There is no point to "spread Autism Awareness"

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that's exactly what i was thinking. is there a secret battle between nt's and aspies going on that i should know about? we are all human and yes nt's(for the most part) do care about other people besides themselves and are capable of having empathy and understanding of your situation. some just need to be educated on what autism is and how it works, hense the autism awareness campaigne. you don't want to be grouped together with every other autistic person do you? so why do judge nt's that way?

Allow me to explain the reasoning behind the idea of "raising awareness" as I see it ideally working.

My goal is for everyone to be given a chance. My goal is for everyone to be treated fairly, where treated fairly is defined as allowed to keep the results of one's endeavors (such as profits) and not denied opportunites to attempt to profit. I do not require freebies. I do, however, wish that we could support those who work to benefit society but are unable to hold down a job sufficient to meet their needs and are not independently wealthy. I do not see that as a freebie; I see that as payment due for services rendered.

What that means is that if an autistic looks odd, and makes NTs nervous or annoyed or just makes them not like him, that is no reason to keep him from having a chance to work. We need to educate NTs so that, when there is something like that (something that concerns them because of a flaw in the way they process the data), innocents don't suffer. Not just the autistics, but the NTs who could benefit as well.

It's not JUST autistics that I want to see this happen for. They just happen to be most relevant on this site.

To cure the ignorance of the majority of the populous.

Also, when you factor in disorders other than autism, actual NTs are the minority.

Awareness and education is good for dispelling myths, but the fact is that a lot of the s**t we get from people is due to their own selfishness and contempt. We're the easy ones to pick on, so it's bullsh** that ignorance is the only reason we're getting all this s**t.

So I think a better idea is to empower Aspie's to stand up for ourselves, not take s**t from anyone, not be fooled into thinking we're worthless because of what other people think defines our worth, etc.

There's way too much goddamn focus on making kids act normal rather than teaching them more important things such as how to recognize and deal with a**holes, how to know if your friends aren't really your friends, etc. All this crap is about making us submissive rather than self-sufficient.

I am not sure that awareness will solve this problem - perhaps the opposite: I suspect that, in spite of all, people will respect you more (or disrespect less) if they see you as "strange" than if they see you as "disabled".

When I was younger having been aware of what autism is would have been useful.

I could care less about my kid fitting in but he needs to learn the same stuff the NT kids are learning. As for why education is important well if you a) take your autistic child to the store it's easier to explain a 4 yr old having a giant fit over the lights that has Autism then not then the workers will actually HELP you and not just make snide comments.
They also can't make you leave quite so easily or discriminate against you.

It's more than 1%. Certainly not in the majority, but the "1 in 100" statistic was years ago, and if you haven't noticed, the amount of people with autism increase exponentially, pretty much. And the "1% will never win" remark has never gotten the human race anywhere; even if hypothetically it was 1%, it's usually that same amount of people that can make a difference. It's not as statistically insignificant as you think.

And there is also a point to spread the awareness, people in general still don't know much about autism. Researchers can't even understand the "cause" of it, aside from genetic causes (then where did that begin? who knows). For one thing, I don't think most people realize the difference between High Functioning (or Asperger's Disorder) Autism and Low Functioning Autism. Notice how it's diagnosed so late in many cases and so many people go under the radar? I doubt most people do realize that they have probably met at least one autistic person in their lives and acknowledged them as non-autistic; Which isn't uncommon.

And since you're not going to read my posts anyways, Corp900, I may as well curse.

Ugh, if you're serious, we're tired of telling you, go find a freaking psychiatrist to help you out with your depression and save us from your spreading pessimism. If you're not serious, stop trolling already, for f***s sake.

so true. my step son was screaming one day at the mall, in the food court while we were waiting to order our lunch(he doesn't get the concept of waiting in line when the food is already there) and the security guard told us we had to leave because of his noise. i was shocked because there are always screaming kids at the mall and teenagers yelling instead of talking. i didn't even know what to say but the lady at the counter came out and gave him crap, telling him that my step son was a good boy and couldn't help it. i swear i am going to get a shirt that says 'my kids not bad, he's autistic' and wear it whenever i take him out so people will stop staring at me and making comments. it's ignorant.

Awareness is important because many autistics don't know they have autism, it actually helps a LOT to know why you are the way you are. I spent my whole f****d up life not knowing, being the "weird shy guy", kinda sucks.

Really? What was it about?

Some actor saying to support autism research. Nothing fancy. Seemed more like a public service announcement.

When people at work or school know about asperger traits then they can figure you out. When bullies suspect you have asperger they will know how to set you up and make you look bad. Knowledge can be misused.
Two or three bullies working together can turn a lot of people against you.
Knowledge is power; I don´t want people to know.........

+100. And the thing that needs to be taught is tolerance.

A lot of times it does more harm than good because people tend to have their minds made up and it's hard to change them. They think Autism is about someone doing what they want to do and not able to do what is required. They get this idea from someone they know or a friend of a friend who has a child who's been diagnosed with Autism or knows someone with a child who was diagnosed and they always seem to have a handful of negative stories about the kid and they circulate them and then they believe everyone with Autism is just like the kid they know or someone else knows.
It's better to just fake it and fit in as best you can or go someplace where you are protected by open minded people who know they shouldn't stereotype.

Dnuos, People may think that a small number can't make a difference. The truth is it is the only thing that ever has.

I am quite sceptical that AS only make up 1% of the population. As public awareness increases I am sure this figue will increase,
as more people with AS seek diagnosis. Public awareness is not just about educating NTs, its also about reaching others out there
who have AS, struggling to cope and not knowing why. A diagnosis may change their world for the better, and give them some validation.
Public awareness meant that my son got diagnosed, and then subsequently me. For my son this meant extra learning support at school, and greater understanding from teachers. Which has helped him. For me it meant validation and an understanding of why I am the way I am.
It led me to establish contacts with others with AS, feeling that I am no longer alone made a big difference for me.
I wish I could have been diagnosed earlyer in school. I don't dought things would have been different for me.


Public awarness will also help to disprove many of the myths, assumtions and ignorance that lead to discrimination and bullying.
Sure you wont get through to everyone, some NTs will continue to persecute Aspies regardless of education. However there are NTs out there who do mean well. In my experience the bullying has been due to the ignorance of people, not knowing there is a genuine reason people are a certain way. People have learnt through public education that discrimination and bullying is not acceptable towards gays and people with other disabilities. The gay community is a minority but has come a long way in a short time through public awareness. Some IT companys in Europe are now employing Aspies only due to the public awarness of AS stengths in this area. Public awarness is not about seeking charity in any way.
It is stating that we are valid people with rights and are entitled to respect and to live life like everyone else.


We are all entitled to our lives regardless of our percentage of population. I am sure as hell damn determined to stand up for my rights, my son's and all on the spectrum. I am learning to stand up now to any NT who dares to mock me my family or my son.

Things are slowly starting to change for the better now, there is a long long way to go, but anything has to start with a humble begining.