@sal
I don't think he's talking about a cause, it's more "this is why".
For me, all my life I've wondered why am I like this? Why does that always happen to me? Why can't I just make friends/get along with people/feel comfortable in crowds?
Because I'm autistic. Not bad, not stupid, not broken, just autistic.
@actuallyautistic @neurodiversity @Tooden @pathfinder @markusl@fosstodon.org @sentient_water @hosford42
"Now I understand that I have trouble socializing and feel uncomfortable in crowds because I have trouble socializing and feel uncomfortable in crowds."
Answeing questions about stupidity or brokenness is something we can do through inquiry into the goals and ethics our social system handed to us. Not through holding a neat diagnostic box up as a talisman as if it explains something when it's only a subjective descriptor.
Autism is a physiological difference in the brain/nervous system. Our brains work differently.
@actuallyautistic @neurodiversity @Tooden @pathfinder @markusl@fosstodon.org @sentient_water @hosford42
@sal
I think you're on a mission, and that's totally valid, and I think you're asking good questions. But I'm not the guy to ask them of. I'm not on a mission, and I don't have the energy for one right now.
@actuallyautistic @neurodiversity @Tooden @pathfinder @markusl@fosstodon.org @sentient_water @hosford42
What's more interesting to ask is: which ways of thinking and acting are demanded to be "explained," and which are treated as "the natural default needing no explanation"? Doctors and researchers may go around asking, "what causes this person to not make eye contact?" as they may ask, "what's making this person gay or trans?" or "what's making this person break laws?" Which all boils down to "what's making this person deviant?"
More seldom do they ask, "what's making these people straight?" "what's making these people follow the law?" or "what's making these people engage in eye contact, small talk, and an effort to 'do their best' at alienated labor?" But some do ask that - for instance The Straight Mind looks at how heterosexuality is produced, and the Prison Notebooks discuss how "common sense" is manufactured to keep people in line.