There is much written about Asperger individuals behaving inappropriate. I wouldn’t doubt that some would even classify what I’m about to write in this post as being inappropriate. However, the big picture calls for a warning about something listed under warnings. In this case, it’s the first one found listed in WikiHow’s article How to Relate to Someone who Has Asperger’s Syndrome:
Do not encourage someone with Asperger’s to behave in an inappropriate manner. Doing so will likely cause them to behave in the inappropriate manner more often. Pretty soon they’re doing it all the time. This is a bad thing.
I agree there can be some behaviors an Aspie might do which would be construed as inappropriate, but not all of them are a bad thing to practice. What I find somewhat inappropriate is the incongruity of the last tip that’s listed right above the warning section of this same article:
Never talk down to someone with Asperger’s Syndrome, or talk to them like you would to a child. It is deeply offensive and can cause someone with AS to doubt themselves and reinforce/cause depression. How would you like it if someone treated you like a child?
When I read this article, it makes me feel like I’m being treated like a child. If a similar one was written for Aspies on How to Relate to Someone who Has Neurotypical Syndrome, I’m pretty sure most NTs would also feel as if they’re being talked down to and being treated like a child.
Anyhow, the point I want to bring up for people to think about is to exercise caution before making the assumption that unexpected behavior, which is different from what’s normally seen by society, is inappropriate and bad. Erroneous conclusions are usually derived because of insufficient insight into what’s going on and why. When that’s the case, it’s best to just trust that Aspies (along with some Christians) usually have a good reason to behave different from what’s typically seen.
If you’re not an Aspie, you’re not going to be able to think like one either. What’s one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. That’s one reason to not analyze what or why certain behaviors are done by Aspies. Logical things don’t require it… but therein lies the problem! When you have a smaller percentage of the population containing the higher levels of logic, you end up with the greater portion suffering a handicap. If that’s not bad enough, add to that — the majority in a society (comprised mostly of sheeples) twist subjective values into objective claims. I have a news flash for those who don’t realize this → the less you’re able to think logically, the less you’re able to be aware of how much you lack this ability. I hope enough people can understand what kind of mess this can create.
Many years ago, I heard a report summarizing the common denominator found among the entire world for longevity. It wasn’t diet and it wasn’t exercise, although they do affect health (focusing only on those two things are the cause of inconsistent statistics over time). It was the ability to go with the flow. That makes sense, because if you’re reacting, you’re not taking action. Action is both passive and active. It is passive when you’re accepting things you can’t change and it’s active when you’re changing what you can. Going with the flow is natural, but it takes wisdom for humans to practice it. In contrast, (for example) tectonic plates can’t be foolish like people can, so they can’t do anything but go with the flow.
Imagine if mankind came up with a way to lock up fault lines in an attempt to prevent anymore earthquakes. Without the power to control forces originating in a radioactive, solid iron inner core, I doubt it would take long before something even worse than the earthquakes would happen. Going a step further, imagine the consequences of messing with the earth’s core! While you’re at it, why not mess with it’s creator too? I digress again… sorry (today is one of those days).
We can learn a lot from nature, because it’s scientific. Human behavior is not reliably scientific. Therefore, it’s ultimately foolish as a source of education, if it’s not measured against a higher standard.
The bible tells us what’s appropriate versus inappropriate. To ignore God’s word and rely solely upon the mental health industry’s mutating versions of their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders filled with code numbers and psychobabble jargon that they don’t even agree on and/or understand enough of the time, but yet can fatten their wallet regardless of whether or not their services actually help clients/patients (eee gads, I’m being straightforward!), is begging for an eventual world-wide mental meltdown at the very core it stems from (psychiatrists and psychologists). It can only get worse now that more and more psychologists can prescribe medication after consultation with a psychiatrists. If you don’t get the whole picture of what’s eventually coming down the pike here, let me just say it’s not light at the end of that tunnel.
(Everyone has an opinion they’re entitled to speak freely about, so if you don’t like mine, there are plenty of others to form a bond with.) 
