28 Jun 2011, 2:11 pm
28 Jun 2011, 2:16 pm
Yup. That happens here, unfortunately. There are even autistic supremacists who believe autistic people are inherently superior to NTs. If you hear "next step in evolution" anywhere, chuck a biology book at them and head in the other direction. 
There's definitely an autistic culture, similar to the Deaf culture but a lot less developed. It exists primarily on the Internet and includes autistics (both self-diagnosed and officially diagnosed), their spouses, families, and parents, and people who aren't autistic but are close enough to it that they share the same perspective.
And, yes, autistic people do suffer prejudice a great deal. I was fired from my job after my boss did research on AS, for example, and was kicked out of college after a stay in a mental ward. I was also evicted from an apartment at one point, due to mental illness in general though not autism in particular. I got bullied. You'll probably find that more people are bullied than not on the spectrum. I was also targeted for abuse by sociopathic stepfathers because of the "Easy Target" autism vibe a lot of that sort of person gets from us. I'm not looking for pity here; in fact, I've survived all that and come through quite well; I'm really just listing it to explain that prejudice and such against autistics is quite common, and we're all in it together. You'll see this sort of experience all over the place on the Spectrum.
The important thing when you are the target of prejudice is to remember that you are not inferior, nor are you superior; you're an equal and should be treated as one. Swinging in a reactionary fashion from "inferior" to "superior" without stopping at equality is quite dangerous. Of course we are not equal in skill; but skill has nothing to do with value as a human being. Cherishing diversity is a large part of learning to live together in a world where people are different, and we've got to learn that being crappy at socializing shouldn't diminish your value as a person one bit.
28 Jun 2011, 2:52 pm
There's definitely an autistic culture, similar to the Deaf culture but a lot less developed. It exists primarily on the Internet and includes autistics (both self-diagnosed and officially diagnosed), their spouses, families, and parents, and people who aren't autistic but are close enough to it that they share the same perspective.
And, yes, autistic people do suffer prejudice a great deal. I was fired from my job after my boss did research on AS, for example, and was kicked out of college after a stay in a mental ward. I was also evicted from an apartment at one point, due to mental illness in general though not autism in particular. I got bullied. You'll probably find that more people are bullied than not on the spectrum. I was also targeted for abuse by sociopathic stepfathers because of the "Easy Target" autism vibe a lot of that sort of person gets from us. I'm not looking for pity here; in fact, I've survived all that and come through quite well; I'm really just listing it to explain that prejudice and such against autistics is quite common, and we're all in it together. You'll see this sort of experience all over the place on the Spectrum.
The important thing when you are the target of prejudice is to remember that you are not inferior, nor are you superior; you're an equal and should be treated as one. Swinging in a reactionary fashion from "inferior" to "superior" without stopping at equality is quite dangerous. Of course we are not equal in skill; but skill has nothing to do with value as a human being. Cherishing diversity is a large part of learning to live together in a world where people are different, and we've got to learn that being crappy at socializing shouldn't diminish your value as a person one bit.
How did your employer know? Isn't that discrimination? Sounds like you're sitting on a lawsuit.
As for the college issue, they kicked you out? I had a stay at a psyc ward as well, and I got out of my classes and fully refunded with a personally written letter from the bursar wishing me to get well, and to feel welcome to re-enroll when I felt up for it. It helped that my psychiatrist used to work at the medical clinic on campus, so he knew exactly what to write and who to address it to. It seems like you have another lawsuit there.
As for your problems getting picked on and abused, please accept my condolences for those tough times. Did any of the violators know you were an Aspie, or was it because you came across as an easy target? I was picked on too, beaten in the locker room, but nobody (including me) knew that I had a form of Autism. Had that been known, I'm nearly positive they would have been nice to my face. Behind my back, likely not, but they'd have never picked at me.
28 Jun 2011, 3:10 pm
28 Jun 2011, 4:10 pm
