What if Aspies were viewed as NTs?

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What if...? indeed, topic. This is an interesting idea, Zsazsa. Unfortunately, it got lost somewhere between Then and Now.

On a similar vein, what if Aspies)at one end if the Spectrum) were considered just so much neurotypical flotsam and jetsam and did not warrant special needs?

The poor, the criminals, Auties and Aspies...they have always been with us!

It has been pointed out that often the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Protesters and lobbyists are on the right track here.There is even the notion of Autism Speaks, though I am not one who listens to much of their dangerous drivel about cures and remedies. (See other forums.)

Prisons are expensive as they warehouse many of the most dangerous among us. The poor worldwide are starving, and often homeless, and the psychologically challenged are often in mental health treatment centres or in assisted living environments. People living on the Autism Spectrum are not usually institutionalized (as much any more) and resources and assistance for them and us are usually scarce, because of priorities, and the concept of triage. Some of us fall between the cracks, as you have accurately observed. The powers that be probably see someone who is an Animal behaviourist like Temple Grandin(example only, not "typical") as not as needy as a nonverbal child who must wear incontinent products and who must have a great deal of daily supervision. NTs view the latter is a poster person for deserving assistance, and the former a model of success, not needing support, and at first glance this may seem fair and even just from a survival standpoint but upon further analysis each person on the spectrum needs and deserves support, albeit in different ways.

I have a strong hunch that those of us at opposite ends of any spectrum are probably more succesful in attracting the attention/praise/sympathy of NTs and precious research and support money. Having said this, the future is not all doom and gloom. Now that we are aware of this, perhaps something positive is in store for the New Year. It is called optimism.

I've actually BEEN viewing NTs as if THEY were the Aspergers or Autistics.

It's effective yet painful on both sides.
It has brought me into communication with the strange species-of which 'the carriers' seem to mediate.
I'm just brushing the surface.
Will report back later.

Ko/Ki out.

There is only one word to describe what that would be like.....great.
We would no longer be the outcasts. Lets face it...no one likes to be an outcast!

No, we'd still be outcasts. I was viewed as NT for the first 17.5 years of my life, and I was just as much an outcast then as now. It would primarily mean that those among us who genuinely need help and support would be unable to get it. For me there would be no difference; if I simply don't tell anyone about Asperger's, everyone will just think I'm a bit odd.

The perceived "persecution" of Aspies is not due to an NT prejudice against autistics or aspies, as most commonly those responsible for the "persecution" are unaware of the Asperger's diagnosis. We are outcasts because people dislike certain traits and behavior patterns that we exhibit.

Orwell, Brittany2907 and Seabright, you all have raised some interesting points. I like where this rather open question is going--not necessarily where I thought it would, and this is good.

Orwell's point is razor sharp. It is the behaviours of the label Autistic that seem to inviste the persecution, not the label itself. As s/he correctly states, there are many NTs (who don't even know they are NTs) who have never heard of Asperger's or Autism. At one point in history, we might have been negatively viewed as sorcerers. Such power I wish we would have!
Brittany2907 also has a point. If I try hard and do not tell anyone I live on the AS Spectrum, and work very hard so that my behaviour or traits are not so obvious, then perhaps there would no longer be persecution. Or, if I am in a situation where these traits are seen as positive, then having them is not detrimental. This is the case with somelike Bill Gates, Temple Grandin and Alex Plank. It is not the case with young Joe Smith (not his real name) who requires daily educational, physical and psychosocial support because he functions in a more challenged way and is unable to be in an independent living situation.

There are those who are prejudiced who see any of us living anywhere on the Austism Spectrum as outcasts, but at the same time are not supportive in terms of employment and housing. And waiting for such supports is often a long wait. I know. This is my case right now. I am getting some emergency help only because I am the sole support parent of two underage teens.

I still however, still have that optimistic hunch. Little steps forward, to be sure, but steps nonetheless.

And some people with AS don't have the same issues. In some respects, I would be considered an NT. I don't have many of the rigidity or sensory issues, and I am usually good at communicating verbally.

Tim

I don't think we would have been viewed as "sorcerers." With my inability to recognize faces, much less remember and connect them to names, my complete ignorance of how to interact with other people, and my extreme clumsiness, I would have been a more likely candidate for "village idiot."

Nobody likes it, but a whole lot of musicians have made a whole lot of money off teenagers using it