 'awesome' ect to be neurotypical....how is this supposed to increase acceptance? I mean if we can't accept neurotypicals for being neurotypicals why in the ***** should they accept us for being autistic? Perhaps I am ranting but some of the comments I see around this board really anger me...I am not much of one for the us vs. them mentality it usually doesn't solve things whats wrong with neurodiversity?

I agree. It's not good to further discrimination. For example: "Black Pride" (Afrocentrism) born from the extreme suffering of a long history of oppression. It's a mental shift, a way of looking at your "disability" or "difference" (the same isn't it, really?) in a positive light-- I get that part, It's good to have pride in your abilities, your uniqueness, whatever. Take that pride too far and the superiority complexes begin, when in truth, we're all equals, we're all 'sum of parts' a cumulative creation... no one is better than anyone else for any reason, it's an illusion, it's part of that "hierarchy" that we have so much trouble with.

If we're superior to NTs, that puts us right on top of that whole hierarchy, I guess that's one way to not have to deal with it? Interesting subject, psychology.

I also agree that acceptance goes both ways. I accept NTs the same way I accept people on the spectrum. I treat everyone the same and give all people the same amount of acceptance and respect. If someone thinks they're better than me, it's their loss not to get to know me. I've been working on this since I was in high school. I also admit that my peers weren't angels, either. I've learned to move on from that and I have a few friends who are NT. I've come to see that people change as they get older and that most people are good people, spectrumite or NT.

I accept people no matter their difference. As long as they're not nasty, it's all OK with me.

Sweetleaf, I see everything as undivided and I see where you are coming from, but to me it rather seems that there are more posts criticizing these alleged autism superiority posts than there is something that I would truly categorize as such. A phenomenon can have many sides and there is no need to polarize it by sticking firmly to the end or the other.

If I’d for example state that the autistic population has a higher incidence of absolute or relative pitch than people on average that statement doesn’t simultaneously hold a statement that we are superior and that autism can’t be a disability. Thus there is no need to flood me with counterarguments such as “But autism is a disability! We are not superior! Autism isn’t something positive, it’s a disadvantage!”

I would also contribute many of the positive post to the mental shift Kirayng referred to or to just simply wanting to be encouraging. We also all look at different things and thus see different things. For example there are autistic people who have a strong disability identity and people like me who don’t have it. Still their "troubles" might be the same.

I take this attitude with tongue planted firmly in cheek. On one hand, yes, I am smarter than a lot (most) of the neurotypical people I know, and have a wide base of general knowledge and detailed trivia that might serve me well on a game show, but is essentially useless on a day-to-day basis. On the other hand, I'll never design a Mars Rover or discover a new submolecular particle - hell, I can't even beat my computer chess program at the most basic level. Doh!

I am quite articulate and have a fairly gifted use of language, and probably fool a lot of people into thinking that I'm much smarter than I actually am and I'm okay with that.

But at the same time, I know my limitations and any attitude of superiority is only half serious. I could never really convince myself that I'm some sort of evolutionary "next step" - if nature is going to improve on the species, she's going to have to do a lot better than this.

However, that's not to say I don't find the average neurotypical to be a shallow, brainless twit, because most of them are. It's just a fact.

Prejudice is so distasteful.

People aren't better or worse because of being NT or on the spectrum.

There can be jerks on BOTH sides.

Viewing an entire group of people as somehow "less" just can't be right. It's stereotyping, one of the worst types of bigotry.

If someone claimed that every [insert racial or nationality name] they've ever met, or even "most" have been this or that (as in "brainless", "stupid", whatever) is just plain wrong. Even if most people you've met of a certain group are that way, you just got a bad selection. People are people, and you find good and bad everywhere.

Even viewing people of a certain group as lesser than yourself, no matter the reason, lessens your own worth as a person.

If someone wants to hold such a view and talk about it, they might even cause members of the other group to look down on THEIR group as bigoted. Even as ignorant or stupid.

Humans can treat each other better than that. Positive thinking and giving the benefit of the doubt no matter what is a superior quality.

