5 ms·

"not all forms are disadvantageous" <- this! Some of the most talented and happy people I've ever worked with were "on the spectrum". Our society has a reflex

"not all forms are disadvantageous" <- this! Some of the most talented and happy people I've ever worked with were "on the spectrum". Our society has a reflex to make everything different a disease instead of acknowledging and celebrating our differences.

mywittyname 5y ago
Not having the ability to properly interact or socialize with people is a pretty significant handicap, IMHO. Sure, a person with ASD and a high intelligence can eventually find a place in society. It's the people with average intelligence and ASD that suffer.
- djyaz1200 5y ago
  I see your point. It's likely I'm only seeing the people who thrive. The problem is whose definition of "properly interact" are we going with? In my experience people on the spectrum tend towards extreme honesty. What they often aren't good at is understanding all the lies, half truths and hints that are part of socializing... in part to protect the brittle egos most of the rest of us have.
  - mywittyname 5y ago
    Social awkwardness is a component of ASD, and can be a huge burden for people with it. It really doesn't matter whose definition we go with for what constitutes "proper interactions." Clinically speaking, ASD can cause people to have a difficult time with verbal communication in general, and reading cues of people. This goes far beyond just being too honest. The inability to make friends due to the behavioral issues that arise from living with ASD is torturous. It's probably why ASD is also linked with depression. If I weren't intelligent enough to work a technical job where people don't need to interact me, I probably wouldn't be around today.
    - djyaz1200 5y ago
      Well I am glad you are around :)
    - GoblinSlayer 5y ago
      First you say that lack of friends is torturous, then you say lack of friends saved you. Which is it? High intelligence is actually a handicap for friendship, and average intelligence is advantageous for friendship.
      - mywittyname 5y ago
        I think you're misunderstanding my statements. I said that being intelligent enough to work a job where I don't need to work with people saved me. Unfortunately, I can a/b test with my sibling to see how my life could have gone. :(
        GoblinSlayer 5y ago
        I understood it as not working with people (lack of friends) is torturous.
- GoblinSlayer 5y ago
  Do you mean socialization as an end goal? Autists don't have it as an end goal. A wolf doesn't suffer if it can't fly, the problem is simply not on the table in the first place.
- GoblinSlayer 5y ago
  Conversely don't neurotypicals have problem finding a place in this world and dealing with brute facts like materialism, physicalism, determinism and reality of death? How do they deal with living in an asocial indifferent mindless chunk of matter which is this universe?

mywittyname 5y ago

Not having the ability to properly interact or socialize with people is a pretty significant handicap, IMHO. Sure, a person with ASD and a high intelligence can eventually find a place in society. It's the people with average intelligence and ASD that suffer.

djyaz1200 5y ago
I see your point. It's likely I'm only seeing the people who thrive. The problem is whose definition of "properly interact" are we going with? In my experience people on the spectrum tend towards extreme honesty. What they often aren't good at is understanding all the lies, half truths and hints that are part of socializing... in part to protect the brittle egos most of the rest of us have.
- mywittyname 5y ago
  Social awkwardness is a component of ASD, and can be a huge burden for people with it. It really doesn't matter whose definition we go with for what constitutes "proper interactions." Clinically speaking, ASD can cause people to have a difficult time with verbal communication in general, and reading cues of people. This goes far beyond just being too honest. The inability to make friends due to the behavioral issues that arise from living with ASD is torturous. It's probably why ASD is also linked with depression. If I weren't intelligent enough to work a technical job where people don't need to interact me, I probably wouldn't be around today.
  - djyaz1200 5y ago
    Well I am glad you are around :)
  - GoblinSlayer 5y ago
    First you say that lack of friends is torturous, then you say lack of friends saved you. Which is it? High intelligence is actually a handicap for friendship, and average intelligence is advantageous for friendship.
    - mywittyname 5y ago
      I think you're misunderstanding my statements. I said that being intelligent enough to work a job where I don't need to work with people saved me. Unfortunately, I can a/b test with my sibling to see how my life could have gone. :(
      - GoblinSlayer 5y ago
        I understood it as not working with people (lack of friends) is torturous.
GoblinSlayer 5y ago
Do you mean socialization as an end goal? Autists don't have it as an end goal. A wolf doesn't suffer if it can't fly, the problem is simply not on the table in the first place.
GoblinSlayer 5y ago
Conversely don't neurotypicals have problem finding a place in this world and dealing with brute facts like materialism, physicalism, determinism and reality of death? How do they deal with living in an asocial indifferent mindless chunk of matter which is this universe?