Olden Times Vs Modern Times...

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I have heard it say that many issues with asperges and autism were less noticeablw in thw olden times. Yes, extreme difficulties would always be noticed, but it is not until the way life is now lived with the fast pace enviroment that individuals are finding themselves in difficulty.
Do you think if you lived in the past any issues you may have would be less apparent? Maybe not even noticeable by you or those around you? Are the modern world changes and pace of life making things difficult for you?
Or is the opposite true. Do you find that while in the old days theee was less stress in life as things were more simple, but though there is seemingly more stress today, theee are also modern gadgets which were not available in the past to make your life more bearable?
Any thoughts?

I was fortunate that my mother was exposed to the "advanced" notions pertaining to autism within a 1960s context. Otherwise, I might have been institutionalized.

My first words were said in a sort of "research camp" in 1966, at age 5 1/2. I was the subject of research pertaining to autism and to "minimal brain dysfunction" and "brain injury."

Prior to WWII individual differences were more acceptable. Reader's Digest Magazine even had a section "Most Interesting Character". Today, colorful characters are relegated to fiction.

I once worked in a manufacturing environment where the materials manager was lamenting how people need to be made to conform to the computer system. My contention was that the computer system needed to be changed to adapt to what the people needed.

As our society is increasingly collectivized, there will be little tolerance for those who demonstrate any difference.

We are not allowed to purchase the light bulb, toilet, or gas can we would like. How less tolerant will society become of those whose differences create difficulty for them?

I probably would have been kept behind doors years ago and not allowed out of the house. My condition would have been the source of shame.

I actually had the same theory as well & wrote an eight-page paper on it. If any one is interested, let me know. If not, then please, gentlemen, remove your hats for all the threads I have killed.

I think the 'old times' would have been much harder. Think of all the physical labour, whether running farms, working textile mills, doing everything by hand including making bread and meals for large families, using a wash board, building one's own home .... the list goes on and on for men and women alike. Many of us say we can't handle working full time and we don't have the executive function to accomplish a litany of domestic tasks, but there was no option in previous generations with limited to no social security, and no mechanised appliances.

There was no technology and therefore no information-seeking or community-finding by internet, no staring at screens all day, and no passive entertainment like video games or television which has become socially acceptable for quiet people. People were expected to communicate verbally, and conform to vigorous educational and moral standards. I can't even imagine what it was like then for autistic people, with no understanding of differences and many people sent to asylums. I idealise those times for personal reasons, but I know it would be much worse.

WrongPlanet's "youngest living Edwardian" chiming in here.

Reconsider the past. I think the golden age for the autistic would have been the 1890s to the 1920s. It is also one of my special interests, so there's that. Biased? Yes, probably. In no particular order here are some things to ponder.

Remember that domestic tasks included light work. It was known even then (because humans aren't stupid) that some people can't handle great tasks. And for the strength of Autistic people, I refer you to reddit and memes, and the concept of "'Tard Strength." (I weigh 130 pounds and can lift & carry the transmission from an old-model Chevrolet Blazer.)

There is a factory nearby that opened back in the 1920s to make baskets. They use their original equipment to this day, running the old steam boiler to wake the town up by blowing the whistle and, more practically, dry the wood in a kiln. They still use old presses, driving the antique stapling machines by electric motors instead of steam engines and a line-shaft. It's noisy, dirty, dangerous work--and looks perfect for me. I could go in there, make baskets all day un-bothered, and come out sweaty, greasy, but refreshed. Because when you're trying to keep your hands you don't have to kiss up to people doing customer service! You just work. Being a millworker in the 1910s would have been great fun if I knew what I was doing. Or perhaps I could have been a typist. I'm very fast on an early-model typewriter.

Who wouldn't want to live in a world of verbal communication? Precision in speech and writing can be relied on to get the message through. I have had to live with NT's before I was diagnosed, and that body-language or faux-telepathic nonsense of theirs can be difficult. (They're generally fairly nice about it, however, and we work out language.)

Rigorous moral and educational standards would not hurt people either. I have reservations about the qualities of the moral standards. America, in the 1880s-1920s, was ruled by the WASP class. As a descendant of the British and the Irish I would be enough "Anglo-Saxon" to qualify (I am extremely white.) but as a Catholic I would have been considered a traitor to society, dangerously backwards-thinking, a radicalized fool. This has not changed over the last century.

One forgets that there was once at least one musical instrument in most homes. Old people down South, white and black alike, speak of having a popular combination: a piano or organ, and a wind-up phonograph. (We didn't get electricity through rural South Carolina until the 1950s in some cases so the old Victrolas hung on. They sounded great, by the way.)

