Sheila Schoonmaker

What cyberscan says on WrongPlanet.net’s article Ten Myths about Autism pretty much sums up what I’d like to expound on today:

“I find organizations like Autism Speaks, Center for Autism Related Disorders, etc pretty useless. I offered my services as a research subject and have not even gotten a reply. These organization seem not to want to hear from us but rather dictate to everyone our needs. In my not so humble opinion, the only NT’s that understand us are the ones who are our families and friends.“

Cyberscan’s statement, along with everything else I’ve been hearing from others and witnessing happening to just every Asperger adult (including my own life experiences), has me realizing that my blog is only useful for the neurotypicals that understand those of us on the autism spectrum and who are our families and friends which love us.

My NT grown-up daughter was quite observant of whom people attended the Walk for Autism we were at last Sunday. She approximated about 25% of the people there to be on the autism spectrum, 50% of them were NTs who were the family and friends of those autistics, and the last 25% were NT yuppies eager to get into the latest fad with the hopes of making money off what now seems to be getting a lot of attention.

As to that last 25% who are NT yuppies (mostly teachers and/or school administrators who are not parents of children on the autism spectrum), those are the ones who tend to be evil. No, they are not consciously evil, but rather dangerous because of their pride and ignorance. My daughter doesn’t fully realize how much so yet, so I image that many others don’t either. The ones who most likely can are the parents and spouses of autism spectrum adults. Those NT yuppies, who listen to and do what these parents tell them their children need, are the safest in this 25% category.

Intuitive parents of Asperger syndrome children are the only hope for those of us on the autism spectrum! The only way adult Aspies can make a difference is to educate those who want to help Aspies out of a motive of love and not money (e.g., heroines like courageous Amanda Baggs). The amount of HATRED that exists towards us on the autism spectrum by NTs who have no neuro-A-typical loved ones is kept hidden from public view, but it is so real and extremely disgusting!

I know first-hand about the trouble that adult Aspies have when they aren’t financially wealthy enough to buy their own place to live. They are at the mercy of landlords and way too many of these landlords connive sneaky and malicious ways to get rid of Aspies. To those who can’t be direct witnesses to what goes on, NTs can succeed in twisting things around to their benefit because the mental health organizations have already succeeded to get the public media to begin painting the wrong picture about autistic people.

Parents, this is why it is ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL that attention be paid to the politics of autism rather than looking for a ‘cure.’ The ‘cure’ is to stop what too many NTs are getting away with doing before it’s too late! Your children’s lives depend on it. If your AS children are still young, you have no clue what they are in for ahead. It will be hell for those autistics who don’t come from wealthy families.

Why do you think it is that 76% of all adult aspies live at home with their parents?¹ Approximately 20% are either housed by a spouse or the government. It’s possible that only a remaining 4% actually manage to live independent of parents, a spouse, or government support. It’s impossible to know what percentage of those in the 24% category, who do not live at home with their parents, are homeless. I do know that it’s not unusual for Aspies to end up living on the street after the last remaining parent dies, if s/he doesn’t inherit her/his parent’s residence.

Why do you think it is that 90% of all adult aspies are unemployed?¹ Many young adult aspies do get employed, but they’re usually employed at jobs like sweeping floors, flipping hamburgers, being bank tellers, answering phones for hotel reservations, etc. even though most aspies are highly intelligent people.² The younger the adult aspie is, the more likely he will be employed. The older the adult aspie is, the less likely he will be employed.

If billion-dollar organizations like Autism Speaks are allowed to continue on the path they are going, while people foolishly think and hope that autism spectrum people will eventually be ‘cured’ (rather than respected, supported, and listened to), then those of you with children on the autism spectrum can expect the lives of your aspie children to become riddled with never-ending tribulation unlike anything typical people must endure (of course there might be some exceptions, but this is the norm)! The bullying that happens in school environments to aspies does not stop there. It’s only a sign of things to come that get much worse as aspies get older. It’s just less obvious — that is until you end up experiencing learning what I’m talking about first hand.

¹These statistics are based on a research study done in 2002. It’s highly unlikely the statistics are any more encouraging today than they were six years ago. If anything, they’re probably worse.

²Be cautious about trusting statistics and/or IQ test results, because in regards to measuring intelligence with autistics, this area contains major flaws.

Being foolishly gullible is not the same thing as being ignorant of the truth. Once a person knows the truth, s/he is no longer naïve or gullible. However, to get the truth is not an easy matter. The love of truth and wisdom is something that is becoming extinct in today’s world. It is being replaced with the love of education. Education is not to be confused with wisdom and/or intelligence.

Today, education means being able to regurgitate facts and sound impressive. The scary joke is that rare are the people who know how to process the massive amount of information they now have. It’s like giving children real guns to play with instead of water pistols.

People who sincerely think in a critical fashion are told they ‘analyze’ things too much and that they ‘worry’ too much. Do those lower-level thinkers ever stop to think that just maybe they don’t ‘analyze’ things enough and/or that what they’re perceiving and labeling as ‘worry’ is really ‘concern’ instead?

