I am new to this forum; I have Aspergers.  It can be very difficult for me to understand people who are not Aspies.  I feel that people with Aspergers need to come together and stand up for ourselves.  It seems like everywhere I go, people are talking about Autism or Aspergers, like making extremely offensive and/or cruel jokes about them, or talking about how it is such a "Tragic" disorder.  The fact is, nobody besides us will stand up for us in the midst of this, nothing will be accomplished and we will continue to be discriminated against if we do nothing.  I believe that Aspergers is a gift, and a gift to be defended.  While people will say that we can't socialize or anything; is true to an extent, but we really only have trouble socializing with people who don't have Aspergers.  Amongst each other, we easily socialize.  Thus, we all need to come together as much as possible to defend ourselves.

  

We second the above

hell i just wanna hang out with some peeps and chill. good luck to you tho eh

Very well put.  The curebie has a piratical role against us.  They commandeer our rights, steal our merits, plague our people.  Peace and love are not practical lifestyles for our plight.  Keep a watchful eye on any and all neurotypicals.  Don't put trust into their false offers of assistance.  Convene with any and all Aspergians--there is strength in numbers.  United we stand and divided we fall.  We Aspergians must hang together or we will all get hanged separately.

Good point, but for the fact that many of our friends are Neurotypical, can you please explain abit more when you say: "Keep a watchful eye on any and all neurotypicals.  Don't put trust into their false offers of assistance."

I wouldn't say that we are all that bad, or that we're all incapable of meaningful connection or communication with people on the spectrum.. There are so many of us that there are many that are cruel and idiotic and childish. Some of us never grow up and go through their adult life thinking that it's acceptable to ridicule others for differences. There are some wonderful NT's that aren't trying to hurt or change you. Some want to help some don't want to hurt and I'd honestly venture to say that most have a sort of benign apathy.

We need to speak softly but carry a big stick... well, not that exactly... what I mean is be kind but not let bad get us... any NT that wants to help us not be discriminated against should not be excluded... also, any NT that truly values freedom for EVERYONE including us... we really need to move our butts though; we are doing NOTHING right now!

Do you have a specific proposal in mind?

More protests, I suppose.

I've had the thought for a while that more needs to be done in regards to autism rights. Specifically, I believe that the autism rights movement would be much more effective if all activists focused their energy on a specific objective; then, after completing that objective, the activists move on to another goal, etc. I do not believe that scattered protests are effective in changing the status quo.

This post was last modified: 12-01-2010 07:32 AM by Semicolon.

Ahem...because those "friends" may not be as trustworthy as you all think.  

