Verdandi wrote:
There's a thread in the political subforum (not PPR) about autism speaks that has a reference for this story. At the time I looked it up but I a) do not remember the name and b) don't have the energy to look it up.
Thanks for the pointer I'll have a search shortly.
Dark_Lord_2008 wrote:
Why should I care? I am so sick of discrimination against Aspergers.
Problem is people do not realise they are discriminating against Asperger's. They think they are discriminating against learned skills, because they arrogantly and selfishly think that they learned them as they grew up, and you didn't. This is something so clearly obvious when you see the spelling and grammar Police on forums criticising and getting nasty towards people with the Neurological condition Dyslexia - who because of their Neurology have difficulty with those things. It's not their fault, but because a "normal" or Neurotypical person feels they learned those skills and "made themselves", they feel justified in treating others they believe did not put the same time and effort in, as sub-human, and to exalt themselves as the superior being. Sadly, this is normal Neurotypical behaviour, and it is part of what made the Human race so successful. Remember one thing that set Humans apart from the Neanderthals was their social ability and competitiveness.
Humans fail to appreciate diversity because they like everyone to be like they are. This is pretty much identical to the Nazi's ethos. But instead of gas chambers, we have social exclusion and unemployment. Almost a veiled apartheid that you can't see - because people aren't looking and they don't care because it doesn't affect them and they have a great life. If there were toilets marked "Neurotypical" and "Non-neurotypical" and different parts of the bus for different people, and there was a rule saying people with Asperger's and similar conditions should not be allowed to work or have benefits - then it would be more clear and obvious and you could stick a picture in the newspaper to highlight the injustice.
We've made great strides in terms of reducing discrimination towards gender, sexuality, age, ethnicity, skin colour, and people with obvious disabilities which do not affect their Neurotypicality, (such as those in wheel chairs, the deaf, the blind). All in a relatively short time. Granted they all still experience discrimination at different levels. To me, as an Aspie, the next stage is better understanding and appreciation of Neurological differences. But I feel at present the only way this would work is with specific legislation naming those disabilities. Hopefully one day the Human race will appreciate Neurodiversity, and we won't continue with this veiled apartheid against those who do not meet with the Neurological norm.