First post. (Tired of feeling alone and the taboo)

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I cannot tell you how many times I have felt this way. I've been in a major existinal crisis all my life. I think it's about time I join this site. Hello all. I have quite a few taboo subjects about living as an autistic person myself (I hope I'm doing this right...) And I hope to engage with you all. Perhaps a few questions, if I may ask...
What do you think is the success rate for all autistic people in academia/workforces? Do you think we autistic people are the most gullible in political processes? Do you think that autistic people can't stand each other well most of the time rather than see similarities in themselves? Should autistic people be exempt from out-of-ordinary behavior that a normal people wouldn't be? (Eg: unpopular and innapropiate opinions) Why do us autistic people have very specific interests and stims to the point that we're the same yet hardly the same at all? (For example, not relating to everything Temple Grandin says but maybe one or two. )
Thank you for your time.

Welcome to WP!

Just like any segment of any population, there are successful people with autism, and there are unsuccessful people with autism.

I'm sort of in the middle.

I don't bother with "statistics." I have transcended the "statistics" in some ways.

There's nothing "taboo" about autism.

Now...if you happen to believe in necrophilia and incest---that's another matter....

By the way, I'm just being sort of a smart-aleck.....don't mind me LOL

By the way: Welcome to WrongPlanet!

The trick is to decide what the answers ought to be... and live as if that was the truth.

Any other way is just too frustrating.

I think there should be a platform for people to express unpopular and "inappropriate" opinions. These aren't always incorrect or wrong, and when they are it gives others a chance to deliberate on and explain why. To lock away ideas from discussion only inhibits progress.

I have not at all mastered the workplace situation as I have extreme difficulty with workplace social situations. I've been fired 9 times, been suspended three times and I've quit my job more than 30 times because I thought I would get fired anyways. I've been classified as being at the far end of ASD. To say that workplace social situations are a challenge for me would be the understatement of the century.

I often use the "screw loose" analogy, as in "he's got a screw loose upstairs." Theres's dozens of adjustment screws on the Autism box, and if most of them are loose, there's almost no communication, and stimming is the only consistent thing recognized on either side. If only a few screws are loose, the brain can do work-arounds and manage many functions, but it is a different pattern for each example.
So, speaking only for myself, I was a washout in school. I went from high school dropout to guest lecturer for graduating engineers via the library, drawing board and workshop. As far as I can tell, you have to swim for years with fools and backstabbers in University to get a chance at being heard by someone with a clue.
Because of my successful engineering, I let myself think that I am also unusually good at seeing through political subterfuge, despite that being a very common opinion. I can see more connections, and don't parrot what I hear.
I don't know how you conceive of us getting an "exemption." I have had no luck getting general consideration for a PTSD problem that even an NT might get.
My odds of making friends with another aspie are perhaps double those for the population at large, which are very low.

Well part of it is that you can't outrun the core traits of autism social communication problems are ALWAYS going to be there. at least imo No matter how hard you try there will still be gaps.. That occasional slip up. At best you can be perceived as socially inept. but In my experience I've always been upfront with it, and if they aren't willing to accept it. Then it's not meant to be. Then again. I'm not very experienced in trying to hide my autism to answer your question. I've been in political situations and as long as I kept my guard up. But it was more of trying to make people perceive me as someone they don't want to f**k with rather than actually being the person they don't want to f**k with. If they fucl with me I'll make sure to go out of my way to get them back. To answer your next question I think it depends from person to person just like normal people. I'm not going to get along with every autistic person.
On the internet there are some autistic people that get on my nerves then some I can relate to well. It's not a Yes or no answer. It also depends on comorbid conditions. In real life it be virtual impossible to be an autistic politician or even to get up into the business hierarchy. Your best hope is to do it via limited social interaction so the least amount of social deficits are present. That's where I've had the most success. You could definitely fair well enough in like steam trading. Assuming you don't trust anyone. next Question in a perfect world they should and would be... But it's not a perfect world. I always take responsibility regardless of rather or not I am responsible. Because it is my brain and my body doing it I'm not going to make up excuses. I'm just going to take the blame. There have been times where, This has resulted in arguments and disagreements. That is going to happen. But for the most part no one will blame you if you take full responsibility and if they do they are deluding themselves. This has happened to me when people have accused me of doing stuff I never done and since. I've had the doors slammed on me for people to lie behind my back thoo. But then again sometimes you just got to walk away from the situation. But in the vast majority of the time. Depending on the basis you could have trouble.. I've had people be outright bigots against me for being autistic. In fact one person outright admitted it. There are bad people. There are bigots you are going to be discriminated against. It's going to happen. People have outright banned me for those reasons. And those reasons alone. The next question isn't really answerable you'd have to know what causes autism. and while you can theorize all you want we don't know that. But autism is very complex it's not really a single thing but a category of thing. It's a spectrum. It's multi-dimensional. 'Special interests' can manifest in a variety of ways both life-long, long term, and short term. Even then it can be virtually any interest at all. They don't have to be techy, It could be sports like baseball or football. Maybe not playing it but watching it. It can be academic subjects or passtimes. In general I tend to stick to a subject for a month and learn a lot about it then stop for whatever reason whether purposeful or just situationally forced. But IT is going to vary from person to person I always have a main interest that lasts for years. I had one when I was a little kid <5 which was nemo. Then I had percy jackson (Which I Still read today). and now pokemon (obviously) . My long lasting special interests always were fueled by being able to relate to them. The main reason I like piplup so much is because Empoleon is based on poseidon with the trident shaped crown. Which is my favorite greek god. I've always liked the water.. All of my major special interests have been based on water.

Bianca, welcome to wrong planet


What do you think is the success rate for all autistic people in academia/workforces?
I do not know about academia but many autistics have a lot of problems obtaining a job because the interview process is very autistic unfriendly. Expected eye contact and different nonverbal social cues in general get misintrepted. Once employed there are still issues with understanding social cues, multitasking, and sensory overload. Many autistics can and do learn how to "pass" as neurotypical but it is hard to keep on doing it all day long 5+ days a week. There are efforts to accommodate autistics but they are in their early stages. Since you are 20 you should eventually benefit from them.

Do you think we autistic people are the most gullible in political processes?
Do you mean as a politician or a voter?

Do you think that autistic people can't stand each other well most of the time rather than see similarities in themselves?
There is no one answer as there are all types of autistic people. I have found in support groups the conversations were more an exchange of facts then small talk which I liked

Should autistic people be exempt from out-of-ordinary behavior that a normal people wouldn't be? (Eg: unpopular and innapropiate opinions)
Behavior that harms others needs to be dealt with. Anybody should be allowed to express whatever opinion they have no matter how unpopular or inappropriate it is for others. Everybody's opinions whether autistic or not should not be protected from criticism as long as it is not violent or bullying.

Why do us autistic people have very specific interests and stims to the point that we're the same yet hardly the same at all? (For example, not relating to everything Temple Grandin says but maybe one or two. )
Autistic Special Interests and stims are how the autistic brain copes with overload be it sensory or just being an autistic in a neurotypical world.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!