Introduction
During a first visit to Kazakhstan in February 2016, the Founder of the Autistan Diplomatic Organisation was given the opportunity to share his thoughts about autism at a conference organised for this purpose in Almaty by the Pioneer organization.
© ЭК/Андрей ХАЛИН – Express-k.kz
In this photo, on the left is Zhanat Karatay (Director and owner of the Pioneer Mountain Resort, and mother of autistic children), and on the right are two young women who took turns translating into Russian.
This lecture was held within the framework of the “Autistic Alliance” concept, which is rather experimental and hosts various ideas, projects or achievements for autism and for autistic people.
Indeed, at that time, the concept of Autistan already existed (e.g. with many websites, since April 2014), but it was still relatively vague.
It was only with the realisation of the first physical Flag of Autistan in summer 2016 (again with the help of Pioneer) that the idea of a “diplomatic organisation” started to become much more precise.
This move from the virtual to the real (material) was made possible mainly thanks to the trust granted by Pioneer Mountain Resort (starting with that conference), and even more by observing that these “thoughts” exposed in February 2016 (i.e. a certain vision of autism) were indeed realistic and relevant, as we could see by applying this approach during the inclusive summer camp of July and August 2016.
So this conference is not “an Autistan conference” (and – by the way – the Autistan Diplomatic Organization does not aim to give public conferences, even if it is possible in some cases), but we still mention it here in the website of the Autistan Embassy in Kazakhstan (Autistan.kz), because – regardless of the “labels” – it makes it easier to understand what happened afterwards (as explained in the other articles), and because all this was done with the help of Pioneer.
You can see the corresponding blog article (at AutisticAlliance.org), which is written in English and Russian.
We do not recommend to watch the video (in English translated into Russian), which is very long, and even a bit soporific 🙂 (and incomplete).
However, you can read the text of that lecture (PDF), which was existing only in English.
Theoretically, we should not publish this text here on Autistan.kz, because this conference was not made in the framework of the Autistan Diplomatic Organization, but we copy it anyway below, in order to translate it into other languages than English.
Please disregard the “too personal” aspects; this lecture would be presented differently now in the context of our Organization.
However, the substance of what is explained about autism (and non-autism) remains the same, regardless of the ” framework “.
Note concerning the need for a “non-personal” attitude of the participants:
We believe that it is essential to focus on the principles, the objectives and the “things to do”, rather than on the personality (or the “considerations of a personal nature”) of the participants of the organizations or associations, which only leads to problems and conflicts of interest.
People must be at the service of the causes, and not the other way around.
This is why the “Founder of the Diplomatic Organization of Autistan”, even if this statute probably deserves a capital letter, is always mentioned in the most discreet way possible.
This is not only a question of humility, it is also to avoid disasters 🙂 and to give an example to the Ambassadors, who must speak of themselves as little as possible (i.e. only for citing a personal example useful to illustrate an important explanation about autism or the needs and difficulties of autistic people).
Thus, the participants of the Diplomatic Organization of Autistan must be designated first by their title or by their function. Their name can be mentioned if it does not risk to create excesses, problems of “ego swelling”, or even of “cult of the personality”.
My thoughts about ‘autism’
(presentation in Almaty, KZ, 12 February 2016)
0000/ About the mask
First, why wearing a mask ?
– I need to keep a minimum of privacy.
– I am autistic and I am not comfortable when my body is exposed, especially to people that I cannot see but who can see me (I mean, with the video).
– I don’t like too much attention on my person : I am so sensitive that this attention is felt like a kind of aggression.
– I hope that what I say is enough interesting, regardless of my appearance ; I would like people to be interested by my explanations, more than by my person.
– I think that in the social relations, many problems come from the “ego”.
– This is an example of an autistic adaptation, like a “social filter” : I have now a social interaction, but not complete, not usual, and I am free to decide myself the limits of this interaction, and I think that all the autistics should be free to decide exactly how they want to interact with others, as long as they are not hurting them.
– My protection cannot be hurting ; it is just unusual, and it is a bit unpleasant for you because you cannot read on my face, but you will live a rather autistic experience, since many autistics do not read the faces and expressions, and anyway my face is not very expressive, but my voice intonations are correct.
000/ Quick presentation about me and my presence in Kazakhstan
Almost 3 years ago, I learnt that the reason of all my problems with society is what you call “Asperger autism” or “high functional autism”.
No one knew that I was autistic, because many people think that autistic do not speak, and I was speaking at the normal age.
Since the “revelation” of my autism, it is like if someone switched on the lights, and my life is much less difficult, because I understand rather well the nature of autism, and the mechanisms of my difference, therefore it is much easier for me to be adapted to the others, and also to avoid being impressed by the social rules and the belief that the majority is always right.
And now that I know that autism is not bad but something different, with special qualities, I do not have doubts and shame anymore, and I can even help the other autistics to understand and to enjoy their real nature, which cannot be defined by non-autistic standards, because it is a different referential.
That is why I am active in the field of the defence of autistics, in France (where I am consulted by our government and by the french High Health Authority, considering me as an expert for adult autism) but also at the international level, especially with the United Nations.
Recently I have been invited for a conference in Russia, in which I explained how I managed to overcome my social problems, one after one, following my inspiration and my autistic logic and intelligence. You can find that in the website AutisticAlliance.org, where I post all my recordings, including today’s conference, in order to share with more people, and to try to improve the understanding between people, in order to reduce suffering and injustice.
When I planned my travel to Russia, I decided to stay for a long time in the region, and to discover this part of the world and society. It is my first time in Asia, and I like it a lot.
Here in Almaty I had the occasion to meet a wonderful family with an autistic child ; I like their projects for autistics, they appreciate my explanations about autism, they decided to organize this conference ; I hope that I will be able to express my points of view enough clearly, in spite of the language barrier (usually I speak French, and my English is poor), and that you will find it interesting, with enough informations to understand better and to decide better what to do with your own autistic children or relatives.
I do not come with miracle methods or solutions, but only with my autistic thinking, knowledge and experience, that I will try to adapt to the situation today.
I am specialized in adult and “high-functioning” autism, but I can give useful thoughts about autism in general.
I don’t look very autistic : it is because I am very adapted now.
But if I receive “neurological aggressions”, I will be very different, I will be easily upset and irritated, and hard to understand.
My intellect can adapt itself to the situations, in order to have the correct social behaviour, but my body cannot adapt itself to unnatural variations, and my “good sense” cannot accept injustices and inconsistencies.
00/ Introduction
For me, the best way to help autistics, is to start by understanding them, by understanding that autism is a different way of thinking and of living, and that it is necessary to respect the autistic differences, instead of trying to erase them, and of trying to make us “normal”, which is a complete non-sense.
Of course you can help the autistics to live better with the normal society, but it is not necessary to become normal for that.