Clothing in the early 1900s was really simple. Women's clothing would have been made largely by hand, on the many sewing machines in vogue at the time. Sewing on the old cast-iron machines is incredibly easy. I have one (a small portable with electric motor) and it's a breeze, even though I'm not very good at it.

For the men, there were no belts on pants until the 1920s. One wore a pair of button-on suspenders AKA braces. Trousers were high-rise types that fell to the tops of the shoes. Boots were leather only with no padding, and they wore to fit the foot like a fine glove. A shirt was not too unlike a button-down dress shirt of today, except it might have been a half-placket or had detachable linen or celluloid collars. Over it went a waistcoat and a jacket, and in cold weather, an Inverness cape, ulster, or over-coat. Hats were generally worn, and they were usually traditional styles. The baseball cap did not exist and it was that much harder to look like a creep in public.

Work clothes were different but very nice. They were heavy, rugged, and durable.

Why did I just give you an idea of the Edwardian-era gent's clothes? Because it was a Standard Male Uniform.

I dressed in kind of a vintage-inspired outfit all the time and it was freeing to always wear the same stuff, know you looked good, and have tons of pockets. The clothes are more comfortable, especially if you go the full-antique route and get them in linen, cotton, or wool. SO breathable, and it's like wearing a weighted blanket...but not restricting. It's weird. I love it.

Traffic was slower, and horses were more common which is kind of nice. It's calming to see horses at work. (I know that a lot of them even enjoy working, which seems dumb at first but I have watched carriage-horses on the street give every evidence of having a great time. Shoutout to the coachman who was doing a very good job both guiding the tour and keeping his horse happy & well-treated.)


So from someone who lives the lifestyle in many ways already, it's not that bad. I wonder if it was different then?

I'm sure being an individualistic free-spirit would have gone over very well in Puritan New England in the 1600s.

For those who were able to do the basic jobs expected from their gender and who weren't completely clueless about socializing, things were probably easier in the terms of fitting in. People simply didn't have that much time to figure out who fit in and who didn't and even if someone was a weirdo, as long as she or he was more of use than of harm then they were kept around for the sake of common good... as long as they didn't end up being accused of being a witch or something, that is.

I might have been institutionalized. It was very difficult to get out of that situation until the 1970s.

There are some virtues to “olden times”—but also some irritations, too.

You had your privacy....but you couldn’t be there in an emergency if you lived far away, or there was inclement weather.

Even up to the 80s or 90s, even under First World conditions, you just didn’t have the conveniences which cell phones give. And there are many—trust me!

In the 70s, and most of the 80s, if you ran out of money after 2 PM on Saturday, you were broke till Monday, and you couldn’t do something like pay auto repair bills to receive your car on weekends—unless you got to the bank on time. No ATMs.

My life was much more restricted before I had a driver's license. I worked and did some activities, but I was always driven places. Now, I can choose to drive myself or, if I'm going to an out of town event, to go with a friend. I choose the latter option for out of town events because I have a chance to talk and socialize on the way. I believe having greater social opportunities is a part of independence as well.

Without a time machine I can't be sure what it would really have been like for an Aspie. But I can list a few advantages I think there might have been.

They didn't have so many huge buildings to get lost in like I do these days. They hadn't invented open-plan workplaces. Libraries had strict silence rules so I could concentrate. Screaming kids weren't inflicted on the public so much. The first school I went to was a small, very orderly place and I functioned very well there. You didn't lose marks for not doing well in group work, you were scored as an individual. It's ironic because I'd always hoped they'd look at the social thing so they could help shy kids to get more socially confident, but instead they just assess your group participation and cut your score if you didn't do well. In my first science job it was standard practice to give each worker their own space and tools, but within a decade or two it was all about hot-desking and sharing everything, so you couldn't leave anything alone for five minutes without somebody changing it.

Life might have been a little slower, which would have suited my slow, diligent thinking style. They've long known that time is money but it seems only fairly recently that they decided every damn second has to be accounted for. Technology didn't move so fast. These days by the time I've familiarised myself with a new computer it's obselete. Nothing seems to be stable any more.

I've noticed Victorian writing tends to be more explicit, they weren't so afraid of being verbose for clarity, these days communication seems to be a lot shorter and shallower, and people are expected to understand more by context I think. I used to have a good vocabulary, and still do as far as output is concerned, but input has become peppered with fashionable new words and phrases that just make it harder for me to understand what people are on about. Spelling used to be very standardised and once you knew how to spell, the job was done, but now it's gone wild and I feel I've been de-skilled.

There's too much choice in goods and services these days, and advertisers have become too adept at passing illusions off as information, so it takes me forever to choose which thing to buy because I get sucked into perfectionism and can't easily rest if I think I haven't considered every option in depth. Ice cream just used to be either a cornet or a wafer sandwich, with or without raspberry juice.