opinions regarding autism politics

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i was wondering how many people on this site actually support the various political camps, pro-cure, anti-cure, neurodiversity, aspergers supremacy, autism supremacy. For clarification aspergers supremacy means that you believe that aspergers people are superior to autistics and NT's.

Last edited by aspie48 on 18 May 2011, 8:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

i think you mean aspergers supremecy means you think we're superior to NT's.

I believe autism is a minority more comparable to blacks and latino's then gays, we are a culture of our own with our own symbols, language, ideals and morals, and we are being forced to assimilate into a culture that just isn't ours, we are treated poorly the same way immigrants are for not assimilating into this alien culture properly, I certainly feel like an immigrant. All that is wrong with my life is not because I am autistic, it's because I'm an immigrant, on the wrong planet.

I wonder how many of my "sympthoms" would dissappear if I was accepted for who I was.

My skills are superior in some areas, and in other areas, below average. For me, being on the spectrum is a very mixed bag. I have patchy social skills, and that very patchiness seems to put some people off. for example, a person thinks something is intentional and it usually is not. I am intense, and again that is both good and bad.

I would like to see employment open up and be more inclusive, and look for reasons to hire rather than reasons not to hire. And in general, if employment, education, and other areas were multi-path rather than single-path that would be a big improvement.

> , we are a culture of our own with our own symbols, language, ideals and morals, and we are being forced to assimilate into a culture that just isn't ours, we are treated poorly the same way immigrants are for not assimilating into this alien culture properly, I certainly feel like an immigrant.

How is this different from gays?

It's similar, but I feel autism can learn more from the succesful civil rights movement then the unsuccesful gay pride movement, I just don't think it's a good match, we're more like immigrants, gay's are not in an alien culture - they are natives.

that is a very good point

I think we can learn from both. I guess, like civil rights, being black, Asian, Hispanic, etc, etc, Aboriginal, etc, is just the way the person is. For those of us on the Asperger's / Autism Spectrum, it's just the way that we are.

On the other hand, even sometimes parents say to a gay child who as come out of the closet "are you sure?" or some version of 'can't you just be straight?' ( because the parent anticipates the child having a more difficult life, but the real question is whether one is going to live authentically or not). In an analogy, sometimes parents and others say to a person on the spectrum 'Can't you just be normal?'

And reallly, I think the struggle for gay rights has largely been successful, although still some ways to go.

I am a child of the 1970s (came of age then, actually was born in 1963, graduated from high school in 1981), the 70s were in many ways an optimistic time, where the personal was the political, where people were interested in personal growth. People believed gay people were the 'other,' were way different. So, whereas today, gay people are viewed as just regular people, that's an improvement. And we're not too far away from the legal recognition of gay marriage in a number of states and countries, that's an improvement.

lol why argue about gays on an autism site, unless you are gays. i think we should learn from their movement but not obsess over it.

I support the fact that we are different and that everyone else needs to accept that, so I guess neurodiversity would fit the most.

For some reason most people do not like to be upstaged.

i have mixed emotions.sometimes i fell so sad and wish i was normal and feel i would do anything to get out of this central nervious system.other days i like being different and feel the world is better with people like me in it

That's kind of my experience, both a burden and a blessing, both a difference and a disability.

I agree 100% with what you are saying here. For many years I was not accepted, mostly by my family, and this created someone I hardly liked. When I was able to leave home and work in the IT field, it changed my life. I was peaceful, positive and could sometimes even do the chit-chat thing at the office. When I was moved to marketing, i.e. they expected me to act more like a neurotypical, I became withdrawn, stressed and angry. It didn't go well. All the friends I made prior to that remained, but I made many enemies in the marketing world. When I returned to the IT I loved, I was back to myself. After leaving my job, I had to deal with more neurotypicals expecting me to act like them and even worse, parents of an autism support group who did NOT like autism, in fact, hate autism. The stress they have brought into my life have made me go back to very angry days, not liking people, snapping at people and extremely stressed. Interestingly enough, I so much understand what you say because MANY of those parents are the type who love immigrants, are very much into accepting people as they are, blah, blah, blah yet they cannot and WILL NOT accept those on the spectrum for who they are, even if they are their own children.

Actually, I don't think it is much different. But there is one huge difference.

Gay children many years ago were told by their parents that "it wasn't true" or they would be sent to a psychologist or priest who would attempt to change them, that is if the gay child even dared tell anyone they liked someone of the same sex. Many gays never told anyone they were gay until they were older and even adults. Some even married someone of the opposite sex in the hopes that people would not notice. There were others who were found out and committed suicide because of the stress of not being accepted or trying to be someone they were not. Of those who finally told when they were older, they did so by choice and normally as an adult. An adult who could dictate how to live their lives, a difficult one possibly if their family or friends did not accept them, but at least they could take care of themselves and move on.

Those on the autism spectrum, especially today, have NO CHOICE at all when it comes to people knowing they are autistic. In fact, most are diagnosed as children. As such, they have years of parents, so-called experts and many others abusing them, attempting to make them be something they are not, etc and have no voice. Most on the autism spectrum are unable to hide that they can't speak, that they flap their hands, that they talk differently, etc. which is very different than someone who is gay who can hide who they are while they are young. Even more so, many autistics are constantly abused while being children by those well-meaning parents and experts and by the time they are adults, the incredible amount of stress, pretty close to PTSD or C-PTSD if you know a bit about that, is overwhelming.

So yes, I agree that both gays and autistics may feel like immigrants, yet the distinction in one not being able to hide who they are vs. the other and how parents and therapists treat one vs the other, is huge!