Do you still believe in the Autistic Community & Culture

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I don't know what to think. I think the autistic community was a nice idea to begin with, however it hasn't turned out the I was expecting.

Basing a culture around a mental disorder seems strange to me. :-/

A lot of us don't call it a disorder.

I think community and cultural involvement that involves actual human to human interaction is on the decline for everyone. "Home entertainment" has replaced many of the things people used to do together. Even simple things like having a conversation have been replaced by texting, facebook, and twitter. Much of the human element is lost.

I think that "media culture" is changing the experience of "human culture" and "human community" into a 2 dimensional rather than 3 dimensional experience. It's almost like living on a space ship and remembering the earth and human society in a video.

I don't think a person can fully understand this unless they were around before "media culture" came into existence.

"Wrong Planet" is probably as good as it will get for an attempt to organize regular community and cultural events for people on the Autism Spectrum". "Facebook" or "Twitter" may be as good as it gets for many people considered to be "neurotypical".

I think it's sad but I think a lot of the aspies that have a bad case of aspergers are still very immature(like most people with aspergers) and that because of it they will continue to be unable to interact socially, get a bad outlook on life and continue to a path of self-destruction. Of course some will make it in life but some will also give up. I don't want to be negative but that's just how it is. I've seen people on the site that can have a normal discussion but also some that are still to immature for it.

Good post. I think there's truth in what you say.

It's interesting but, as an autistic type of person, you might think I'd be more into social networking and relating through technology, but I find myself craving a more '3D' experience. Something meaningful.

It might be possible that web 3.0 or whatever will be a more satisfying experience than the empty feeling that web 2.0 engenders within me, but I have serious doubts. Sadly, it seems that reducing human experience is the future, not expanding or deepening it.

Last edited by Moog on 19 Dec 2010, 11:20 am, edited 1 time in total.

In the 90's when Computers became part of mainstream life, I felt myself fascinated and quickly became addicted to the stimulating nature of the technology. It seemed so exciting that I lost interest in many of the things I did in the "natural world". It took me quite awhile to realize that while the new technologies were stimulating, much of my life was spent gazing into a 2-dimensional object 18 inches from my face. The realization was a little frightening; I had the sudden desire to go outside and hug the earth.

It was almost like a twilight zone moment. Don't know if anyone here is old enough to remember the TV show "The Twilight Zone"? One show depicted a human family that did not leave the house because their house was a zoo like structure made for the amusement and curiosity of a superior alien race. At that time in society home was for sleep and that was about it. The idea of being stuck in a house terrified me. I find it rather ironic that later in my life I would subject myself at home and be required at work to spend most of my life inside a structure sitting down in front of a 2-D screen.

I can't help but to think that electronic media of all kinds is making everyone a little more Autistic, whether or not they are on the Spectrum or considered NT.

Perhaps the scariest part of it is that many of the children born today will never understand how it felt to be alive in a Community, Culture, and Society before "Electronic Media Culture".

i know i'm still new to this but i was under the impression that the autism community was alive and growing ! there are the forums like this one, for support of the newcomers, there are other forums more or less militant, there are people dreaming of building an actual autistic place on this planet (although it seems unrealistic , every project starts with a dream), there are the forums from around the world , and the people on it have strong ideas and bring our culture out of the woods , we are getting more and more visibility, autistic people are starting to appear in tv series and movies, and not the savant type: the regular high functionning or aspie type!
And yes it is slow but if you were there in the 90's, you cannot tell me that you don't see a progress there. first they will notice us, then they will clearly state that they are denying us our rights and are putting their foot down about it, and that's probably the time when we will get together and start working. i don't know about all of you, but i know MY kind of executive disfunction means that as long as the problem is not right in front of my nose, i will not try to get closer to it. I think we will get together when we actually NEED to.and then probably there will be no turning back and we will exist as a community. Like gay people...

Then perhaps the reason no "autistic culture" has developed is because it is far more than just a "difference" as some claim.

I would venture to say that their aren't enough highly functioning individuals to create such a culture.

From everything I have seen, except for a lucky few with extraordinary abilities, autism is a disease that severely degrades the quality of life for the vast majority of those it afflicts.

I agree with Moog about disorder.

