Post-Autistic Subculture?

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I dont like the community that much, as it involves time spent in front of computing machine.

That time could be spent surfing, travelling, or babe hounding. What would you rather be doing???

However, the nerdy element is somewhat appealing for me right now, though ideally I would like to be in the sun, wind and sea.

I met a lovely woman with a nice dog on the weekend at the surf beach, and have bumped into a recent aspie woman friend a couple of times this last week.

I played pool tonight, and talked with some friends at a clubroom.

Computa schmoota its just virtual friends aint it? Not as good as the real thing, sun and sea, trees and birds and fish, and real live people

The space is virtual but the people are real

Actually, as we become braver and more of us identified, small meetings may be possible, at least for those who are not having to work around sensory sensitivities.

Also, never underrate the Internet's ability to bring people together -- I met my current husband on a forum dedicated to roleplaying ancient history. He moved down here to be near me in '98 and we've been together ever since.

That sound terrifying. I like the internet

Say what?

Meeting people face to face. I prefer the internet.

I agree and disagree. I fear that if I met people from here face to face that I would be rejected as not being aspie enough or because they didn't like my personality in person or any number of other things that could go wrong that would run through my head before any such meeting. Then again, I have a fairly high level of social anxiety when entering a new social situation where I don't know anyone. The nice thing about the internet is the wall of separation between you and others. That wall gives you the opportunity to discuss things you would not feel comfortable talking to people you know in real life about. Take down that wall and it becomes too real.

Don't worry, everyone on the comments felt the exact same way. If anything internet AS would just be the harmless misunderstandings NTs get into on the internet as they don't have nonverbal ques. Internet psychopathy has a completely different cause.

About the article:
Notice how much more polite we usually are to each other here than NTs are to each other elsewhere on the internet. Yeah, we have our misunderstandings. Yeah, we have the occasional individual who always seems to get into a snit. But even the people who often have issues with others when they post are usually just trying to work out the best way to express themselves, not spoiling for a fight. I've seen how they've explained themselves and eventually found ways to make their meaning clear and how others have responded favorably once understanding has been achieved. So, our times when someone is being genuinely nasty are quite rare. Compare that with what appears to be deliberate abuse elsewhere.

About our community:
I enjoy being able to tweak whatever I'm saying until it's just right before letting it go. I can still make mistakes, but my chances of getting out all that I want to say, in the way I want to say it, are much greater online. I don't have to stress about the flow of conversation, either. If my post is too long, others will skim or skip it, and I don't get offended. How would I even know, unless they say so? Besides, sometimes I have to do it, too. It's just part of dealing with how well I can process on a given day.

In person, I enjoy different things. Live contact has it's merits, absolutely. I don't want life to just pass me by, and there are people I like who also like me. I benefit a lot from having a girlfriend to help, but now these other people know me well enough to also be of support. We have fun doing things together, so the focus is not always on dealing with conversation alone. When we do sit and talk, we've got shared history of activities together, and that helps. And when it gets to be too much, I can just go home.

I like Wrong Planet because it helped me get a handle on a bunch of stuff while waiting for my Asperger's assessment to be completed. For example, I was able to learn what my assessment was supposed to be like, so that I knew something really was wrong the first time and right the second time. Now that I finally have an Asperger's diagnosis, I still relate over common experience. It's just that the diagnosis confirms the reasons behind the commonalities.

There are no other places online where I like to hang out and socialize this way. Facebook is overwhelming. Twitter is one I can limit, but I simply read interesting comments and leave my own. I don't really engage there with other people. I have a Website, and I visit Websites, but they aren't social networks. Even if I blog somewhere else, it won't be like it is here.

In person, I have no idea who from Wrong Planet I'd get along with. I don't know who I'd have other things to do or talk about with. I don't know whose sensory issues I'd set off with things I do or who would set off mine. So, maybe the community is very much online, though I've gotten along with at least a couple of Aspies in person before, at least short-term. And, yes, others who care about us and those who think they're like us for other reasons and are lonely will also become part of what's going on here. I agree that it will be interesting to follow the progress of this phenomenon. We do need to continue to have a sense of how people are a part of it (being diagnosed, suspecting, having a friend or loved one, being a professional in the field, looking for more oddballs of whatever sort to hang with). And then we can see what happens.