For example, you can learn some french and live sometimes in France, without problems and without the need of doing all like the French, or becoming French. And the French will not tell you that you are bad or so poorly adapted or that you have “a trouble” just because you are not French and you don’t understand or appreciate the french social specialties or subtleties.
So, because it is so important to understand our nature, instead of trying to change it without understanding anything, I will mostly talk about how I see autism, as an autistic person.
And of course, after that, in the questions, we can talk about any subject related to autism, including concrete cases, and advices for solutions and adaptations, for as long as necessary.
This first part of the conference, which is a kind of “speech”, is rather theoretical, without examples, and may sometimes be difficult to understand, but I had to try to make it short, and you will be able to ask for clarifications at the end, and of course we can discuss in case of disagreement : I am not a prophet 😉
Sometimes, my exposé is a bit confused, and there are repetitions : it is because I had only 3 days to prepare it, because I’ve been ill (with the “flu”) during a long time.
My “speech” is also very incomplete, there are plenty of important things that I do not mention here, because it would take a whole day, but probably we will raise the missing issues during the questions.
Thanks for your understanding.
0/ Indispensable preliminary distinctions
Almost everyone is confusing “autism” with the troubles and/or with the handicap or disability related to autism.
I make a clear separation between these 3 things, and it is necessary to understand this, in order to understand all the rest of my explanations.
I think that is is impossible to understand autism (or anything else) if you mix everything, if you don’t know the order and relations between each component or aspect.
0-1/ Autism
Autism is not a disease, it is a natural variant in the diversity of human beings, like some people are left-handed, and others, right-handed.
In the past, left-handed people had a bad reputation, it was seen as a trouble, and they were re-educated, to write with the right hand, which is an abuse.
Autism is perceived as an anomaly because we are a very tiny minority (1%), and because the current social formatting of the society prevents them to understand us.
In brief, we are showing that “the king is naked” ; we are absolutely not desirable at all to maintain the social illusion system, which can only see us as “errors” or “problems” or “dangers”, like Galileo Galilei was a problem, in his time, when he said that the earth is round.
The autistic nature makes that the autistic person has a kind of “super neurological system”, which is resistant and not damaged by the non-autistic interactions and formatting, and which is hypersensitive.
That is why we can say that autism is a neurological difference or particularity.
0-2/ Troubles Associated With Autism
There are various kinds of “Troubles Associated With Autism” (this is my own wording), like there are other kinds of troubles associated with non-autism.
– There are what I call the “Autistic Behaviours Perceived As Troubles”
These behaviours are troubling or annoying or shocking the others, but in fact are harmless, and nothing proves that they are real troubles or malfunctions. For instance, flapping may be useful for the autistic person, and it is not harming anyone. If people don’t like to see that, they can watch something else, instead of always trying to impose their unique rule.
Sometimes there can be some behaviours that cannot be accepted in public, like some nudity or sexual behaviours, but nothing proves that it is a health or mental problem, and for example in some indigenous tribes in South America these behaviours would not be shocking, and many autistic specialties and our hypersensitivity would be very appreciated and useful.
We can see that the concept of “trouble” is relativistic, and defined by society, which decides that what is not social is a “trouble”, or even a “disease” or a mental illness.
These behaviours are not “autistic troubles” nor “autistic disorders”, but “troubling autistic behaviours”. And the fact that people don’t understand them is not a proof that they result from a disorder. In my opinion, sometimes they result from the reaction of a pure mind plunged into a social world which is, for sure, a total disorder.
– There are the “Problematic Autistic Behaviours Resulting from Social Agressions”
They are very common.
The aggressions can be physical (sensory attacks, like noise, smell, temperatures) and/or mental (like the feeling of injustice or inconsistency).
The neurological system will suffer but no one will pay attention, or listen to the autistic (if he can express his problem), because normal people consider that if they do not see any problem, there is no problem, and because they don’t understand autism and they cannot imagine or believe that we are so sensitive and different. Just because it’s not possible for them to see it or feel it.
Then, sooner or later, the autistic neurological system will explode (with shouting or violent gestures, in order to find some relief, to escape from the suffering, which is generally imposed by a social situation).
These crises are seen as autistic troubles, whereas in fact the normal people, in our situation, would react the same. The difference is only about the level of sensitivity (to harmful variations, to inconsistencies, to errors, injustices etc.).
– There are the “Harmful Autistic Behaviours”, like auto-mutilation.
I don’t know enough about this, but it seems that they are resulting from extremely stressing social situations (like, for instance, being placed by force in a hospital).
It is possible that most, or all, of these problematic behaviours, are coming from a social environment, or social obligations, which are not appropriate for autistics.
– There are also the “Diseases Associated With Autism”, like for instance epilepsy.
They are not a reason to declare that autism is a disease.
0-3/ The Handicap
Given that autism is not understood and not taken in account, and, in fact, is in conflict with the “normal functioning” of society, then of course the autistics have problems all the time, in the social situations.
Most things are quite easy for normal people, since all is organized by them for them.
But when you are different from what is planned, different from all the normal cases, and you cannot “fit in the boxes”, everything is quickly very difficult.
Of course it is wrong to say that our handicap is a result of autism itself, or, worse, that autism is a handicap or a disability. The handicap is the result of the lack of consideration of minorities by the majority. In the case of autism, it would be rather easy to reduce the handicap, first by leaving us in peace when we need, or by stopping taking us as idiots or mocking us, or by stopping believing that what is good for Non-Autistics is good also for the autistics, or by setting the heating systems temperatures to levels acceptable by everyone (like 22°) and not 27 or 28 which is crazy, stupid and impossible to live for us, in winter, etc.
A/ Non-Autism and Non-Autistic Troubles
“Autism” is a non-autistic concept.
For us, the autistics, it doesn’t mean anything, except that it is a label that you are using when you talk about us.
If we have to use the concept “autism”, then we can also use its complementary : “non-autism”.
In order to have less problems with the non-autistic persons, we the autistics we need to understand better their functioning.
And for the Non-Autistic persons who wish to understand what autism is, it is very useful to understand what it is not ; in other words, to understand the Non-Autism.
The non-autistics are living in groups.
It can be groups of persons (starting with the family, the ethnicity, the nationality, the religion etc.) and it can be communities of interests (like sport, music, politics, lifestyle, clothes, look etc.).
For every group or culture they just need to copy what the others do, in order to have an easier life, rather automatic.
The behaviours which are not in accordance with the group are harming the group, therefore the members of a group have to be conform to its conventions and codes, otherwise they have difficulties, they suffer, and they are rejected.
Inside a group, the persons think that the values of the group are better than those of the other groups.
They also think that these values are part of their personality, while in fact they just took them from the group, little by little during all their life, especially during their early education.
