AS in POOR country

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Is there anyone here who came from third-world countries? How are you guys coping up??

I'm from the US and I'm neurotypical, but my brothers and I grew up in extreme poverty. My little brother is autistic. I've had friends from rural India and Kenya and although I didn't say this to them, the conditions sounded similar. There were not many opportunities where we came from and the best you could do, really, was to make friends with people who are nice and in better situations than you.

Can you tell us a little more? Then maybe someone will know if they've had the same experiences.

People in "third-world" countries, in my experience, tend to cope quite well with their circumstances--frequently better than their counterparts in the "first-world," in my opinion.

We think of people in "third-world" countries as poor. Frequently, they don't believe they are "poor." They think we're "overly rich!" Most people have pride in themselves in "third-world" countries. Social rules in "third-world" countries tend to be more complex than those in "first-world" countries.

It's probably more difficult for an autistic person to cope in a third-world country. But they could find their niche there, too.

yeah it's really hard. Many folks here in the Philippines arent even aware that there is HFA. For them, autism is downs syndrome only, something you can easily notice. If you have HFA, and having meltdown or stuff overload they will just say that your crazy. They really have no idea and even if you explain hfa to them they will still misjudge you. Here in our place, if you look normal your body is normal, then you are normal....it doesnt matter what you are inside. No special treatment whatsoever, not even a little understanding. By the way, formal diagnosis is also a lost case here, its so pricy and takes several visits with a shrink to confirm.

I assume that could be because they do not even know what it is they have, and in my travels to third world countries (Botswana, Mozambique, Angola...etc) and the way I understood and saw those people, they might have more important things to worry about instead of why a particular person is different. That would be my guess. But then again, when I used to visit those places I did not yet know I had AS.

As it is true that P.I. is barely aware of HFA, and takes things in face value...
The core difference is the social structures that bypass the "face value" part. How does your family or people who are closer treat you? And how do you cope at people in general?

Formal diagnosis... Hmm... I just got lucky enough to be officially diagnosed 8 years ago before the economy got crazier than it is now.

they treat me as equal it seems, cause none of them knows my condition....i may be a masochist or just plain crazy and i didnt really intended to keep it a secret to them but somehow i cant bring myself to tell and explain to pips around me.i tried once but someone freaked out and shut me out of their life. since then i didnt bother anymore. it seems useless anyway. i just dont know why i have to have such burden.

Equal treatment has it's upsides and downsides.
People are likely being true to you with less chance of bias. At the same time you get no tolerance nor intolerance for your actions; hence no special treatment or crappy treatment unless if you "break(their rules)" their viewpoint as a norm or unable to please their "culture". In my case, I take advantage of it; by learning more about it.
At least it's better than a designated scapegoat or "victim".

It's not wise to tell NTs about Autism just that easily. Whether formally diagnosed or self-diagnosed (especially the latter...) It's best if you take it slowly than announcing it all the sudden; it takes a lot of trust. I know this because it happens.

I was born and raised in one, moved to the US at 19.

Coping is subjective... socially/relationship wise? been 19 years since I moved here and its still as hopeless. Financially? Much better. Security (safety)? Insanely better... here I need only worry a nutcake with a gun shows up, back home the crime rate was so bad you could expect to be kidnapped just because you had yellow hair (which I do) since you looked 'foreigner'. Education wise? Can't say... I was to get my degree at a local university back home too just that we had to move to the US due to the violence... but I guess it can be said its better since a US degree is recognized everywhere basically.

I live in Brazil. Well, it's very hard here because the culture of the country is a very social one. You are expected to be a social butterfly. In the workplace, you are supposed to be "best buddies" with your co-workers. An aspie here in a office job won't last more than 6 months.

Luckly, since 2012 Aspergers and Autism persons are considered disabled by law, and another law imposes quotas on private companies with over 100 employees (if I'm not mistaken) that these companies should have at least 5% of their workforce as disabled (any kind of disability). There are a few (very few, unfortunately) Autism and Aspergers non-government organizations that help people with aspergers be allocated in these jobs and mediate any workplace issues that may arise, such as office bullying and getting accomodations in the workplace. So, if you have an official diagnosis, an association like that behind you and a job via a disability quota, well, life COULD be very good. The downsides are that most doctors don't know anything about Aspergers (the few in the country that do are very expensive) and most companies prefer hiring people with physical disabilities and for those with aspergers they give the worst and most low-paid jobs, qualifications of the person be damned. They don't offer to a qualified aspie an engineering position, for example. Of course, there are exceptions, but I've seen aspie computer programmers here only being able to get a job via disability quota and an association like I described that are working in stocking rooms or mail room making minimum wage (which is below poverty line).

In my situation (I'm a computer programmer) I have mixed feelings about continuing living here. I have dual citizenship, so I am European and can live and work in any country in European Union without a visa. Sometimes I think that if I move to Europe I will get better jobs that pay well, without being so demanding socially as they are here. On the other side, I know that eventually I WILL have relationship issues in the workplace and here these associations and the quota law would help me keep the job; in Europe I don't know if the system works like that for people with Aspergers and I fear I might not keep a job there. I don't know what to do.