Christy Fix gives the most recent example I can recall of what most people label inappropriate behavior. So it’s bad to eat when you’re hungry, while others have no appetite, just because they don’t think like you do? If you read her post Well THAT was inappropriate!, meditate upon her two insightful statements:
“I knew there was nothing I could do…” and “What happened happened. I couldn’t change that,…”
These remarks sum up what it’s like when you exercise passive action to go with the flow. Those without the appetite, didn’t have one because they were reacting to the flow. Reacting to life is foolish and can be harmful to your health.
To differentiate between what reacting looks like as compared to taking action, the fictitious example set by Aspie Moss in the 2 1/2 minute video clip from The IT Crowd – Series 1 – Episode 2: Fire! may be helpful. Even though this clip is a bit ridiculous, it serves as a good illustration of what I’m talking about. You can see Jen walking past Moss to go out the door. She isn’t running frantically, but she is subtly reacting and is not going with the flow as well as Moss is. The fine line has to do with emotion. When emotions stay stuck to the stimulus, it triggers a chemical response within the body that accelerates aging.
The absolute best example (and my favorite!) I’ve seen of someone going with the flow is Aunt Sylvie in the movie from the novel Housekeeping. It’s quickly noticeable in this two minute trailer. The book adds more detail than the movie (without altering any of the plot), but the movie (in my opinion) is more fun thanks to how perfectly Christine Lahti suits Sylvie’s character. Why she goes unnoticed as as Aspie woman, played in this film, doesn’t surprise me. People typically mistaken her as being schizophrenic, which I can understand why that’s hastily done. To comprehend a character that’s as complex and unique as Sylvie requires innovative thinking.¹
Reactions are what cause such things as unforgiveness and revenge. The movie Amish Grace displays how the Amish community goes with the flow.
You can have a strong ability to employ logic for solving problems, like The Monty Hall Problem for example.² But, that doesn’t necessarily mean you also have Godly wisdom. If you have His wisdom, it also doesn’t necessarily mean you can solve problems which require logic.
Whether you’re strongly logical in thinking, or have a reservoir of Godly wisdom accumulated, or both, you’re likely to exhibit behaviors on occasion that today’s society perceives as being inappropriate. For example, because so few non-Amish (including many professing to be following Christ) can understand the Amish community’s ways (including the ways of some non-Amish Christians), they’re also unable to comprehend the consistency between shunning and forgiveness.³ When incorrect judgments are made, behavior can get labeled as being bad.
If we fear how others judge us, we won’t fear how God judges us and vice versa.
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.” — Psalm 111:10
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” — Proverbs 1:7
To not fear the LORD is to not respect and honor God and what He says. Having faith in God’s word may seem foolish and illogical to the world, but that’s only logical and to be expected, considering how the world basically has little-to-no desire in giving God the glory for all things.
¹If you’re interested in a little more about the film, I mentioned some of my thoughts on it in What you see is what you get.
²[Don't read this footnote, unless you want to skip the problem and get faced with the answer.] If you look at the situation logically, you’ll realize: 1.) What is physically behind the doors never changes. 2.) You can’t apply mathematical “logic” after the reveal and call it a 50-50 chance. 3.) The prize goes behind one door at the start. Either it’s behind the door you choose first, or it isn’t. What happens with the reveal doesn’t physically change that by making it more or less likely. If you’re experienced with logic, you’ll know that thinking it’s a 50-50 chance is taking a “logical” approach to a “different” situation. You’ll also know that if you were to put a prize behind one of two doors, it would indeed give a 50-50 chance of being behind either door. In the case of this problem, it’s not what happened. The prize is already in position “before” you come to the point where two boxes are left.
³Isaiah 55:8 — For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
If, and/or when, you feel alone in this world and persecuted, remember what God says about His elect.
After having briefly mentioned the topic of nightmares during a visit with other Aspies and gaining an unexpected response from one individual, my curiosity about them resurfaced. It became a recent strong interest I’ve been indulging in and trying to satisfy with professional data gathered from current research studies. Maybe if I summarize what I’ve found out so far it might arouse the same curiosity in some others too.
