The Special Interest Very High Functioning

Post Reply New Topic

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eaGuzog59c[/youtube]

Enough with Making Compassion Shameful..

They are tax-payers to and many of them have political sides and opinions in mainstream politics. Some of which seek to control the image of autism by proclaiming everything about autism must be about them and then insight they are insulted whenever they see fit. One of the biggest put offs I observed was when protesters called compassion pity, demanding research dollars go to them instead when they attended college and were earning advanced degrees and then at the same time protested potential abortion and autism while asking for money for themselves from the public and government. Don't you think it's time to find a middle ground where people can be compassionate and not be damned and made to be ashamed for doing so, guilting others into doing things when they just cared but were made out to be disability bigots because of mainstream politics like abortion which is a known conflict of interest with the reality of the disability of autism with other issues. These same people that are very high functioning do not experience isolation yet advocacy to help people no longer be isolated they go against as well because they deemed it to be insulting and yet when they were given a voice in macro media never fought to end isolation but were just "insulted".

They are the perfect storm of justice and injustice. At their whim without proper diverse interjection by self-advocates and caregivers they have to much power. Behind the scenes they could be working with political interest and yet are under no obligation to be open and honest about it. The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network is not member based voting democracy. Self-advocates must go along with the agenda of the founder and the elite board who's president was raised in a middle to upper class family structure and that persistently focuses on a "them" vs. " us" agenda instead of building compassionate alliances with the world around people with autism for the diversity that comprises the true community of individuals with autism.

It's time for a sensible approach in the autism self-advocacy community where individuals can be empowered by a platform that does not dictate public awareness policy to them. Where open discourse is insured in premise and everyone has a part in the leadership. Until then the few websites like Wrong Planet offer democracy like free speech where you can be loud, annoying and objective over issues that matter.

You can write ASAN and ask them to debate openly on this forum by visiting http://www.autisticadvocacy.org/ .

Nathan Young

Edited for one mixed expression.

Pity Compassion = Compassion Pity

Last edited by ci on 31 Jul 2011, 12:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I support your desire to post your opinions and I like that you don't give up. I hope you continue to learn as well as defend your ideas. Tolerance is something I value dearly. It doesn't come naturally though, so I continue to practice.

i dont think that many people realy are trying to make compassion into shame.if you went to autism speaks the oposite viewpoint would dominate.the truth is you make more posts here than hard core asan cronies do.you would get far less resistence if you phrased your arguements constructivly,you bait the pridemites with your conversation style and then complain your persecuted

I still say take their intellectual core structure clean out, one strike. It'll make them respect us and then it will be easier to deal with them on an equal footing- That's how you create compassion and more equal relationships, they kind of sit up and generate it themesleves when they realize theres a little bit of threat in the negotiations, then they ritually delude themselves that they were being good and magnamous in giving something back that was never theirs to claim ownership of in the first place.

I'm not persecuted I have all the help I need where I live. The problem is ASAN is not a tight group of people. It's roaming in distance with the support of the idea. ASAN really is a good idea however. Just is not all what it is cracked up to being yet if it will ever be.

Also I'm not much interested in Autism Speaks anymore then any other organization. It's more ASAN's protesting methods and expressions that I find a terrible representation at times to self-advocates and in fact I'm quite embarrassed to be associated. They cause more harm to themselves then their opponent even though no one is perfect I am sure Autism Speaks could take suggestions and make some changes as someone has reported they have. I'm wondering if ASAN will. Just ASAN has made terrible flops in trying to represent their view and leaves out other views from self-advocates.

I told you I have some very thick skin.

I am very open minded with regards to autism politics because I can really understand both sides. I find it to be a benefit to try to think of ways with less personal bias and personal emotions. That way I can think outside of the box and find differing reasons other then my own biased assumptions and even self-centered views of issues.

I am not sure who "their" is as in whom.

i think asan is cursed by the fact that the people making the arguments are aspies. (before I get flamed let me explaine) I know that when I am passionate in my advocacy of any cause that I run a high risk of having my message lost in my delivery. This is a big part of what "my experience" with autism is about, so i can spot it pretty quickly when others do it. The truth is when people take us as rude, or belligerent, they stop listening to the deeper message that may very well have sunk in if delivered differently.

