If there was a designated country for Aspies

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and family is allowed to visit (as long they have no connection to autism speak$)

and how about the name :the united aspergian republic of aspergia ?

While I like the idea of a government built from the ground up to support the needs of aspies, ultimately I wouldn't support a country with an "aspies rule, NTs drool" attitude. Why? Because I support neurodiversity, and a part of supporting neurodiversity is in fact respecting NTs and their rights. There are a lot of good people out there who are NTs, just as there are a lot of good people out there who are aspies, and I believe that aspie or not, every individual person has the potential to achieve greatness in some area.

Instead of creating a country with an exclusionary, ableist attitude towards NTs, why not create a country that respects the needs and rights of everyone off and on the spectrum? Obviously, such a country would have to be created as a collaboration between open-minded aspies and NTs to keep things fair, but I think it would work better than something created ONLY by aspies ONLY for aspies.

What we are looking to build [ a small group of autistics] is actually not exclusionary. Starting with 2 homes. we have a dream of an intentional neighborhood of Autistics within an already existing neighborhood in Thornton, Colorado. The 15 year plan [ and yeah. barring an incredible miracle, I realize I will never see it] is, out of approzimately 600 homes, 100 to 150 of them being autistics who intentionally plan to be part of the community.

Most Autists living there will be people commited to not only supporting each other in a multitude of ways, but to promoting autistic acceptance among our non-autistic neighbors. { I am both open to sharing my ideas for this and hearing ideas that others have] I have been extensively studying the "deaf culture" [the vast majority of deaf people do not desire to be 'cured", the majority who are candidates for cochlear implants, decline them] I have also spoken to a number of [some former] black and gay activists.

Speaking with them both inspires and discourages me. How does it discourage me? Because most of these people get excited for what wonderful things can happen for our people if we work together MUCH MORE than my fellow Autistics do. Maybe it's a generational thing. I mean. I remember the days of segregated bathrooms, back people sitting at the back of the bus, and when a back man in a nice car was assumed t be either a car thief or a pimp. I remember when one of the most common conversations I would hear about in the highschool cafeteria was about groups of kids going down to a park frequented by gay men. They would bring baseball bats and "beat the C**p" out of the "F*****g f*gs."

But black people started daring to be actively "uppity n****rs, and they united and fought for their rights.

Gay people started coming out of the closet, fighting for acceptance, knowing full well that doing so could put their lives in jeopardy.

I KNOW there are still horrific problems for many in both groups. But people, NOTHING as bad as it was. But, it took unification. It took belief in a better future and acting on it. It took no longer accepting the lie of those in power that it could not be don, that they were not capable.. It did not take further compromising by the oppressed. That only results in further oppression [ask any Native American]

Compromise? How have we not already compromised too much.? Of course we have.

And that is why setting up a community with the needs of autistics first is so important. There would be no aspect of an autistic culture that would be deleterious to the well-being of NTs'.As a matter of fact, research has shown repeatedly that steps taken to make life less stressful, learning better, etc. also prove advantagous to NT's.

In the neighborhood we are planning an intentional autistic community, there will still be a vast majority of NTs'. Because we are helping each other, all Autistic yards will be well groomed [ a positive to our NT neighbors] Because, as Autiistic, we tend to be kind and because we will be working together consciously for the good of all, we will be the ones painting and cleaning the homes of elderly disabled NTs'. Because we are helping each other, parents of more obviously disabled Autistic children will be more relaxed and happy.

I,personaly, intend to bake and distribute dozens of baked goods to our NT neighbors the first week from day one of the first established Autistic home. I am planning on monthly afternoon open houses where everyone in the neighborhood is invited over [ yes, the first people in our community who move in will have to be on board to either help out, go out during this time, or stay in their room,or whatever] These monthly get togethers will often be potlucks, events where skills and talents can be shared with each other, a place where everyone, NT or Autistic can shine.

Will our prescence create a bit of a battle between those who fear us and those who choose to be our allies? Probably. But we will get publicity and that will attract both more allies and more Autistics to our community, and people will learn, and people will duplicate.

I am beyond excited about this, about plans for better education for our kids because of it, much more autistic employment, and much more Autistic awesomeness and genius being revealed to the world. Not quite the country the OP was speaking about, but as good, maybe better.

Ambitious...my friend and I have been having enough trouble kicking around the idea of a coffee shop just for Autists. No fluorescent lights, obviously. Lots of outlets so that everyone who needs to can plug in their electronics. No piped-in music. Single-seat, unisex bathrooms. Chairs and benches with a variety of upholsteries for everyone's varied tactile stimming pleasure. I favor velvet. Plenty of gluten-free foods. No scented cleaning products.

Now all we need is not to be Autistic, so we can stand to run such a people-oriented business.

No, only CITIZENSHIP would be restricted to Aspies - that means others could live there as residents too, though they would not be able to hold political power, and therefore could not run things or take over!

I put this in the politics section because I thought it would be interesting to consider the concept of what an Aspie-run state would be like, and to envisage the possibilities that would/could/might stem from Aspies being in the majority (numerically, politically) social group.

We have all experienced being part of a minority group, a maligned minority group; what would our experience of our own aspieness be like, how would our self-perception change, if that group identity changed, if we were the majority, who held the political power to design, run and regulate services and institutions?

I think a lot about the marginalisation, depression and disempowerment of people on the Spectrum directly results from the stigmatisation and sterotyping promulgated by NTs (who reserve for themselves the right to define was "normal" is). Stigmatised groups typically absorb the dominant group's prejudices and then self-stigmatise. This is a recipe for hopelessness and despair. You can see lots of evidence of this on WP along the lines of "my future is hopeless because I will always be cursed with Aspergers/never be an NT".

We either absorb the devaluation of us according to the majority group definitions of us, (which are a form of politcal oppression) or re-evaluate our being and worth on Aspie terms. In its simplest form that's the moment you realise "Hey, I am not a failed NT, I am validly an Aspie and that way of being myself is normal and valid for me" - that's a political awareness, not just a personal one.

No need to have a country to make an impact. National Association for the Advancement of Autistic People, NA3P? Movement for Autist Solidarity? Not a country, but something that can help with helping each other.

These neurotypicals must be deposed from power or they will constantly oppress us.

I think it's a really valuable and revolutionary idea. A positive advocacy organisation run by Aspies to increase understanding, and respect for aspieness in wider society, with the useful secondary purpose of affirming Aspie identity to Aspies as a valid and valuable way of being, not some kind of freak identity like the current stereotypes which are imposed on Aspies as a group.

In a political sense, Aspies are where gays used to be before the gay pride initiative. Gays had to reject their own internalised one-down status (internalised stigma) and move forward to engage in political advocacy on their own behalf, before the straight community was willing to get on board with the political amd personal unfairness of gay oppression and prejudicial treatment of gays by straight people/therapists/institutions..

A similar revolution to change the way NTs regard and treat Aspies will only come about through initiatives stemming from the Aspie community itself. Up until know, we have had therapists/doctors/psychiatrists/NTs define us - our symptoms, our issues, our worth - on their terms, and those terms will always be a source of oppression for us because they don't walk in our shoes or live with the barriers the NT world forces us to negotiate. However sympathetic any individual NT may be, they can never walk a step in our shoes.

^ I absolutely agree with you.