What are your controversial opinions regarding the autism spectrum?

[Pris_33]

Here's a controversial personal opinion that I've formed after being active on autism forums for nearly five years and also knowing fellow autistic people in person and having autistic friends:

There seem to be two types of autistic people in relation to whether they have a compliant personality or not and it seems to be a "black and white" thing, one or the other rather than a mixture of the two:

Compliant Type: Essentially a type of person who believes what the "masses" believe, is compliant in nature and is averse to questioning authority. This type often seems to have a reverence, love and support for expansive government provided the rules, laws, regs, etc are "for the common good". I have no way of knowing, but I've wondered if at least in a certain amount of cases a Compliant Type autistic went through ABA. I also wonder if this type had a deep desire to "be like everyone else" when they were growing up and devoted a great deal of energy as a child trying to be accepted by and befriended by "everyone else". The level of the embrace of compliance seems to even border on some form of Stockholm Syndrome.

Non-compliant Type: Essentially a type of person who does not align with the "masses" and instead is suspect of things, beliefs, etc that are readily adopted by most people. This is a "I will decide for myself and what I feel is best for me" type of person. A type of person that, as a child, did not spend a great deal of energy trying to be accepted by "everyone else" and instead had little to no desire to do so. They formed an opinion early on that "everyone else" included those that bullied and mistreated them and as such, the last thing they'd want is to try to gain acceptance from the very people who maltreated them. They saw even from an early age that education was institutional and started to develop a guarded and suspect view of authority in all forms, questioning the authoritarian's motives. This type is typically very independent and prides themselves on doing whatever they can to take care of as many needs as they have on their own. This type does not want government to direct their lives from "cradle to grave". This type often has a mindset of: "Leave me be. I'll do me and you do you." This type has spent their lifetimes observing the "masses" from the outside and is acutely aware of how easily manipulated groups of people can be and as such, they have an opposition to peer pressure.

This is a fascinating analysis. It reminds me of a book, The H Factor of Personality, in which the authors mention how certain Hexaco(and perhaps Big Five) personality traits correlate with, say, certain political positions.

The Compliant Type sounds a bit like someone who is higher in agreeableness and emotionality. The Non-compliant Type is probably higher in openness to experience. I find I am definitely the later type. I just naturally dislike any kind of group. I've always been a loner in almost every area of my life, and have always enjoyed being different from my peers. At the same time, especially in my teen years, I became misanthropic due to the treatment of those very peers. I realized I could never be like them. I've come to see the value of groups of people somewhat since then, but I don't think I will ever naturally like or feel part of any of the groups people seem to want to conform to.

 

[harrietjansson]

That all people have some of the ASD issues but more or less.

 

[The Lorax]

Everyone has the mix of the big 6 personality traits. But when you are on the outside of the average population in any form you can get some extreme results.

But not all ASDs are on extreme ends. My son isn't. He is a mixture of both talking of the common good and realizing when not to follow the masses.

 

[Luca]

I am a nonbinary person. But I don’t like the recent trend with people thinking being trans or nonbinary goes hand in hand with being autistic. That is damaging for both communities. I don’t want people to think that my gender identity is a “symptom” of autism.

 

[4gottenLoreKali]

The majority of parents of autistic children would qualify as abusers if their kids were swapped out for neurotypical ones and they kept doing the same things to them (and if state social workers actually gave a damn about their supposed mission). Smothering, infantilizing, treating your child as "damaged goods" and expecting them to forever feed from your hand (and yours alone) just may be thee most damaging thing for a growing child's psyche. One of this "kids" I work with is twenty and his mummy and dada refuse to even let him watch Kill La Kill FFS.

Your adult child has "the mind of an infant"? Believe hard enough, demean them accordingly for enough years, and it just may be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

This is the exact kind of paternalist, virtue signalling, calamitous mindset that was used to justify slavery and the American genocide of the Natives - only on a micro-scale, and confined to the settings of an ultra-toxic home or a psychiatrist's practice. We are the enlightened ones. You are too manic to even comprehend human rights, therefore yours are null and void. You are ill-qualified to make your own decisions. We know what's best for you better than you yourself.

I have found the best antidote for the traumas brought on by such a childhood is to make your escape from such toxic "family" first of all, double down on all the basic adult privileges and filthy degenerate acts you've been denied for so long because you "wouldn't be able to handle it", to embody all the worst behavior they wish they could prevent. The rock 'n' roll lifestyle (ideally with less syphilis and heroin) is instrumental in healing the PTSD that comes packaged in with the autistic experience in an NT-dominated society.

 

[Slim Jim]

double down on all the basic adult privileges and filthy degenerate acts you've been denied for so long because you "wouldn't be able to handle it", to embody all the worst behavior they wish they could prevent.