Because they remain inside the limits and norms and habits and beliefs of their group, they have problems understanding the other groups, and because they are afraid of getting out of their comfortable illusions, they prefer avoiding to know different groups and different persons, which are usually seen as problems or dangers, because they have interests which could create conflicts, or just because they may show that the beliefs or values of the group are not the best, the only good.
Therefore, other groups are seen as adversaries or even enemies (which explains all the wars and social troubles) whereas, in fact, all the groups are just complementary, and could live well together if they did not create themselves these stupid mental protection barriers.
The members of a group tend to defend the interest of their group, without any consideration for the interest of the other groups, who are doing the same error. As a result, there is a lot of loss and destruction, for few benefits.
All this happens because people live in groups and are prisoners or slaves of the groups and their values.
We can say that the current social organization is very debatable.
They are formatted in such a way, that they can hardly imagine that someone different can be good, because their system implies that everyone should do the same, more or less.
For them, if you are different, then :
– either you are not a member of the group, and you shall go to another group ;
– or you are a member of the group (like a young child) but because you don’t seem to understand or to be able to stick to the values and codes of the group, and given that you are not a stranger, then you have a “malfunction” : a trouble, a disease etc., and you shall be cured, in order to avoid the horror of being considered “ill” all your life, or of being rejected.
If I use the same way of thinking, then I can also consider that the persons living in this non-autistic system have “troubles” or diseases.
Here are some examples of what I call “the Non-Autistic Troubles”.
The Truth-Transformation Trouble
It is the most common, and probably the main base for most of the other Non-Autistic Troubles.
Here is how it works :
1/ The “abstractization” of reality
The concrete reality (A) is described with words or concepts or other symbols or theories (B), which are supposed to be enough for the purpose, and socially accepted, but which in fact are containing only a very limited amount of information, which is poorly representing the reality.
2/ The own desire
The person (or the group) wants to satisfy a primary desire of his body (by need or just by pleasure), or a materialistic thing (like possession) or a mental satisfaction (like the feeling of being right, or powerful, etc.)
3/ The theoretical thinking
The person will not bother to stick to reality and truth (A), but will think by using the abstract notions representing reality (B), by modifying and arranging them, within the limits allowed by her own system of thinking, or by what can be accepted by the group, which makes a result (C) which is matching B (the theory) but not A (the reality).
All this is done in bad faith, but no one cares, because it is accepted by the group, which accepts to live in illusion, and prefers to believe that the artificial reality that it is building is better than the natural reality.
Of course, sooner or later the artificial system collapses (like some political systems, for example), and anyway there are always problems when you consider the reality differently from what is it in fact.
The Artificial Relativist Referential
Inside a given group, people judge things according to the codes and conventions of the group, and as long as all remains inside the group, they can believe that it is good and true and the best system.
But when exposed to the nature (or to another group), then the limits and the illusion become obvious, and it is a problem. That’s why the Non-Autistics will always try to arrange or “correct” the nature (or other groups, if they can) in order to match their fantasies or beliefs.
That is also the reason why they are trying to “correct” the autistics, who are natural beings.
The autistics, like the nature and the animals, are close to the natural order, which is not depending on humankind.
That is why, many times, the autistics will have the feeling of being right, but the society will tell them that they are wrong : this is a misunderstanding : in fact, the autistics are right, according to the global natural referential, but they are not right in the social referential, which itself is wrong and fake, taken in the global referential.
The “Normalitaristic Trouble” (or “Trouble of Normocentrism”)
There are many reasons why it is very important for the members of the group, to try to do like the others.
For example :
– If you do something different, it can create a potential threat for the fundamental illusion, the debatable artificial system of conventions of the group. For them, it is very important not to start thinking and questioning the validity of the whole system.
– If you do something different, then it will not be planned by the rules of the group, and it will be much more difficult. These rules (which are made automatically) are not made only to maintain the illusion, but also to facilitate things and life in the group.
– Generally, it is annoying for the people if you behave differently, because it is disturbing their automatisms.
– And also, if you do that you show some liberty that they do not have themselves, and they can be jealous of this liberty, even if they would not want to do like you, “to avoid having problems”.
– When a person (like an autistic) does something “weird” and does not seem to consider it as a problem, then this person is mocked by the “normal people”, who feel some kind of superiority because they understand that the behaviour is not adapted (to them), and “the poor guy” does not even understand something as basic as the necessity to look normal.
They don’t want to be mocked themselves, or to be considered as “crazy”, therefore they are very careful about not placing themselves accidentally in the situation of “the poor guy”.
For the Non-Autistic persons, the opinion of the others about themselves is extremely important. That’s why they would see it as a terrible shame or disaster if someone considers themselves “not normal”.
As a result of all this, it is, in fact, an obligation to be “normal” inside a group, which means, not to look like someone who does not seem to be part of the group.
Because, of course, the most important danger, is the risk of being rejected, if you look too much different from the norm of the group.
This looks really horrible to the members of the group, because in such case they would not be helped anymore by all the artificial system, and they would be alone (which is terrible for them) and they would have to manage things by themselves, facing the hard reality of nature.
All this is so terrifying for them, that finally the normality becomes a non-negotiable obligatory rule, almost a kind of totalitarianism, and that’s why I call it “Normalitarism”.
The “Comfortabilistic Trouble”
In fact, the Non-Autistic persons are mostly interested in enjoying their personal or familial pleasure as much as possible, and the easiest way possible, with the less efforts possible.
That is why they give a lot of power to the group, the institutions, the state, the rules, which are supposed to automatically solve all the problems and to help to improve the quality of life, the materialistic welfare, the comfort and the security.
Given that the individuals, focused on their pleasure and illusion, do not want to bother too much about controlling the system, then, many times, it becomes too strong, inhuman, not adapted.
The persons who do not fit in the system (because they are unable or unwilling to) are a problem and are seen as going against the general interest.
That is why the will showed by the general population to help the persons with disabilities is, in fact, very weak and theoretical. On the paper, there are some texts and laws, which are not really applied, because the majority of people are not interested to make the society more complicated, diverse and questionable, but only to enjoy their personal consumption pleasure, which is always easier when everything is similar, copies of copies, no need to think, to search, etc.
And they use their Truth-Transformation Trouble (which is accepted by everyone – except the autistics – then not seen as a trouble) to arrange things as they see fit, for instance by declaring that an autistic is “dangerous”, on the grounds of some harmless behaviour details, which are exaggerated and interpreted in a comfortable way for the general opinion, and then the system decides to reduce the liberty of the autistic person (for instance, by sending him by force in an hospital) and of course no one sees objections, given that it is made for their comfort and their impression of security.
There are plenty of Non-Autistic Troubles ; I cannot list all now, but I should mention at least the
“Rule of the Strongest Because Most Numerous”.
People believe that the opinion of the majority is always the better. Even when they are not so sure about that, they are used to take decisions according to what the majority thinks. But in fact, this has nothing to see with logic or good sense or wisdom, but only with force and quantities.
