Why does society view autistic people as mentally incompetent?

[Judge]

But it's strange to tell me 10 minutes later how you felt 10 minutes ago. That's the whole point of asking how does someone feel
I just dont understand how someone doesn't know how they feel, we're just different like that, which is fine.

Welcome to the "neurological divide". When it can be terribly difficult to navigate the neurology of someone who on some levels can be incredibly different- even "alien".

When acceptance may be more important than ultimately understanding.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

what they see on the exterior of the person they make assumptions.
i guess you could have Einstein intelligence and some people would still assume things if you don't conform to their 'acceptable' behaviour.

Einstein had lots of sex real ladies man.

 

[dancerxoxo123]

I think low IQ is stigmatized at least as much as autism...actually worse since so many ASDers stigmatize and "other" fellow ASDers and really anyone with more cognitive differences/impairments or low IQ

...and people don't understand that having intellectual disability (ID) doesn't mean you cannot learn things, make good choices, be indepedent, be insightful, communicate, have talents, have a career -- like any other category of intellectual functioning, ID is a spectrum of many abilities.

Yet people see ID and autism as black and white ( ironic because we are supposed to be the super simplistic black and white thinkers) -- that if you have ID you must be unable to do anything, or at least not anything "normal"

And that if you don't have ID then you cannot possibly have any severe impairment -- anything you truly cannot do...

Both ideas are just wrong.

Having an intellectual disability or autism (or NVLD or ADHD or dyslexia or dyspraxia or dyscalcula or language disability or whatever else) often just means some things are harder for you to learn or to do, or take you longer, or that you need a bit more help than most. There's nothing wrong with that and people shouldn't be written off an unable to do anything at all!

One thing I would like to see become more commone is supported decision making orders -- a better option than guardianship for many who truly are capable of making their own choices but might need help considering all the information or communicating their questions, concerns, and decisions to others.

Yes that is true! And what is the stigma of mild intellectual disabilities?

 

[Mary Terry]

Einstein had lots of sex real ladies man.

He married his first cousin.

 

[the_tortoise]

And what is the stigma of mild intellectual disabilities?

Hard question for me to answer...partly because I don't understand it fully...

I think the stigma of mild intellectual disabilities is mostly the same as the stigma of all intellectual disabilities..,

I think it means a lot of different things but mostly:

when people assume you cannot understand anything or do anything. When they don't give you a chance to learn things or show them what you can do and what you understand.

And when they do not value you the same as everyone else. When they push you away and don't want to be seen as the same as you. Don't treat you as an equal, with the same respect they want for themselves.

 

[NB79]

I also remember how I was with my ASD ex on the autism meeting, and he told me about another autistic guy "that guy is creepy." So even autistics have that "something is weird" alarm as well it seems.
Of course no one should bully anyone because they're different, im just explaining my that there is this "off" feeling about some people, autistic or not.

You can be a saint, as autistic and people would still says things about you based on their 'alarms' in their social sense.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

Albert Einstein was using his cousin as a maid, not a sex partner, she probably had already passed menopause when they got together. Completely rational, no endogamy

 

[arithmetic]

"Why does society view autistic people as mentally incompetent?"​

There are so very many ways that people can be different to one another, nowadays, that the mainstream cannot keep up. When I was a child there was no such thing as autism, for a start. (I'm in my late 60's)
Over the last 50 odd years there have been many new classifications of human ability and disability. Most people just want to be "normal" whatever that is, and they just want "normal" people around them. Only a few people seem able to care about others at all.

I consider the differences between myself and the mainstream to be a kind of advantage... I just let myself be free, and if it drives most people away that's not my problem, because those who remain are more likely to be human beings.