Aspies For Freedom

I'll qualify my 'yes, several times' answer by adding that it was never mentioned directly.

It was usually something like, we're downsizing, we don't think this is really working out..

No. I have been working full time since I was 18 and although I have had problems with work, my employers have always been happy with me. I do think AS causes me to lack confidence so I am well below the level I should be compared to my skills, knowledge and abilities. At my current work I could easily be the Manager on the operations side but I lack confidence to be a 'people manager', or at least I think I do. I also don't want the responsibilities and insecurities our mangers deal with. So it's not all a confidence issue alot of it is me balancing the pros and cons and realising I'm actually payed very well for doing an easy job.

What rotten liars they are!

I messed that up didn't I?
My attention span is almost nothing today. I can't seem to concentrate on anything.
It was supposed to be like this.

That is what I was told too when I was sacked.
The real reason I was sacked was because of poor attention issues, a lack of any real training or instruction, me feeling very depressed, and the fact that I couldn't really make friends so people thought that I was foriegn and then when they found out I wasn't they thought I was just weird.

never had a job yet, so.. i voted the last one

This is a depressing question. There is no doubt people often lose jobs because of neuro-nonconformity. (Did I make up that word?) And even more frequently, people are denied a job they could do because of neuro-nonconformity.

I had a friend who applied for a job as a school principal, and she would have done brilliantly. The person who declined to hire her said she "didn't sparkle enough."

My boyfriend was turned down on his first teaching job after a quick face-to-face interview.

A short time later, when the college needed someone on short notice for the same job, same department, same school , an administrator looked through the applications and resumes and said "Oh, my god, this guy sounds terrific! Get him!" Erich got the job, and has taught there nine years and is head of the department.

I am absolutely certain that he was passed over the first time due to "failure to sparkle."

I have never lost a job before excpet being laid off do to being very slow. My PDD-NOS has effected me in work but my boss was understanding enough to work with me. I don't think I would have gotten that here in Portland. I had to learn how to adapt with changes in my last job and learn not to get so upset and be flexible. I have read about aspies out there being unable to have a job because of their condition and I don't want that to be me so I try to succeed and not be one of them.

Chamoisee.

Have you thought about going into the scrap metal business. The world market prices for copper has sky rocketed because of the high demand. Regarding what type of copper it is or if it is degraded in any form the money you get from the buyer could range from 3-4-5 dollars for 1 kilogram. I haven't sold anything since October 8th, 2004. Aluminium is another metal that is worth a lot.

I'd be thrilled to give advice about this!!!

I was bullied out of 2 jobs and had my contract terminated in another because they didn't like having an autistic person in the office.

It's frustrating indeed that people only seem to appreciate teams. Perhaps we can get closer to a solution if we think in broader terms. Such as: the world system is mainly a buy-sell-trade system. I don't mean to state the obvious but...anyway...so from there we realize that, resources are declining, and that is because of the industrial revolution which made it possible for mass production. This made it cheaper to create products, however now the resources have to keep up. But not only the resources have to keep up, but this elevation in quality of life, has made people live longer, have more families and populate the world more. Hence there has to be more people working. With morem people needing work, the labour industry has to give more jobs. Pretty soon though, prices go up for resources whilst still be need to sustain an economy. Therefore since business owners are not interested in shutting themselves down, and banks are not interested in becoming extrinct, instead businesses have to think of ways to keep up with so much competition. They downsize their employee base so as to save cost. Then those remaining have to work harder. They end up being pushed to their limit as well. Of course in oder to get the machine to full effectiveness, the employees need to be choreographed to perfection. In order to do that, they all have to understand their roles and integrate with each other seamlessly. ANY problem in communication upsets the whole, and therefore, the system falls apart, like a domino effect. Hence social skills become MORE of a survival instinct than they ever were to keep the system turning. Each person has to be in tune with each other harmoniously. If all the people are not "the same" then, they don't think alike and that will upset the system. Therefore someone who cannot integrate, is not appreciated, and becomes a weak link. what people do with weak links is they rid them. This is how business survives and it is just business. The only way around this, is to live outside the entire economic system. So if there is no place for a number of people, and the vice gets tighter, the next step is a lot of people looking for alternatives. So then the obvious? Band these people together into a sharing system, and become so tight knit that, it becomes a direct opponent to the world system. When govts see this, their first instinct would be to find ways to make this illegal and put a stop to it, because anything the threatens th economy becomes and enemy. Think of the hippie generation. However a lot of people will be going that direct, living off the land, and being extremely hard to control because they will have such a strong human spirit that, the world will have to become much more military to stop them. However if you go back and look at the Christians, they lived different and they didn't care if people killed them. And that is how Christianity has survived all this time. The Jewish people never were killed off either, and they survived longer. So expect opposition, but if you are different, it becomes something that you cannot help. If you become strong enough, you'll be happy to fight for this, and not give in. Your rigidity is what the world will not like. But I believe, if enough people continue on this path, and it "catches on" at just the right time, where it is becoming so hard to live IN the system, others will join in until the economic system is overthrown, and a SHARING system, which is more of one that comes out of a people who have a spirit to do it rather than a legalistic motivation, it will be natural instead of communist. And the real thing would be lovely. If people had it in their hearts to be moral and do good instead of just because a law tells them to. I believe it's possible to change a world, especially when you realize that this world is fragile, it's as fragile as dominos, and all it takes is one weak link to upset it, and the whole thing can tumble over. It's proven historically that it's always been just one or two people who can change everything, the entire coarse of history. so don't feel powerless. Band together. Dress your hearts in love, and be an opposer. Not in a violent way, but a spiritual way. Be the opposite of what this world wants, be on the path of overtaking it with the new system, and be obvious and deliberate, and never give in. Sounds dumb, but you have to believe that you have a purpose and you desire to do it 100%.