On top of that, in a group, most people are copying themselves together, which makes that the opinions which are not original but just copies have no real value, but unfortunately they count anyway.
The autistics are 1% of the world, but their opinion, their nature, their needs, their qualities, are not taken in account because the world is organized by 99% of people for their own pleasure, comfort and security illusion, and because we are so disturbing for their artificial and ill system, that their conditioned thought cannot do otherwise than believing that we are sick or crazy etc.
The Non-Autistic Communication Troubles
I will quickly mention some of them :
– lies
– hypocrisy
– manipulations of all kinds (like sophisms)
– things that you are supposed to guess but that are never expressed clearly
– imprecisions and confusions
– lack of answer, etc.
Of course these troubles are very big problems and are completely polluting the social life, but they are considered as “acceptable” (not like troubles or diseases) just because everyone uses them.
This is an example of the combination of the Truth-Transformation Trouble with the Rule of the Strongest Because Most Numerous, and with the Comfortabilistic Trouble, of course, given that the goal of all these communication perversions is to manipulate the other persons, in order to obtain a personal benefit, or to ignore them, to “avoid problems”.
It is very important to understand that, in general, the Non-Autistic persons do not want themselves to solve the problems created by their social system and by their Non-Autistic Troubles, or even to try to participate to the efforts in order to find solutions.
Of course, because it is exactly the contrary of their goal in life : the materialistic pleasure, and illusion, without head-scratching.
Anyway, nowadays, the problems of society are almost impossible to solve, because the whole construction is very poorly designed, and because it is all made with the very bad cement of the Non-Autistic Troubles, especially those negating the truth and the reality.
On top of that, all is artificial and more and more inhuman, and no one can really control or slow down the system. This is true for the administrative, bureaucratic organization, but with the technology we have now reached a new level, much more dangerous : people are more and more dependent and slaves to the technological tools and gadgets, designed to improve their comfort and the “think less”, and they are even building artificial intelligences which, in fact, are already starting to think for us, and to take decisions for our lives.
In order to always enjoy more easily, we transfer the human intelligence to machines, which are much more powerful than us.
As a result, the human being is functioning more and more like a machine, consuming the natural resources, always more.
People are following the group, following the rules, following what should be done, the “normal things”, without thinking.
The current social system is leading to huge social problems and crises, including environmental disasters, and to the loss of humanity, of freedom of thinking and of choice of the persons, which are just small mechanical, functional parts of a very dangerous, anti-natural, anti-life machine that no one can control.
And we, the autistics, we are criticized because we do not want to play that game !
And the fact that we are naturally strangers to this social mess, and that we see no point in using perverted communication tricks, is seen as “a disease”…
Even the so-called “low functioning” autistics, who cannot analyze all that, are still feeling that it is not good. And that is why they are resisting to all this social non-sense.
It is like when the animals do not want to do something, because they feel, or they know, that there is a danger, or at least no natural interest or need.
B/ Almost all the major beliefs and descriptions about autism are wrong, not correct, or very debatable
I will mention only a few :
The “disease”
First, people say that autism is a disease, but autism has special qualities. Even in the case of non-verbal or so-called “severe” autistics, they may have qualities that no one sees, or which are not yet developed.
But I do not know any disease which would be bringing additional qualities.
For instance, we know that the blind people have some special abilities that we do not have, but blindness is not a disease, and allows a special experience of life.
Second, what is called “autism” is present at birth, and during all the life. I’ve never heard of people who come to life with a disease (or at least it is very very rare) and who are “ill” during all their life…
The usual definition of a “disease” implies an “alteration” or a change in the health, but in the case of autism, on the contrary, the deep presence of autism is remarkably stable, and is difficult to change. And this stability may be its major quality.
“The symptoms are appearing near the age of 3 years”
Although it is possible to detect signs much earlier, what I want to show here is that some people say that the “language trouble” starts when the other kids are starting to talk, or that the social interaction problems (in fact, a lack of interest) is starting when the other kids are starting to play together, etc.
I find it a very strange way of reasoning. Anyway if the autistic child is not supposed to speak, you just detect the difference at the age when others are speaking, and this does not mean that a trouble is affecting him suddenly at this age.
People say that autism is a “pervasive developmental trouble”…, and all the “troubles” are evaluated in comparison with non-autistics…
Me, I just see a different development, which is more personal and less affected by others. Where is the problem ? Is it an obligation to be so social, to talk all the time ? Why is it a problem if we see no point in playing, or doing silly things for babies ?
The neurons
I’ve seen a documentary explaining that near the age of 3, the non-autistic children are losing a great part of their neurons (maybe the half), which is not a surprise for me, given that their education consists of formatting them and having them copying the others and following the normality rules, then it is normal that their neurological system becomes weak and basic.
I’ve read also that anyway the autistic brain has more neurons.
For me, all this does not show “a disease” or “a trouble” for the autistics.
The “disorder”
They say also that autism is a disorder, that there is a disorder in the brain. This remains to prove. In my opinion, all shows the contrary, the autistic brain is very logical and in order, and even rigid and cannot be in disorder. I think that it is the confrontation with the social disorder, that provokes a lot of disturbing for a brain which is too much in natural harmony and cannot react in a sensible way to all the ambient mess.
“It comes from the mother”
Nowadays, almost everyone knows that this idea is wrong, but for those who still have doubts, let’s just mention that it is always possible to find autistic traits in the family and ancestors ; for instance, in my own family, as far as I could go in the past centuries, the autistic traits are obvious, in the men. It is absurd to say that all the mothers of my male ancestors would have had the same “refrigerator mother” problems, or other problems, like if all my ancestors would always chose spouses likely to “foster autism”.
The social interactions problem
If you live in your own mental world, then it is obvious that you won’t even have the idea to interact with others. Is it obligatory ?
Why is it a “trouble” ?
Of course if you want to force the autistic to “be normal” and to live like if he was not autistic, then it is a problem if he does not wish to interact. But maybe there are other ways of living for autistics, better than forcing them to be like everyone. Maybe it would be better to help them following their own way, and to respect their difference, their autistic abilities, their unique life experience, that no one, no crowd, has the right to decide to change. It is personal.
The communication problem
Of course if you see no point in interacting with others, you also see no point in communicating with them. There is no communication problem, but simply no wish or no need to communicate.
In order to have the autistic interested by others, and eventually interested by communicating with them, the first thing to do is to give him a much better image of the others and of the social environment. If the others are looking hostile or stupid, and if the environment is ugly and painful, and finally all looks like a nonsense or a nightmare, there is no wonder if the thought of the autistic prefers to stay far from that.
The “narrow interests”
This is one of the most funny things…
The autistics have a capacity to be very good in the domains that they like, and in fact they can all be the best of the world in their domain. But because these interests are “strange” or “not normal”, they are not appreciated by the normal majority, who usually mocks them kindly.
