Aspergian Liberation Organization (ALO)

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Well, actually from the standpoint of it being a dis-ability/difference, there's alot to be advocated for, from the perspective of autism/Asperger's as an identity, and as something people live with. Basically people can't discriminate against you on the basis of your mental condition, because it makes you no less human. And what this should equate to is more compassion/ resources in institutions, employment, and society, but often it does not because a. normalcy is being assumed/expected, b. efficiency or economics are allowed to take precedence over social responsibility, or c. people with dis-abilities/differences are told to deal with their problems themselves and accept what they can get because their difference is a burden. (These might all be the same thing, I'm tired.)

I think there is a potential for advocacy and political actions and social groups to organize, though admitted-ly you can't expect everyone to be interested. Especially given that the groups would have to assemble under a platform, and not everyone cares about the same issues. And so far as oppression, identity politics shouldn't rely on claiming victimhood. Social problems are too complex for that . . . lots of people with Asperger's or Autism are doing quite well for themselves, and oppression isn't everyone's experience. But there are shared problems or issues lots of people with Autism/Asperger's would care about fo sho. But yeah, I'm sure if you looked around some of these advocacy/political groups and stuff already exist.

+1

Back when the civil rights movement was happening the idea of "gay rights" would've probably seemed ludicrous. And in Abraham Lincoln's day the idea of women's sufferage also would've seemed bizarre. Now, it seems crazy that things were ever different than how they are now.

Also, I think it's a privileged POV to say that all there is is to adapt. There are those for whom that adapting to the present-day lowest-common-denominator expectations is out of reach. You can think of that as "low functioning," but I think some "high functioning" people are also in that boat. There may be little practical alternative, nowadays -- and maybe also for a very long time into the future -- but the ways things are now isn't something that's dictated by the laws of nature or is otherwise an inevitable conclusion.


The above is a short except from an essay (not by me) entitled, "Defining Autistic Lives" at:
http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/revie ... n0605.html

The author is not a naive idealist, and the essay is worth a read. (There's another that gets to the point of this thread better, but I'm not having any luck finding it.)

But what about the fact that we integrate with each other better when we're not striving to be NTs? And how about the people who are forced to be NTs and end up becoming antisocial because of how unnatural it is to imitiate something that they are not?

And how about the fact that in the UK where they use a social model aspies seem to get on better than in the USA where they don't?
I don't think your social darwinist model works. It's inefficient and cruel and has already been tried and failed.

IMO and the "USA",.......it is illegal
This legal principle..... NLRB, quite simply states that a union must represent all workers equally and without prejudice.
(ie......age, race, creed, nationality, sex, religion, political beliefs, union status or personality.)

The ADA states pretty much the same minus the union stuff and includes any
"major life activities include, but are not limited to, caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working"

theres alot more to that subject though.

The same way I can not change my age, race, creed, etc I can't change who and what I am ! !

I strive just to be treated as an equal, so what if I'm different ?

People will argue that just because you're different, you're annoying. It's petty.

What needs to happen is that As and NT people need to adapt to each other. Relationshps are two-way streets. People tend to forget that.

Longhanks

i attended an aspie social group. it was interesting. about 100 people had joined at one point or another but only 5 attended regularly. because.... aspies are generally antisocial. so the idea of a large aspie organisation acting as a political or social entity runs counter to what most aspies are naturally comfortable with.

so what i am getting at is that the OP's idea also would require conformity and going against our grain. the only difference is that it would serve his agenda as opposed to an NT's agenda.

There are better organizations already in existence:
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network: http://www.autisticadvocacy.org/
The Global and Regional Asperger Syndrome Partnership: http://grasp.org/
Autism Network International: http://www.autreat.com/

I don't presume to know how you think, but if I were to say a person who has a plan and my attempt to fulfill that plan is serving their agenda, I'd call that a cynical presumption.

I also don't see why you presume one personal experience somehow means something is impossible. As I said trying to copy an NT is the problem. If I am correct you try to make that the case. That's probably the most damaging part.

i didn't say it is impossible, but it is definitely counterintuitive in the sense that it goes against the autistic grain. we would be copying NTs by forming or participating in such an organisation. any aspie organisation of this type is conforming to the NT model of society. so when people think it is a bad thing for aspies to try to fit into NT society, i would say that organisations like this are doing the same thing on a political level, and require that aspies do the same thing on a social level.

let me give an example to illustrate what i mean. in my example, aspies are cats and NTs are dogs because that's how we tend to function.

the dogs have a society and we're struggling to be accepted. so we... decide to... form a pack? cats do not natrally form packs, so if they are doing so (EVEN if it seems to be in their best interests), then they are using dog society and dog techniques in order to try to change things (which has glaring flaws as well, but that a whole separate post). i do not see how that is fundamentally different from an individual cat that works hard to fit into dog society.

The metaphor then shows weaknesses in the point you were making earlier. Cats are perfectly natural and should be left as cats, yet earlier you were saying aspies should simply get with the programme and act like dogs. Yet forcing a cat to act like a dog would be cruel and certainly ignorant.

At the same time saying aspies are cats and NTs are dogs is somewhat simplistic. People have changed the definition of autistic and aspie so much that they're changing it again in the USA. So saying anything for sure when people failt o even understand it is a bit, well, silly.

what i'm saying is that we have to live in dog society and dog society has no reason to change to accommodate us.

i also think that forming a pack is acting like dogs. it is no more authentic than simply trying to live in dog society.

One way employers are discriminatingi s if you have been unemployeed for a long time. They assume something is wrong with you. Saw it on 60 minutes

Oh yeah, you mean the middle-class guys at the start with the face-fuzz? Gah, they say aspies have social communication problems but when the USA, the USA people, has such social problems such as that it seems ludicrous to think aspies aren't just a different people with a psychiatric label on them to put them down.

GREAT I had a recent health problem in addition to my other problems on that "subject" of employment.