to give an analogy, I work to protect the long island sound, not by protesting the nuclear power plant across the bay, or by guilting people about fertilizing thier lawns, rather I go down to the beach with a bucket and a net and by showing kids what cool stuff is out in the water they learn thier own lession about the value of biodiversity. Even the kids who torment crabs by captureing them and then racing them on the hot peers are learning that there is something there of value, and it becomes something that these same people will take into adulthood and want thier children to have the same opourtunites.
We need to find a better approach, like my backdoor environmentalism. People don't like being told that thier wrong, or that they need to change, however when you can make them come to these realizations on thier own ( thats what advertisers do all day long) you can make them want to do what you want them too.
(another example of the back door route:
Shelly (my supervisor) : hey rob can you take a look at the copier its not working.
Me: In a bit I am in the middle of something
Shelly: oh thats ok I'll just call kieth(the official tech guy) and have him fix it
Me: ok I'll take a look

she played my self estiem against me, I'm not going to let this chump show me up, I take great pride in my reputation for "laying hands" upon all things electronic and being able to heal them, Shelly knew this and used it to control me. (women seem to have this power over us don't they guys)

How do we do the same to motivate the larger population. I think it starts with flattering them and then pointing out specifics (ie in current funding, reseach, supports, incluision) that don't fit with this image (ie your a great person,with all of these wonderful things about you, that contributes so much good to the world, it must be that you were unaware of these things, as I am sure you would want to help change them)

just a thought

"They" are every grant funded researcher, every organization, every clinician, every social worker, every support worker who has been indocrinated by a theory that reinforces the prejudice that 'they' are differentiated from us because they hold theory of mind more complete and accurate than ours.

"They" are also those of 'us' who react negatively to that set of relationships and invert those prejudices within themselves.

It is the boundary, the exclsuion field, that stops 'us' and 'them' as defined in the terms of that theory from regarding each other as fully human. It is the one common principle that underlies this set of relationships and perceptions and exists to a degree in every mind engaged in this process. It is the common ideological factor.

Perhaps differentation arises from a deeper instinctive place and ToM is only a formulation of these individual and group instincts, perhaps not. I propose an experiment I believe to be worth trying.

If the modified structure becomes distorted again through deeper drives and motivations we will know we need to wait for evolution to take its course, and for minds to develop to a point where what is said can be separated from the realpolitik of interaction, but we won't know until we have tried.

I hold there is a strong chance that by striking at specifically targeted areas of this theory to bring about its modificaction we would effectively break down this barrier .

Last edited by memesplice on 31 Jul 2011, 2:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Joe , I would love to come and play on that pier, it sounds a good thing you have got going there.

It may be different then others but the philosophy of professionals around me many times is very positive and open minded. The most open minded and positive individual I know is a Harvard graduate with PHD in education and also a behaviorism degree. Personally I think the whole theory of mind thoughts were for those with severe autism. Other then that I do not see a great deal of prejudice as a result. I do not see a society that is afraid of me but rather aware enough where applicable to provide help.

That's you Ci - you are working with these people and you have impressed on them you will not tolerate this persistance of percieved difference as a negative . It's different for you because you are working in a group towards a tangiable set of goals, one of which is breaking down this them-us barrier. Goal orietation leads to minimization of perceived difference and tolerance. Those of us in everyday jobs do not experience collective goal orientation, and bonding to the extent you do if our jobs do not require it as a prerquisite That is not to knock or demean what you are doing just to point out that you share common goals with your coworkers and this alters perceptions and behaviours of all those in the group and make mutual acceptance easy and viable.

Do not expect all our experiences to be like yours although I am glad that is your experience.

Yes I have created functional relationships by being balanced and provoking solutions rather then talking about it. The individuals I advocate with concern to cannot typically achieve job placement on their own. For the most part it's an entirely different regard. So you know I was the boss originally and continue to be the boss of the projects I create and simply because organizations receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars annually have failed to create similar strength in effective awareness with much greater budgets then soybean candle proceeds.

The idea of acceptance and equality is still yet for me in my observation a mixed area. Individuals must be taught I believe that they can be leaders and make more decisions on their own. I must teach self-advocacy. Yet the self-advocacy I see from ASAN would at times create the opposite results and manifest harsh hard feelings between groups of people. I am a public relations specialist in autism and developmental disability inclusion opportunity development. I'm practiced to see altercation potentials indirectly one, a few, several or many steps ahead like a chess game.

What I do is a battle in a war for equality and as a strategist ASAN has failed myself and others with poor techniques causing problems with other important issues. For that reason they are a risk and unless they shape it up they do not have my endorsement. I and others do not need ASAN and a newer and stronger balanced activism is emerging in the public sphere.

ASAN is a risk to level headed effective approaches due to an estranging anger and mixing issues due to anger.

Nathan Young

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx2u5uUu3DE&ob=av2e[/youtube]

dude... listen to more metal [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUdbr1qSn-s[/youtube]
it moistens the soul like sour clocks.

That is headache music. Makes the inside of my brains feel like splat. Like a sudden loud noise that impulsively is avoided and or rejected.

jeez just turn it down then.