This is stupid because when you are a specialist in a domain, you can help the others, and enrich society and progress.
Instead of that, almost the normal people have the same interests (football, food, politics, talking about others, the weather, etc.), it is a total shame and completely ridiculous, they are all copying themselves together, they do not improve nor enrich anything, but they do not see this as a problem or a defect !
In their Normocentric way of thinking, all what is like them is good, and all what is different is bad, even if the result is totally insane and ridiculous.
In the past, when I was working in discotheques, sometimes people were asking me why I do not smoke or drink… I was looking “weird”, it was “not normal” (in their group) and it was almost like if I had to justify myself. It was so stupid that I could not even find what to reply…
The “psycho-rigidity”
For me, the so-called “psycho-rigidity” of autistics is in fact a sane auto-protection feature, in order to avoid falling into things that we perceive as negative or against nature.
The Non-Autistics also have very strong rigidities, which makes them stick to what their group is thinking, sometimes almost like a religion, like for instance with the “normalitarism” (that I call sometimes also “normal-terrorism”).
Unfortunately for us, some of the most rigid people are the doctors, because they are completely formatted by very strong trainings and beliefs which are based only on the physical aspects of the human being (including the mental functions), and which are strongly opposed to any approach involving the spirit and the things not related to space and time, because they confuse that with religions or old problems, whereas it should be the way of the future scientific explorations.
C/ My vision of the deep nature of autism, and of the mechanisms of its’ relations with the world
This section is difficult to explain and to understand.
I will talk about many things which will look similar to things that you already know.
If you make automatic links between what I explain, and these things that you know (like for instance the usual social beliefs about the religions or god or such things, which have nothing to see with what I say), there will be confusions and it will be difficult or impossible to understand me.
I ask you, only for the duration of this section, to try to make an effort to do as if you didn’t know anything about anything 😉 This way, there are good chances that you will get what I will try to explain, which is rather subtle and autistic and of course hard to translate in the Non-Autistic language, to explain with the Non-Autistic referential and concepts.
The Whole
What I call “The Whole” is… everything…
It is including what we name “the universe”, but also the aspects not related to what we name “space and time”, and also all what is not material, and even the absence of anything (in other words, nothing), if it exists.
The material world
Inside this “Whole”, there is the material world that we know, with the notions of space and time. For me it is a very minor part or aspect of the Whole. Like when you use a computer, you would not say that the hardware or even the software is everything.
Anyway I think that the notion of “material” is very debatable. We know that even if we dig very far in the microscopic structure, in fact we never find “material”, but only energy, organized energy.
I think that the concept of “mass” is a just human concept, and that “mass” is not existing in reality, and that the so-called Higgs boson discovery (supposed to prove the existence of the mass of the particles) is not convincing, and that all this is a rather ideological social non-sense, based on the materialistic illusion.
Anyway, there are things that are existing, and that are not made with material, space, time, or even physical energy, but that you can still feel and which are strong and important, like for instance love, which is very comparable with an energy which could almost be measured.
But, talking about autism, and to keep things simple, let’s say that all what is not spiritual (like love) is material, without discussing the inner nature of particles.
The “Intelligent Energy of Life”
It is probably everywhere in the Whole and it can “give life” to material bodies, as long as they are enough coherent (in the natural order, compatible with life).
It is very probable that given that it is connected with all the living bodies, then of course there is a relation or communion between all the living bodies, which can be perceived only by non-materialistic ways, such as telepathy or other experiences (like the “Near Death Experiences”) not scientifically explained, but still real (with a lot of evidences).
The living bodies
The living bodies are only material (governed by space and time), and that’s why when the thoughts are realized in the body, they cannot understand “the absence of space and time”.
For a given body, there is a little part of the Intelligent Energy of Life which is animating the body.
This produces a result : the individual life of the individual being.
The individual life
This individual life is the “me” and is consisting of the thoughts (or the consciousness, or the attention), resulting of application of the Intelligent Energy of Life to the body, like a kind of physical or chemical reaction, like when you put electricity to some materials, it makes light or heat or movement etc.
Then the “me” is a “marriage” (like the product of a reaction or a combination) between the Intelligent Energy of Life (not related to space and time) and the material body, like two complementary things, given that all this intelligent energy can’t do anything without the help of the bodies and material things.
The variability of the physical/spiritual mix
The bodies are not all the same : some bodies are more compatible for materialistic things, and others, less ; like some people are more intellectual and others more manual, there are people who are more spiritual and less physical. This is written in the genetics of people and families.
The “less physical beings”
If the physical is less important and the “resulting Me” is less materialistic or physical, it lives with less relations with the body, and then more in thoughts ; it lives more in a kind of “contemplative” manner, like a “viewer of life” ; there are less interactions with the body and with the rest of the world, outside of the body.
The location of the attention or the consciousness or the “me”
It can be completely in the body (it’s the case for most people, most of the time), or partly.
In fact, it is easy to understand.
For instance, when you are “lost in your thoughts”, in fact your “me” is not in your body, but out of space and time, and it comes back in the body when there is an external stimulus recalling “you” (or your attention, your thinking process) in your body.
In fact you cannot evaluate how much time you were “away”. And you have no idea about “where” was your mind. But obviously, it was not in your body. And for other people, you were looking “absent”.
It is the same when you sleep. When you wake up, you have trouble to make sentences or to control your body : it is just because your “me” is not yet completely back in your body. And you can also notice sometimes that some dreams which look like very long and very complicated stories, did in fact last only a few minutes when you watch the clock. It is because these dreams or thoughts were made out of the body, out of space and time.
And of course things are the same when the body is dead or almost dead, but this is another story, out of the scope of this conference.
The neurological interface
The neurological system is the interface between “material” (or physical) and “spiritual” (or non-material), between the “me” and his body.
Given that the autistic “me” has few physical or mechanical or muscular interactions directed to his body or out of his body, then he lives more in this interface, and that’s why it is so sensitive and efficient.
The hypersensitivity
It has several reasons :
– given that the neurological system has few interactions with the rest, it remains rather “new” and “virgin” (like a baby) and less used then less “insensitive”
– if the system was more used, it would be more in “symbiose” and would not see differences (like a body in the water)
– given that the attention (the thoughts) is generally not located in the body, every little “stimulus” (like touching by surprise) is painful because it forces brutally the attention to come back in the body (the material world), like when you wake up someone
The neurological irritations
– Physically, given that the autistic neurological system is more sensitive and not much used to physical interactions, then of course it is more easily irritated by physical aggressions, and these aggressions are numerous because we are more sensible to variations and inconsistencies, and because the non-autistic persons are producing a lot of aggressions, which are harmless for them.
– And mentally, given that the neurological order and values in the brain remain “pure” and unspoiled, they are more disturbed by the inconsistencies and injustices (which, once again, are produced in high quantities by the Non-Autistic society, which accepts them), and it may be so painful that the brain has no other options than “closing the door” to protect the autistic mind from too much harmful intrusions.
