AS pride = the new gay pride.

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I've noticed that the civil rights movement, the woman's rights movement, and the gay rights movement have all taught people that we should not be discriminated against for our genetics. We live in a society which seeks to understand all its members right?

Do you guys think we'll ever read a period where the Aspie Pride movement has as much influence as the gay rights movement? If people are educated about the difference between AS and NT people can start learning to live in unity right? Or maybe that's just an idealistic fantasy but I think that if people were more educated on the fact that we can't help it we would receive a lot less harassment. One idea I have is to let kids with AS take an art course instead of sports. Or at least create sports classes geared specifically toward people with AS.

Curious if anybody has been heading in this direction and how the results have been. The gay pride symbol is a rainbow which is well known all over the place. Do we have a symbol to show pride in who we are and to recognize each other?

I don't think we have a symbol as of yet. It would be nice. Although, there seems to be a way to go before we get there. There was a thread about a week back asking about Autistic pride and the general opinion seems to have been 'I'm proud of my achievements' rather than 'I'm proud of my neurology'.

Apparently the "rainbow infinity" glyph is gaining ground as a symbol for the neurodiversity/autistic rights movement.

Totally agree that the LGBT movement provides a good analogy/model for an autistic/neurodiversity rights movement.

It would be amazing if we all started wearing badges, T-shirts, or other things with a "sign" that indicated our membership of this group, so that we could connect up more easily. At least being AS/neurodivergent is not a crime, so we wouldn't have to be afraid of wearing such a symbol.

Wrong Planet T-shirts are not quite "cool" enough, nor universally wearable, to serve this function.

I'm personally not that keen on rainbows as decorative items; I don't like the colour mixture, but I think I would wear one, if it was minimalist enough.

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I would purchase and wear one if it were on a black t-shirt. I loathe white t-shirts.
It would also have to only have the symbol - no words. I am exceedingly picky about wearing words.

Does anybody know the history of the rainbow symbol for gay rights? I mean, how it became such a predominant symbol such that it's now recognized nearly everywhere. Maybe there's some history there that could be emulated (if it was deliberate, anyway), in terms of "spreading the word."

If WP made ballcaps, say black, with a silver or different black (very subtle looking) symbol I'd buy one. I also like the black t-shirt with a symbol but no words on it idea.

My partner recoils from anything having to do with asperger's because after I was first diagnosed, he went online to learn more and came across loads of insults against the "neurotypical" that made him feel attacked just for existing. It led him to have a very harsh and caustive attitude toward all things Asperger's and even to reject my diagnosis and leave me to cope with all the issues it raised alone. It nearly destroyed our relationship because I wasn't going to give up this thing that finally made sense of my entire screwed-up life and he was very angry and rejecting of the diagnosis.

Only now, after I've been diagnosed for nine years, is the climate at home beginning to cool down. I no longer feel like I need to hide my books about asperger's from him so that they won't stir up an argument. I'm only just beginning to be able to talk to him about my asperger's without it turning into a nasty emotional mess, leaving me in tears and resolving to never speak to him about anything that is important to me again, only "what do you want for dinner?" or "what movie would you like to watch?" and nothing about anything that really matters.

In short, it's been devastating. And it all started with him going online to read more about Asperger's and finding lots of insults directed at him and an attitude of superiority coming from the "neurodiversity movement" putting forth ideas along the lines of "two legs bad, four legs good" except it was "aspies good, neurotypicals screwed up" and he said "if they're all such Atomic Supermen, why am I supposed to give them any accomodations in life or even care about anything to do with them? They can all go off and rule the world like they say and just leave me out of it."

He's starting to come around as he realizes that I am in serious need of help I'm not getting and as he has had time to consider me in the new (to him) framework of "person with asperger's", but the backlash I experienced from him is not something unique to us. More and more, I've been seeing articles, including one in the New York Times, that talk about "aspie pride" and equate it with a superiority complex and then go on to make some bashing statement about it.

I'm hesitant to very vocally join a movement of "aspie pride" or "neurodiversity pride" because I can see the potential outcome. As more and more people express offense at ideas like people with asperger's being superior to people without it or genius only being an asperger's trait or how people without asperger's would still be living in caves if it weren't for us, and so on, I fear a greater and greater backlash against "those ass burgers" and I don't want to be in the way when that train really gets rolling.

I think that the aspie-supremacy attitudes that a very small minority of people on the spectrum seem to have may be the AS/neurodivergent equivalent of the misogyny and misandry which can be seen in "corners" of the gay and lesbian communities. I was guilty of misandry, during four years of radical lesbian feminism in my mid-twenties, and as a lesbian also saw/experienced the, sometimes shockingly, misogynist side of certain gay men, which heterosexual women, "saved/protected" by their connections with men, tend not to.

Both are probably expressions of the same kind of exaggerated over-compensation for chronic suffering and profound self-loathing caused by longterm discrimination, exclusion, and oppression. Finding a community that accepts you can be such a relief, be such a potent affirmation of self-worth that to begin with at least go to the opposite extreme and believe that are better than others outside the group. I don't think that AS/neurodiversity pride is a problem in itself. I think that many of us could do with some of it.