I’m always amazed over the general inconsistency that exists between information about Asperger’s syndrome published in books verses articles about the same subject published online! This is a huge red flag that should not be ignored, but the problem is that the people who have the greatest need for the correct information about those of us on the autism spectrum most likely will never read it or even know about its existence! Hopefully that will change over time, but for now it’s a serious problem. Why? Here’s why:

Today society wants everything fast and easy. First and foremost, people are conditioned to either get their education from what they hear on television or they get it through what their children bring home from government school. That’s understandable given how busy so many people are because of simply trying to survive. Those who fall into the category of ‘not having enough time and/or energy’ leftover for educating themselves should NOT form any opinion about people they do not understand! I know they do. Here are a couple of examples:

If someone has ‘meltdowns’ that send her or him into a hospital whenever holidays come around, s/he will be judged as behaving that way on purpose to avoid the stressful work of entertaining family during expected events. People don’t want to admit the possibility that the person who is having the meltdown may actually BE having a meltdown because of pumping out high levels of epinephrine from prolonged severe anxiety which then leads to adrenal exhaustion!

People who are less sensitive to sensing everything and everyone in their environment cannot perceive what it’s like for those of us who have heightened sensory awarenesses to such things as sounds, smells, visual cues, every individual’s vibes/attitudes, etc. For me, it’s the ’spiritual energy’ of others that I’m powerfully sensitive to discern — especially if they’re unforgiving, malicious, manipulative, hypocritical, judgmental, arrogant, destructively aggressive, etc. (but yet those people are blind to what I see). These willfully ignorant (insensitive compared to my level of sensitivity) people are the ones who will condemn Aspies for wanting to withdraw from social events like Fourth of July barbecues, not even accepting an Aspie’s need to retreat from the social scene periodically in order to cope with the energy draining stress that spoiled NT people cause because of their selfish expectations and lack of understanding; thereby not accepting those who are merely ‘different.’

On the next level, there are some people who will read books to educate themselves about Aspergers. Both those who don’t shy away from using the internet and those who will not use the internet usually do read books. However, the tendency for most older neurotypicals is to avoid the internet because that’s not where they are ‘comfortable.’ They (who don’t go online) are the most likely people to not get exposure to the truth. So far, the internet cannot be politically controlled . . . BUT, for the most part, the publishing industry IS. There are a few books that get out there in print that aren’t too bad, but the fact remains — if a publishing company doesn’t believe a book will be popular, they don’t want it because they are a business in operation to make money. People like me are not writing to make money. I write because my conscience tells me to. This is NOT my hobby, nor is it my pleasure to blog. I simply KNOW (along with many other Aspies) that blogging is the only hope for truth to get out into public awareness.

Why am I so aggressive now? Why do books that get published blame aggression in older Aspies as being an Asperger trait? Because most people cannot know or realize how angry a person can feel once s/he discovers what’s really going on! The factual truth of this whole autism ordeal is that it has become political, just like everything else! If you’d like to read samples of this truth without aggressive emotions, then read such articles (completely through) like The Truth About Autism: Scientists Reconsider What They Think They Know by David Wolman written for Wired Magazine.

One last, but important note: People who do turn to the internet to sincerely want to know more about Aspergers face another hurdle. All the politically controlled large and powerful Asperger industry organizations that now have become dominant are the websites which most likely ‘hog’ search engine results whenever a person types in simple terms like, “Asperger’s Syndrome” or “Autism.”

Those who truly want to do humanity a service can make a big difference by even doing simple things like letting others become aware of how things really work in regards to how and/or what information gets to who. Pro-Asperger people are not allowed to speak on television. That should make most people angry. If it doesn’t, then you will eventually get what you deserve (i.e., reap what you sow).

Who’s selfish in this scenario? Is it the NTs or Aspies? But before I present the actual scenario, I must mention this first:

What bad timing for me receive and start reading another Asperger book today! I had a book on hold from the library for weeks and now finally have it.

Two days ago, I went to an adult Asperger group meeting. I previously explained that they are emotionally exhausting in My Metamorphosis post, along with stating that my energy level decreases for almost a week from such things.

The next day (yesterday), I went to an annual Walk for Autism event. That really accelerated my adrenaline which was already surging from the previous day. I cannot afford to be having anything ‘rocking my boat’ emotionally right now. I must have peace and relaxation until the end of this week so that my body can recover its strength and stamina. It doesn’t mean I can’t do emotionally safe chores like laundry or dishes, but it does mean I MUST stay away from such things as hearing a woman’s voice singing at a microphone attached to speakers (that’s the sound my ears cannot tolerate!), especially if I’m too close to it physically!

The scenario needing expounding came from the first chapter I chose to randomly glance through in this Asperger book. I was shocked to read what I did about employment politics, especially since I’ve been in this situation many times in my past:

Supposedly when someone choses to spend her lunch break from the office by taking walks alone outdoors, she jeopardizes her chances of promotion and even risks losing her job! Where is the compassion there for those who get overwhelmed and need that mid-day break to recharge?!?!

It is NOT a human NEED to have 100% of everyone from the office chit-chatting small talk (and/or gossiping) together during lunch time!!!! It IS a NEED for some people to get away from others when they can so they’re able to function better at their job!!!! Those who are offended by people that wonder off alone during lunch are the ones who have a problem. What if I was an employer and I got offended because someone went to the bathroom daily at work and I didn’t like that? Could I refuse her a promotion or fire her because I didn’t like that she went to use the ladies room?

The way some other things were presented in that chapter are also rightfully disturbing. In fact, now that I think about it I’m realizing that it’s not even safe for me to read that book this week. There is a lot of good information in that book, but too much is being presented in a highly insulting way.

I’m surprised to find I can decide what to do about this so easily. I’m ordering my own copy of the book to buy so I can read it when I’m emotionally strong enough to handle the bigoted way much of the material is presented.