The distance
The autistic individual being is then the result of the Intelligent Energy of Life and a body more orientated for spiritual and subtle life, with less interaction with the body (and, thus, with what is out of the body).
There is an important part of the “me” remaining completely out of the body (out of space and time), and a little part which is in the body but limited to the interface, concentrated in the neurological system (including the brain).
The life of an autistic is more the life of his thoughts than of his body, and that’s why his thoughts are so powerful, and why many autistics (like me) do not naturally fix their attention on things different from their own thoughts, and also why some autistics have some unusual interactions with their body, through their muscles.
The physical life is mostly limited to sensations.
The autistic life experience is more about observing the world with a point of view distant from society and its non-sense, and closer to nature.
We have to keep a distance in order to avoid falling in the traps of the social mistakes and illusion, and to avoid imitating all that.
The Essential Characteristics of Autism (or “the keys”)
I see the following things :
– the “coherence” (or consistency)
– the harmony, the order, the arborescence
– the non-confusion, the non-mix, the precision and details
– the “purity”, the “transparence”
– the “rectitude”, the “direct links”
– the absence of limits
– the resistance or “rejectance”
For me, all this looks like a kind of “crystal”, or a “crystalline structure of the spirit”.
When you consider that what is called “autism” is composed by all these things, then it is rather easy to understand deeply autism, and to guess what is good and not good to do, in a given situation.
It is like if you have the keys of autism ; maybe they look a bit mysterious or difficult to use, but at least now you have the keys that I found.
I can hardly give more explanations, but if you think about all these things, you will figure better what autism is.
D/ The autistic life experience and usefulness
The autistic being is closer to spiritual things and to the Intelligent Energy of Life, closer to harmony, coherence and justice – that is why it is quickly and easily harmed by non-autistic things, which are seen or felt as against the global referential (natural truth and good and justice etc.).
The non-autistic beings are more interested by material and physical things ; that’s why they organize their lives around that, with artificial rules and conventions, which may seem correct in their limited referential, but are bad in the global referential, and the TV news are proving this everyday, stronger and stronger.
They build also some kind of “auto-slavery” to avoid having to think, and to just enjoy materialistic life, in automatic mode.
Naturally, the autistic being cannot be attracted by all that, of course.
The autistic being lives a unique, personal life, rather meditative or contemplative, which can rarely benefit from interactions with others (which, on the contrary, are disturbing).
He can have some good relations with trusted persons, like his mother, but in today’s world, society looks too much absurd, to have the desire to communicate with it – and also, the autistic being could communicate better with the thought (like the animals) than with the language, which is artificial, materialistic and full of risks of errors and misunderstandings.
Some autistics are mostly non-physical and they should be respected and protected (and not forced to live in hospital or in special centers), maybe by trying to help them doing their spiritual life experience and maybe by trying to understand them and by looking if they can share something with society (like the hermits or shamans) – without forcing them, without the social dictatorship.
And if they live well and if they are not badly treated, they may come to have some relations with society, if they want.
Some others (like me) are not so uncomfortable with the body and material and they can interact with society. They can live their own special life, but also learn how to live with others, and share. They should be protected when necessary (and not forced to inadequate protection) and respected (with the right to be alone when they want, and with the right not to be forced to copy others). They can be taught how to live (and even work) with society, just as roles to play, and not as “example of the right life” or “correct person to become”.
When the autistic being has enough social skills to understand all that (autism and non-autism) and to understand that autism is not a trouble in itself (nor a disease) and that there is no reason to be ashamed (on the contrary…) then he can put himself “above” the situations, he (or she) can be less impressed by the social and normality rules and automatisms, then he suffers much less, the adaptation is easier, there is no “oppression” (except when there are sudden agressions (sensory, or mental)).
The own path of life
I think that the life of someone is something very personal and that no one has the right to interfere in that.
Of course the non-autistic persons are used to follow preformatted, standard, paths of life, and they like it, so they assume that the autistic will also like that, or that even if he does not like, it is good for him. All that is wrong, and not respecting the nature and the originality of the autistics’ life experience.
In fact, I think that every human being should achieve his own unique, original, personal life experience.
And should be able to share it with others.
Instead of that, the Non-Autistics are cheating their own life, because they just copy each other, like if everyone copies the solution in a classroom, just to have good notes (or, here, banknotes), without understanding the lesson.
I find it a nonsense, and a waste of time.
But these people want to teach the autistics how to live…
The qualities
There are plenty of autistic qualities, which could often be seen as a lack of “Non-Autistic Troubles”. I will mention some of them :
– The honesty and sincerity and loyalty.
– The logical and concrete thinking.
– The respect of the rules and of the order.
– The ability to detect inconsistencies or to see problems that others don’t see.
– The ability to make logical links and to find trends, to be creative and to find new solutions (given that they can “think out of the box”).
– The ability to focus intensely and for a very long time on a given task (if they are not disturbed). We can be extremely persistent and never give up before achieving a mission or finding a solution, even if it takes one week without thinking about anything else. The Non-Autistics will “fall down” after a maximum of one day, because they have to satisfy their materialistic and social needs, and because anyway “they don’t care”, they don’t do things completely (and they expect that others will finish the work).
– The ability to be passionate and the best specialists in their fields of interest.
– A good resistance to social flaws like smoking, drinking, and social non-sense and absurd or anti-natural behaviours in general.
– The ability to observe and analyse deeply the reality and the moment, instead of being distracted and lost in artificial social behaviours and illusions.
– We don’t need to impress or dominate the others, given that we do not judge ourselves by comparison to others, or sometimes we don’t even have a judgement or opinion about our public image, and anyway the genuine autistics do not pay attention to the opinion of others about themselves. The problems start when the society gives them this kind of “disease”, and then they are ashamed and afraid.
– We don’t need to harm the other people, because we don’t need the illusion of power and because, as said above, we don’t judge ourselves according to the others, how they are or what they think about us.
– We are direct and clear. No need to guess or to read between the lines.
– Some autistics can have some very impressive capabilities in the fields of memory, mathematics, languages, sciences, music, arts, etc.
The “above normal” abilities
The autistic life is very similar to a kind of “day-dreaming”, with the “me” partly in the concrete life, and partly out of that, at the same time.
The Non-Autistics are not living in both worlds, they are either completely in concrete reality, or completely sleeping and/or dreaming.
That is why the autistic have a very high potential to access things which are “outside of the material world”, and sometimes they can make “bridges” between both worlds, and help the Non-Autistics. That is why they can have many new ideas and inspiration.
That is why, in the so-called “primitive” cultures, the autistics or other “different children” are respected and become shamans, who have special powers and who can advise and heal the members of the tribe. They are not rejected like sick persons, but cherished, at the center of the village, but with a respectful distance necessary for their peace of mind, and the members of the group are providing them all the necessary for their physical needs (which are basic) and their protection (which is highly important).
