Would you socialise with LF autistic people?

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I love that answer because it already happened to me as well but in other circumstances.
It was quite unexpected and sort of fun I must say (for the circumstances I'm thinking of).
Sort of comforting I should add.

I think I'd relish the opportunity to sit alongside a non verbal LFA in comfortable silence. No expectations of social reciprocation.

I had a few autistic friends in high school of varying functioning levels. I can't even remember how I became friends with them, only that it wasn't in any "normal" manner (such as introducing ourselves to each other and starting up conversation).

':lol:' Of course he understands German... I should write in italian, he would understand anyway
Dont' worry dude, LF is not infectious...

I avoid socialisation with everyone.
I wouldn't not socialise BECAUSE of someone's functioning level, though.
I know a few ret*d adults and I enjoy talking to them.

Oh, also, that is not German in that article. I placed it as a Scandinavian language, and Google Translate thinks it's Swedish.

Yes and I do.


Why wouldn't i?

You're right! I didn't notice it.

The doctor says I have severe issues, mid funtioning, I would relish the oppertunity to be in the same room as someone both lower and higher funtioning then me, if only to feel it, to be in a situation with people where there is no expectation or words, and the silence isn't even awkward, it's just being in eachothers company - and that's enough, i think I'd enjoy that.

It was experiances like that which made me realise I was in the right line of work

Many times during high school I'd interact with the Special Ed students who have LFA, so my answer is yes.

Yes, I might find myself enjoying and looking forward to a twice-a-month Asperger's / Autism Spectrum group. Or, I might not. And either way is perfectly okay.

I don't like to socialize at all. But I think I understand this. I've gone to a few support group meetings. The first meeting I went to was a major eye opener. This is a medium to high functioning group, for the most part. But my pride took a big hit. I'm used to being treated as a weirdo, but being in a room full of weirdos was hard. (sorry - but we ARE weird if nothing). Too many memories of being on the fringes in high school, to much "mirror" in that room, seeing in full force how I actually appear to others. Once I processed it, I began to realize that this really is me. These people that talk funny and don't listen and have strange twitches and rock and stare off into space - holy crap - this is me. I really am a freaking weirdo.

Processing it further, I'm empathize (yes - we CAN do that) with my fellow freaks. They know just as much, if not better, the feelings of exclusion, the painful isolation, the just plain shittiness that the world can heap on us, if not for any other reason than we are just too freaking different.

It was really hard to see myself in a room full of autistics. A clean mirror reveals every flaw.

Would I hang out with low functioning autistics? Probably not. I would be bored. They would be bored. It would be boring. Sort of pointless. And boring.

Would I be ashamed to be seen with someone LFA? Hell no. If I was at a social function and there was someone LFA there, I would have no problem with being associated with them. Hell, I might even talk to them, except I suck at talking. Faking talking about stupid things to NTs is excruciating.Why would two autistic play that game? I almost think I could sit right next to a non-verbal autistic and we would communicate something just by being silent. It's quite refreshing for me not to feel any pressure to speak. I imagine it must be aggravating as hell for people to always try getting someone nonverbal to 'escape' their shell and communicate.

I like that.

I want us to think in terms of opportunity, not obligation. Obligation is dry as dust.

YES. So much. The idea that "they can't speak so we can't socialize" is absolute bunk! Why can't you interact just sitting next to each other? It's nice sometimes to be with people who don't mind that you are quiet and don't say anything. I haven't had this experience with other autistics; but when I was little, my mom (who is an OT) had a patient who was a little girl about twelve years old and profoundly ret*d; at the time I was about eleven, just her age. At first I thought I had to talk to her, because everybody expected me to talk; but she didn't talk, so I realized I didn't have to, either. So we just sat and watched each other. I remember she had really small feet, and her mom had bought her tennis shoes with cartoon characters on them that must have been made for toddlers; and she liked to watch the leaves moving in the breeze outside the window.

I'm kind of sad now that we don't get to interact with people who are very, very different from ourselves more often. All the disabled people I know now are people who use language (or sign, or communication device; but symbolic language anyway), and share a very similar culture to what everybody else does. The people who are very, very different--those are more rare, and sometimes their families feel like they have to hide them away at home, and nobody ever gets to meet them. That's sad. They're people, too, and we miss a lot when they get hidden away.

I agree. Society has always had a tradition of keeping people who are somehow considered to be "deviant" away from the eyes of the mainstream society, but I think that this situation has been improving more and more over the years as awareness of disabilities continues to increase. Something I aspire to do is to bring more of these more-divergent-from-the-mainstream people into the public eye and to convey the message that there is nothing bad about them being different. This issue becomes sticky as many people regard many behaviours of people with disabilities as "invasive" and "disruptive". Of course, both parties that have clashing abilities would have to invest some effort in adapting to each other... the question is, to what extent would each of the parties need to adapt to each other without significant problems being caused in the lives of both parties as a result of this act of adapting.

Yeah. It's pretty easy to figure out what somebody with a physical disability needs, usually; like, you know, ramps and elevators and things. But cognitive just isn't so intuitive for many people. Making public places into places where everybody could go would be difficult because of just how diverse people are.

Flexibility seems to be the key--rather than specifically changing things by trying to predict what people will need, it would be better to create things in ways that can be easily changed when needed. Of course it's more efficient to pre-prepare things that will be needed by lots of people; but you can't plan for everyone and everything, except by being flexible.