Are We Too Dependent on NTs?

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Should the autism/asperger community concentrate more on developing their own resources (i.e. teaching self-reliance) instead of seeking that others do things for us?

nothing wrong with depending on others, it's how society works. no need to differentiate specific groups. everyone has one role to fill or another and others depend on them to fill that roll just as they depend on others to fill their own rolls.

The Autistic community definately needs to mobilize and develop its own resources. One problem I have with the neurodiversity movement is that while they Autism as a biological difference rather than a disability, they still want to receive aid from the government. As long as the Autistic community relies on government aid or aid from relatives, Autism Spectrum disorders will be viewed as a liability to society and it will be easier for the government to label us incopetent and appoint guardians to manage our finances and our treatment.

Yes, let all the large corporations and banks have all the government hand-outs and bail-outs. They need it much more than Autistic community.

One thing has nothing to do with another. As long Autistics rely on government aid, Autism will be considered a liability rather than a difference and we will be seen as dependents. I believe Autistics should seek more aid from the private sector in fields which aspies typically go into such as high tech but there has to be return on investment. We can not accept hand outs.

We are living in an NT world, designed by and for NT's, to their benefit. If we are expected by NTs to participate in this world, but we cannot do so on a level playing field, then we must either accept our disadvantage or accept their assistance.

Autism could be viewed as a liability to society, but they are finding that genius and extremely high functioning autism are not that dissimilar. Is it a burden to society to endure hundreds of low and mid functioning autistics in return for what the brilliant add to society? Or would society be better off eliminating autism and sacrificing the brilliant autistics along with the rest?

i don't see autistic people as a liability. the people that make up society are the mothers, brothers, cousins, children, ect of the autistic people. it is societies responsibility to care for all people who need their help, regardless of what the difference is. keep in mind that many of the brilliant doctors, teachers, lawyers, scientists and artists are on the spectrum, diagnosed or not. anyone who is aware of what aspergers really is knows that it's not a matter of being totally dependant on society and that the autism community as a whole has a lot to contribute. i find people on here seem to view themselves as apart from the world and that all people with one diagnosis are grouped together for everything. that is not how i see it.

If Autistics became more self reliant (ie built our own companies, had more representation in our respective governments) we could make the world work for us and have more respect.

Personally I do not want any government aid. I found their educational services to be detrimental rather than useful (I was regularly placed in therapies with mildly ret*d children) and in the case of the people on the higher functioning end of the spectrum receiving any kind of hand out would just represent further stigma and keep us in a state of despair. Sorry if I offended you.

I am all for our autistic rights freedom and independance. Problem here is we live in an NT would, with NT schools teaching NT kids, who will go and work in NT workplaces were they will gang up on and bully the aspies out of their job. There are so many obtacles in our way just to exist at this point, let alone be totally independant. The school system hands out all resorces to NTs, and the aspies struggle. So initialy we may still need some more assistance and help to get us off the ground more until we reach this point of independance. I am all for this happening and it can. But we do have many disadvantages to overcome, as NT priviledge seems to rule. So initialy if some of us need extra help, then we DESERVE IT.

We will get there though.

I agree we need extra help to get off the ground. Notice I said we should request aid for effective forms of education and job training from the private sector as well as the government but I only said there should be return on investment.

Personally I had a very different experience than you did in the public school system. I was given all kinds of aid and therapies and I found it excessive and unnecessarily dumbed down. It only further stigmatized me to be placed with ret*d children and to constantly be underestimated. I feel I would have been much better off had I received less aid or had my parents paid for me to have private lessons. And the therapists were not effective at teaching social skills. Situations arise that are complex and unpredictable and therapies could not possibly know how to deal with it. I had a very bad experience with psychologists too. The adult psychologists who run private practices tend to rip you off but the school psychologists actually derive pleasure from other people's misfortune. That's how they determine their own self worth or that of their children.

I'd prefer decentralized autistic spectrum groups run by the members in such groups (maybe even with "NT's" possibly and or other outcasts). Possibly organized by consensus rather than top down structures. These groups could be for being social, taking care of/or finding ways to take care of each other, self-education/learning for personal and/or other reasons. Etc., etc. The purpose and function of these groups would be created by those members and for their own reason/s. I imagine if this sort of thing would work better in more populated areas as autistics are a minority.

