Academic Communication is brainwashing!

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Hey, I'm new but hear me out. I'm in SPED at my school, but I'm forced to attend a social thinking seminar every week as part of my grade for my study period. The study period is part of my IEP, but I get a grade on it. Anyway, It all started in sophomore year, where I was asked to go to this meeting during lunch, free donuts were offered (Homer:Mmmm! Donuts! XD) So I couldn't resist. when I got there the school psychologist who evaluated me was there so was another therapist. They started talking about emphasizing with others, asking for help, and all that other SPED stuff. Anyway, I didn't like it that much because after learning a lot of that stuff on my own (thanks to some of the best friends in the world) I felt a bit insulted, so I stopped coming. Thankfully the meetings were voluntary. Next year though the school therapist was replaced by someone worse. I will refer to her as Nurse Ratched, not only because her mannerisms are similar to the character, but also because I wish to conceal names. The other people in the seminar will also be referred to in my clever nicknames. The Nurse started coming in on wednesdays during my study period, effectively making attendance mandatory.

She has a very condescending way of speaking to people. She will patronize you if you mention any particular good thing that has happened to you. During junior year, I shared a class with a number of people who were autistic or something else, I wasn't told.
The first thing she ''taught'' us was how to make friends. Basically she would offer scenarios where we had to be sure to not be too negative, too knowledgeable, or too unwelcoming, otherwise people would think we were weird or something. She would play these awful videos of different scenes where crack-addict actors would play the role of some hapless sap in a social situation or job interview. we even had worksheets! Anyway,me and a friend whom I will call the Robot (he has a monotone voice) were basically interrupting her with logical counterpoints to her claims. A prime example is the first impression.
She basically said that unless your body language is perfect to someone's standards, you don't put them off with something you said, or you haven't done some arbitrary thing that NTs expect from you, they will not like you. I said that she just basically called all NTs shallow. She then responded by saying I was looking at it from a bad perspective.

If anyone is interested in more stories about this or has stories of their own, I'm all ears

I personally detest "fitting in" with normal people. I like who I am, what I do, and how I do it. I could never cast my personal beliefs or actions aside just to be accepted. What's the point of "fitting in" if you're not being you?

Her idea of fitting in means to answer the question as each person who talks to you wants you to answer it. In other words you cannot be opinionated about something, it would turn the person off, they would think you're weird or something.

I remember one time I got up to blow my nose and she said that that was ''socially unusual''. Wow, I guess NTs don't have runny noses then! XD

Yeah, basically she'll try to make you feel bad for being who are.

She'll do this with her condescending patronizing voice and her nonsense social rules. Because our class is composed solely of men, she always has to justify everything by saying ''girls will like you if you...'''. Not one thing she's told me has gotten me closer to a meaningful relationship.

That's not the half of it

She's arranged a special support group with NTs called ''the Buddy Club''

She basically pairs you up with an NT who pretends to be your friend to get college credit.
I know this because that's how my school works, any volunteer program that could possibly boost you resume is snatched up by over achievers who then delude themselves into thinking they're helping people and the community.

The first year in ''Buddies'' was with this girl who had a psychotic boyfriend who became extremely possessive of her, he threatened me one time. She wasn't very interesting at all. She'd pretend to think my conversations were worth listening to. I then tried to ask her to have lunch with me and friends to see if I could know her better, after all the point of that stupid group was to form lasting friendships. But she blew me off, from that point I said hell with her. I started to rebel against the group by bringing in my Ipod stereos and pumping up my death metal and rap, but that didn't work. Next I tried bringing in my computer and playing the most violent episodes of Evangelion. The ones where EVA-03 is ripped apart, the 14th angel is eaten alive. Unfortunately, it didn't have any effect. Any suggestions on what I should try next?

I suppose so, but I'm really just trying to show them that I'm not some idiot who's so desperate for a human connection that I'm willing to overlook an obviously false friendship. Being alone does kinda suck for me sometimes, but i have some great friends who can fix that

This year, my ''buddy'' is this guy I've known for awhile, he's nice, but I can't really tell him what I think of everything, he's too close to Ratched. the Robot doesn't go to Buddies, but the Nurse is trying to make him. He's essentially being forced to socialize with people he doesn't know very well, I can sorta deal with it, but he's really intimidated by it. The Nurse seems to think that it's all in his best interests, so she's ignored his reasons for not attending. I tried to get another of my friends to attend, but he ended up being disgusted by the patronizing attitudes of the NTs there. I'm pretty much alone, personality wise in that group. Everyone else is too taken in.

Btw I used to watch Inuyasha, haven't seen it in awhile...

Well, I guess you're doing fine if you have any friends at all. Quality, not quantity, matters in that department.

Yeah, the Nurse has asked some personal questions that are kinda insulting and invasive.

She asked me if I loved any particular person. I told that it's not her business, but she then said that she's just trying to help. I then said that helping me does not involve knowing my personal life. She paused (does this very frequently ) and said that she would keep things a secret and that she was trying to be my friend. I just said fine, but don't expect me to tell you the truth. I think that must've gone on a record somewhere.

the Nurse also has criticized the Robot for wearing his hoodie all the time in class. She has even said that its due to the fact that he doesn't wash his hair. How she qualifies as a therapist is beyond me.

I've tried telling my parents, but they think that this will help me get over my problems (eye contact, socialization, etc.) The other people are my friends who support me all the way. Another person is my ''sis''. I call her this because she serves as a surrogate sister to me. She has had problems like this before, but she's chinese, so it actually is a little more sinister. They're far more informal about it. She's had problems with her family, more than me and they've subjected her to church groups with the sam overall purpose.

This nurse/therapist person sounds like quite the fascist. Or cyberman.

Fascist isn't the half of it. Its all groupthink with this bozo. She does not let anyone sit where they want. She says that sitting by yourself is not socially inviting.

She's even explained how to ask help from people. She says you have to be a and I quote ''social detective'' and know the right time.

She was obsessed with body language and non-verbal signals for the last few months. she made it seem like you have to do the macarena every time you have a conversation. She said you pretty much tell how any person is feeling from what position their arms were located Its ridiculous!