I strongly agree with the OP and her views about NTs, you see? hehe.

Lots of people come of as shallow brainless twits...but they certainly aren't all neurotypicals...I feel like ignorance is a very large problem but not sure hating people guility of it is the best way to go. And not all neurotypicals are ignorant but a lot of them are, I like to think educating people would help but then maybe it wouldn't....I just don't see myself as superior because it seems pointless.

From my observations:

There are approximately 20 or 30 I hate my autism type posts for every we are awesome type posts lately here. It was different when I joined here August 2013.

In the blogosphere the vast majority Aspies superior/elitist type blogs were from a few years ago. I can not remember seeing a youtube video or blog with a hate my Autism theme, which makes sense

Overwhelming support for the DSM 5 eliminating "Aspergers" with "Aspie" association with elitism cited as important reason here and out there lately. The faking it, using as it excuse as well as "ASS BURGERS reasoning is mostly here. Out there that type of stuff is mostly by bullies on YouTube videos

Hatred and negative stereotyping of "neurotypicals" rampant here, Don't see it much out there.

Last edited by ASPartOfMe on 23 Mar 2014, 1:51 am, edited 3 times in total.

I agree with you 100%. I don't get the Us vs Them attitude.

Off Topic: Are you ok? The reason I ask is that you were away for awhile

Ignorance is more of a cultural sickness than anything. Oftentimes people tend to draw assumptions about humanity in general when really what they are experienced is symptomatic of their local culture. People aren't just "shallow and brainless". They just don't exist in a vacuum and when they are raised a certain way and conditioned a certain way by their environment, they tend to value some things more and other things less.

Because we have certain deficiencies what happens to us is that culture, while it still has a definite affect on the things we value, has less of a foothold. Neurotypical people tend to get programmed by rote into thinking that certain pursuits are pleasurable and others aren't. Thus, they come into their adult lives with a preconceived notion of what is and isn't ultimately rewarding as an activity to pursue and be passionate about. We just so happen to be incapacitated to a degree when it comes to participating in these activities that other people are passionate about in this culture, so we readily recognize the intellectual vacuity of it. People are naturally passionate, and so are we, but because of our symptoms related with ASD we are more readily able to assess these things dispassionately.

So what's happening in this big crazy mess of culture right now is that people are being bombarded with the message that defining one's self as an intellectual and pursuing cerebral and theoretical interests, makes one an arrogant elitist, and the message that it is not emotionally rewarding, not nearly as emotionally rewarding as having stuff, seeming really cool to other people, etc. Everyone really does have the ability to build their own world in their mind and find great solace and pleasure in it, but for whatever reason in spite of how this is one of the most pleasurable and steadily rewarding things for a person to do (as opposed to interests and accomplishments that are based on wind-like fleeting conditionals, e.g. relationships and gizmos and gadgets and other objects that are only interesting and good for a certain amount of time, money that comes and goes and doesn't actually do much for the psyche), they put exceeding stock in less consistent interests. Normally when they do experience what it's like to work on and cultivate an incredibly complex, entertaining, and generally life-enriching world in your own head, people flock towards intellectualism as they see the bigger overall returns.

Just to sum it all up as concisely and clearly as I can: what I really mean by all this is that it isn't necessarily the case that people in general are shallow because they lack in character qualities. Cultivating a strong brain muscle is a discipline and it's rewards aren't readily apparent. It's not so much that they are dumb, as it is that they haven't experienced something and because of that they can't properly appreciate it. The thought hasn't even entered into their minds that this discipline is so intoxicating that literally everyone who really experiences it dives in head first and doesn't look back.

I do not consider myself to ne superior to anyone, including NT's. And I sure as heck don't want anyone else to have a brain as scrambled up as mine. That would be one forked up world.

I agree, there are a number of posts/threads on this forum that could be seen as prejudice towards Nt's, I get insulted on behalf of NT friends and family members.

its upsetting that people who should be more understanding about prejudice can be prejudice themselves

The nationalist "you can do what you want in your region, we control ours" message.