Autistic Revolution

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Right - enough. No need to start taking offence hale_bopp, or jumping to conclusions. There will be no more squabbling on this thread. Let's stick to positive suggestions, and a spirit of cooperation and listening to what each other has to say. Hopefully it is clear now what Noetic, myself and others have been trying to say.

If this argument continues, I will lock this thread until debate can be continued in a rational and constructive manner.

Dunc

Well, when I was working with SL Start (an agency that give therpay to developmentally disaabled people), I became pretty disturbed by the way they related to the autistic people. Then I became protective and tried to intervene when I would hear them telling someone to stop talking or quit rocking, etc. That didn't work, eventually I became incensed and burned out and quit the place. There was a good deal of ignorance, even with people who had doen extensive research on autism. They just have no idea what it is like, they can't comprehend it. Worse, they think they already know, so they're not open to hearing or learning more.

I even went online, found relevant articles and information, printed it out, and handed it to people there who expressed curiosity or interest when I told them I had just been diagnosed as aspie. Ya know, I think my way of informing people may be offensive. Perhaps I sound like a know-it-all. I don't mean to, I just like to research things and then tell people what I found out. It irritates me when they try to correct me on *this* subject though, since it honestly did seem like they had no personal experience...

I think being the only person swimming against the stream where people really are not understanding etc., especially if it's such a personal issue (i.e. it is about something you have/are yourself), is unfortunately only going to end up giving you grief/stress.

The best way to work with such people is to either find an ally within the place (a mentor, manager etc.) or to involve a higher authority who can help enforce changes to procedure etc.

The term Revolution can also mean change. Like changing what poeple think of us or they act with us. My life was miserable and the cause of it was not AS, it was how poeple treated me because of AS. If i could change one thing in my life, it wouldn't be the AS, it would be the way poeple react to it.

If you think it is possible to change poeple's opinion about AS and all the spectrum, go for it. I'm with you, how may i help ?

I stopped buying into the idea that I wanted to be 'like everyone else'. There are alot of different people in the world that are racking their brains to be THE SAME!! I looked closely and realised that many of them weren't happy at all. I do find it useful to pick up some more socially acceptable habits but i'm not dropping the whole aspie life. I believe that we impact society in many many positive ways and everyone needs to be educated about it.

That's a very good point. Many of us are less aware of trends and peer pressure than NTs, and from what I can tell, it's one thing where being "more NT" does not euqate to being "happier" or "more functional". On the contrary - the more aware someone with AS is of what others are like and of trends etc. the more they seem to be depressed and unhappy

Spot on AZ. Without education we will continue to be seen as difficult, oversensitive, freaks, etc etc and treated accordingly. Changing attitudes is key to improving our lot, and might go some way towards reducing the hostility and ignorance we sometimes face, as well as raising awareness of the (partly solvable?) social problems we face as a wider group.

Dunc

I'm not going to persue my idea, as for it to work, I need to have the autistic community behind me.

You can delete this topic.

hale_bopp:

After I thought you were completely right about this, you are now beginning to doubt yourself. Why?

On sensitive issues like this that apply to me, I'm more of an agressive pursuasive person.

People like to educate, but I want to be out there educating with influence.

I suppose it kinda reminds me of a political campaign, so I guess this can be moved to politics...

Most people would rather educate in a different way to me.. and if that's the case, this idea won't do too well in the public eye.

I commend you, then.

Sorry hale_bopp, for taking so long to answer this post. I am behind what you have to say 100% and do not want you to be discouraged in speaking out like you have. Your use of the word Revolution is a sound and correct one, I believe. It gets attention, too because it is thought of in the same way as "Rebellion" but I looked up the word in Webster's dictionary and this is the definition of the word Revolution:

"Revolution (noun) a sudden, radical, or complete change b : a fundamental change in political organization; especially : the overthrow or renunciation of one government or ruler and the substitution of another by the governed c : activity or movement designed to effect fundamental changes in the socioeconomic situation d : a fundamental change in the way of thinking about or visualizing something : a change of paradigm <the Copernican revolution> e : a changeover in use or preference especially in technology <the computer revolution> <the foreign car revolution>"

When you can change the way another person thinks about or visualizes something....I feel that this is the sole purpose of education.

I hale_bopp am alot like you. I refuse to sit about waiting for minds to change. I am also in the process of "changing the way autism is seen."

Keep up the good work ("fight the good fight") on changing the way Autism is viewed....I am with you.

This is a quote from Thomas Edison that I feel compelled to post.

"There Is A Better Way For Everything. Find It."

This is not a slam on anyone elses opinions, please don't take it that way.

I think that the term 'revolution' can be used in a positive way, those that see it as too radical probably aren't ready to learn or change yet anyway. There is a lot of education that needs to be done to change how people view autistic people and one of the ways that we can change that opinion is by getting out there and showing them that their preconceptions are wrong (I realise this sounds ironic coming from someone who doesn't have a lot of contact outside the home at the moment ). Perhaps by being more upfront about our 'condition' people will see that perhaps their misconceptions about us are wrong.

I think the key is too start small- educate those around you first and then move onto educating people in the wider area.
I agree that the internet can be a great forum for such issues- perhaps start a blog (with some info about AS visable on the front page) and link to it from other message boards you post on.

I know this might only be common in the US but what about doing something for Autism awareness month (http://autism.about.com/cs/awarenessmonth/l/blaware.htm) - might be an idea if we can develop some leaflets/posters that are printable from the site for those of us who want to get involved in this???

Mel

i think u should go ahead with it. it is something the world needs.
God Bless
Fiona

I will be right with you on this one hale_bopp.

I've learnt a lot about how to be social in the last 12 months and find most of it to be extremely primitive (not that there aren't benefits). I've learnt this through the help of psychologists and such people.

A lot of it comes down to power, just like with pack animals.

I like the whole revenge thing because that's how I feel in my gut from such a hard time at school but I think you have to be careful in the adult world.

Hale_bopp,
If you are still watching this thread, I think it's a good idea and would like to know more. I also want to get involved, but as an advocate for special needs kids. I normally don't care that much about people, but I went through alot of crap in school and it pisses me off to see the same crap happening to others.

I would think a good staring point on education would be to emphasize that people have varying intrests and that people shouldn't be labled "ret*d" based on an arbitrary criteria of what social interaction should be like. I think just campaigning for that alone would open up alot of job opportunities for people on the spectrum as well as some mildly antisocial people because then, employers wouldn't be judging you on a narrow-minded view of people skills and teamwork. With more autistics in better paying jobs, they would in a better financial and logistical situation to further the cause to whatever next step might be (maybe promoting legislation?).



Unforunalely, there are usually only two kinds of people: leaders and followers (autistics are about the only exeption- they often do neither).
Those with some leadership ability (limke me) can learn to make the most of it, but those with no leadership ability are usually juist screwed.

Even if you don't have great leadership ability, you could try to find someone charismatic who will listen to you and help you propogate your ideas. I past leadership positions I've held, I often relied heavily on people who repeated what I just said, who were charismatic enough to get people to listen voluntarily.

When it comes to public speaking, that is an acquired skill. For me, the biggest problem was the crowd. I learned how to cope with that through band performances in middle and high school. When you screw up a solo in concert band or screw up in front of 10,000 people in marching band, stuttering and stammering don't bother you much anymore. The best thing you can do for practicing speaches is to find an audience that is already sympathetic or a small audience that will be inconsequential in the long-term. Last of all, dont focus on any on person or group of people. Look in their direction, so it looks like you are looking at them, but focus on something behind them. I hope this helps.