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I like the idea of Autistic Pride. (Note I did not limit myself to "Aspie Pride") My son is diagnosed PDD-NOS. He is not Aspie, but he is autistic.

Such an organization seems a pretty good idea to me. I don't think it can completely change people's attitudes towards us or promise us a brilliant future without any discrimination or bullying because of our condition, but I do think it can raise awareness and make it easier for people with autism to tell what they have. Furthermore, when people know of the existance and basic difficulties of autism they might be more tolerant.

Such rights groups exist in the Netherlands too, (for homosexuals etc) and if they seek attention from the media they can get something done, or make their point. There is an autism organization in the Netherlands but it basically sucks as someone who has nothing to do with autism doesn't know about its existance; only people who have something to do with autism in some way are likely to know.

I'd support the group and maybe even wear a bracelet or whatever symbol on occasions, not sure if I'd wear it permanently. As long as autistics won't be portrayed as pathetic, hopeless and helpless losers in everything I support it. And of course if the organization is active and doing a lot to get attention and awareness.

Wouldn't be proud of it though.....being born a certain way (autistic, gay, whatever it may be) isn't a reason to be too proud.

I would definitely wear a bracelet. I'm surprised we don't have a symbol yet. The one I've used is a magnifying glass. I also wanna get a Wrong Planet t-shirt and modify it into a post-apocalyptic fashion tank top. Then do a photo shoot with it.

As for AS supremacy it's related to oppression from NT's and is a coping mechanism. If AS/NT people were seen as equal and NT's stopped attacking us for our social differences I feel that AS supremacy would disappear. I would gladly stop talking about how AS was the next step of evolution if NT's would stop harassing me for things that I can't help. Yet to be honset I've face more oppression in the AS community for suggesting these evolutionary theories than in the NT community. My response is that if someone has been harassed by the same group of people their whole life it is a good coping mechanism to view them as weak and below you. Not that it makes it right but it's somewhat of a natural reaction. I would like to stop and feel that I will once I get over the emotional damages that NT's have caused me. I can even stop now. I won't mention AS supremacy again. I just want us to have pride in who we are and stop getting harassed by NT's. The effect of being picked last for the team throughout ones entire childhood does not exactly set us up for a happy future.

Malcolm X did do a good job though. He was viewed as a black supremacist yet he got the community to have pride in themselves and to stop taking harassment from white people.

I think comparing ASDs with gays is too divisive.

What accomplishment does this "aspie pride" reffer to?

The same accomplishment as the Gay Pride. None.

That was also my point. ''Pride'' doesn't look like the right word for it.

Asperger's Self-worth?
Asperger's Self-confidence?
Asperger's Worthiness?

I think the idea behind it is that we are "just as good" as "others." It's not about being proud to be autistic (I don't think) but rather about not feeling lesser or worthless because of autism. It's about telling the world that we are capable and deserving of a chance just like anyone else.

At least that's what I think people might be trying to say when they use the word "pride."

I have similar concerns to what Sparrowrose has voice. On another (non-autism related) forum I created a neurodiversity group and got a lot of backlash from one member with a severly autistic son who thought that I must think his son shouldn't get any help or support. That's of course not the case.

As to concerns about the term "aspie pride", the usefulness of the word "pride" is its cultural significance because of its association with other movements. Clearer language wouldn't carry the same significance. We could speak of "aspie rights" but that doesn't have the same connotation. Another problem is that the word "aspie" may be stricken from the DSM in a couple of years. Insisting upon its use may lead others to assume that those who do so are ill informed. It doesn't matter that the label has been useful. Public perception is more important.

Using the word "aspie" can be considered divisive -- unless the person talking about "Aspie Pride" really ONLY wants to talk about people with asperger's and not the larger autistic community. I have witnessed discussions among autistic people online who do not have asperger's and who say they often find the use of the word "aspie" to go along with an elitist "us vs them" attitude that is detrimental to others with autism. Here's just one example - the first I picked out of google; there are a lot of people out there saying this sort of thing, though:
http://ballastexistenz.autistics.org/?p=611

So there's another obstacle to an "Aspie Pride Movement": how to do it without making other autistics feel like we aren't talking about them, too. That's why some people like the "Neurodiversity" label, but as Malachi_Rothschild points out, "neurodiversity" has too often come to be interpreted as "you don't want my child to get any help" due to the strong anti-cure sentiment among many in the neurodiversity movement. Some parents (exhibiting black-and-white thinking!) have equated "no cure" with "no therapy or treatment" and it's led to a lot of bickering that has held the neurodiversity movement back (in my opinion.)

But while "Autistic Pride" might be more inclusive, there are still some people who are happy to self-identify as "Aspie" but get nervous at the idea of self-identifying as "Autistic." So . . . this says to me that the "community" as a whole has a LOT more to work through internally before a strong cohesive identity can be projected externally.