I have always considered what to do when faced with discrimination, even if its inadvertent, due to being an Autistic/Aspergian. I have a few things that have come to mind: firstly, the main problem for the Autism Rights Movement is not working together, in terms of each group's members working with each other, but because the leaders of each group are adamant that theirs is the best path to take. Anyone else ever gone into a discussion with a person that's got the same level of intellect, cunning, and ability to maneuver a conversation the way they wish as you do? Believe me, it's not the prettiest sight. Get a couple Autistics going at each other, and you've got even more trouble, because, as a culture, we can all be volatile at times, especially if people aren't giving us credit where its due or giving a thought to what we say.
In regards to NTs and their 'false offers of assistance'.... I have generally tried to do things on my own as far as possible. When it comes to aid and who I can depend on for it, here's an interesting little thing: I had 4-5 friends in high school, some were more 'fringe friends' at that point so we didn't hang out a lot. One was an NT, two were ADHD, and the other, as far as I can tell, may be mildly autistic. Not sure, since he hasn't had an official diagnosis of any kind. But here's the sitch: I was having troubles with my family throughout high school up until I was about 20, 21. Each of my friends had promised support in terms of  aplace to stay, help avoiding my dad, etc. Of those, ADHD-1 and the Possible-Autie were the ones who came through. ADHD-2 and NT were, shall we say, not as willing to aid others. The ADHD-2, though, had a fairly good reason. (Overcontrolling mother, 3-4 sisters, and a dad who drove semi's). The NT, on the other hand, was the type of guy my dad would be 'proud to call a son', as it were. So I have my own personal distaste for help from NTs, but I'll accept their help provisionally. They don't cmoe throguh the 1st time, I don't go back.
Another issue I see as being a bit diversive is that the Autism Rights Movement isn't really organized cohesively. There are groups like ASAN, AFF, and a couple others, but most are for a particular sub-set of AUtistics. ASAN, I believe, is the closest to being able to bring all of them together, since they (or rather we, since I'm setting up a chapter of ASAN here) are aiding every autistic in self-advocacy. AFF is a great forum for Aspergian and Autistics alike, but we start to separate into 'identities' like Aspergians, HFA, LFA, etc., and we lose any sort of cohesiveness.
If the Autism Rights MOvement is to focus on each topic, altogether, than it must go under the ideal that we are fighting for the rights for all Autistics to self-advocate. identifying ourselves as Aspergians, etc., will only further segregate us, at least as far as how an outsider would view it, whether Autistic or not.
  Also, I don't know if anyone on here believes in premonitions, but this is something that disturbs me: in high school, I often had dreams, some good, some bad. Recently, an experience reminded me of one set of dreams. Just yesterday in fact. The event I speak of preceded what I can only identify as an omen of some kind. I and my ADHD-1 friend were standing in a room, and it felt like we were facing an 'oncoming horde', though I could not identify it.
Another is the fact that I've had many dreams in which I lose my energy suddenly, and am surrounded by people who begin to beat me, though I eventually break free.
These dreams have sometimes come true months, even a year or so afterward. But these dreams took place 4-5 years ago, and I remember each vividly. I also know that the occurrences within have begun to occur with evergrowing frequency. I feel as though something is on the horizon, but I don't know what it is. Whether good or bad, we must stand and face it together. Whether it is soon, or in the future, something will happen that Autistics will need to unite as one. And that's said due to the current evidence we have. And no, I'm not going to cite sources for you. Use a search engine, type in variations of 'autism cure' 'autism' even 'Judge Rotenberg Center', and go the news section for each search.
One interesting thing: so far, no news about the JRC and the federal investigation into it, but it is still accepting new students. One can only assume that they have once again utilized their well-financed legal department and maybe even slipped some cash under the table, as it were.

Whilst we agree about the working together of everyone on the spectrum for our individual recognition as a minority in our own right - we must lead by example and not by revenge or fear or hate.

We (Missing Link) have already seen and heard cases of this fear-mongering against those who are "neurotypical".
This had led in many cases (One which is well documented on Donna Williams' site) where many aspies out of fear and hatred have discriminated against and have demanded by force of many ordinary people and their groups (most of them in reality having never once denied our Point of View or participation) and also calling others of us in the community "not Aspie enough"/"not truly autistic" in the same way as a minority of people have done to us, just because we don't fit their mould of being "ideal aspies" or that we will not follow the way of hatred back.

We will not tolerate discrimination to anyone either way - Aspie or Neurotypical - since this leads us back to square one and becoming no better than those who want to "cure us" or erasing of our equal importance to the rest of civilization.

If we are to be angry with anything, let it be the system that has forgotten us and let us use that frustration as energy to put the fundamentals of freedom and liberty on the table of politics for all humankind and find those "few" friends out there to send the message of a new future where all Aspies can enjoy equality with Neurotypicals to enhance all our lives no matter what our background may be.

The biggest problem I can see is that people still view us as something to be pitied. Something defective. Autism is still viewed as a brain disorder or an illness even by those who dedicate themselves to studying autism.

I think the first step is working towards changing these attitudes. It won't be easy, look how difficult it was for black people to get recognition and equal rights. And the average white NT has more in common with a black NT than he/she has in common with an aspie.

I completely agree.  There are jerks everywhere; both NT and AS.  However, what I meant was currently, at least, the view-at-large of AS and/or Autism is a rapidly spreading epidemic that needs to be cured is a widely held view and that if we don't unite and fight for our cause; our right to exist and to form a unique society and culture, then it will never get done.  I also wasn't saying that AS individuals should view NT's as being the 'other' or all against us.  The essence of my post was that it is a fact that AS Individuals need to come together and stand up for ourselves.