Aspies For Freedom

I choose my non-conformity carefully!

I conform to expected standards of hygiene, obedience to the law and in relationships with others.

As far as my interests, dress-sense and hobbies are concerned, though, I probably conform more to the stereotype of an adolescent male than a grandmother!

w00t!

also, yes, society and interaction thereof can be both tedium incarnate and exhausting,  but alas, it can be a necessary evil, especially if we are to espouse our views efficently.

as for dressing...well, i go for a look that will cause people to get out of the way, and to leave me alone. dont care if they stand and stare, i find that f***ing funny, but they dare not actually speak.

Do show us a picture!

Argh, co-incidences.  I wake up this morning with the phrase

in my head, and I CAN'T shake it and I can't figure it out, and then I come on here to find a thread where it sort of fits.  

Now, if only I could figure out what it means...

right, i couldn't find one of the good cams, so webby will have to suffice;

my coat and a general view

the coat sort of cones outwards past the waist, and has a ribbing effect on the rear. as you can see, lots of shinies and I am very thin.

that thing on my arm in a little closer detail



50 sharp spikes, covering from fist to elbow.

boots, back of



boots, front of

I'd say the problem with society is not that it's boring, but that there is a pressure to become normal (perhaps mediocre is a better word). Nonconformists are pressured to become like everyone else. It's a pity to see an interesting person having to become mediocre to feel wanted, sad to see their fascinating quirks being consciously hidden until they disappear naturally.

There also seems to be a certain level of conformity in "non-conforming" scenes too. Although they would be different to the mainstream, the internal conformity seems to be often high within. I've gone from clique to weird clique, but they seem to be essentially little versions of society with different (better but that's only my opinion) artistic tastes.

You do come across genuine non-conformists though. People whose eccentricities are entirely their own. Aspies seem to fit here fairly often, I've come to notice. Those who do, thank you for making our species more interesting than the average ant colony .

Tigger_the_Wing
I'm fairly sure that the origins of conformity lie in common sense, to keep society functioning. Of course it seems we've forgotten why we conform and just do it out of habit.

Glad to hear you've made it to grandmotherhood without settling in the pre-packaged box the world would want to put you in.

pikajedi4
not exactly my look, but that's freaking awesome...

Nonconformist wedding, December 26th 1979:


I loved my bike and sidecar. I re-geared it with the largest rear cog that I could fit, and it would out-accelerate anything - great fun at the 'traffic light grand-prix'.

Eric - I think those videos are great!

I really only conform when it comes to a) avoiding attention (I might not care about looks, but I don't want to announce that by walking around covered in mud), and b) not bothering/offending other people. (So, while I think the  "manners" can be dumb, I'm not going to chew food with my mouth open, because people find that gross.)

I don't mean to offend anyone here, but I think a lot of the more conforming Aspies are ones who were diagnosed at an early age, before they had a chance to decide for themselves whether their difference was good or bad. Since everyone tells them it's bad, they get to thinking it is. I'm not trying to say that all Aspies diagnosed at a young age are conformists, nor that all conformists were "brainwashed" into their way of thinking (I completely respect the decision to conform, so long as the person doesn't pressure anyone else to). I just think that this may be a factor.

I'm probably the opposite - I was diagnosed fairly young (15), and it probably allowed me to avoid conformity, rather than embrace it.

Perhaps the difference was that my family had an unspoken rule of never talking about it, so I had to find out things on my own - and internet forums tend to be fairly encouraging of non-conformity... *grins*

Yes Pikajedi, love those bracers, I did have some like that, but I think the cops took them, along with my better of two spiked collars.
Thats more or less sort of my style too, although I usually wear spike strips over the back of my hands and knuckles.

Are those Newrock boots man? they sure look like em, I got a pair myself, 180 quid, knee length, but the damn zip broke on one and I haven't had it repaired yet :/  The steel plates on the toes do a bang up job on chavs too

Where you from?

^ Yeah, I did mean "young", as in five or so. I kind of figured out who I was by the age of eight, if I'd been diagnosed later I probably would have been OK, but before that... yikes.

*grins* Oops! If you're talking about under 8 year olds, then I agree with you completely...

I have noticed this among a few online Aspies, interestingly enough.

I have also noticed a "high conformity style," on occasion, among online Aspies who've said both their parents are NT.  They seem a bit more "socially-willing" than I would expect from a typical AS.  Bear in mind, this is all anecdotal, and only based on the written word.

I'm a northern monkey, me, from up Manchester ways.

I'm pretty nonconformist; how could a person find any meaning in there life if they act like everyone else?