This is how things should be done, and this is why, in fact, it is a non-sense to try to put all the autistics in the normal jobs (except for those who want to try, of course), instead of helping them to find and use their real potential.
About the genetic tests and the abortion
It is necessary not to kill the autistics before they even come to life.
First, because the autistic who are alive would not have preferred being killed before birth.
Second, because you will kill also most of the great inventors and creators (like Leonardo da Vinci, Beethoven, Van Gogh, Mozart, Nietzsche, Newton, Einstein, and so many others) and then you condemn the humanity to a life of copies of copies, slaves to their mechanical system.
And when you remove the margins of mankind, then the people who were close to the margins, who were just “original”, become the new “weird” persons, anti-socials, to put aside, and so on, and little by little you reduce the diversity of mankind, like it has already been done for the animals. And at the end, all becomes poor and sterile, and it is the death of life on the Earth.
E/ The current suffering and the so-called “troubles” of the autistics, oppressed by a majority of people whose non-autistic formatting prevents them to guess how to understand us, and whose illusion and artificial values prevents them to see our positive sides
The aggressions
The autistics are suffering from 2 types of aggressions :
– sensory (affecting the external nerves)
– mental (affecting our coherent thought system, through our brain : injustice, incoherence…)
This is causing irritation and pain which are generally impossible to contain or control.
The aggression may be simply the fact of being placed in a non-adequate environment (not calm, not natural etc) and with some autistics it can produce unpredictable things, just like a fish out of the water will have a ridiculous and erratic behaviour (or like a bird in a car).
The sensory aggressions can be of all kind, like horrible buildings or views or smells, noise, over-heating, unrequested touching or many types of annoyances that are imposed to the autistic against his will by the group, the social rule, that he doesn’t need, and that, in general, are not even useful or necessary for anyone.
The mental aggressions are harming the autistic purity and sense of logic and justice. In fact we are constantly bombarded by social inconsistencies, almost everywhere, in the news, in the conversations that we have to hear, in the social behaviours and questions that are imposed on us, in all the unjust and stupid and absurd treatments that are imposed on us, or on others.
What society makes to the world is a monumental offense to good sense and to the nature, and we have to watch that all the time, and even to try to believe that all this is “normal” and “good”.
Not to mention that we are considered as “problems” or “persons with troubles”, which is an additional layer to all this stupid nonsense that all the autistics are feeling, more or less consciously.
The only way not to be aggressed by all that, is to be far from that, alone in your thoughts, or with the nature or the animals.
There is really no wonder if the autistic thought is totally “closed” to all this mental pollution.
The nervous reactions resulting from the irritation
The aggressions (which are never requested by the autistics) will result in physical signs (like shouting, crying, throwing objects) because the autistic has to find ways to express his suffering, and to hope that someone will stop that.
On top of that, it is an additional frustration and irritation when you can’t express yourself and when no one seems to suffer like you, and when even if you manage to describe clearly your problem, people don’t believe you, or even if they believe you, anyway they don’t want to make any effort to help you, even when it is very easy to do.
When our neurological system is rejecting, or revolting against all that, our behaviours or expressions won’t be understood by the others, because they do not see any aggression – then they won’t do anything to stop it, or to protect us.
The resulting crises, stress, anger, depression, distress and psychological problems
Given that no one understands and no one helps, sooner or later an explosion occurs.
But people will see only the visible manifestations of the sufferings, and they confuse that with “autism”, they will think that autistics are “aggressive”.
Little by little, when the autistic grows up, he will notice that he receives aggressions all the time, and he will think that life is that, and that society is that, unjust, stupid, hostile etc., and then he will have feelings of sadness and discrimination and frustration, a very deep feeling of injustice, and his life will be very uncomfortable because he will not understand the non-sense of society, nor why all the people seem happy with this mess, while he knows well that it is bad and wrong, and, above all, he will suffer from the injustice of the bad treatments imposed on him by the others.
Then he will have huge doubts about himself, a very very poor self-esteem, with the feeling of being unlucky, on the wrong planet, or like an error of nature etc., and all this is aggravated by the constant mocking and bullying from the others.
The peak of all this infamy is when the medicine says that WE have a problem and that we are ill ! The autistic will be impressed by the number of so many people saying the same thing, and he will start to wonder himself who is mad, the others, or himself.
With all these aggressions and injustices and non-sense and doubts and wrong ideas, and given that no one understands or helps him, too many times it will end with anger, depression, mental suffering, despair, suicide ideas, or delirious ideas, etc.
This is where the psychiatrists come, and this is why they often confuse autism with a mental disease, whereas :
– first, in fact these psychological problems are just consequences, and the very tiny layer of water on top of the visible part of the iceberg of all what I described since the beginning of this exposé (especially the aggressions and the resulting neurological crises, ignored by everyone) ;
– and, second, these psychological problems would happen to any Non-Autistic person exposed to the same sufferings, and they would happen even much more quickly, because they are not used to suffer all their life like that.
The impossibility to adapt to all that, and the right to refuse to try
It is not possible (or very difficult) to handle the social aggressions (which can be sensory or mental) because we are in pain and because our “good sense” (unconsciously) does not see why, on top of that, we should produce additional adaptation efforts to support injustices and aggressions that we never asked for (not to mention the additional pain of being mocked and rejected, on top of that).
I think that even when it is possible to adapt to aggressions and injustices, we should not do it ; it is an error, hiding our difference and our right to be sensitive, different, and left in peace.
Most of the times, the aggressions come from society : another reason not helping autistics to wish to come closer to it.
The autistic being remains in “auto-protection mode” and is right to do so – we have the right to refuse to adapt ourselves (even unconsciously) to what we find harmful, useless, nonsense, stupid etc.
And it is probable that many autistics are considering, like me, that the resistance to absurdity and to fake life is more than a right, but an obligation for us. At least, in order not to fall into that ourselves.
The autistic has his own life and interests, not copied on others. There is nothing bad in having special, narrow interests, and it is even better than having the same interests as everyone, or no interests – but given that the Non-Autistics do not understand that, they find it “a problem” and they call this an autistic trouble.
The autistic being has never asked to communicate with the group, and he is not interested by the group (in which, anyway, he would not be able to follow his own thoughts, nor just to think, because everyone talks all the time etc.) – then he has no reason to come close (in general) – then when someone from the group comes close, it is an aggression – then an irritated reaction, a problem – then the Non-Autistics say that the autistic has socialization problems – like if it was an obligation to be social. They are so much formatted that they just can’t think otherwise.
F/ What should be done to improve the situation of autistics in general
“De-normalitarization”
If the Non-Autistic want to be “normal”, it is their business, but regarding the autistics, at least, please stop thinking that what is good for you should be good for us, and stop trying to normalize us or to “correct” us or even to “cure” us, or to remove or eradicate autism, without even understanding what it is, and just because you find it annoying and not convenient.
