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.