In the earlier part, Christianity survived, yet they were all poor. It was because it was radical. Later on, it became supported more monetarily. It also watered down from it's pure state, to become more popularized.

Well, I know a few people already who like it more of a spiritual thing. However it's not something that can be organized if it's spiritual. Being spiritual is the opposite of human rules and law. It says so in the bible. Christ didn't set up any institutions. I know that people have their own interpretations of spirituality, however I'm sure that it is above human thinking and intellect. I think of intellect as lower, and hence for something lower to regulate something more sophisticated, wouldn't work. That's why it wasn't like that when it came about. it states in the bible that the spirit is like the wind, you don't know where it comes from or where it is going. It's not an organization. It basically just comes into being on it's own.

If you call it a re-awakening, I would say the truth it, it's only ever been half awake. When has it ever been allowed to properly flourish? It's always been suppressed by other systems. Even in a church, whenever someone starts to grow up a little higher spiritually, those who aren't at the level yet like to cut that one person down to their size again. It happens a lot. Spiritual people don't flourish much in churches. Churches are mostly all a bunch of legalisms. They like rules. Most spiritual people I would say, do it independently because it's too much for people in church. It's more like, the law of the heart. You have a desire do the right thing, and so that's what comes out of you. People in church want to be sinners who can't ever reach perfection, in that they don't have the faith that they can get there. When it states in the bible to be Holy, he meant now. And Paul said he reached it (I have run the race, fought the fight, and there is a crown of victory waiting for me). He already knew he won.

They want to feel sorry for themselves, they want to be a little bit imperfect. They want to be a little "worldly" and not do anything too radical or sacrificial. They want to make excuses. Meanwhile what it is is, when you have a transformed heart, you leave the desire to be a sinner, and actually desire to be a non-sinner, and the only mistakes you make, are mistakes due to lack of wisdom. You grow in wisdom over time.

All people in church care about are their physical families, their comfort and safety, and being accepted in their little jobs in the middle of the world. Usually they don't put their spiritual family above their own physical family. Even though they know of the bible verse where Christ said that anyone who loves their father or mother or daughter or whomever more than me, is not worthy of me. Let the dead bury their dead.

As long as the world lets them go pray and sing songs, in a building, away from everyone else, that's all they care about. They are not interested in challenging the world. But that's what a Christian is supposed to be doing. It states in the bible that we are at war with powers and principalities.

So that's what a spiritual person does. He tries to change the world. And even if he doesn't succeed, he goes out there and does his part anyway. He doesn't say to himself "I can't do it" he says "God is my strength, and with God all things are possible" (even becoming perfect). All means ALL. It doens't state "with God things are only 10% possible".

That is what I read.

well anyway, I'm not saying that everyone should go out and be Christians, and I'm not looking for a following. I'm just basically saying that good, or the Kingdom of God, which are people, is growing like bread rising under a cloth. We are living in dark evil times. And the good people are like an underground force, that isn't in dominance right now. People all want it ideally, but it is mostly suppressed because people cannot necessarily do it actually. At work, people do what they need to do to survive. They don't have faith that they can do "the right thing" and still hold down a job. So they want to think they are good people, but of course, they know they are not 100%. They would admit it. But they don't think that they are "bad" people. Even though they are. And people on this forum have pointed that out!

Well, there is a force of good which is being developed just because of all the evil. It cannot be sharpened without the evil. If the evil were like two men growing up, one is growing up in secret (the good person) and the other is the one you see that dominates. Evil hasn't come to it's worst yet. But when the system of evil comes to it's worst, of course, it will get harder for the good people to be good, they will be challenged by it more and more, until there is a divide.

When the evil gets to it's fullness, so will the good. Good will be quite happy to sacrifice all just to have things good, and evil will be quite happy to hang on to it's ways and try to stamp out good.

But what happens is, evil is weak. It depends on numbers of people, it depends on material things, and on violence and so forth.

Good does not depend on these things. It's above that.

So when Evil gets to it's "fullness" Good will overthrow it, simply because it cannot sustain itself. And evil cannot overcome good. Only the opposite. Because good is actually, in it's meek appearance, more powerful than evil. That's how it can take all this garbage for so long. It's patient and it waits for the right moment.

Just like love overcomes all. Right? wouldn't people agree with that?

