08 May 2014, 3:23 pm
foxfield wrote:
I believe the reason this happens is because being labelled ASD has huge psychological benefits. Psychological benefits you may not yet be prepared to admit.
Your brain recognizes these benefits on a subconscious level and creates a fixation. I'm sure you are not a calculating person who thinks "I really want to be labelled autistic, it would make my life so much better". Its your subconscious that's doing it for you.
The ASD label acts as a buffer zone between you and the world. You screw up socially and you can say to yourself "Ah, my ASD" rather than "I'm a failure". This may not sound like much, but your ego is a very powerful thing. Think about how terrible toe curling embarrassment feels, even years later. This is your brain telling you how important it is for your social mistakes to be either not made in the first place, or explained away.
You may deny what I'm saying, and say you don't really care what other people think. But how well do you know what your subconscious really wants? Embarrassment IS awful, and its a pretty much universal human experience.
People on here often talk about "wanting to have autism", like its something to be ashamed of. My view is that is natural, and we can't help it. Genuinely ASD people will "want to have autism" all the more strongly, as they really are very disabled in society...and to their brains, this is terrible.
Edit to clarify: When I talk about wanting to have autism, I guess I really mean "wanting to have the autism label", which is altogether a different concept to "wanting to have autism"
Your brain recognizes these benefits on a subconscious level and creates a fixation. I'm sure you are not a calculating person who thinks "I really want to be labelled autistic, it would make my life so much better". Its your subconscious that's doing it for you.
The ASD label acts as a buffer zone between you and the world. You screw up socially and you can say to yourself "Ah, my ASD" rather than "I'm a failure". This may not sound like much, but your ego is a very powerful thing. Think about how terrible toe curling embarrassment feels, even years later. This is your brain telling you how important it is for your social mistakes to be either not made in the first place, or explained away.
You may deny what I'm saying, and say you don't really care what other people think. But how well do you know what your subconscious really wants? Embarrassment IS awful, and its a pretty much universal human experience.
People on here often talk about "wanting to have autism", like its something to be ashamed of. My view is that is natural, and we can't help it. Genuinely ASD people will "want to have autism" all the more strongly, as they really are very disabled in society...and to their brains, this is terrible.
Edit to clarify: When I talk about wanting to have autism, I guess I really mean "wanting to have the autism label", which is altogether a different concept to "wanting to have autism"
Just because one is neurotypical doesn't mean that they can't make social mistakes and such, nor does it mean that they should be any more/less 'excused' than an autistic for them. I have thought strongly about that and can consciously accept any social mistakes as natural occurrences. I could almost claim that I have my own mantras that automatically activate. I have not once thought about using ASD as an excuse for my behaviour, as I don't consider neurology to be so black and white. I wish I could explain how I feel regarding this better, though as I said in my previous post, I'm super tired.
The subconscious part of me may be doing what you say, though it's impossible for me to know that. I will never deny what any poster says in a subjective thread such as this, and I will always have room for other's thoughts and opinions, yours included. Consciously I do not want to have autism, but I don't necessarily want to be neurotypical either. I am an individual, and that's what I will be, not a label.
_________________
Unapologetically, Norny.
-chronically drunk
09 May 2014, 7:16 am
