there's a lot that can be learned from somebody with Autism

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"There's a lot that can be learned from somebody with Autism" is a phrase that I have heard a lot by people since I was diagnosed with ASD however I also understand that sometimes NT's say things to help motivate or uplift people so they don't feel bad about themselves or their "conditions" So being that I'm still new here I want to turn to you guys and see how you feel about the above statement Vote below~

EDIT: I added a third option as "plausible" however I dunno what happened because it didn't show up.

Last edited by JoelFan on 10 Nov 2014, 1:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Depends on the person with autism

I think there's a lot that can be learned from any person -- having autism doesn't change that.

I did not answer because it depends on who is doing the learning.

Getting to know somebody in my life with autism apart from my own and getting to know a few people here this is what I have to say.

I don't think NTs will ever learn much from us.
We can how learn to support each other.

All I see here now is people we share similar difficulties thus have a lot in common.

In a way, yes. I think parents, especially... could learn a lot from us. However, parents choose to do things their own way, and it's not always the right way. Parents are ignorant and feel that their child is the only autistic child in the world. Sometimes, they believe in curing their autistic child, and it's like... why bother having children if you can't accept your child as they are? I'm not saying all parents are like this. I know there are some that come here looking for answers from us, and that's good. It means they are open to others who are older and wiser about their autistic diagnosis.

I agree with Animal Crackers. The statement should say, "There is a lot to be learned from anyone and everyone."

You could learn lots from people with autism.

You could learn about inventing many things--the "angles" which autistic people use which "neurotypical" people don't even think of.

You could learn about enduring aggravating hardship--and how to overcome it.

You could learn, in general, how to "think beyond the box."

You could learn about how to create works of art in all mediums (e.g., visual art, music, writing). There are times when the autistic person has an "edge" in this area.

You could teach people, when they lose one medium of expression through something like stroke (e.g., verbal speech) how to express themselves well via other mediums of expression (e.g., alternative communication devices).

You could learn how to navigate the bureaucracy of many entities (e.g., schools, jobs, government, etc).

It is a different way of being, so by definition the potential to learn something new is there.

I agree that there is potential for anyone to learn from any other individual on this planet, however you can only learn from others if there is a difference between your experience/understanding.

I am an NT, and a best friend of mine was diagnosed with classic autism 16-17 years ago. He is perhaps one of the most valuable friends that I will ever have. He may not be the 'warmest' (quotations for a loose term) of friends, nor necessarily the easiest to hang out with, and he certainly hasn't taught me how to run a million dollar business. He has taught me how to bake a simple cake - but you could learn that from anybody who has had access to a cooking book. My post here references the holistic learning experience of the NT-autistic interaction, an entirely specific one at that.

Autism affects one's perception of the whole world quite drastically (if that wasn't obvious). You will almost certainly never meet a non-verbal person that can express themselves beautifully through electronic communication that is not autistic. You will almost certainly never meet a person that can describe exactly what it feels like to be overwhelmed not only by thought, but by sensory input and emotion every day, that is not autistic. The autistic experience offers a fresh perspective on life that any NT can attempt to explore. Relating this back to my friend, he navigates society differently. He communicates differently. From a superficial viewpoint we appear very similar but the underlying behavioural mechanisms are so different that to not bother learning them would be a huge disservice not only to my friend, but to myself (if necessary I can explain why this is in another post).

If I were to meet another autistic person, it is true that the initial learning curve would likely not be so great, but that is irrelevant when considering the proposed statement. It seems to be an idea held by some on the spectrum that there is nothing uniquely offered by them for the learning of others. That's entirely incorrect. I know that by myself I'm only one individual, but if I honestly had nothing else to learn, why would I visit this forum? Why do people like Tony Attwood exist, if not to learn from autistic individuals? Of course, not everybody is interested in learning such things, but not all people learn how to bake either.

Of course the statement is true because people with autism think in a very different way and see things differently in a way an NT won't understand, if you compare the way autistics think to the way an NT does its like comparing two worlds from different dimensions with eachother

Of course it is true.
Just as an autistic person can learn a lot from NTs Nts can learn a lot from autistic people too.

I can clearly see it when I talk with people around. My reasoning constantly surprises NTs and they say they would never think about something like that but they admit my thinking is reasonable, even if unusual. That is a proof that I am able to teach them something. If I share an good idea they couldn't think of themselves they are going to benefit from hearing it.

From what I have seen and my personal experience, simply being two separate individuals creates enough difference in experience/understanding for people to learn from each other.

As an NT, learning about the autistic experience has required an immense time investment, and I still don't have any sense of adequacy regarding that which I have learned. What I meant by the quoted statement was that in the specific context of this thread, autistic individuals offer a unique learning experience that cannot truly be attained from any other group of people. It is true that you can learn from anybody, but a Granny Smith Apple could learn more from an Orange or to a greater extent, a Football, than a Pink Lady Apple. Yes, people are more complicated than apples, but it's just an analogy. I interpreted the thread in an introspective manner.

One thing that amazes me, is not only do I learn a great deal about autistic individuals, but also myself, through them. My autistic friend's perspective of myself is vastly different to that of my other friends'.

Okay. I didn't understand that you were explaining the degree of difference you were thinking about, I just thought you meant if there wasn't enough difference between people then they couldn't learn anything at all from each other.