And I don't necessarily think the idea is any more or less strange than other cultures or sub-cultures - LGBT/gay culture based around sexuality; Emo or Goth or punk or mod or whatever culture based around a shared enjoyment of a certain genre of music and styles of dress; some men (and it's mostly men) base whole cultures around particular sports or even a particular team.

I'm sorry to hear you're feeling sceptical and disillusioned Ken. You've always struck me as quite an enthusiastic and dedicated activist and I have a lot of respect and admiration for your determination to participate and make things happen.

I suppose it's only to be expected that your moods relating to autistic community and culture might go up and down, sometimes you might feel more positive, at other times more despondent, depending not just on what you're doing, but also what others are doing with you, and what you see others doing elsewhere around the globe.

As for whether I'm optimistic or whether I share your scepticism, I'm not sure. I always say I'm an optimistic pessimist in that I hope for the best but I'm prepared to deal with the worst. I have many talents, but an ability to predict the future isn't one of them, but potential problems I can foresee include that perennial problem relating to organising Aspies, i.e. it's been likened to herding cats. That's a major problem in terms of anyone trying to make an effort to organise others or a community more generally. As is the executive dysfunction that many individuals suffer from, myself included.

There are lots of other obstacles, including poor social skills, disparate populations. It's not like with 'gay culture' where there are some major population centres that LGBT people are drawn to, like London, Brighton, Manchester, San Francisco, New York, Vancouver, Sydney, Tel Aviv. The only place that I can think of, for sure, is Silicon Valley. And then Seattle because of MicroSoft. You could argue pretty much any city with a university that has a good computer science school or tech industry base.

As for what I think the chances are of your hopes listed above become realities: I really like the idea of art spaces, but then I suppose that any Aspie who's an artist will tap into local artistic communities and get involved in art squats and putting on exhibitions in existing galleries or 'pop up' art spaces. And likewise Aspie musicians will probably get involved with the local music scene and join a band and get gigging that way.

Autscape and Autreat fulfil a niche need that can't be satisfied by more mainstream alternatives like an equivalent of an art scene or music scene. But those are only two events, and for many Aspies geography and the resultant cost of travel and attending are a problem. While a lot of Aspies might want to attend such events, many are unemployed or underemployed and don't have the means to do so.

As for autistic groups and autistic pride, I think it's a matter of being patient. I know you think you've probably already been patient long enough, and I can sense your frustration that several years after joining WP and seeing the membership grow this hasn't translated into bigger and better things in the real world. But I think things are changing. More people are using social networking sites nowadays to organise events and actions and things. And while you might look at gay pride events and see thousands of people, they started out as small events, they weren't always huge street carnivals, it started out in New York as a protest, which then turned into a celebration, and then the concept gradually spread to cities all around the world.

It's also not mental, it's neurological.

Of course. Doh! Good spot

All true. Electronics make it far too easy for advertisers and other manipulators to present flashy banners to just about everyone at once, and then there are far too many waving in the breeze for any significant number of people to focus on just one and remain there for long enough to even really get to know one another before a new video comes out and yet another new "culture" is born. Like people in a spaceship on a very long journey, generations have come and gone without things being carefully passed along and now we no longer remember who we were, who we are and/or where we are going.

Here you are making a claim AGAIN that autism is a disease while you haven't even replied to my answer in http://www.wrongplanet.net/postxf145872-0-60.html on your reasoning why autism is a disease.

Your more sounding like a fearmonger then a contributer.

i am autistic and i am not a part of any community and i have no "culture"

there are autistic people i know now (from reading this forum) that operate far above my head space, and they may have a sense of community and culture.

i am rather severely affected by autism and most of the people on this forum i see are very much closer to normal than me.

i do not believe in an autistic "community" because i will make a lot of money on my own with no help from anyone.

i do not want to be part of a "group" because "groups" are always situations that reduce the clarity of my aspirations.


i will make my life how i want it to be with only my own input, and i trust that i will reach my goal with only the ability i have.

i love tammy who is mentally ret*d but who loves me, and she has no idea how i am going to make our lives easy, but i will do it and i will have her to hug and love until i die.

our lives (mine and tammy's) are easy right now, but i am not a multi millionaire yet.