aspie182 recommends Stranger In A Strange Land

People seem to think they can gain any kind of understanding into the lives and feelings of persons on the autistic spectrum by reading books, as opposed to direct communication with people on the spectrum. This may, in fact, be true, but not in the way that these people think. Just as films that portray the autistic accurately do so by accident, such is also generally the case in literature.

By far one of the best novels to create a character that may have anything in common with individuals on the autistic spectrum is one of Robert Heinlein's four Hugo award winners, Stranger In A Strange Land. Through the use of speech and video, I try to give some idea of why this is. Of course, you will have to pardon my inability to speak a whole sentence without fumbling for the next word, but my cognition continues to deteriorate in my present living situation.

This is the second video I have composed, edited, and of course shot on my new iMac. Mac users out there are welcome to provide suggestions regarding how to get better results. Anyone else can and will piss off.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• autism
• civil-rights
• anti-curebie
• personal
• perspective
• literature
• heinlein

[KidValhalla]

There is a big problem here. I'm an Aspie with an autistic son. And I'm sorry that you feel that you're treated like a lab rat. But without all the things that you purport to hate, my son would still be non-verbal, wearing diapers and unable to establish and maintain friendships.

To say that Aspergers and autism is another way of viewing life is to say that blindness is another way of seeing the world.

[aspie182]

And your basis for assuming that your son would still be non-verbal, wearing diapers, etc, is...?

I am fairly certain that if you took a blind person and an autistic person, and make them swap for a day, they would come back in agreement that trying to link the two by way of analogy is very stupid.

[aspie182]

@iamher87 My level of need as actually been assessed as "very high" by multiple departments of government including the housing department. It is not a competition, and your attempt to make it one displays a profound lack of respect for reality. Respect is something that you earn, not demand, and your attempt at negationism here means you shall never receive any from me.

[Averilli1]

Hey stranger!

Dont worry bout it I hve long pauses and I get told to spit it out.

[absolument]

hi its me again I really need some clues about aspies. ihave to say that i'm french so sorry for my terrible english . I am in a relation with a guy that i really appreciate , but after his mom tell me about asperger, i try to have good infos but almos every one have a fucking opinoin but no clue if you see what i mean...He do NOT want to hear or speak about it and i sincerely respect that because i love him just like he his but i would really like to be able to understand few things better

[jrudolph2]

Yeah, cure is a word that died at about the time the modern concept of medicine started. I can't think of a single illness or pathology, that is simply 'cured' by some substance. Treatment is more fitting, and therapy, even more so, since one might not be able to, or even want to rid themselves of whatever whoever might see as a negative pathology. I am all for helping people better interact with others, but I do not think that some delusion of remedy is going to further anyone in that goal.

[marysez]

i agree, it is Very important to grok those u speak for.

thank u for being u aspie. thank u for using your voice.

[marysez]

stranger in a strange land is an eXcellent book.

wouldn't it be nice if 'the world' attempted to Listen? to hear? why must one put themselves in a box to commuicate? that is my thought as i listen to people talk about ways to 'bring these children' around to 'their ways'. aka normal only normal has to be programed in.

[ischlopischlo]

Sadly the cure-mentality tend to ignore and despise these important areas, because it will not be the normalcy they want, and they have the delusion that there is a miracle pill that turn a person into MrAverege.

I'd say the Curebies are the ones that praise normalcy more than real progress, and that's why I hate them.

And the important difference between blindness and autism is that autism is rooted deeply in who a person is, if you hate autism then you hate autistic people.

[ischlopischlo]

Now don't mix anti-curism with anti-progress. I think the most promising areas of research to help autistic people are alternative communication(which most autists use already, but it's not understood) and autistic intelligence.(many autistics learn independently, some are geniuses, how can we help those who aren't self-thaught to learn IN THEIR OWN WAY rather than pushing normalcy?)