What should sociology undergrads think about RE autism?

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I think that the issue is not one of power over you, but that these people will have power over others perhaps like you when you were younger, or some younger WP members or older WP members in need of more services for which these people may be gatekeepers. Perhaps they will be in positions to influence the lives of my kids, for example.

For the good of the community, then, it may be a worthwhile effort to help these people understand autism.

I think that what Rocket123 wrote will help those folks understand autism, regardless of whether or not that was their intent. A casual disregard for the hierarchies imposed upon us by the allistic seems to be somewhat common.

Right. And Rocket probably meant that, and I was being dense. Thanks for helping me see that!

Oh, and I meant to reply to this last night. YES! As I was in my theory classes, even before I started officially studying autism, I kept thinking that autistic people disproved this theory and that theory, or made this particular theory more interesting. From what I've seen, digging around, there are many people on my level (in grad school) also noticing the value of autistics as a minority population, SO interesting to talk to and observe. I think there will be a boom in the sociology of autism in the next few years, which will add to the power of the autism advocacy movement. Not to say that sociologists are many or powerful, but this is how the advocacy movement has been going- started on the ground floor with self-advocates, and snowballing with more and more people. Basically because human rights are common sense.

My Cr0.02 ...

We are people; not case studies, not test subjects, not freaks on exhibit - PEOPLE!

We are autistic, neither "ret*d" nor "crazy" nor "cursed" nor "possessed by demons" nor "the next stage in human evolution" - AUTISTIC!

We have feelings, even though our emotional responses may seem flat, odd or inappropriate at times.

We have thin social armor, meaning that we tolerate less "BS" than others. Alex brought to attention the fact that many researchers seem to only want to interact with us long enough to acquire data, and that they disappear once they have what they want. Our "BS sensor" then inspire us to be less likely to open up to future researchers for any reason.

We have low-capacity sensory buffers, meaning that too much light, noise, and touching may overwhelm us. We're less likely to display an emotional melt-down if we're allowed to adjust our environment to be less threatening, or if we're allowed to leave. By the way, this is not funny. Laughing at or making fun of a person going through sensory overload only adds to the overload and make the situation worse.

While we may be unable to handle crowds due to the sensory overload, most of us seem to crave friendships, but our apparent "weirdness" tends to drive people away.

And while not all of us are unaware that some people want to exploit us for their own amusement or benefit, as if they were poking caged animal just to see how long it will take us to react, and what our reactions will be. This makes us doubly suspicious of apparently well-meaning strangers.

Each of us is unique. Dumping us all into a single category and expecting each of us to respond in the exact same way to stimuli is simply wrong thinking, bordering on ablist and classist prejudice.

Finally, not all of us want to be "cured", especially if being "cured" actually means being drugged, lobotomized, shock-treated, or otherwise forced to conform to social behavior that we know to be shallow, superficial, and downright deceitful ... just like the behavior of those who claim to want us cured.

Just so it’s clear. I fully support what SocOfAutism is doing.

So, an alarm bell went off in my head when I read those four words: “position of power over”. I immediately flashed back to several uncomfortable interactions I have had with people in HR departments. My first thought was that I am not going to automatically respect someone simply because they have some job title that purportedly gives them a "position of power over" me. I could care less about their socially contrived hierarchy system.

Then, I figured that it would be helpful for SocOfAutism to understand what “immediate thought” goes through the mind of at least one Aspie. I think this “immediate thought” is particularly interesting and revealing in the workplace environment. As it does get me in trouble as I am unwilling to succumb to what I consider to be “social pressure” just because someone has a title.

So, SocOfAutism is planning to speak to a group of students who purportedly want to be put in a role where there is a perceived “position of power” over others. These students should understand that at least one Aspie may not respond well, if they are not treated respectfully.

This aspie would see an arbitrary installation of someone into a "Position of Power" over him to be an insensitive imposition, and a demand for respect and obedience to be an act of arrogance and false pride.

