Subcultures and Asperger's--Worthy of Study

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Others here have posted about doing better in other cultures, but they were talking about other countries. I've been thinking about some of the posts I've read here and some of my own experiences.

I think my life has proven that subcultures here in the US have given many Aspies an alternative to surviving in the unforgiving mainstream culture.

The Hippie movement was just coming on strong when I was in jr high and I got involved right away, grew out my hair, wore bell bottoms and tie dyes. They called us 'freaks' and I felt good about that for once. The hippies really were tolerant of strange behavior, not surprising considering they were walking around wasted on psychedelic drugs half the time. At their best they prided themselves on being accepting of everything that happened around them, of believing that everything was a learning experience. Too many other things about them meant they couldn't last though. Their world view was too idealistic and not realistic. In the end, peace on earth isn't going to happen anytime soon, if ever. Still, great cover for a school hating Aspie teen who needed to fit in somewhere.

When I was eighteen I moved to Salt Lake City to try to make my way in the world. I was already into riding motorcycles, got my first one, a Honda 90, at the age of 12. Over the years I moved up to bigger Hondas, then a chopped Triumph 650, and finally a Harley. In Salt Lake I started hanging around a bar that was frequented by biker gangs and found that strangely enough I seemed to get along with them. I watched what I said more than usual for a while, but I discovered that a lot of them had worse social dysfunctions than mine, and once again, many behaviors were simply ignored. They didn't expect you to be polite, they respected you for being 'bad'. As long as you didn't show fear and didn't seem to be directly challenging them they were in fact tolerant of forms of self-expression that would seriously freak out mainstream NTs.

After I moved back to Montana I started riding to the Sturgis Rally every other year or so, because it's only 200 miles from my home, and I've never had any trouble there either. Riding my Harley, wearing a black t-shirt, 501s, and a leather jacket, I look just like all of the others, and am accepted easily by everyone there. BTW, when I'm staggering around with a beer in each hand I make a pretty good NT.

Finally there is the music business, and show business in general. I've posted about this here before, as have others. Musicians are another place where oddballs can fit in. Show business is all about talent, if you can perform, no one pays all that much attention to your social skills, sexual orientation, or odd behaviors. Look at people like Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan and you can see just how odd they have to get before they make the headlines.

There are other subcultures out there too, but as I have no experience with them I will let others comment on them if they will. My point is subcultures gave me an interesting life without having to deal with not fitting in with the mainstream NT culture. This was mostly luck on my part, not knowing what my problem was. I just moved away from situations that made me uncomfortable and toward ones where no one was pointing me out as the painted bird. ( reference 'The Painted Bird' by Jerry Kosinski, required reading for all Aspies)

This is something that all Aspies who are currently having a hard time feeling comfortable in their current situation should consider. There may be subcultures and professions out there where you will feel more comfortable than you do now.

This is so-true. Although I have no musical talent, I have always really gotten along with musicians. When I was younger I was not even aware of social awkwardness; that is, until I tried to fit in with the mainstream when I was in college. Sub-cultures and people with odd-interests have given a flavor to my life that often times allows me to see past my day-to-day difficulties. To a certain degree, Aspergers has stripped me of a personality. This has some obvious negative side effects, but the benefit is that I am a blank canvass that can blend in with others, provided that the "others" are not super inclusive and pompous.

Yes, what XLRC said. Also, working overseas or otherwise in a foreign culture; as the crazy foreigner, you get crazy foreigner's license on social graces. Where else?

Interesting stories. I guess I never bumped into the right people. (Also, when I was younger I had no clue about the idea clothing communicates things to other people, which probably didn't help.)

Where I live it's somewhat "granola," and while some people seem more accepting than average, others seem just as restrictive and judgmental, just in a different direction from usual.

I'd just like to throw in that you don't have to be all that talented, remember there are a lot of jobs in show business that don't require the ability to perform. There is room for roadies, sound and light techs, dressing and makeup, drivers, caterers, gofers, movie extras and stunt people, etc. to live in that world and enjoy most of the protection from the 'normal' world it affords.

Speaking of clothes, how about the fashion subculture? This is another place where non-conformity is not only allowed, it's actually encouraged. And once again you don't have to be a star as there is a large 'supporting cast'. This has always been a special haven for the 'gender challenged'.

I used to be a member of a website full of people who were very gifted intellectually, and very ungifted socially. I'm pretty sure most of 'em were probably autistic/AS

I usually make that same point as 'find your niche' but well said

Out of curiosity, what was the forum called?

A lot of us seem to fall under subculture categories, myself included. Mod is a sub culture these days. There's also Punk, Hippie, Goth, Emo and a whole bunch of other sub cultures. That's why I'm in favour of a study of this nature.

Subcultures I've been well accepted in have included goth, IT/gaming, roleplaying (Dungeons & Dragons), cosplay, and historical reenactment.

Would that be the Mysterium Society? I was a member there until someone called me an idiot for suggesting that his "put a fence around the Middle East and bomb the lot" approach to terrorism might be a bit extreme. I went to contact a moderator about it, only to discover he was a moderator, at which point I quit in disgust.

Unashamedly 'Genius Forums'

I have to point out that I do not consider myself a genius, nor do I subscribe to many of the views expressed here, just that I found some of the conversation interesting for a while:

http://www.theabsolute.net/phpBB/viewfo ... ec7f9827e8



Ha! I don't think I could tolerate such a forum.

I imagine that there's little enclaves of aspie types all over.

Neo-Pagan festivals, the Society for Creative Anachronism, and all kinds of fan conventions (but particularly sci-fi/comics cons) are rife with Aspies.

I could go for that

I highly recommend it. Taking on the higher levels of leadership can expose you to some nasty social politics (my partner would love to be Baron of our local group, but he knows I'd make a terrible Baroness), but overall they're a pretty accepting group. It also has the following aspie-friendly characteristics:
- The social rules are well-documented and more rigidly defined than normal
- Hard workers are valued
- Being obsessively interested in something and wanting to talk about it to everyone is not only accepted but encouraged

I had an obsession with 80s goth rock and the gothic subculture. Actually socially becoming part of that subculture was an entirely different matter, though. I could tell you all about the history of goth music and the subculture surrounding it, and would often correct people when they called something "goth" that clearly wasn't(like heavy metal or whatever) and give them a lecture on what goth rock is and about important bands. I wasn't socially part of any "goth" group, or even a related group(or any group for that matter) though(even though I dressed like it and all). It's kind of similar to what some people might see as "more rote than meaning," I guess... Because I knew all about it, but couldn't apply knowledge about it to anything like actually becoming a functional part of it.

I'm the crazy foreigner in East Asia. It works pretty well.