I've always been a bit unruly. This isn't the wisest route. You just end up making more problems for yourself.

In fact this could be disastrous for somebody with Autism, as they don't know how to navigate the social world.

But I agree, overly restrictive parents are a bad thing. But I generally did what I wanted as a kid, and broke many rules, parental and legal. And that' doesn't lead to anywhere either. Just a bad reputation.

 

[4gottenLoreKali]

I am a nonbinary person. But I don’t like the recent trend with people thinking being trans or nonbinary goes hand in hand with being autistic. That is damaging for both communities. I don’t want people to think that my gender identity is a “symptom” of autism.

What a shocker, many a-holes who are bigoted against LGBT+ people are ableist as well. Autism is synonymous with "wierdness" in the mainstream consensus so the cross-polination in neurotypicals' minds makes sense on some level. Hence the grotesque, libelous mental image that informs most of these backwards mindsets. Hence the justifications to continue denying an autist the agency to become their true self.

In all fairness, I do think a higher proportion of autists more readily identify publicly as LGBT simply because we are less likely to entertain the neurotypical delusion of "acting proper" (read: cishet, in this case) for very long.

When you don't give a rat's ass about social norms to begin with, you can actually bypass the closet.

 

[4gottenLoreKali]

in fact this could be disastrous for somebody with Autism, as they don't know how to navigate the social world.

Obviously, I would urge anyone to stay away from "the hard stuff" and use proper protection. I'm mostly talking about music and other entertainment, drugs, obscene language, clothes, hangouts and dates, sex life, learning of "adulting" skills, interests - all things that are heavily pathologized and regimented by parents and shrinks under the current neurotypical power structure, in which being autistic is synonymous with childishness and "getting uppity" is tantamount to a criminal offense.

The issue of "navigating the social world" in this context tends to be made redundant when this hypothetical autist has a small but tight-knit group of equally socially inept comrades with which to commit degenerate acts. I'm very fortunate to have developed what little social skills I do have through trial and error and attracted a like-minded friends group. One of the eternal lessons I value most from my screwed-up time on this Earth is that when it comes to friends, it's all about quality and never quantity.

"A bad reputation" among neurotypicals is a heartwarming sign of progress in life and a benchmark of tangible freedom for us autists. Their bogus diagnostic axes and their MoRaL LaW reign supreme here, therefore if I violate them I must be doin somethin right. If some Karen in the Christmas Tree Shops told me I was "a bad influence" on her snot-nosed toddlers for wearing an Archgoat t-shirt with my black jeans and a leather jacket, I would be as proud as the day I stood on stage was handed my BA diploma.

 

[Slim Jim]

I'm very fortunate to have developed what little social skills I do have through trial and error and attracted a like-minded friends group. One of the eternal lessons I value most from my screwed-up time on this Earth is that when it comes to friends, it's all about quality and never quantity.

Also, do you gen

Yeah, I think that's how I learned social skills,what little I have, through peer groups, I picked up through osmosis, observing people, mimicry, going with the flow. And yeah, you're right. A true friend is hard to find. Most of my friends growing up were either narcissists, oppositional defiant, Anti-social personality disorder types. I know all about them. I've Known what I suspect to be sociopaths since childhood. They would reveal their thought process to me. We were best friends. Of course I didn't know at the time.

I've had very bad role models, as far as peer group dynamics go. I was a chameleon, I could blend into a degree, But I was never like them though, on the inside. But what eventually turned out to be Aspergers diagnosis for me, They might have saw how odd I was, And thought I was like them.

 

[4gottenLoreKali]

Pardon me about the confusion I must have finished revising my post after you replied. I too have suffered through no shortage of subhuman scum traitors I thought were friends I could confide in, and if I had the savvy back then to recognize the red flags I would've saved myself a lot of Hell (not to mention time). My current friends group is a diverse motley crew and most of them are functional by some metric or another; their "normie" presentation is for their day jobs and when the sun sets it's like Superman vs. Clark Kent. For much of my life I thought I was never gonna find "my peeps", that such wholesome human experiences most take for granted simply didn't happen to autists like me.

Meanwhile, who would've thought that the smothering Karens who "only wanted what's best for me" would turn out to be the exact "bad influences" they screeched and sobbed about?

 

[4gottenLoreKali]

Our SpEsHuL iNtEReStS ain't all that "special". They're just interests. They get pathologized because they usually aren't things NTs are into like lacrosse, Vineyard Vines, dip tobacco, pickup trucks or getting our MBAs. The quality of that interest may be obsessive or encyclopedic, but it is the perceived "specificity" or "uselessness" of the interests themselves which classify them as weird and undesirable.

