Mastodawn

Tom Bortels 5d ago

“Researchers measured autistic people against neurotypical expectations and called every difference a deficit. They tested empathy by measuring in-group preference and missed commitment to universal fairness. They measured creativity by counting the number of ideas and missed originality. They saw moral consistency and called it rigidity. They saw deep engagement and called it rigidity. They saw sensory richness and called it disorder.”
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/positively-different/202601/what-the-world-got-wrong-about-autistic-people

What the World Got Wrong About Autistic People

For decades, autism research compared autistic people to animals, denied them moral sensitivity, and assumed autistic traits made them miserable. All wrong.

Psychology Today

:EA DATA. SF:5d ago

Thank you so much for sharing this article as it beautifully articulates what I've known for years after active, deep introspection.

I believed them. I believed the lies and misinterpretations.

Sometimes I thought I couldn't be autistic. I thought I was just broken and stupid.

Other times I thought, "maybe I am autistic and I'm just wrong about how my own mind works".

It turns out they were wrong and were too busy pathologizing our behavior to trust the data. Standard practice for neurotypicals if we are being honest. And standard practice for autists to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume good faith. Must mean we are naïve and foolish not that they are prone to self-deception and prejudice.

Peter Gassner 5d ago

@jrdepriest Good to hear! I feel like it's a message that needs to get out there, so I shared it among my offline circles as well.

But about being naïve and foolish: no! That’s just the result of years of being talked down to, isn’t it?

Martin Vermeer FCD 5d ago

@peter @jrdepriest It's a great article, and a great author. I ordered her book, recommended by Steve Silberman. Looking forward to it.

Peter Gassner 5d ago

@martinvermeer @jrdepriest It didn't occur to me to dig deeper, but that’s a great idea! The Canary Code, right? It looks interesting, I should read it too :)

:EA DATA. SF:4d ago

@peter @martinvermeer

Yep.

I'm about to buy a used copy from Goodwill that my wife found online.

kira for scale 5d ago

@peter sentiment toward autism makes sense once you realize that western culture only knows how to measure for sameness and adherence to norms

Maria “indigoviolet” Ivy 5d ago

@peter tapping this post with one of those giant pointers that presenters use

Nephrite 5d ago

@peter Society when autists ignore peer pressure, traditions and authority: "Something is wrong with these people."

UndeadMinotaur 5d ago

@Nephrite @peter Yupp, they *hate* that they cannot keep us well under control. It's all about the control that so many of us defy.
And that is the same reason why pwASD are among the first to be targeted in fascism...

@peter This is why diversity is needed of all kinds everywhere. So one clique of people don't get to decide to sterilize and put "different people" in institutions. Like 60+ years ago!

@peter tbh i'd rather be underestimated than feared for my abilities. we are being protected, by making us look like we are common pebbles rather than diamonds in the rough. so we can work our abilities. the last thing i need is more self esteem. i just need the world to be ok.

AlexanderVI 5d ago

@peter this is super weird. I'm not well read in any of this stuff, but they seem to have pathologized being an ethical person who experiences joy and is a nice, interesting person. Or something like that 🤷‍♂️

Am I meant to believe that the arts, philosophy, and so on are mostly, if not completely, populated by autistic people?

What am I missing here?

Peter Gassner 5d ago

@AlexanderVI I’m also at the beginning of my journey with this, but it is indeed striking how «deficiencies» are defined …

Looking for explanations…5d ago

Most of the “problems” associated with autism seem to be autism + issues - autism + trauma, other disabilities, mental illness, substance abuse, poverty etc, etc etc.

And some autistic people suffer from acute sensitivity to certain stimuli, although in some cases that too might be related to experiences of trauma, anxiety etc.

Autistic children certainly be a challenge to parent, but ignorant, defensive parents, often themselves neurodivergent, under supported by community & pressured to resort to abusive approaches such as ABA can make matters worse.

And then there’s the issues that arise from discrimination & refusals to accommodate needs, in ways that would often be beneficial to other somewhat less sensitive souls. These in turn can result in un/underemployment, poverty, housing insecurity etc.

Peter Gassner 5d ago

@Susan60 You describe pretty much what we’ve been through. Once we discovered PDA things got so much easier for us to contextualise and properly accommodate our kid. We had to discover this on our own, because it is not enough that all the symptoms match 100% – if it is not accepted widely enough, no one wants to be the person to admit that it could be that and that things like ABA are actively hurtful 🤷

Looking for explanations…4d ago

I’m sorry you’ve been through that. I imagine your kid is/will be relieved to learn about PDA.