I think I'd be interested in trying to participate in this sort of thing. It would test my organizational skills as I'm not too certain about mine.

If people are wanting empowerment and less dependence this would allow more of that, I believe. This can be started right now by people without depending on either corporations, rich people or govt. (I am not against people being given benefits or on disability).

Some people need government support. I would love to work and be as dependent as many people my age but I find it difficult. Nobody wants to hire me and my self help skills are lacking. It's not easy to just try and learn new life skills too. It's takes planning a specific date and time to learn these new skills. And there's my aversion to change. Not so much aversion but fear. I know I should deal with these issues and I try but it's very very hard.

I just read your most recent post and I didn't have any support in school. I was with the mainstream kids and treated like I was stupid and lazy.

I don't know about special ed. for myself although my current counselor asked if I had been in it for some reason. He was saying I should have been helped. I think I would have been a lot better off if I was put in an alternative school.

I am sorry your school system let you down like this. We are all quite underestimated I'm sure, and it angers me that we can be seen this way.
It sure highlights the distorted understanding NTs have of us. This why I believe public awareness is a priority to bust down the myths and misinterpretations of us. But the input needs to come from the autistic community, I think we should also have more input into the design of teaching methods for schools rather than so called experts that quite clearly don't have any understanding of us, who waste our resources.

Rather than you being given less resources surely it would have been better off if these resources were used more appropriately in programs autistics have helped to design. I believe public awareness should be aimed at governments; to highlight our genuine needs for support and education. At employers to highlght our stengths as employees particularly in the IT industry, and to Doctors and Psychologists to help to correctly diagnose those out there still in the dark.

There are some IT companys in Europe that have started employing exclusively people on the spectrum, thanks to public awaresness of how well some aspies perform in this field. Perhaps this is were the private sector could come in.

I know there are some Asperger folks that can make it a long way in life. I was born in the middle with mixed symptoms of autism and aspergers. I couldn't put words together until I was four and didn't get comfortable with talking until I was in my 20's. I never thought of myself as having a disability and did whatever I had to do to survive.
I never wished I was anyone but myself.

I can't bring myself to dislike "neurotypicals". I think in some ways, the Information Age, created by people with aspergers, has made life more difficult for some "neurotypicals". Before computers came along, I didn't have many advantages at work, but when they came I was able to excel beyond many of my co-workers. Today I hear some of them say, I wish I was born a hundred years ago; I could of made a living easier then.

I'm personally glad I was born in 1960 and not 1910, but I think I would of needed help outside my family if I was born today. There is way too much stimulation for the autistic nervous system, now. My mother said I screamed when she sang to me as a baby. I can imagine banging my head against the wall if there was such a thing as "Dancing with the Stars" on high def. big screenTV with Dolby Surround, back then.

Now that I have gotten older, sensory issues have brought me further down the spectrum and I can understand better what it means to have full blown autism. I believe the world they live in is absolutely horrifying. I recently read an article that equated Aspergers with physical disabilities of blindness or being a double amputee. If this is the case than I guess having full blown autism must be like living in HELL, and not being able to explain to anyone you are there; kind of like that "Scream" painting by Van Gogh.

Many of the people on the autism spectrum will have to be dependent on others to survive the rest of their life. If you need help, wherever you are on the spectrum, please get it from whatever source is available, that works for you.

I'm pretty sure we could fare well for ourselves if we had our own society. Someone mentionned they wouldn't want a top down structure to it, but i think reaching consensus is a myth, and i would really trust aspies to recognise the ones who should be leading as far as decision making is concerned. I have no problem noticing when someone is smarter than i am, and i respect those people instinctively. I''m pretty sure i'm not the only one here feeling this way.
being scattered all over the planet is a bit of an issue here though. As well as the fact that most of us have some executive dysfunction. But i'm pretty sure if there was a way to make it happen, we would do well.
Just to add a bit of my dream to this post, i think we should be then ones designing the structures for the lower functionning autistic people. That's at least one way to ensure no abuse will be taking place, if we are not able to help them function on their own we could at least make sure they lead a happy life.