That is why I think spirituality is going to win anyway, so why be so sheepish about it. Just go out there and be blatently good, let people laugh at you. In the end they'll be looking at you as their guide. They will see you have all the inner strength, whilst all their outer strength dies out on them.

But I'm not saying everyone should go out and become a Christian. It think it would help, but I'm not saying people should do it.

if you are different, you have no choice but to accept it, and to stick out, and to BE what you are. And when people hate you, and you feel it around you, it's mostly because hatred is an element of evil. They hate you for you. They are evil. that's all it is. They are evil and they are opposed to you because you're not evil. They are trying to make it as though you are crazy, but they called Christ mad, they called John the baptist mad...the world would like to call you crazy so that you have no credibility in their arena. You'll never integrate into their world until you become one of them. That means, you'll have to become evil. It's your choice. Be yourself, or sell your soul. You can only choose one or the other.

If one makes it hard to survive, try testing out faith for a while, maybe you'll find that you really CAN be a good person, and things will go your way after all. If not then do what you want. It's all your choice. sometimes you just have to be patient. It's not that things won't turn out, it's just that you have to learn faith. And to do that, you have to believe they will turn out, so there has to be a time period where, you are waiting for it.

I've had an unsteady job history all this time, been kicked out of home by my parents, and still without work, and guess what? I've survived. In fact, I've been given an opportunity to get more training. I've quit a few jobs where they expected me to do things that I didn't believe in, and I survived after that too! I never ended up in the street yet. I'm still living comfortable and safe. and that all happened before I was diagnosed with Asperger's, so it's not as if people were trying to take care of me.

I've stood up against evil lots of times, and yet I've never gone hungry. So, it works for me!

I have had a weird bunch of experiences in the workplace and in other people's workplaces. The one in someone elses workplace was where I walked into a store, and a lady there was complaining about another ladies behavior behind her back. It sounded very terrible, it made me sick inside how people will do this to someone. I then heard something that made me more distraught.

It stood out to me, where she was mentioning that the woman broke something in the store, and then asked, with a genuine voice tone "am I supposed to be sorry for this?" The lady then said to the other lady in a LOUD unforgiving tone that she felt like saying "what are you AUTISTIC??!!!"

I then realized that I was right. People are suggesting that autistic people are making up this illness as an excuse for bad behavior, and that they do not believe it, and moreover I could see it was used in a completely derogatory sense.

It made me really ill on the instead and I almost felt like punching her, because I had a hurt feeling inside where I thought that lady needed to be put in her place for saying that. Of course, bad behavior is not my way, so I didn't do that.

I went home and say something on TV, where a bunch of ladies with babies all grouped outside of a business, because one lady was asked to breast feed her baby in a change room by the assistant in that store. So these women all stood around breast feeding their children until management apologized for it. It made national television.

I wondered to myself, is it not BAD BEHAVIOR, for a person to use someone else's misfortune and problem in a derogatory sense, such as mental illness? I was thinking, would it be appropriate for me to get a gang of Autistic people to go around that business with signs and bug those people until they apologized, or what they still insist that Aspies are deliberately being "naughty".

I have been a christian for many years, and I have done things very sacrificial for people where it really hurt to do it yet I believed it so strongly, and cared so much for the other person. Yet I could not believe that people would still be treating me so bad. In the end, finding out that people think I behave bad simple because I don't seem to catch on to all their feelings all the time, that I am not quick enough on my feet as they say, that I should be condemned by people for this.

I know I've been kinder in my deeds towards them, than they ever were towards me, quite often. I feel that talking behind a person's back in a malicious way is EVIL. It's wrong, it's clearly written in the bible as bad, and even if you didn't believe in the bible, or God or anything, if you were that person who had it done to you, and you found out, it would FEEL bad to you. It felt bad to me just listening to it I wanted to tell the girl just so she knew what kind of people she was working with.

Anyway, I don't know what to say, but do you think talking a bunch of Aspies in front of this workplace would be a fruitful thing, or would it just make us more and more hated?

I think it's bad behaviour to talk behind someone's back. Even more so than if someone innocently didn't know how people expected to feel, and asked openly and honestly!

-Deborah

Well, thanks for your insight. I am an idealist, and I actually think that the ideal is attainable. It's faith that makes me think that way. Yeah I've become more keen on my own actions. I want to catch them before someone else does first. That way I can correct them before anyone says anything, or thinks anything too far about it. If I can keep a step ahead of others about myself, then, it's all my prerogative, and I don't think they can judge me. Therefore it will make me more credible to advance forward with newest ideas. I work on myself, and I have an expectation. Everything must work hand in hand making sacrifices for others, and putting in a huge effort correcting themsleves. after all, it's not just myself who needs to change. Everyone needs to change. It makes people uneasy, yet well, they have an expectation of me as well, and I'm not going to be a lazy ***. I'll do it. Let the games begin. We can all beat each other to the punch in getting ourselves right! All for the good of humanity though. So that we can all be top notch human beings, treating each other well.  Not just for the sake of a game. That would be foolish to make it for nothing except amusement, but at least it can be some form of motivation while you are at it.