Autism Is Not An Excuse To Do Nothing

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From the writing: "They never know the fulfilment of finally graduating after years of hard work, the honest praise of bosses and co-workers for a job well done, or the delights (and the challenges) of having relationships, children, community involvement, etc, etc."

She's never gone onto stage for a degree devoid of Pride, stamina, strength and the best part of your sanity, relieved that you got through it and well. Fulfillment?

She's never worked in a factory where your jolly co workers throw power tools at your head for a laugh.

"I see nothing defeatist in being sane" - Philip Larkin

I understand the point she was making - that doing something is better than doing nothing - but like I said previously, I think the author of that article did a poor job of making that point.

But in any case, it's her place to decide for other people what qualifies as doing "something" vs. doing "nothing." She introduced needlepoint as an example of doing "nothing" so it is integral to the discussion.

I think if a person wants to encourage someone to get a job, or to expand their life activities in general, criticizing what they already enjoy doing is definitely not a good starting point. It is almost guaranteed to generate resistance.

It doesn't really make a difference if the activity in question is needlepoint, or something else. I discussed that as an example, because the author used it as such.

I for one don't believe there is any such thing as "doing nothing" with one's life.

Yep, I've experienced quite a lot of time-wasting going on in jobs. Not to mention wasting of materials as well. Plus getting any "praise" for a job like that, is such empty, hypocritical praise that it makes me feel like I sold my soul for a few dollars.

I am undiagnosed and have struggled all my life (31 years) to try to live up to these expectations of 'doing more with my life', yet my own 'goals in life' are merely to fill my head with as much knowledge as I can, and be happy for as much of it as possible.

A comment after finishing reading the NZ writing:


Ok, I heartily agree that it would be a good idea for people to see an ASD diagnosis as a positive step - and it is easy for me to say this because my dx has been very positive.

What's a couple of years hammering computer games either here or there in the grand scheme of the unfolding of the universe? Sorry, can't see a dimension to pointlessness that can be morally judged.

Those are very admirable and worthy goals. Welcome to WP.

The role of this animal is to look adorable to hooomans while eating apples and twiddling its ears.
My role is to not be able to stop watching this animal do its role.

Thank you. It is quite wonderful hearing I am not alone

I also agree with both the OP and the authour. How do we know what we can and can't do, unless we test our limits?

My role is to applaud your role of watching this animal as it fulfils its role.

Those positions are stated by people that I call 'Disablists' - people who seem to believe that a diagnosis of an ASD (official or self-made) automatically absolves them from being accountable for their own actions and responsible for their own lives. In other words, they seem to lean heavily on their ASD diagnoses as justification for their claims that the world must cater to them in any way, and that anyone with an ASD diagnosis who has somehow made their own way in the world is actively shaming those who haven't.

Sure, and there really are those whose ASD is crippling, and those people deserve all the support they can get. People who simply can not tolerate noise, bright lighting, strong odors, crowds, and other people in general. People who simply can not form meaningful relationships, and whose only means of social contact is the Internet and websites like this one. I am not referring to these people as "Disablists".

Instead, I'm referring to people who hold up their ASD diagnoses and shout "I Can't" every time they are confronted with an opportunity, just as if they were potential victims holding out crucifixes to vampires and shouting "I Abjure Thee!" - people who, for example, seem to simply not want to make the effort to hold down jobs and earn incomes on their own, and who use their ASD as an excuse to never even try. People who have official ASD diagnoses, and who claim that I can't possibly have an ASD because I've learned to cope with my condition long before I even knew I had one!

Maybe that's it. Maybe if I had received my diagnosis 40 to 50 years earlier, I too might have learned that I was doomed to a lifetime of disability, then I too would be wailing about my plight and railing against those who have succeeded where I've failed and accusing them of 'shaming' me with their stories of success in a world that values conformity and social interaction above all else.

I refuse to be ashamed of my success. I refuse to conform, as well. I've made my own way, without demanding accommodations for my condition, and I'm proud of it.

My student told me it is eating an apple, but it looks more like a piece of bread to me.
Do you think it is eating an apple or a piece of bread?

I feel as if this is a huge generalization. Not every aspie "does nothing" like you think. I know because I'm trying to get an education. I don't want to spend the rest of my life doing nothing, so I'm trying to get a college degree in something I'm interested in and get a good paying job.

Does that sound like I'm "doing nothing?"

Nowhere in the blog post does it say "every aspie does nothing." The author is referring to the ones that don't do anything, don't try, or spend all of their time on one hobby/past time that doesn't make for a very enriched & full life.

Of course it doesn't sound like you're doing nothing.. because you're doing something. I think you're defending yourself against statements that were never made in the blog post. As I pointed out, the post is not about all aspies, only those select ones that don't try to do anything.

"Disableists".

Not the ones who can't do anything, of course; but those who don't even try to do anything, and then blame their ASD for making it impossible to succeed, so why try anyway?

I think people get overinvolved with whether other people are meeting or failing to meet their potential.

I also think that it is virtually impossible to get a good sense of what someone is doing with their life on this forum just from their posts, no matter how defeatist or positive.

Also, apparently some hobbies are "doing it wrong" while other hobbies are "worthwhile." This seems arbitrary (like using needlepoint as an example of doing it wrong) and meaningless.

Mostly though, I think some people here are too quick to judge or to assume the worst about others. Or assume that others are capable of exactly the same thing they are. Or come up with bizarre fables about how being diagnosed at a younger age leads to learned helplessness - and then when that comes up no one has any sympathy for someone who might have been raised by parents who taught them said helplessness, and instead treats it as a personality flaw in the person who has learned it.

Because of course telling people they chose to be failures is so darned motivating (that was sarcasm).