Deficit or difference?
There are a few things about autism that it takes quite a lot of ingenuity to consistently frame them as negative.
I've listed some of them here...
A thread š§µ
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#Autism #Neurodiversity #Neurodivergent #ActuallyAutistic
1/13
Deficit or difference š§µ
Autistic deficit no.1:
Preferring clear, direct communication.
In the ānegative or nothingā model of autism, this is framed as rudeness, and social failure.
2/13
Deficit or difference š§µ
Autistic deficit no.2:
Taking words seriously.
In the ānegative or nothingā model of autism, this is framed as literal-mindedness, rather than respect for meaning.
3/13
Deficit or difference š§µ
Autistic deficit no.3:
Needing explicit expectations.
In the ānegative or nothingā model of autism, this is framed as rigidity - rather than being unwilling or unable to adhere to invisible, illogical, and/or inconsistent rules.
4/13
Deficit or difference š§µ
Autistic deficit no.4:
Deep focus and commitment.
In the ānegative or nothingā model of autism, this is framed as obsession, rather than depth, care, or expertise.
5/13
Deficit or difference š§µ
Autistic deficit no.5:
Sensory intensity.
In the ānegative or nothingā model of autism, this is framed as overreaction, rather than a body receiving a great deal of information.
6/13
Deficit or difference š§µ
Autistic deficit no.6:
Not performing hierarchy and status games fluently.
In the ānegative or nothingā model of autism, this is framed as social naivety, and not as just a different relationship to power.
7/13
Deficit or difference š§µ
Autistic deficit no.7:
Emotional or cognitive intensity.
In the ānegative or nothingā model of autism, this is framed as dysregulation or maladjustment - rather than a high level of engagement & responsiveness to the world.
8/13
Deficit or difference š§µ
Autistic deficit no.8:
Honesty and consistency.
In the ānegative or nothingā model of autism, this is framed as bluntness, inflexibility, or lack of tact.
9/13
Deficit or difference š§µ
Autistic deficit no.9:
Stimming or moving differently.
In the ānegative or nothingā model of autism, this is framed as inappropriate behaviour, rather than as self-regulation.
10/13
Deficit or difference š§µ
Autistic deficit no.10:
Not automatically prioritising appearances.
In the ānegative or nothingā model of autism, this is framed as poor social awareness, rather than a refusal to make surface performance more important than deeper things.
11/13
Deficit or difference š§µ
Autistic deficit no.11:
Being distressed by injustice, hypocrisy, or coercion.
In the ānegative or nothingā model of autism, this is framed as challenging behaviour, rather than an accurate response to something being very wrong.
12/13
To sum up, many autistic ādeficitsā may only be deficits in a material world that needs very high sensory tolerance & the constant filtering of a barrage of human-made information...
... and in a social world that's built around implication, hierarchy, performance, and obedience.
13/13
Can anyone think of more things? 
Whatever your view, comments very welcome!
Iāve explored the ānegative or nothingā theme more here: https://www.neurofabulous.org.uk/autism-negative-or-nothing.html
@danimo @KatyElphinstone I feel that.
Like I have no issue being lgbtq, but the homophobia does. The problem is the rejection, not the rejected.
@KatyElphinstone having to understand things from first principles (not accepting something just because someone said it).
Usually framed as a negative, but actually getting to the bottom of a thing rather than just accepting someone elseās possibly-misunderstood explanation is a superpower.
Good point. Not accepting theories without any data or evidence.
@KatyElphinstone @GentlemanTech definitely superpower, but the problem comes when we are presented with what the speaker firmly believes is a full explanation, but we can't understand it because, in fact, it isn't.
"the flamger will only go in this way up."
"obviously not. it would work fine the other way up. ā¦oh! wait! if you put it in that way up there's no room for the floobis!"
"ā¦ i ā¦ guess?"
"NOW i understand!"
Yes! Assuming equalities between parties. I actually prefer your way of putting it.
Indeed it's true, that all this represents quite a threat to the status quo.
@KatyElphinstone
the problem is, in current society, a "normal" person cannot be exempt from the harsh judgement of our lord and savior, the market. If you're Autistic you need to decide if you're on the exempt side (all bad) if you're on the not exempt side (aren't we all a bit...).
That's why self diagnosis is so reviled. Trying to get exempt from the market without a doctor? What if everyone wanted to be exempt?!
Exactly this. Very well put.