While I can respect a position of authority, if a person in authority wants my respect, then he or she has to earn it.

You can't just point to your title on the door and expect me to respect you, even though I may respect your title.

[snark]

I've worked for too many clueless people who knew less about my work than I did; but they were made my "managers" because we simply can not have educated and intelligent people managing their own activities, now can we?

[/snark]

To echo the previous posters, power structures in society do not mean anything to me. To explain what that is like in daily life, imagine that you are in a room with a group of people, and one of them boldly claims that they are the king of the world. Your first inclination would probably be to roll your eyes at them or think that they are nuts. But then, to your dismay, you notice all of the other people wholeheartedly agreeing with them. Thus you're left wondering if you are the only sane person in the room.

To me, all social hierarchies are exactly like that. While I might act the part for self-preservation, I can clearly see that claims of position and ranking are completely artificial. It boggles my mind that NTs act as if the current social structures are something inherent to the way the universe works, and that to disregard them is an act of radical thinking. It also pains me to think that many such hierarchies, such as those run by Hitler, Stalin, or Mao, caused a lot of pain and suffering, for no other reason than that other NTs allowed it to happen.

Thus, if these students want to work with people on the spectrum, they should not come at it with a mindset of having power over them. This will at best frustrate them, and at worst the person will begin to despise the student. If they want respect, it will have to be earned as an equal.

Also, to (bluntly) add to Rocket123's comments, I hate HR departments with a passion. They rarely have a clue what they're talking about and tend to act like a bunch of entitled, petty tyrants. I have noticed that many people where I work, particularly those in IT, would tacitly agree with me on this.


On a different note, many people on the spectrum, particularly younger people on the higher-functioning end I think, feel some level of shame about their differences, or have low self-esteem because of they way they are treated by their peers and possibly their parents; however, they might not be inclined to acknowledge it, perhaps even to themselves. This is often what pushes them to "put on the mask" and try to emulate NT behavior, because they feel that they could not be accepted as they are. I, personally, still struggle with this.

Also, while most of us would prefer being alone to being around people in general (as "playing the part" socially, can be very taxing), I think on some level, lots of us long to be close to people who understand and like us as we are. I have had close friends in the past whose company I enjoyed, perhaps more so than being alone.

This describes me to a "T", especially in the working world or school. Some random kid (or employee) who is nothing special says something outrageous and people blindly follow him. I rationally explain something and it's like talking to the wall. I am the lone voice of reason who can see the Emperor is naked and *I* get treated like the crazy one. There was one kid in school was said the most outrageous things no zero evidence... and EVERYONE believed him. He could have probably worn a pink tutu and it would probably become the new fashion craze. It was surreal! In my working world, whenever the big wigs would come over, all the managers and supervisors would act nuts and freak out if a dust ball was out of place. I would walk up to the big wig and treat him like I would anyone else. What a concept.


It just astounds me how so many supposedly intelligent people seem to think that God himself created our current political system. For example, I have tried to explain that the concept of countries and corporations is a relatively recent invention and people look at me like I am a tinfoil hat wearing lunatic. A lot of our current systems are not based on human nature but on powerful people seeking power. Nobody can seem to grasp this.


That's all I have ever wanted in life. To be liked and accepted for who I am.

Dear SocofAutism and others-

Thank you for sharing your wisdom. Although, I did ask for permission to invite participants for research, I hope I am not THAT researcher.

Reading here as well as working with students within my profession helps me improve my understanding, which in turn helps me convey to students that they are unique people who are worth it and a diagnosis does not define them.

Just so you know, what I read here helps me as a practitioner and a faculty member in a special education department. I hope that what I learn from you, will help inspire a future group of educators who are sensitive to the individual rather than a one size fits all approach.

Thank you again,

Deborah

I always wondered why I was wrong and different yet again. In the pros and cons of diagnosis threads the idea of a diagnosis as an explination usually comes up as a pro. These situations are where the explanition is the most helpful for my self confidence