Procatstinator

[deleted]

The only thing that’s an obstacle is the fact that non-autistic people seem to see the world so rigid. Ironically, autistic people are seen as the “rigid” ones, when really, I think it’s non-autistic people that are far more rigid and sensitive. I’m very frustrated by the fact that this society is so obsessed with eye contact (other societies are not), so obsessed with unnecessary trivial niceties that I’m considered extremely rude if I don’t incorporate them into my everyday speech. The most frustrating part about being autistic isn’t being autistic - it’s having to deal with this society’s unwillingness to accept different means of interacting.

I am untested for ASD (have been recommended to get tested however) but I recognize this so much. I feel there are a lot of things you have to do because you're expected to do them and I even get why you should do them, but sometimes they just get in the way, especially when you haven't yet learned to do them so often it becomes natural. I also can understand that you if are not on the spectrum it must be as alien to you when people do not do these things, than it is to have to do them for someone who is on the spectrum. It is indeed cultural and I feel we often believe our culture is the only one and the one that is correct. We idealize extroversion for example. Everyone wants to hire team players and even in social situations the default seems to be that extroversion is the right way of being.

My personal theory on autism is that while it sometimes manifests as a disorder, seriously deliberating when one is very far into the spectrum, that it is happening because the brain and body are evolving. There are traits of autism which would be winners in our information age, but we don't embrace them, because we look at the total picture and label it bad. If we embraced it, we could benefit from it. Even if I am wrong, and it isn't evolution, but rather a total malfunction, even then I feel we could reap the rewards of it if we were more willing to be open to it. There are already examples out there of high functioning individuals who have made it very far on their own. Alas, majority rule still often prevails. Which is a shame. But I remain hopeful for the future. Perhaps with a better understanding of ASD things will change. Until then, I am happy to see that you at least embrace the positives. Considering what you have been through as a whole, I admire your positive attitude and find it inspirational.

Would technology help you? I'm curious if you have the same issue when chatting to someone through text to whom you'd have trouble speaking. What if you were able to type your answer to a question asked and show that, either on a private device they hold or on a tablet you show to them?

Said person would have been born male, but identifies as female. However as their assigned gender is male they can't be considered lesbian. However they are also not heterosexual because their assigned gender does not match their identifying gender. There's no real simple answer to it, but the person might pick an easy one because sometimes that just helps. If they have surgery to have their assigned gender matching their identifying gender then it is possible that they would call themselves lesbian from there on.