We are not animals.
After reading Neurotribes, it actually shocked me how autistic people have been treated in the recent past. Only when the internet began it’s rising, are autistic people treated with respect, although sometimes still the butt of jokes.
Autistics, before the diagnose of autism, were considered schizofrenic. I can attest that in psychiatric wards, diagnoses are easily thrown around, by people who think they know everything.
I was there briefly and because of my adjusting to the group and such, was considered something I am absolutely not: Narcissistic. Although… I have found some narcissistic qualities in me, it has more in line with asperger’s than with narcissism.
My mom is full blown narcissist, my sister is a sociopath. I have lived with these 2 human beings for the past several years, I came in contact with them to frequently for my own good, so obviously I have some traits. Autistic people are natural mimics to adjust to society.
It’s a good thing I made a hobby out of watching movies. I have learned a lot of good behaviour from movies. If it wasn’t from these moving pictures, I would have never been so well adjusted as I a m now, and thanks to the internet, I only have to type in a few keywords of a question I have rumbling around in my mind, and I have the answer.
It must have been hard for the first people with autism, shunned from their society. Probably several hundreds of them were burned as witches as well, possessed by the devil.
Neurotribes chronicles a sad history but a bright future. We aren’t seen as animals anymore, although it’s still very hard for people like us to find a job.