Making us conform!

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I am angry with society for making people like myself with autism conform.

I really want to step up to the people in charge and tell them that making ASD people conform is pointless.

Anything I can do?

They are out of luck with me, I can't conform even if i try....but I agree there are better approaches like helping one learn to live as effectively as possible with the autism and how to cope with some of the more unpleasant things like sensory issues..rather then trying to make them act 'normal' on the outside and having the goal of their treatment be to make them 'normal'.

The question I must beg to you is what can I do to make a difference? I take inspiration from William Wallace in brave heart how he lead the Scottish to freedom/independence from the English. I want to be the person that frees the autistic people/disability population from the evil neurotypicals

Jamesy - I totally understand your feelings, but try to imagine a world where is no conformity at all (from anyone). And then take heart from the theory that many of the great forward leaps in human civilisation were made possible by the neuro-diversity of the individuals involved.

I really don't know of a proper solution...but I do know this current society is not working in a lot of ways. But its not just autistics they try to make conform, its everyone in general and some neurotypicals are decent people but even still society is built to cater to them and some are ignorant on how difficult things can be for people with autism or other conditions that interfere with 'normal' functioning. But yeah I don't really know what to do about it or how to change things.

Better public understanding is key. Neurotypicals aren't "evil", but a lack of understanding can cause alot of evil things to happen to autistic people. The ignorance of many neurotypicals around autism either causes the pro-cure culture evident in Autism Speaks or sheer denial of the condition which is shown by people like Michael Savage or various corners of the internet.

I've known student groups who give presentations to explain more about Autism is and the social issues around it.

And while I admire your passion, I would like to say that I find Mel Gibson's films to be full of Anglophobic BS.

Better public understanding is key. Neurotypicals aren't "evil", but a lack of understanding can cause alot of evil things to happen to autistic people. The ignorance of many neurotypicals around autism either causes the pro-cure culture evident in Autism Speaks or sheer denial of the condition which is shown by people like Michael Savage or various corners of the internet.

I've known student groups who give presentations to explain more about Autism is and the social issues around it.

And while I admire your passion, I would like to say that I find Mel Gibson's films to be full of Anglophobic BS.[/quote

Anglophobic? I don't quite get that.

"Anglophobic? I don't quite get that"

Alex Salmond is the new William Wallace, and later this year the Scots are going to have a referendum about breaking away from the UK (for UK, read England).

Luckily for Alex, the Tower of London is now a tourist attraction rather than a place of torture and death!

Freedom is a very hard concept to define, and the freedom to choose not to conform is part of the debate.

I often wonder about why so many individuals and explorers in history were prepared to venture so far into the unknown. Were they mad? Or were they on the Spectrum?

When NASA selects people to send into Space, are they looking for the ability to conform? Or is non-conformity essential?

An acquaintance of mine was once asked to give a reference for a college friend who had applied to join the British Antarctic Survey, which would involve spending a year or more at the South Pole. One of the questions was 'does the applicant show any signs of mental instability?' - my acquaintance replied "until now, no".

Non conformity does not have mean waging war or being rebellious. You can be non conformist and still be understanding, polite, caring and even agreeable.

Being non conformist can manifest in a peaceful way. It just means not going along with the crowd. Why always take it to be violent or destructive or negative or about being rebellious.

Sometimes it just means wanting the rights to be an individual and to be oneself. You don't have to go off the rails and start the next world war or be rude or aggressive towards people. Or even ignorant of them or their needs.

I agree with this, everyone has to make compromises.


Personally I don't get why anyone would venture into the completely unknown. I would think you need a good dose of ADHD for that. Or some other condition that reduces fear and increases impulsivity.

All of his historical movies have warped history to show the English as horrible nasties. Some of the historical inaccuracies look just like Holywood ignoring facts for the plot's sake (for example, Isabella of France was nine years old at the time of Wallace's death.) And where as others seem to be going out of their way to make the opposing side (which always seems to be the English, despite the fact that Scottish people took part in the American war for Independence) to be as dislikeable as possible. I could go on but it'll turn into a thread-jack.

Bumble - I'm not sure that there is anything on this thread about violence or destruction. But if you or I or anyone else chooses not to go along with the crowd, and then gets into difficulty, then I'm not sure why we should feel able to expect the crowd to come back and save us.

Respect for individual choice.

As for violence. All the talk about Robert the Bruce.

Slow change over time is best, I think. And it has already started. Already in my lifetime I am feeling less pressure to conform.

65 years ago, when WW2 was just over, and the world was being run by ex soldiers we were all lumped together as Stubborn Children. The way to fix a stubborn child was to break it.

The 1950s (when I grew up too) was the decade of enforced conformity. It was like the 11th commandment: thou shalt conform and non-conformists will be severely punished and if they still won't, well we'll just "help" them with lobotomies, electric shock treatment, and social exclusion/shunning. The "mob" ruled then and I nevre wanted to be part of it. I questioned everything but learned to keep quiet, avoid the mob, fly under the radar (mostly) and do my own thinking.

I laugh to think back on the stupid rules that people lived by then, like a religion. Here are some examples:
No respectable person bought or ate brown bread (this was for non-conformists only). The respectables ate completely devitalised white bread with a consistency of a sea sponge! And this made them feel superior!!

Everyone wore exactly the same style of clothes at the same time. To dress individually was a social crime.

Schoolgirls were forced to wear hats and gloves to and from school. Or else.

Divorce/living together before marriage/mixed flatting/atheism/republicanism - anyone doing this was socially ostracised as if they didn't exist.

The different were swept out of sight like rubbish and put into institutions/lunatic asylums. Whether IHC, blind, or simply irreverent to the prevailing mores, lock them up and forget they exist was the program.

Rules rules rules. Oh yes, there were rules for everything, skirt lengths for example.

Men who wore beards were so beyond the pale that only jazz musicians dared.

It was perfectly ok for men to call women demeaning things: sluts, b*****s, and the double standard was in its heyday - men could do anything to women they liked (beat them, rape them) and get away with it. It was always the woman's fault, and society conformed to that belief.

Racism was "just thinking sensibly" about other ethnic groups, white supremacy was simply taken for granted as a god-given fact.

I'm glad that people didn't know about ASD then. I would have been identified and shut away with the rest of the different. Adults in the 1950s used conformity as identity. Creative people were looked down upon as a slightly higher form of rubbish.

Girls (if bright) were given two career options between school and marriage: teaching or nursing. The dumber ones were taught to type or just ignored.

Compared to then, the 2000s recognise and celebrate individual choice to live life the way you choose, although there are conformist remnants of course.

In the workplace we are expected to conform to NT impositions: open plan offices, "team building" (God spare me), bright lights, lots of noise, hierarchy, interruptions, multi-tasking, bullying.. and that's where I resent the NT prescription for conformity the most. In other settings I have a choice. In work settings, none.