What was it like to be aspergers in the 1970s?

Post Reply New Topic

without the option to escape to the internet? was the social ostracizion more or less severe than it was now? My dad says people were much nicer back then because they weren't made cynical from overexposure to the internet/media. But there was also less autism awareness and more bullying.

I went to a college that was very rigorous academically. It was a perfect fit for me. I won't say I had loads of friends, but I had some, and I never felt put down or disrespected.

I think this would still be a good plan for people with Asperger's who are academically inclined. Others should follow their own bliss - e.g., if they are musical, they should follow that direction and will certainly find friendships within that field.

I had similar experiences - I'm autistic and went to UC San Diego, Revelle college, which was oriented toward the hard sciences and was very competitive academically. Some of my friends from high school went there, and I didn't really make new friends, but I also didn't get bullied or ostracized. I did really well grade-wise and graduated in 3 years. It was actually easier than junior high and high school where I got some bullying, negative social attention and some hostility for being a "nerd" and a "brain". Back in the 70s being different or nonconforming didn't seem to be as much of a liability as now. The internet and our culture seem to have evolved to produce more labeling, stereotypes and judgment - maybe TV or social media have contributed to this. In a way it was more free - my friends knew I was different, but I wasn't labeled as 'autistic' - and I was trying hard to participate and have a 'normal' life, rather than dealing with disability, diagnoses and the attendant hopelessness. So I kind of figured I could do what other people were doing and that took me far in school and in my career.

To me, to be honest, kids were similar in the 1970s as they are now. I really don't see much difference in most of them.

I was ostracized. I was bullied. I didn't have many friends. I sometimes felt lonely, but usually didn't feel lonely.

It would have been cool have I had the Internet! I would have made many more friends from around the world.

My choice was limited to the kids in the neighborhood----most of whom were punks who just wanted to hang out, talk about girls and whatever was going on in popular culture, and sometimes write graffiti and get into fights. Even most of the "smart" kids got into that crap.

I would say: in some ways, it was worse to have Asperger's in the 1970s; in other ways, it wasn't as bad as it is now.

Bullying was accepted as “boys being boys”. If you did not or could not fight back it was your fault because you were weak. If you were different you were thought of as a homo, a fag which made you a target as homosexuality was still very much stigmatized. If you were were not into the umbiquois drug party scene and acted stiff and nervous people thought you were a narc. There no accommodations or supports of any kind. The attitude was don’t complain, everybody has problems, deal with them like everybody else. Making mistakes garnered you little sympathy. The prevailing idea was everybody makes mistakes. You should suffer consequences for making these mistakes, learn from them and don’t do it again.

Because there was no internet to speak of there was no cyberbullying 24/7, you could escape. You were allowed by parents to do a lot more on your own. Your every moment was not programmed for you. There was a lot less multitasking reqiured. This allowed you to figure out who you are, what worked and what did not for you.

Was in high school in the early Seventies, and was in college most of the rest of the Seventies.

Had no friends in high school. Actually had, not only friends, but more then one circle of friends in college.

The same evolution would probably have occurred for me in 2018 as then.

It all has more to do with the difference in age groups, and not with the era, and not with autism awareness, and not with the existence/nonexistence of the Internet.

I was bullied, but the bullies were the troublemakers in school and many of them had trouble with the police later on. I didn't have a lot of friends, and mainly studied, but some people were nice to me. I was stupid not to cultivate friendships growing up.

I'm a gal, was high functioning, and had outgrown most of my awkwardness by then. Was 15 - 25 during that decade. Was also OK to look at, by then, so I was treated like a kind of 1970s Hermione Granger (and pretty much had her hair, as described in the books, not the movie).

I found my personal "differences" tolerated far more easily then than they were as I grew older. Not sure how much of that was me being cute, (edit in: and cis-het, which meant that I missed out on some of the really vile discrimination that others had to face) and how much was the culture being more welcoming of difference.

For me, being a girl in school in the UK in the late 70s/80s was probably a far easier place for me to be me than schools are today (I teach in one!). I wasn't diagnosed then, but was a bit of a geek. But so were several other girls. So there were a few of us. Nowadays however I see far fewer girls that appear to be like I was. There is so much pressure on girls these days to conform to societal norms regarding beauty, fashion, boyfriends etc etc that I didn't feel subjected to when that age.

Bicycling. Reading. Camping & Hiking. Dungeons & Dragons.

I was born in 1974, so it's hard to remember. I was seen by many adults as sometimes odd, but intelligent and artistically talented for my age around the time I started school.

I was a toddler in the late 70s so most of my childhood encompassed the 80s and early 90s. It was still before the internet was in wide use.

I spent most of my time reading, writing stories, listening to music and working with horses at a boarding stable.

I was badly bullied at school and home wasn't much better. I could have used an additional escape I suppose, but really I think it may have been worse if I was growing up today. With social media it's harder to escape the bullies even when you're home and there's a lot of pressure on people to maintain a carefully crafted online image. It's a double edged sword.

On the other hand there is a lot more awareness of ASD / Asperger's syndrome today and resources are available now that weren't when I was a kid. That is a distinct advantage that I certainly do wish I'd had.