You seem fierce and I have had bad luck talking to other Autistics here. I'm a dinosaur. A "white older male" in my mid-60's who is also Autistic.
I have no intention of offending by word choice or terminology. When I was a child I was labeled "retarded". After a car hit me when I was five my mother switched to "brain damaged".
Because having a child who was "brain damaged" in an accident was more socially acceptable than having a "defective" child.
I thought your article was interesting. The idea of an autistic family obviously intrigues. You and both boys makes me itch in my head to know what your genes look like. It screams genetic component or localized environmental influence.
It makes the science guy in my head want to do a study and ask you invasive personal questions.
Putting those thoughts aside.
I thought you were a little harsh on the normies. As you mentioned they are ignorant. You understand the reason. I wrote about it as well.
Here is something I wrote on Climate Change.
Information spreads slowly and unevenly. Even in the age of the Internet. Being “informed” has a cost. It’s why governments and universities pay people to be informed on subjects. It eats up the time of really smart people who need to be paid for their time.
In an age of “free information”, individuals trade personal time in order to be informed.
For individuals, “being informed” is a form of unpaid labor. Most people stop updating their worldview in their early twenties. Their lives get busy and something has to be cut back on.
An amazing number of people (about 22%) get all their news from late night comics.
It takes time for cultural attitudes to catch up to scientific realities. Cultural paradigm shifts usually tend to be generational.
After you educate a generation in their teens with a new idea, with a new paradigm, a new way of seeing the world. You have to wait about 30 years before they become the prevailing cultural norm.
You understand Autism because you put in the time to be informed. Most people don't want to do that. Sadly from your example two, even parents of an Autistic daughter.
I'm not sure how I feel about your response. It feels overly militant and hostile. I see you as "bristling" with spines in my head.
At the same time I share and understand your anger at these attitudes. I spent most of my life masking my Autism and trying to pass as normal.
Things are so different for your generation.
I wrote a few things about my childhood experiences with Autism and my family. I would be very interested in your response to this piece.
My Autistic Life — 02 : Reading may be Fundamental, but it's not Natural.
It's a meditation on how we learn to read.
Don't read this one unless you want to be Angry.
Because I was a “retard”, my father had me sterilized.
Addendum:
I edit and revise multiple times before posting most things. Very few people get my unfiltered writing. This is me "slightly unfiltered".
