Social integration: What does this mean to you?

[jdmhauguel]

Hi All,

I am a postgraduate with Asperger's Syndrome studying Inclusion and Special Educational Needs. I wondered if you could tell me what social integration means to you as an individual? I know everyone is different and I am trying to get to grips with this issue for my dissertation.

Your thoughts about it would be greatly appreciated.

Jacques

 

[Aspieistj]

I am almost 70 and was a teacher in 1966 when the town started "mainstreaming" intellectually challenged, emotionally disturbed and physically handicapped children. At first, the classes were simply moved from a horrible old school building into several of the regular 13 elementary schools. I left before they did very much with including special children into regular classrooms for a few subjects. At least the special children were no longer hidden from the public. I think the concept of social integration would mean something like this along with inviting special needs people to join social groups like scouting, 4H, athletic teams, etc. It is a good way for special needs people to begin to blend into the general population and learn how to function at a different level. Also, it educates the rest of the world as to how special needs people struggle to cope. Done properly, social integration is a two way street.

 

[Vanilla]

Social integration sounds like the act of trying to adjust to the world, and the common social norms around you. Depending on who you are, and what those socially acceptable behaviours are, impacts on how well you can do this.

This would obviously explain the difficulties many people with AS face, in an NT world. I imagine if we were living in a world run by people with AS, NTs would be the ones struggling to understand our social norms.

It's all about taking an interest in belonging to a community.

 

[Licorice]

To me social integration means... synergy. Not necessarily that I'm the same as others, but that I'm not going it alone in a sense of doing things solely on my own, for myself, within my own little bubble. It's about feeling like a part of the world whether or not I agree with or get along with everyone in it, not someone apart from it.

 

[theduckrabbit]

I do this only to the extent that i have to to maintain my job. I am pleasant and i have become quite good at telling people what they want to hear. I listen to their boring stories about their boring families and i let them talk. I often make up lies about myself to seem relatable. I try to keep my distance and i do not let anyone get close. I am not by any means a great actor but i rely on my coworkers being too polite, nice and wrapped up with their own business that they will not communicate their suspicions about me to eachother, because if they did that they would collaboratively put the pieces together and the jig, as they say, would be up.

I have a boyfriend who understands me yet still loves me. He is my salvation. At home it is just the two of us, avoiding the world, alone together. It works for me, for now.

 

[GallacticGorilla]

You are saying "What is Social Integration?" There is a agreed upon dictionary definition of that. I think the question Id like to answer, is "How do I, as someone with Atypical needs and Atypical strengths and weaknesses integrate?". It will always be awkward. I can only speak for myself, but the truth is, I can socially integrate just fine. But, in some ways its all a clever ruse. I have learned to navigate my social awkwardness, and AS symptoms, after years of trial and failure (mostly failure lol) and learning to operate with other people, given who or how I was as a person.

The point when I can let that gaurd down, and not operate so systematically, is at the point of trust. If I can trust someone, and let that safety gaurd down. I try to trust people that deserve it.

 

[Turk]

Social intergration to me is to be able to fit into the NT world, where necessary. I have no doubts about what I am or how different I am and am but sometimes social intergration is necessary to get real responses outta people. I dont want to be defined by my condition, so social intergration, helps me acheive this. Unfortunately some ppl feel awkward around us, so its just easier.

 

[Judge]

When I think of such a term, I think of when government imposed forced integration and busing of inner city kids from Washington DC into the suburbs of Virginia to attend public school. When good intentions weren't enough. Where a social minority was simply "dumped" into the lap of an often alien and hostile social majority. A constitutional obligation was fulfilled to the satisfaction of government lawyers, but it did nothing to address the distress of those poor kids who weren't offered any choices about the matter.

I can only hope that anything relevant to the divide between Aspie and Neurotypical would be handled with more sensitivity, tact and civility. Whether government imposes social parity or not.

 

[Aspieistj]

Wow! I don't really believe Aspie Inclusion is coming the way racial integration did. We aren't that easily detected on sight. In fact, I don't want any forced inclusion. I fervently wish that AS would become the darling cause of some very rich celebrity who would crusade very publically for education regarding what AS is and how it affects us. Removing the diagnosis of AS and forcing us into a grouping of severe autistics is, I believe, a huge set back for us. I don't want to sacrifice those with severe autism from public awareness campaigns or funding. I just wish we could be "labeled" with a separate term so people understand we are already out there, managing to hold responsible jobs, even though we think and feel very differently from NTs.

 

[Judge]

Wow! I don't really believe Aspie Inclusion is coming the way racial integration did. We aren't that easily detected on sight.

Don't worry...it probably isn't. I tend to take words and terms literally...so "social integration" is always first and foremost going to be something I default to a racial divide rather than a neurological one. However that said, forced anything strikes me as more of a policy and tactic reflecting that the means are justified by an end. The term itself brings back some sad memories for me. It's more of a tangent than any meaningful analogy.

Personally I would settle for something less dramatic and probably more constructive. A higher degree of understanding between both neurological states. It doesn't have to be accomplished by forcing us all into the same room all the time. Direct exposure in itself is not a solution. After all, some of us inherently require our solitude...

 

[Ravkrat]

Well..before i post my thoughts on social integration.. I have no idea if it would offend someone (=.=)