If they can be accepted why can’t we?

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The serial killer in Colchester, Essex, claimed he had autism when he was in court. And that's not the only serial killer or school shooter that has claimed to be autistic. So that just worsens the stigma if it leaks out into public media. People do tend to have a habit of tarring everyone in a minority group with the same brush if they have experienced a bad situation with one from a minority group.

My parents associate gays with freak show activists they see on TV.
I associate gays with some of my friends who disclosed to me - completely normal people (well, some not completely normal but the ratio is typical for my friends in general ).

You know what you have seen. If the only autistic persons you've ever heard of were Rain Man and some school shooter, you have your prejudices. The beginnings are hard but after many enough functional, innocent people disclose, the popular view slowly changes. Just like the generation gap on views on homosexuals.

Claiming you have it isn't the same as getting diagnosed by a professional. There should be no stigma involved because 99.9% of us are not murderers or criminals. Some people just like to stereotype.

I'm also fed up with the criticism levelled at Greta Thunberg because of her willingness to make her life count for something. We need to be like her and be proud of who we are.

We need, and I believe we can have, more peer-led groups run by knowledgeable autistic people.

I think some of us underestimate our own leadership ability and just need some leadership training. Personally, I find leading a group to be much easier than, say, participating in cocktail party chit chat. I suspect the same is probably true for some (not all) other autistic people as well.

Still, it will likely be hard for many autistic leaders to manage all the many aspects of running a group. So, perhaps some autistic-led groups could have what I will call "allistic auxiliaries" of sympathetic family members and friends who help out with the organizational logistics.

Last edited by Mona Pereth on 05 Sep 2019, 2:48 pm, edited 2 times in total.

I know it's not the same, but the general population with little knowledge about autism itself will think otherwise. Also websites like heartlessasperger's.com doesn't help matters either. I mean, if that were a website negativity stereotyping all black people like that, it would immediately become controversal and the site creater would probably be named and shamed by the media and obviously be called a racist b***h. But because it's stereotyping and badmouthing all autistic people, nothing gets done about it, it's still accessible, and as much as it offends me I just get told to sweep it under the carpet and move on.

That's a consequence of the fact that we (autistic people) don't currently have a well-organized subculture.

Last edited by Mona Pereth on 05 Sep 2019, 3:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Maybe we could make a start by demanding a ban on that heartless asperger's website.

I haven't seen it as I don't want to be unduly upset but the name says it all.

Maybe we need to coin a new term - if one can be racist or sexist one who hates all Aspies could be called aspist... or Autiephobic...

He never claimed to be Autistic, he claimed to have Psychosis. Four psychiatrists disagreed
and diagnosed him with ASD.



Source

That's even scarier.

It's still only a minority even if true.

Treating all Aspies like criminals is like saying all gays are pedophiles.

That's a good idea. It would give autistics power and voice above those like Autism Speaks.

Yes a name like that could catch on. Many other words and phrases started out like that and became a catchword. Thanks for your input!

I feel that we have a long way to go regarding acceptance.

For example, we need there to be a lot more autistic-friendly workplaces.

Also, to this day, the most commonly-accepted (for insurance purposes) therapy for autistic children is ABA, which still tends to focus on making the kids act like NT's (e.g. eye contact) and does not focus on their cognitive development; nor, as far as I can tell, does it make a point of identifying and building on the kid's strengths; nor does it utilize the kid's interests or natural inclinations in any way other than as a reward.

Also, to this day, huge amounts of research money are spent on trying to "cure autism" in general, rather than on trying to find ways to alleviate specific problems of ours.

The latter is indeed a very common problem for autistic people, at least here in the U.S.A. Most corporations are very big on wanting people who fit in with their "corporate culture," which in most cases is intrinsically hard for autistic people to fit in with. Also the whole job interview process is extremely difficult for autistic people.

Research devoted to "curing autism" is a useless waste of money.

Anybody worth their salt in research realizes that autism has a multitude of causes. Anybody worth their salt in research also realize that autism is a complex neurological disorder that can't be zapped away with one "cure."