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To NT people not conforming to or recognizing/acknowledging social structures anchors your cognition at an adolescent level where that type of behavior is accep

To NT people not conforming to or recognizing/acknowledging social structures anchors your cognition at an adolescent level where that type of behavior is acceptable. Teens are expected to conform and some people on the spectrum can be completely “normal” in every other way, but if you asked that person to show up to a job at 8am every day or to do X socially expected thing, they’d probably just go find someone else to talk to, hence the “functioning at a 12 year old level.” I consider this to be oppressive social pressure and I’m lucky I was privilege enough to live this way without being shamed or tormented by my family. We should all function at the level of a 12 year old.

psyc 4y ago
I couldn’t agree more.
armchairhacker 4y ago
I get your point but I wouldn’t consider things like not being able to show up at work “functioning at a 12 year old level”, and i don’t think society would either. Plenty of “neurotypical” adults suck at showing up to things on time, especially at 8am. Plenty of adults throw full-on tantrums or otherwise act like children in certain situations. Plenty of college students don’t know how to do simple things like wash their clothes or cook or keep their dorm clean. Honestly a lot of people can barely function alone and keep their shit together, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that person was one of them, but we don’t look at them like 12-year olds.
- codezero 4y ago
  I agree - I was using a specific example but in practice I think it's a number of a class of things like this that pile on and look a lot like executive dysfunction, and the label is put on these people by NTs, not by themselves. I had no problem showing up to work every day at 11am, fwiw, and was lucky enough to have a lot of jobs that didn't think too hard about schedules, but for folks not so lucky, not fitting the average in a number of ways will get you very crude labels. Those labels are to give their caretakers power over them in the eyes of society/legally.
emteycz 4y ago
TIL I function at a 12 year old level This is not good enough to hold a person captive, really.
- codezero 4y ago
  Agreed. These labels work because for the most part the legal system allows them to, they are ways for caregivers/parents to maintain control over someone that they think should be different.

psyc 4y ago

I couldn’t agree more.

armchairhacker 4y ago

I get your point but I wouldn’t consider things like not being able to show up at work “functioning at a 12 year old level”, and i don’t think society would either. Plenty of “neurotypical” adults suck at showing up to things on time, especially at 8am. Plenty of adults throw full-on tantrums or otherwise act like children in certain situations. Plenty of college students don’t know how to do simple things like wash their clothes or cook or keep their dorm clean. Honestly a lot of people can barely function alone and keep their shit together, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that person was one of them, but we don’t look at them like 12-year olds.

codezero 4y ago
I agree - I was using a specific example but in practice I think it's a number of a class of things like this that pile on and look a lot like executive dysfunction, and the label is put on these people by NTs, not by themselves. I had no problem showing up to work every day at 11am, fwiw, and was lucky enough to have a lot of jobs that didn't think too hard about schedules, but for folks not so lucky, not fitting the average in a number of ways will get you very crude labels. Those labels are to give their caretakers power over them in the eyes of society/legally.

emteycz 4y ago

TIL I function at a 12 year old level This is not good enough to hold a person captive, really.

codezero 4y ago
Agreed. These labels work because for the most part the legal system allows them to, they are ways for caregivers/parents to maintain control over someone that they think should be different.