My interests are only special in that they are valuable to me and those who share them. They are an endless fountain of consistency, good aesthetics, and lifelong learning. It may well be an aberration to have enough passion for a subject that you constantly seek out new information about it, but that just shows how boring the average person is.

 

[Aspie_With_Attitude]

The most controversial opinions I can ever think of is "Han Asperger" and how in the course of the 3rd Reich that he accepted funding grants from the Nazis for his works on autism research. There had been countless speculations that he euthanised a hand full of autistic children during both the war and the regime.
Since more manipulative autistic rights activist are wanting "Asperger's" or "Aspie" to become like profanity, I had this pushed out towards me quite a few times. Overall, most of these activist and toxic advocates wants this term "Asperger's" and "Aspie" to be obsolete and never again be used while explaining autism.
I even have done a video like this to explain my full opinion on the matter in the middle of 2021 on my autistic YouTube content channel.

Another one is "autism cure" and sometimes on Facebook and even in the comments on any given autism YouTube content I have, I have spammers posting up false advertising about alternative herbal medicines for curing autism. I have deemed this to be a SCAM, in such a way that I was whistle blowing on those scam con artist since there's no cure for autism, at least not in our life time.

The last controversial opinions I like to explain is "AUTISM SPEAKS" and the "Light It Up Blue" for autism awareness which the Autism Speaks organisation isn't popular with the world wide autism community. This appears to be a corporation that paints a negative image on autism and pledge funds to research cure for autism and give fuel, ammunition and fire to ABA.
Since they're successful what Autism Speaks do, yet again it's labelled as an arrogant organisation, ignoring voices of autistic individuals and maintaining the negative images that are made about autism. They act upon that autism is a brain disease and Autism Speaks appears to defend it. It is an ABA provider, they use harsh context in teaching parents who are strangers to autism and manipulate them thinking that their lives are ruined over a birth of an autistic child, those are the lies created by Autism Speaks.

 

[4gottenLoreKali]

Unless performing work that requires them, I see no reason why anyone would choose ear defenders over earplugs. They seem cumbersome (judging from my experience with over-the-ear "can" headphones vs. earbuds) and like they would incur further ostracism yet.

 

[Shevek]

I belive that my opinion is on a topic that is banned here for previously being discussed in a completely different way. See my intro, if it has not been deleted.

 

[Sweet potato]

Unless performing work that requires them, I see no reason why anyone would choose ear defenders over earplugs. They seem cumbersome (judging from my experience with over-the-ear "can" headphones vs. earbuds) and like they would incur further ostracism yet.

I like the pressure ear defenders apply to my head it feels cosy and calming. I use them around the house and occasionally at work in the case of fire drills etc. I'm sensitive to loud noises but don't like to wear earplugs, headphones or ear defenders in public as I feel it makes me less aware of my surroundings and therefore worsens my anxiety that I might be mugged, murdered or kidnapped. I'm not a fan of anything that goes in my ear as this feels tickely and irritating I sometimes use in ear headphones to listen to music but not when I'm already feeling on edge this is when I need my precious ear defenders.

 

[Shevek]

Unless performing work that requires them, I see no reason why anyone would choose ear defenders over earplugs. They seem cumbersome (judging from my experience with over-the-ear "can" headphones vs. earbuds) and like they would incur further ostracism yet.

Ear plugs cause a huge increase in ear bacteria counts.

 

[Sweet potato]

My controversial opinion is that raising an autistic child isn't necessarily harder than raising an NT child. I say this having never raised a child of my own at all but I work with children with special needs. A lot of parents will go on about how hard raising an autistic child is and how dealing with delayed learning, meltdowns and restricted behaviour affects the whole family but every child will have tantrums and will act out from time to time I find NT children are often more manipulative and sneaky with their behavior and will often be sucked into friendship groups that lead them into trouble while many autistic children are strict rule followers and don't seem to feel peer pressure as much while special interests are often productive hobbies distracting teenagers from the draw towards experimenting with alcohol and drugs at a young age. A lot of parents (especially online) make out that they're great parents for raising an autistic child but I don't really get it. Well done you raised a child and loved them in spite of their struggles, sounds like the bare minimum to me.

 

[The Lorax]

NT child MUCH easier than ASD child. Psychology books on raising children work on NT kids. If the NT kid falls out then either they have a mental disorder or it is the parents fault. I have found so many parents doing things like this.....

Kid runs out in the street.
Parent smacks their hand and says "how many times I told you not to run in the street, you are punished" which accomplished nothing.
Instead make it a teaching moment by example. I put an egg under the car wheel and rolled over it. Explaining that if a car hits him he is the egg. He got it and never ran out in the street.
While my son is difficult, I know with pretty good certainty he will not smoke, will not do drugs, will not hang out with the wrong crowd.

