Neurotypical Privilege

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I wanted to start a thread on NT privilege but see there were already threads about it.

Privilege just means things you take for granted I think.

Example of NT privilege might be; despite being awkward and a bit different, you can still be yourself and still be accepted by society without having to put on an act to be normal.

Another example of NT privilege might be; if you are having socialization issues because people do not accept you, you can just find another group of people or find people you have in common with.

Another example of NT privilege might be; there is a change in your routine and you can easily adapt to it and get over it without it ruining your day

Another example might be; the ability to go out in public and not get a sensory overload and enjoy being out without being over stimulated by sounds and smells and sight and the ability to eat food without texture issues and taste.

Standardized testing comes to mind as NT privilege. If a person's future success is determined by how well they fit a mandatory set norm and not what is the depth of their individual, creative problem-solving skills, they are at the very least at a disadvantage. I often see standardized testing as straight out discrimination.

All this talk of "privilege" and shuffling people into little boxes with tags on them would be better spent trying to find ways to allow every individual human being to contribute in a meaningful matter informed by their wants and needs and not by how many privilege points they have.

I might be a straight white male, but I wish I weren't straight, I've suffered from ethnic discrimination and I've been in abusive relationships where I was the victim and many situations where my gender played against me. Every person has a different life story and different expectations.

The one privilege I am willing to consider is wealth privilege - being born in a well-off family. Money makes one's life easier and excuses many things. I was born into a working class family and there is absolutely no way a lesbian black woman heiress is systemically worse off than I am.

Privilege points drive me crazy. It's a game of relativity. People judged to be "privileged" are subject to responsibility and mindfulness for everyone beneath them, but as you go farther down, does the chain continue? Shall we talk of high functioning privilege? Verbal privilege? And what will these admissions bring about? If they don't cause any practical results, it's pointless. I have yet to see any actual benefits to this new mindfulness.

Also, the term "NT privilege" is absolutely ridiculous. Since when is it a privilege not to suffer? We should not be telling people that they were gifted by the gods behind the gods simply because they weren't born autistic. NTs are at baseline. They're not afflicted or gifted. They're average. If you're going to talk about NT privilege, you might as well talk about breathing privilege.

Don’t give people ideas.

There are also thin privileges. I bet there are also rich privileges. There are privileges everywhere.

Discussing neurotypical privilege is free speech and adhering to the terms and conditions of the website. If you don't want to hear about it, you should leave.

What else other than employment?

My solution would be to remove the time limit components. When allowed to think about these things on standardized tests that come naturally to neurotypicals, it clears things right up. Every student should be allowed as much time as they need too. Nobody is intentionally wasting time or sitting around in the test room. "I wanna keep the proctor here until midnight," said no student ever.

I agree with this post.

It's very real but the grass is always greener on the other side, as cliché as it sounds. When I get down on myself a lot I think about how sh*tty my NVLD is but at the end of the day it isn't productive or helpful. Everyone's got something that brings them down.

I was just thinking about this topic today. It really is something I encounter at work where a group of all women expect everyone to act alike. Guess who sticks out? Guess whose boss tells them they need to say, "hello" to improve their performance - she didn't ask to learn why I skip that. I don't do it all the time because I don't like interrupting people if I walk into the room with several desks and they're heads are down working, so I sometimes don't. I don't know if people will hear me or not - doesn't it matter?

I find the more effusive and cartoon-like the NT - the more annoyed they are that I don't reciprocate their goofy enthusiasm. It actually makes me retreat expressively as if there's enough energy in the room already for the both of us.

Anyway...despite feelings about overuse of the concept of privilege:
I would say it is worth asking people to pause at least once in their lives to understand how society is structured socially around what makes them comfortable as NTs and ask them to consider how NDs feel and are disadvantaged going through life in a society that not only makes them uncomfortable but criticizes, misunderstands, and shuns them. Unemploys them. Isolates them for not speaking the same language and being able to perform "normal" to their satisfaction. It's lonely.

The sad part is that the women I work with probably think they are trying to "fix" me to be a good team member because I do things that are socially "discomforting" from time to time, but I'd like to "fix" them because they seem really intolerant of any social differences! They have plenty of opportunity to give me feedback and make comments in meetings if they don't like something, but they cower and wait until the 6 month mark to indirectly give it to my supervisor. And it smacks of them misjudging me - and having little tolerance for variation. I work at an institution that prides itself on supporting diversity...just not the social kind, apparently.

As an aside, I wonder if my competing colleague disclosed ADHD to my boss and so she's getting more "understanding". She didn't like her 6 mo review, so hard to tell. But boss sticks up for her laser focus on getting things done rather than collaborating well with me, which she does not. That's another mixed signal - if blending into team yet being a leader is my goal, why is it okay for competing colleague to blaze her own trail and not work well with me?

Everything is relative and nothing is absolute, but we understand our world through forms of classification. Many people who are labeled with a particular privilege aren't being attacked, or assumed to have their fortune handed to them. It is however a means of building awareness that certain aspects of life can be more difficult for certain groups of people and by having that conversation, maybe the majority will be more apt to stop and think before making judgments or decisions based on their specific worldview. We're all different, and we all suffer, but it's not about that. It's about going through life with a lack of awareness of our own advantages. You don't need to play the victim to admit that you're in some way disadvantaged. It can help give better perspective and self-compassion to someone who has always felt on the outside.

It took me awhile to come to this conclusion myself, because it's so easy to accept the world as it is, but when you dig deeper you can start to see where we stagnate.

I, contrary to what you say, have experienced plenty of positive change coming from awareness of gender and racial inequality. It's not easy, but people are having the discussion. I think that mental health is still largely a blind spot, and disorders and illnesses are often stigmatized which only serves to exacerbate the problem.

Don't shut it down. It's a conversation worth having. Always.

I agree

NT privilege seems real to me. I'm ok with it.

I am more on the side of AceOfPens. If you are any type of minority you are more likely to be at a disadavantage because of discrimination of various types, misunderstandings and just because most people do not have to accommodate you.

The old defininition of privilege was being given an unfair advantage somehow usually economic or a favor. Another words the concept of priviledge was an individual thing where your group can be a factor.

The new definition is privilege adds to the old one and has become dominated by the group you are in. It says you are automatically privileged because of the group you are in.

IRL the new definition is not about awareness or is not about awareness anymore. It is a rhetorical weapon used to guilt shame and invalidate people to shut up with something you disagree with. It is saying your opinion is not really valid because you are in a group I deemed privileged. I have to give very grudging credit to whomever redefined the term in this way. Everybody belongs to some sort of group that has an advantage so “check your privilege” or think about your privilage can be used to distract from any argument by any opponent.

Giving credit most certainly does not mean acceptance. An advantaged person can be right in a discussion with a disadvantaged person. While bieng “privileged” in several ways an individual can be and often is more disadvantaged than advantaged so how is the new definition useful for all of those people?

Observation:
I find most of using privilage in the new way are privileged in the old fashioned way.