I really personally do not know for a fact what he means, but I'll "take a swing at it". I think he is referring more to the dehumanization of everyone else over the internet, rather than stating that people with Asperger's Syndrome (actual) are evil human beings and they can't help it. People are reduced to mere usernames and profiles over the internet, and that creates distance between two human individuals. It's the general feeling of being disconnected from everyone else that he attributes the alleged "lack of empathy" to, which is usually the same with individuals on the spectrum. (I can't speak for everyone but for most of my life I've kind of felt "homesick" even when I was technically home. Like I was an alien or something. I'm sure somebody else here has felt this.) Dehumanization is a method used by the military to train its troops to effectively and dispassionately kill other human beings on the battlefield. Instead of calling them people they usually have some derogatory sub-human term like Kraut, Zipperhead, Gook, Commie, Haj, etc. They say it's easier to kill something from a different specie. It's also easier to kill a person behind a TV screen, or even a scope. That's what I think.


So is the fun.


Haha. True that. Ever seen how people interact with each other on other forums or on Youtube comments? Whenever I do I think I genuinely feel sad for humanity.

I feel that the internet is a great equalizer, as we don't have to read facial expressions, can take our time to type a response or not respond at all without being expected to do otherwise. And being unable to "read between the lines" can be read as the translation "being lost on the internet".

I think aspies are immune to dehumanization. It explains a lot of things, like the tendacy to developed emotional bonds with objects, or higher empathy with animals than most people.

I'm was not that immune, and going by some hate toward the dehumanisers eg NT's I'd say most here are not that immune either. Recently I have learnt how to be immune by becoming apatheia (apathetic)

But yeah your right. The internet is so good for some autistics who would otherwise be short on communication and self expression IRL

The irony could be that esp. for higher functioning aspies, it also limits practise of IRL situations, and encourages the easy option, and the aspie may choose (unconsciously) to forfeit growth and pain, for the path of least resistance: comfort and ease.

However, where ASD function is lower rather than higher, any real gains re socialisation NT society (or even AS society) may be unrealistic and pie in the sky.

The internet may in fact be the medical device that does the trick of socialisation, to a mostly effective and relatively safe degree.

My personal view is that prior to my internet experience which began about 10 years ago, I was fit and healthy and happy. Since I have gained weight and lost health, but gained a great deal of knowledge too.... My happiness levels have dropped, prolly directly proportional to health and well being levels but also a necessary time of family awareness and difficult growth

Many come here for a while. laugh and cry, learn, then re-enter the fray of IRL experiences.............its like big time wrestling out there in the real world!!

If ones internet use harms health and well-being levels, a tapering back of use, and reintegration into the real world may yield positive healthy results

I wouldn't say immune. They still see people as people (unlike Sociopaths or "Antisocials", who have no conscience and merely see people as objects to be used). It's more on the area of connecting with them that's problematic. I mean if people were to state exactly what they wanted, I think a person with Asperger's would more often than not attempt to accommodate that person's needs. The tendency to connect to animals probably comes from the fact that animals are easier to predict than people. You don't have to decode them. Animals have no hidden agenda. Animals don't lie. Also, objects. Objects would never betray you. They are reliable as much as they can help it. The inability to "read" people's intentions I think is what makes normal people [wrongly] think that Asperger's Syndrome = lack of empathy.

Internet as medical device. Interesting concept. And, like any medical intervention, its usage must be modulated appropriately for each individual.

Yes, as a sociologist (a college professor) and an Autist, I have looked into the Autistic community quite a bit.

In a sense, there are two communities: The Autistic community (Autists) and the Autism community (the infamous Autism Speaks and similar organizations). They have little to do with one another.

However, the issue is really even more complicated. There is not just one Autistic movement. There are several. For instance, without naming names, some groups of Autists oppose cures. Some favor them (at least in some cases). Others are interested in providing supports. They avoid taking a position on the issue of cures.

Exactly five years ago, after being re-diagnosed (correctly diagnosed) on the Autism spectrum, I joined the anti-cure movement. These days, I am more interested in support issues. I also hope that it will, someday, be possible to cure certain Autistic problems (like social difficulties) while leaving the more positive traits intact.