 

[Regretfully Diagnosed]

There is a saying "I am autistic not weird" and even a website "autistic not weird."
I hate this mentality. It's so horrible.
Stop acting like weirdness is a bad thing. Weird just means different, and being "normal" means being extremely generic and boring.
Weird Al is weird. Do you see a problem with that?


Th best humor is always based on weirdness. The most interesting places are the weird ones.
Science is sparked by weirdness. When a scientist looks at results from an experiment and says "Yep, that's what we were expecting" nothing arises from that. When a scientist looks at the data and says "Well, that's weird" WE HAVE DISCOVERY!

Let me ask you, is Michael Phelps a normal athlete? No not at all. There's nothing normal about his athletic abilities. He has athleticism that is very very unusual and very rare. That makes it weird. He's weirdly good at swimming.



I used to be a proud weirdo. if you asked me if I was weird I would have said "I think so, and I sure as hell try to be weird" but after being diagnosed weirdness became shameful.

I feel like the modern autism views are an attempt to enforce very boring and average social norms in the name of killing and shaming "weirdness." The idea that weird is bad is so toxic and horrible.


Let me describe for you a non-weird person:
John gets up every day at precisely 8 am. He eats his cornflakes and has one cup of coffee before getting into his Honda Accord and drives from his suburban home to his job at the IRS where he reviews paperwork and then he goes home, watches the evening news and goes to bed.

Let me describe a weird person:
Rob gets up at a random time and waxes his handlebar mustache. Then he slides down his fireman's pole to his living room, where he spends a bit of time playing his pipe organ, before getting into his 1959 impalla and driving off to go play some practical jokes. He parades around town in his velvet suit giving high fives to random people and then goes home to play with his exotic pets before heading out to do a standup comedy routine.



Which of these two people do you think is enjoying life more? Which one would you find to be more entertaining? Which one contributes to the world more?

But the definition of autism as we know it is all about being socially conforming. That's why we have ABA and such. That's why autism was basically invented by people who wanted everyone to be cookie-cutter. That's why they invented this concept of being different being bad,

 

[Sweet potato]

There is a saying "I am autistic not weird" and even a website "autistic not weird."
I hate this mentality. It's so horrible.
Stop acting like weirdness is a bad thing. Weird just means different, and being "normal" means being extremely generic and boring.
Weird Al is weird. Do you see a problem with that?


Th best humor is always based on weirdness. The most interesting places are the weird ones.
Science is sparked by weirdness. When a scientist looks at results from an experiment and says "Yep, that's what we were expecting" nothing arises from that. When a scientist looks at the data and says "Well, that's weird" WE HAVE DISCOVERY!

Let me ask you, is Michael Phelps a normal athlete? No not at all. There's nothing normal about his athletic abilities. He has athleticism that is very very unusual and very rare. That makes it weird. He's weirdly good at swimming.



I used to be a proud weirdo. if you asked me if I was weird I would have said "I think so, and I sure as hell try to be weird" but after being diagnosed weirdness became shameful.

I feel like the modern autism views are an attempt to enforce very boring and average social norms in the name of killing and shaming "weirdness." The idea that weird is bad is so toxic and horrible.


Let me describe for you a non-weird person:
John gets up every day at precisely 8 am. He eats his cornflakes and has one cup of coffee before getting into his Honda Accord and drives from his suburban home to his job at the IRS where he reviews paperwork and then he goes home, watches the evening news and goes to bed.

Let me describe a weird person:
Rob gets up at a random time and waxes his handlebar mustache. Then he slides down his fireman's pole to his living room, where he spends a bit of time playing his pipe organ, before getting into his 1959 impalla and driving off to go play some practical jokes. He parades around town in his velvet suit giving high fives to random people and then goes home to play with his exotic pets before heading out to do a standup comedy routine.



Which of these two people do you think is enjoying life more? Which one would you find to be more entertaining? Which one contributes to the world more?

But the definition of autism as we know it is all about being socially conforming. That's why we have ABA and such. That's why autism was basically invented by people who wanted everyone to be cookie-cutter. That's why they invented this concept of being different being bad,

I'm not sure it's a case of not wanting to be different and wierd on our own terms but more a case of not wanting to have that label thrust upon us when we're trying our best to fit in. I once really embraced being wierd before my diagnosis but looking back that was a coping mechanism for the rejection that comes with trying to socialise and blend in with your peers only to be called wierd. It also often disguises autism especially for women and thus is a barrier to accessing the right support. She's not autistic she's wierd, she's not autistic she's just a bit quirky were definitely applied to me in my teens. Weirdness is good but what's better is a reality where we are not judged either way on how we fall on the normalness spectrum and instead are aloud to be our whole unique selves regardless of what the norm are doing and thanking. We should never be held back by whether what we're doing is wierd or too mainstream