AS and self-awareness (please read with personal discretion)

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Hello again everyone,

I would like to thank everyone again who has welcomed me recently to WP. I don't know who else might have thought of the concept I am about to address as a personal method of dealing with my AS (forgive me if it appears to be controversial).

I can not help but wonder about my personal discovery. For nearly a year now, I've adopted the philosophy that since God wants me to accept my brain the way it is, I should also accept my body the way it is.

Simply put, for a year I've engaged in personal social nudity around my apartment. It is quite possibly one of the most controversial elements for both the AS community and the NT community combined; but I feel comfortable with it. No one can change my mind about it.

I welcome any comments. Please bear in mind I know all people on this site are equals.

From Jay the cartoonist

I don't see what the fuss would be. . . I was a gate keeper at one of our local nudist resorts for 18 months while I was a freshman and sophomore in college. I loved it. The most fun we had was at our 'open houses' where we watched the young men come up to our mountian fastness to oggle but soon scamperd off - they were NOT ready for kids, middle aged and elderly folks in the altogether!

But we had the cleanest pool in the State, b/c although clothing was optional, we allowed no suits in the pool!


Merle

Hi Merle,

Thank you for replying.

My father is 77 and my mother is 69, respectively. I believe they rely on me to "be strong" and since my brother and sister both live far away, I think they may believe I am breaking their code of conduct, so to speak.

AS or no AS, this is something my personality is comfortable with. God wants all people, AS and NT people combined, to live comfortably as long as we are not hurting each other. Nudism is not listed in the Ten Commandments.

So I am sticking by my guns.

Thank you again!

Jay

???

I don't understand what the problem is if you're nude in your own apartment

Hi phenomenon,

I agree with you completely. There is no problem, for me.

The situation I am addressing concerns other people. Since my parents are so used to me "being nearby" so to speak because of the AS, their advanced ages emphasize how important their concepts of the NT world are to them. Both of my parents are NTs.

In other words, unless they discovered they had nudist friends they were unaware of, my body is not something they want to think about, especially with my desire to visit one of the local nudist resorts.

If I visit the resort and do not make instant friends, the nudism will bother them even more, and I have so much love for them I don't like to see them suffer.

It is a chance I have to take.

Thanks for reading!

Jay

Neither do I. Especially when one lives alone. Then again, you'll seldom find me that way... but in my case it's to conserve body heat. (Turning up the thermostat might also work, but it would use more energy, which would increase the size of my gas bill.)

What does "personal social nudity" mean?

Hi, this message is for xenon and willem:

OK, I guess I will clarify a little more. Because I couldn't figure out the right social hoops to jump through, I have a very unique situation.

My parents are not just my biological relatives. They are also my landlords! They bought a condo for me a number of years back. My mother thought eventually I might need a place of my own.
She anticipated that possibility when I was only 16, and quickly bought the unit.

I moved into the condo when I was 29, after she and my father had had many, many previous tenants. As I said, now they are both senior citizens.

Whether I am their son or not, I think they may not be liking the idea of someone going nude around the unit which they purchased. I sincerely enjoy my nudity very much!

For willem, in my eyes I define "personal social nudity" as any situation where I am physically alone and unclothed in a non-sexual manner. It's as if my apartment is a miniature nudist resort, to put it simply.

Thanks for reading!

From Jay

ooooooh! I see now. I couldn't figure it out, before, either!

Merle

Hi guys,

Thanks for reading further. I guess I may have made a mistake in the beginning by not bringing that up.

Maybe I'm concerned that my parent's feelings may be hurt because I've found a method of self-awareness that they would not have used if they were in my situation.

Thanks again for reading!

Jay

Keep a pair of sweat pants or shorts by the door for quick change should they knock, and the window shades down!

and if they just barge in, then it is time for them to learn some manners. . .for their adult son.


Merle

Whilst it’s different, I do understand somewhat:

I hate wearing shirts; I absolutely hate the feeling of something hugging my torso no matter how loose, this is most likely due to some form of sensory issue.... I understand wanting to respect the wishes of others; I put a shirt on when I go out in the public....

Yeah..., what Merle said is a good idea; I usually have a shirt laying around or over the arm of a sofa for those unexpected visits, or a spare one in the car if I forget to put one on.

Hi:

In answer, no, there is no way anyone can see me from the outside.

They have not now nor will they ever barge in. They are wonderful parents.

My father was once a monk, and my mother was once a nun! They had to be well-mannered to be part of those communities.

All we Asperger people have one thing in common. We all know every human being on Earth lives in a separate world, don't we?

I find value in the concept of nudism. I love my parents so much that it saddens me a little that they are having difficulty with it.

Once more I welcome any more comments.

Jay

How is that "social"? There are no social aspects to things that you do when you're home alone, and that nobody else will see or hear. I'd say that the term "nude" isn't meaningful either in this situation; you're simply in your natural state. Unless you yourself are very aware of the absence of clothes on your body, because you internalized social ideas about being nude (made those ideas your own, I mean).
The amount of clothes I wear at home is purely a function of temperature. I do usually wear shorts also when it's hot, because I find it unhygienic to sit on our furniture with my bare behind, unless I've showered since the last time I poo'ed.
As to self-awareness in general, this is considered a very valuable thing among NT's. It's a reason for them to think humans are "superior" to most other animals. But I've noticed that it's usually a problem that causes me to become particularly self-aware. When I am functioning optimally (i.e. I'm happy and things are going smoothly), I'm barely self-aware, if at all. Instead I am completely absorbed, then, by the real world that I'm experiencing and doing things in. If this is the mental state that most animals are in all the time, then I'd say they're superior to us.

Hi willem:

I guess "social" in my eyes means any physical surroundings that a human being is in. As far as body functions are concerned, it is considered a general rule to sit on towels when unclothed, no matter how long it has been since once has showered.

I don't think animals are superior to us nor do I think we are superior to animals. In fact, sometimes I wonder just how much human beings are simply a different species of animal.

In actuality, if we the AS folks really are on the autism spectrum, the only thing that really distinguishes us from NTs is the fact that apparently our mirror neurons are not at full speed.

If anyone has any questions about mirror neurons, wikipedia.org has a marvelous article on them!

Jay

At the naturalist resort, I tore a page from my sociology text that stated " Those appearing in their natural state in the society of the nudist camp will constantly clutch towels as they go from place to place to cover themselves if modesty should strike."

We all got a laugh from that, because we all carried them to SIT on! Goodness, how repressed were the authors of the textbook!




ah! if it were only that simple!

Merle