I am very new here, and learning all the time.  Truly valuable information has been freely given to me on this site from people who don't even know me, things that I have never been able to get anyone else to talk about.  This is the first place I have ever been where people are willing to do that.  So thank you.

    Did I get something completely wrong about the thread people are referring to?  Are members here actually believing that NTs are bad or AS people are bad in a racist, sexist, homophobic way?  Was I wrong to assume that everyone here knows that people are not superior or inferior because of race, sexual orientation, class or neurotype.  Before a few months ago I had never heard of Asperger's or neurotypicalness.  But, being  not altogether white, not altogether straight and a woman, I have spent most of my life in conversations exactly like the one that people in this thread seem to be referring to.  I find them very beneficial and mind-opening if the people involved are interested in learning.

  I honestly thought all these conversations were about power, about what it is like to live in the minority and the struggle to get the people who hold the majority viewpoint to understand how much more powerful their criticisms of minority viewpoints are with the weight of the majority behind them.  (Badly said, but you know what I mean.)  Did I miss something here?  

    It looks like most people here are interested in being part of mainstream society.  Am I still welcome here even though I don't want to join mainstream?  I get along very well with the mainstream world professionally, but I don't have close personal relationships with them.  This is a personal decision and not something I argue in favor or or try to get others to do.  As long as I respect the choice of those who want to conform to a mainstream lifestyle, will I still be welcome here to grow and understand the views and perceptions of the society around me?