Peter Gassner 4d ago

@Susan60 Thanks. When I first explained it to her on a high level, she was relieved and found it extremely helpful – understandably! It’s just a good thing to understand what is happening and that it is not your fault …

Looking for explanations…4d ago

Such a relief! And, I’m guessing, something to bring you closer together instead of driving you apart.

UndeadMinotaur 5d ago

@peter And THAT is why so many despise NT people....

Peter Gassner 5d ago

@UndeadMinotaur I would like to say «despise being despised by» to take a step back out of the vicious circle 🙃

What is pwASD? I can’t readily find it and I don’t now what the «pw» prefix is meant to say.

UndeadMinotaur 5d ago

@peter Brilliant suggestion! Yeah that is actually the core of it. Not despise of the people, but of their attitude/behavior against oneself.

pw=people with, this is a common abbreviation used in many contexts.

ASD=autism spectrum 'disorder' (though, now that I type it out, I might reconsider the abbreviation)

Peter Gassner 5d ago

@UndeadMinotaur Ah, got it. So «pw» is a bit like the «being disabled» vs. «living •with• disability» – you live with it, you are not defined by it.

PDA has an even worse abbreviation than ASD: •pathological• demand avoidance. So some suggest to say pervasive drive for autonomy instead. Yeah, I guess there are quite many abbreviations that should be rethought …

UndeadMinotaur 5d ago

@peter I'd say pw avoids the whole being or living with debate. And yeah, suggestions welcome :D

millennial fulcrum 5d ago

@peter hold up, "they tested empathy by measuring in-group preference and missed commitment to universal fairness."

well then no. that is a cruelty test.
presented in bad faith as an "empathy test."
by a literal sociopath.

that is is beyond fucked.
what is the sociopath's name?

millennial fulcrum 5d ago

@peter "they pathologized conscience and treated principled behavior as a symptom."

the word "evil" comes immediately to mind.

it has had serious, consequences, it is a serious concern, and it warrants serious correction.

Peter Gassner 4d ago

@falcennial It feels similar to when we think back to how patients were treated 100 years or less ago: looking back it really wasn't helping and feels cruel from today’s perspective. Hard to tell the extent of this cruelty: I would hope it’s a bit less crass, but who am I to tell …

pandabutter 3d ago

@peter This, on so many levels.
When a friend vents to me, my impulse is to relate it to my own life. Not because I lack empathy, not because I'm "making it all about me"… I'm trying to demonstrate that I get it. I mean, what am I supposed to say—"That sounds awful?" "I'm so sorry?" It feels insincere.
I don't, by default, tell people how I feel; I tell them what makes me feel that way. But I've learned to do both because I don't want to be unintentionally hurtful. You know… empathy.

Alex Psmith the Naught 1d ago

@TheBreadmonkey I think you'll appreciate this article!

Found it very interesting. Thank you. 😊🙌

Sent it to my friend who's an EdPsych. Known her for many years and whilst in many ways is one of my heroes, thinks ND is overdiagnosed and calls it 'the medicalisation of the human condition'. When I told her about my journey her response was that because I don't present with the classic characterisation of communication problems, I can't be. Bit disappointed in her response and that she's disregarded 3 years of professional assessments. That was my first exposure to someone being 'not being totally cool' about autism Dx. I sort of wanted to explain how I view social interaction and how I prepare for it, but just don't think there's any point.

Alex Psmith the Naught 1d ago

@TheBreadmonkey You don't owe her an education. I don't even discuss it with NTs because it's an exercise in frustration.

Whilst it's given me a lot of answers and some small peace, it's opened other doors I didn't know were there, which lead to complications I don't really want. It's very frustrating to find that people I love don't just have my back, for lack of a better expression. When I 'friend' I'm all in. I just think that's how people should be. I'll bend myself to fit others and try to find a way to harmony. Homeostasis? That we're all one organism and have a responsibility to lift up the people around you unless they're so totally on a different path it's not worth it. Just find it a bit painful and I don't love it. Sorry for the overshare.

Alex Psmith the Naught 1d ago

@TheBreadmonkey I don’t believe there is such a thing as oversharing, unless maybe you're explicit about bathroom activities or something like that! I think that's another NT thing, though I try not to do it for the NTs. Please never worry about oversharing with ME!

Yes, it is incredibly hurtful and I've lost friends over this (and I do not treat friendship lightly, either). It's a big part of who we are, the good and the not so good, and when someone shows that they view it as a disease or malfunction, then that's effectively the end of the relationship. It's so hurtful, and I'm sorry you've experienced that as well.

Let's be stoic and direct our valuable energies elsewhere, and invest in friendships that are worthy!

@alexpsmith 😊❤️

Jason Petersen (he)1d ago

@peter @theory this is why I’m a reactionary about this shit.