Comments on: Unlike the Rest of Us, Autistics Don't Act Like Angels When Someone's Watching

By: NMCB3299

NMCB3299 — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 23:29:00 +0000

I am a high functioning “Aspie” and would never attack someone unless provoked and only to defend myself against physical attack or rape. I can say that NT people are dangerous too. Timothy McVeigh was an NT man and he blew up a building full of people. Most of the German men who enlisted in the SS were NT and what they did was unspeakable and resulted in the death of thousands of people. This Aspie who attacked you, did he feel threatened in some way? or did he just run up to you on the street and attack you? Possibly he was an NT man under the influence of drugs or crazy. That has been known to happen sometimes. When I was on deployment with the Navy Reserve I was brutally attacked by a Navy Dentist who was a bit crazy and an NT. He broke my back left hand molar all the way down to the root. It got abscessed and infected so I was in constant pain. My face was covered in bruises from him hitting it. In my opinion NTs’ can be dangerous too.

By: NMCB3299

NMCB3299 — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 17:06:00 +0000

You make the most sense. Us Aspies are marginalized when it comes to getting jobs and therefore have no cash to spare for donations’ to any charity.

By: NMCB3299

NMCB3299 — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 17:02:00 +0000

Third, we do not seem able to get a good, well paying job due to our disability and therefore wish to keep as much of that money for ourselves as we can. We know that money is the means to live comfortably. Our lack of it may make us tightfisted when we aquire it. Watched or unwatched we would still be tightfisted. Maybe we would change if society did not marginalize us where employment was concerned.

By: VeLuz

VeLuz — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 01:30:55 +0000

“Normal” people can learn a lot from people with autism or developmental disabilities. My son is high functioning autistic and my brother is developmentally delayed; they are the most honest and innocent people I have ever known. They have taught me so much. Unlike the rest of us, autistic people act accordingly.

By: Seebs

Seebs — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:30:32 +0000

What do you mean “no one’s watching”?

*I’m* watching.

So, yeah. It’s not that I don’t know that other people form opinions of me based on my actions. It’s that I form opinions of me based on my actions, so I act in ways I think are appropriate. If other people might judge me differently, well, okay. So?

I am not acting to put on a show. I am acting to achieve the results I want.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 03:03:27 +0000

#15. I disagree with you. I think your work has been limited to people with more severe cases of autism. People with Aspergers do not necessarily have flat affect and monotone voices, or use no body language. In fact, I am working with a very high functioning young man right now who is quite expressive, although not always what is considered situationally appropriate. He listens to English comedies on his Ipod and will repeat them word for word as he is listening, with all the emotions and body language that are being conveyed by the actors. Then he will break into loud laughter as something amuses him. In the classroom my main problem is that he misinterprets what others say and do, and is quite intent on having everyone follow his very black and white understanding of the rules. Now he has accepted that as the teacher I enforce the rules, not him, things have been smoother…although I do have to remind him occasionally. Lest you think that he is slow, he is taking third year French, calculus and chemistry among his classes.

By: Sharon

Sharon — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 01:59:33 +0000

The choice that is made is logical. Someone watching or not watching does not change the logic behind the choice. Ego is irrelevant when making a logical choice.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 23:02:51 +0000

#16, I think what you’re trying to say is that if a person cannot recognize another person as more than an animated object, morals don’t come into play. I agree with you on this unfortunate fact. However, I don’t think that is the typical case for Aspies. I don’t have “mind blindness”. I have body language blindness. I can’t read the *superficial* cues that tell me what someone is thinking or feeling. This does not make me incapable of recognizing that other people, like myself, have intentions, desires, needs, and motivations, nor does it keep me from recognizing that those internal drives resemble my own in their workings, albiet less so for neurotypicals than for other Aspies. It does not justify or mitigate the suffering you experienced, but your attacker was probably driven by extreme, overpowering frustration, which can unfortunately drive anyone to violence if it is bad enough. And being an Aspie is very frustrating, especially living in a world where our own needs and motivations are so often overlooks or trivialized and dismissed.

By: michele

michele — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 20:19:51 +0000

Hello again. Here is a link to the essay “Ketman” out of Milosz’s classic THE CAPTIVE MIND. On acting… http://www.ketman.net/captivemindchapter3.html Fascinating stuff.

By: michele

michele — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 20:01:29 +0000

Cody, you rock! Exactly.

“Yet another hypothesis could be: they don’t consider a positive increase in reputation to be valuable if it originates from a lie.”

“But I imagine there are still additional hypotheses.”