30
Patholigization (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 6 months ago by Murdoc@sh.itjust.works to c/autism@lemmy.world

I'm somewhat new to learning about autism and neurodiversity, but even before that I was of the opinion that some of what is called "mental illness" wasn't really, but just seemed that way because of how society is optimized for certain personality types. Now I'm trying to figure out if autism and any other ND types fit this idea.

So I wanted to gauge the community and find out how popular/accepted this idea is. Do you see these as inherent handicaps, like being blind, or just circumstantial, like say being 8 feet tall (side effects of gigantism notwithstanding)? Or, now that I think of it, perhaps like being 8 feet tall with the side effects: are they not inherent handicaps themselves, but often or always come with inherent side effects?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] 1984@lemmy.today 12 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Society is optimized for the majority of people, not just certain personality types. It's optimized for everyone not being born autistic.

It's also quite depressing because a lot of people are quite unhappy. We are all just working pointless jobs to get by, kind of. If you can find joy in what you do, then at least you found some meaning with it.

[-] Halasham@dormi.zone 10 points 6 months ago

Society is optimized for the majority of people, not just certain personality types.

Eh, more or less. Society is also distorted by those who have a significant amount of economic or political power. It's still shaped very much with an exclusion of consideration of us but it's not really something approaching a 'decent fit for the majority' rather I would say it's something more akin to the powerful impressing their demands for the structure of society upon all of us and the majority contorting around it.

Ex. Why doesn't the US & Canada have a robust passenger rail network? Because of the influence of a strong automotive lobby (they used to and the car companies lobbied for it's de-prioritization leading to slow degradation to the sorry state they're in now).

[-] Murdoc@sh.itjust.works 4 points 6 months ago

It’s still shaped very much with an exclusion of consideration of us but it’s not really something approaching a ‘decent fit for the majority’ rather I would say it’s something more akin to the powerful impressing their demands for the structure of society upon all of us and the majority contorting around it.

That's a good point, and is I think the reason why I never saw myself as anything like "neurodivergent" for most of my life. I just assumed that my "not fitting into society" was because of how badly designed it is in general, and I was just one of the unlucky ones. It took a friend of mine who is autistic and knew about this stuff to point out that for me it was likely more than that. So yeah, there is this issue too, and I wonder how many other people it has caused confusion for other than me.

[-] Halasham@dormi.zone 6 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Yeah. Our society is distorted against all our well-being we, the Neurodivergent, are just especially affected by this malady. For the sake of a vanishingly small proportion of the population to be absurdly wealthy we all suffer.

[-] Tull_Pantera@lemmy.today 1 points 6 months ago

"just assumed that my “not fitting into society” was because of how badly designed it is in general" I don't think this is an assumption, personally.

this post was submitted on 19 Apr 2024
30 points (91.7% liked)

Autism

6556 readers
3 users here now

A community for respectful discussion and memes related to autism acceptance. All neurotypes are welcome.

We have created our own instance! Visit Autism Place the following community for more info.

Community:

Values

  • Acceptance
  • Openness
  • Understanding
  • Equality
  • Reciprocity
  • Mutuality
  • Love

Rules

  1. No abusive, derogatory, or offensive post/comments e.g: racism, sexism, religious hatred, homophobia, gatekeeping, trolling.
  2. Posts must be related to autism, off-topic discussions happen in the matrix chat.
  3. Your posts must include a text body. It doesn't have to be long, it just needs to be descriptive.
  4. Do not request donations.
  5. Be respectful in discussions.
  6. Do not post misinformation.
  7. Mark NSFW content accordingly.
  8. Do not promote Autism Speaks.
  9. General Lemmy World rules.

Encouraged

  1. Open acceptance of all autism levels as a respectable neurotype.
  2. Funny memes.
  3. Respectful venting.
  4. Describe posts of pictures/memes using text in the body for our visually impaired users.
  5. Welcoming and accepting attitudes.
  6. Questions regarding autism.
  7. Questions on confusing situations.
  8. Seeking and sharing support.
  9. Engagement in our community's values.
  10. Expressing a difference of opinion without directly insulting another user.
  11. Please report questionable posts and let the mods deal with it. Chat Room
  • We have a chat room! Want to engage in dialogue? Come join us at the community's Matrix Chat.

.

Helpful Resources

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS