@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
Autism is a physiological difference in the brain/nervous system. Our brains work differently.
@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.
@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
@sal @actuallyautistic @neurodiversity @Tooden @ScottSoCal @pathfinder @markusl @sentient_water The usefulness is in having a word for it, to effectively communicate the whole broad pattern to someone succinctly, and in realizing that there are others out there like us, so we are not one-off "freaks" of some sort, but just a different brand of human. Both uses for the label help us to find acceptance, either in others or within ourselves.
@hosford42 @sal @actuallyautistic @neurodiversity @Tooden @ScottSoCal @pathfinder @markusl @sentient_water I concur with this. ^^
I agree with Sal in regards to how we experience the world differently with or without a diagnosis. But speaking for myself, gaining that label opened up a whole new world of information and experiences I could learn from. I could find people like me and exchange notes on how to cope with being different in the ways we're different. I could leave the shame behind
@hosford42 @sal @actuallyautistic @neurodiversity @Tooden @ScottSoCal @pathfinder @markusl @sentient_water back in the seventies, when I was a youngster, in the middle of the US, I was unacquainted with the terminology. Hadn’t heard of autism or Neurodivergent. I was sent to a child psychologist while in middle school. I had professional educators asking me what was wrong. 1
@hosford42 @sal @actuallyautistic @neurodiversity @Tooden @ScottSoCal @pathfinder @markusl @sentient_water they would be like,”we know you are smart. Why can’t you make better grades?” I never actually got a diagnosis but I understood I was not normal long ago. I was finally able to be tested for adhd about 2 decades ago through my job. 2
@DanadasGrau @sal @actuallyautistic @neurodiversity @Tooden @ScottSoCal @pathfinder @markusl @sentient_water Ugh, the number of times I was criticized over this, by teachers, students, and parents alike. It was their own damn fault for insisting I do the homework when I didn't need it to learn the subjects. I made up for the zeros on my homework by acing the tests. Managing homework requires executive functioning I didn't have at my disposal, and no one was willing to help me with that. So sure, drive down my grades for not going through the motions when I obviously understand the subject better than not only every student in my class, but many of the teachers too.
@DanadasGrau @sal @actuallyautistic @neurodiversity @Tooden @ScottSoCal @pathfinder @markusl @sentient_water It was my first encounter with a disability tax, and I'm still resentful, as you can probably tell from my tone.
@hosford42 @DanadasGrau @sal @actuallyautistic @neurodiversity @Tooden @ScottSoCal @pathfinder @markusl @sentient_water yeah... The worst grade I ever got was like 65% or something, in an English class where I was above the level of everyone in my class for both writing and comprehension. But I couldn't bring myself to do the stupid busywork project that was worth 20% of my mark. Years later I I needed a credit so I walked into an English 12 provincial (like 🇨🇦SATS) without studying and got 98%
@hosford42 @DanadasGrau @sal @actuallyautistic @neurodiversity @Tooden @ScottSoCal @pathfinder @markusl @sentient_water I did my homework in the library at lunch. I refused to do it at home. Ppl thought it was weird but it worked for me.
@hosford42 @sal @actuallyautistic @neurodiversity @Tooden @ScottSoCal @pathfinder @markusl @sentient_water I refused to write term papers. I did not think anyone needed to know my thought processes. Then there was the whole formulaic process of outline, rough draft, final draft, the drove in to us. My process in college was think, think, think, night before it is due /1
@hosford42 @sal @actuallyautistic @neurodiversity @Tooden @ScottSoCal @pathfinder @markusl @sentient_water stay up all night stressing trying to fill the required number of pages before it was time for class.
@hosford42 @sal @actuallyautistic @neurodiversity @Tooden @ScottSoCal @pathfinder @markusl @sentient_water the result was “exceptional intelligence but a slow processing speed.”
@DanadasGrau @sal @actuallyautistic @neurodiversity @Tooden @ScottSoCal @pathfinder @markusl @sentient_water I bet you can do certain things *way* faster than NTs, and your slow processing speed was just on stuff they felt you ought to be able to do fast because they could.
@DanadasGrau @sal @actuallyautistic @neurodiversity @Tooden @ScottSoCal @pathfinder @markusl @sentient_water Verbal processing is a prime example. I'm slow to process things said to me out loud, but put it in print and I can zoom right past all the critics.
@hosford42 @sal @actuallyautistic @neurodiversity @Tooden @ScottSoCal @pathfinder @markusl @sentient_water I am the same. I get lost in conversations. Get distracted. get caught on a word or phrase and have my mind go off on a tangent. I don’t talk on the phone, like,ever.
@hosford42 @sal @actuallyautistic @neurodiversity @Tooden @ScottSoCal @pathfinder @markusl @sentient_water oh I read way faster than most people. I really enjoy reading aloud. This is why I joined the HITRECORD. Org community,To do the voiceovers, and to practice on slowing down to a more natural speaking pace, and emoting.
"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.