Awareness, understanding
Explain things to people (especially the doctors and teachers), in order to reduce the fear and the wrong ideas, which are all leading to our suffering.
Education
It is necessary to help the autistics :
– above all, to learn and appreciate the relation with the non-social, natural environment (nature, animals…), including their own body ;
– second, to learn the usual normal things that the other children are learning ;
– third, also to learn the “non-autism” (like what you do with ABA for example) but without formatting us : we need to understand (even without appreciating) the mechanisms of the current non-autistic society, not as a model to fully embrace because it would be “good” or “normal” but only as something convenient that we can learn and imitate to avoid troubles (like a second language or culture when you travel), a tool allowing us to access to a non-conflictual relation with others, which should never be an obligation, but a personal choice and desire ;
– and also to teach us “autism”, to help us to find and develop our qualities, and to understand that autism is not a disease or a shame (but for this, first you have to understand it yourself before, and that’s why I am speaking here today).
In fact, autistics should be taught about the autistic nature like a first language, and about the non-autistic “tricks” like a second language, to be used only as a tool.
But currently, only the non-autistic recipes are taught.
It is like if, in the past, the Russians told you that the kazakh language and the kazakh culture is bad and wrong and stupid and sick, that the yurts are ridiculous and not functional etc, and that all that has to be destroyed and forgotten, and that only Russian is good because, look, if you speak Russian and if you think like the Russian, you have no problems with them and with life under the soviet regime, so why the hell would you want to stick to your strange traditions and weird culture…
Stop hurting, stop the medical dictatorship
Stop the inadequate and harmful things, especially psychiatry and institutionalization (life in special medical centers). If your country is lucky enough to be free of these concentration centers, please do not build them, do not listen to the financial lobbies.
Sadly, we have in France very good examples of what should not be done, with so many autistic children exploited in such centers and hospitals, without possibilities to learn life and freedom, because of the pernicious effects of our very generous social security system, and even our government starts to admit it.
I have plenty of arguments against institutionalization : for example, if you want to teach the autistics how to live with the normal society, it must be done in the free, normal society (with accommodations and protections), not by living in closed artificial centers, where you can only learn how to live in closed artificial centers, without freedom, without any possibility to develop the indispensable self-esteem, without the possibility to meet the “little things” in the natural path of life, which make your life evolve, the crossroads and the inspirations which finally help you to take the control of your life and to find happiness.
Respect
Like : the right to be different, the right to be alone anytime, the right to have unusual interests or clothes or behaviours, the right to have no opinion about football or the current fashions or showbiz stars etc., without being judged or mocked.
And of course the right to access to anything and anywhere, without being rejected “because we do not fit”.
Protection
Measures against all these sensory and mental aggressions which are ruining our lives and that no one sees ; special “escape spaces” or “refuges” for us, accessible anytime…
Accommodations
We are doing a lot of adaptation efforts, but there is a very little part that is impossible to do for us, because it must be done by the system itself, not on our side, but we do not have the power to modify the system. It would be rather easy to do for the system, but they don’t want, don’t understand, don’t believe, don’t care, etc.
It is necessary to understand autistics, at least a little bit, and to take autism in account everywhere, especially in the administrative regulations – it is necessary to provide us with trained social helpers, in order to explain the mechanisms of the situations to the autistics and to the Non-Autistics, to reduce or avoid the conflicts.
We need also accommodations for the right to live independently and like we want, with who we want, or alone, and to have a social life of our own, not imposed.
Work and creativity
We need our value to be recognized, we need accommodations in the field of the employment, to have a work or activity matching our interests and capabilities, and not stupid production jobs, because it is very offending and degrading for our nature to use us as servants of machines. It is the worse that can be done to an autistic, when you understand that we are spiritual beings above all. I am sure that this society needs spiritual help, and this is the direction to use, to find places for the autistics.
Right place in society
Not being considered as inferior or sick or crazy, but as different and complementary, useful for a society which is ill itself. But of course our usefulness will not be found with the usual non-autistic ways, and it is as stupid to say that we are disabled and not useful, as to say that a cat is disabled or useless because he cannot fly or live under the sea. We are different. Different ways, different lives, different jobs, different use, etc.
Help us to be daring and autonomous
Help us to understand life, to understand autism and non-autism, to start loving life and the social relations once they are just and that we have our place.
This way we can enjoy a real life, our special human life.
Not this “under-life imposed by force, by a majority of “conform people”, who do not understand anything about us.
And finally, autistics will dare to be really themselves, and not what the others believe that they are (like sick or crazy), or worse, what the others want them to be (like being normal or non-autistic, which is impossible and stupid, like if you would want the black persons to be white, to avoid them problems in a white society).
Opportunities
We need that the Non-Autistic society understands all this nonsense, injustice, suffering and waste, and that the leaders have the courage to take the proper measures to give us, at last, opportunities to use our potential, which can be useful also for the whole society. And which might be indispensable.
Today in Almaty I am lucky because someone gave me a very nice opportunity to try to explain autism and to defend autistics, for the whole country, a big, new and promising country. It is a good example to follow.
I guess that my explanations are not so clear, but it’s not so easy to explain and I am not a genius, I do what I can, and if only half of what I say is understandable, very probably it will already make a big difference.
In conclusion
My conclusion is that :
– the main reason of the non-autistic problems (“comfortabilism”, escaping in illusions etc.) is the fear (including the fear of efforts) ;
– the main reason of the autistic problems is the fear, by the Non-Autistics against them, resulting in rejection or lack of correct consideration, and also resulting in the fear felt by the autistics themselves ;
– the Non-Autistics are living in an artificial system of illusion, which makes them trapped, victims and slaves of their own machine, almost unable to “think out of the box”, and terrified if they start to try that ;
– the fact that there are more and more new humans who are naturally rejecting all that (I mean autistic children) may be a natural defence of mankind, and might be useful or necessary to avoid the total loss of humanity, with people transformed in human machines whose only interest is to enjoy and consume, and who, on top of that, are destroying the planet to satisfy this never-ending and ill greed ;
– in order to avoid all these sufferings and disasters, the solution would be to reconcile the humans with their natural humanity, and to reconcile the Non-Autistics with the autistics, because all the human groups are complementary, not enemies ;
– in order to do that, I see two principal things : understanding, and love ;
– but it’s not as easy to do as to say, and for this, we need the courage and the efforts of all the good-will, good-sense and good-faith persons, like you, I hope.
The most important, for autistics and Non-Autistics, is to dare to try to do things, talk with people, see things differently, even if it is difficult or if there is a risk of problems.
This is my method, and my best advice.
If you don’t try, you cannot learn, you cannot succeed.
Thank you very much.