Autism as separate from the self

[Xerces Blue]

Fair observation, but realistically speaking, how many people are going to work around to the inside-out logic of the impossibly of segregation of system and self merely for arbitrary definition?

A majority of folks, no matter the neurotype are going to answer the question in a very literal sense of the word, they will shred themselves and others for no discernable purpose and possibly reinforce preceived allocatory traits. You hand people the box and they will gladly shove themselves into it because it is the obvious or 'correct' answer.

Legitimately how many people truly reflect enough to question the logic of the question and reverse the framing the aforementioned seemingly reasonable question?

It is a very atypical, almost abstract tessellation of thought, something that is bound to catch a lot of people flat-footed and floundering for a reasonable reply, rather than promoting a multifaceted discussion.

(Truly an interesting topic, by the way.)

In context, was the question meant to be reflective, literal, or somewhere in between?

I had an experience where I had to define myself to myself.
I took some mushrooms with my roommates and I got tired and went to bed, my room was in the basement - pitch black.
I woke up some time later - no idea.
and I didn't remember who or what I was.
and I went through a process similar to the whale in the Hitchhicker's guide to the galaxy.
Eventually I decided I was a warrior and a scholar. I put on my bathrobe and left my swords and guns in my room and went upstairs.
And encountered one of my roommates in a tweed suit cooking hash browns who promptly stated "I'm a hobbit"
Entering the living room I saw my other roommate in his denim jacket and genes, I sat on the couch and asked
"Are you a hobbit or something?"
"Na man" he said as he passed me a beer.

We watched an episode of "The Cosmos" with Carl Sagan.
Was a great night.

Next day I went to drill hungover and acted as coach and safety on the shooting range for annual weapons qualifications for my unit and a couple other units.

I miss the pop-up target range. Was good stressful fun.

 

[Hypnalis]

It's very likely the counsellor's objective was to get OP to think about their self-image. This is the kind of thing that can be useful even if there's no answer.
For example it could be good in the context of someone choosing to limit or delay their personal development by resisting learning social skills as an adult, using "I can't because on on the spectrum" as an excuse.

It's impossible for anyone (including specialist medical professionals) to directly address the counsellor's question.

The causes of autism are not known, the mechanisms are not understood, it's defined only by the presence of a simplistic set of symptoms, and there's no standard treatment (mitigation (like therapy) is useful, but there's no "cure").
So zero objective indications that there are specific answers to questions like that.

And it even seems some of the supposedly defining symptoms are being questioned: "lack of empathy" may be wrong (morphing to "empathy, but processed differently"), and the (well-known to us) fact that ND's generally communicate well with other ND's puts the whole "poor communication skills" defining symptom to question.

I have a question that the first thing I do to test every theory I see about ASD1:
Does it explain the fact that, in general, Aspie body language is a bit "off" until adulthood (25 or more)?
There are Aspie athletes, which suggests it's not an issue with our nervous systems.

(It's not the only "BS filter" question I have, but for me it's the best starting point).

 

[Matthias]

For example it could be good in the context of someone choosing to limit or delay their personal development by resisting learning social skills as an adult, using "I can't because on on the spectrum" as an excuse.

I see this often. Their reasoning goes like this:

Premises:
1. Autism is genetic.
2. Rigid thinking and difficulty with change are symptoms of autism.

Conclusion:
I can't overcome my rigid thinking or difficulty with change.

The issue with this is that if the premises are true the conclusion must be true since it's impossible for people to change their genes. The movie "Rain Man" highlights the scientific consensus that these are genetic traits that are impossible to change.

To be logically consistent, anyone who believes these symptoms can be overcome must reject one of the premises. They'd have to believe the experts are wrong about autism being genetic or that they are wrong about rigid thinking and difficulty with change being autistic traits.

 

[OlLiE]

Autism is part of who I am. Without it I’d be a very different person. Given the demands of society that everyone be an extraverted, outgoing teamplayer, I feel like I can’t productively use my skills without it ending in disaster. Socially, whenever I try to be NT considerate, I always seem to over estimate my available resources and it always seems to end badly for everyone. On the one hand I’m happy about the isolation this leads to but I’m painfully aware of people that do seem to enjoy ‘normal’ things in life. I look at their happiness and I don’t understand it. The best approximation I have to being happy is being left alone and unstimulated, at which point I realize I’m missing out on all the things that NT’s take for granted which makes me feel very passive, like life and the world are just something to be endured.

 

[Fino]

I see this often. Their reasoning goes like this:

Premises:
1. Autism is genetic.
2. Rigid thinking and difficulty with change are symptoms of autism.

Conclusion:
I can't overcome my rigid thinking or difficulty with change.

The issue with this is that if the premises are true the conclusion must be true since it's impossible for people to change their genes. The movie "Rain Man" highlights the scientific consensus that these are genetic traits that are impossible to change.

To be logically consistent, anyone who believes these symptoms can be overcome must reject one of the premises. They'd have to believe the experts are wrong about autism being genetic or that they are wrong about rigid thinking and difficulty with change being autistic traits.

Or that the rigid thinking and difficulty with change can be overcome.