Which is a very good point. But instead of attacking the autistic person.... one could try attacking the system instead. š¤·āāļø
Yes.... it's very Wizard of Oz. Hidden, and assumed. Invisible in plain sight. And not a very reachable target. Much more satisfying to kick down & have your blow connect with something satisfyingly soft. š¬
Very much so!
thatās so me š
@GinevraCat @KatyElphinstone I think this also ties in with not wanting to rise and expand. I live in a small space and I like it because if I had more space I would get anxious about how to best fill it or what to use it for. when I imagine what I would do if I won the lottery, buying a bigger or fancier home or luxury possessions would not be important to me because what I have works.
I would stress out over the best way to spread the money (like how much my family could use or what causes, organizations, or individuals will use it with the greatest effect in both short and long term) so I'd actually prefer a modest amount to an obscene one. I would budget myself to enjoy things like travel and learning and community engagement. I would enjoy the time this gives me more than the money, but even in that case I would feel pressured to fill it wiselyānot out of social expectations but out of my own principles.
@theynege Just in case the universe reads my feed, just saying, I would be 100% OK with an obscene amount of money.
(By obscene, I mean starting my own foundation, having enough to support a handful of charities well, AND never have to work for money again if I didn't want to).
It's possible I spend a LOT of time planning this as a broke student :D.
@theynege @GinevraCat @KatyElphinstone
My hypothetical lottery spending *would* still include a house... But it certainly wouldn't be a full-on mansion or anything, it'd just need to be big enough for me and my autistic partner to have spaces for different sensory and special interest inputs. So there'd be a dark shiny "home cinema" that would in practice be used for video games and as a quasi-sensory room, another room for board games, the garage wouldn't be for cars (we can't drive) but be a space to jump around in noise isolation when one of us needs that stim...
...I would also absolutely go through all kinds of decision anxiety loops around what else to do with the money! I've joked that my "I wouldn't tell people I won the lottery but there would be signs" would be "there's been a mysterious surge of marginalised composers writing soothing music for low voices/instruments" (from me commissioning all of it) š
@theynege @GinevraCat @KatyElphinstone Also, honestly, the main reason I'd move house to begin with would be "to a quieter place than this, and probably Scotland because it's cooler and we're both heat-sensitive."
Riffing off the name of a property-hunting TV show here, I've joked that this property search process would be "Escape to the Thermally Acceptable Country" - and I know autistic friends plural who have, in fact, moved to Scotland for the weather, much to the confusion of the NT sunseekers around them!
I love Scotland. The only downside is huge corporate landowners and how the land is used. It's essentially an ecological desert. In spite of being very beautiful and, as you say, a nice temperature. But I miss the oak forests in Italy, where the land is managed and owned in much more ecological ways.
@KatyElphinstone Thank you for the write-up! (And the linked article) I once took the TT-38 personality test and was assigned the Rightous Crusader trifecta talents - basically, high morality, high judgement and they were very confused when I took that as a compliment š.
It was supposed to teach me that I should loosen my standards 'to be agreeable' - nevermind that the runner-up talents were cooperation, supporting others and teamwork.
You helped me understand this bewildering experience!
Haha well that is brilliant!! I am personally completely supportive to you over here.
I've always found it really odd that moral consistency could be framed as a deficit š¤·āāļø
But @KatyElphinstone, how are we going to maintain a status quo where the few rule over the many if we can't have gas lighting or bad faith?
What ever will come of our societets self-image as "just and fair" without resorting to logic like in an M. C. Escher illustration (where although individual steps make sense, the model proves irrefutably incoherent when viewed in full).
Striving for a genuine moral consistency would require change! Oh, Won't somebody please think of the establishment!?
Hehe š
Poor old establishment.
Thinking about not playing status games well led me to realize that this is why I learn by example so poorly. Give me the instruction book and I'll master a subject, but learning example is painful.
My path from status games to learning by example is both too long and too personal to post here, but to me that seemed a causal connection.
But then I realized it could be the opposite: I don't play status games fluently because they are only ever demonstrated, never explained.
"I don't play status games fluently because they are only ever demonstrated, never explained."
Goodness. I never thought about it like this before. Realise that things do need to make sense to me, otherwise I find it very hard to adhere to them.
Also, drawing on your wonderful article: I am a person with autism in precisely the same way that I am a person with fingernails.
Hehe! I just wouldn't be me without my fingernails ā
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