Leaving the site.

Although it's pointless commenting now the OP has left, they did seem to have resistance to seeing things from any other perspective, which is a shame because some of us did try to engage with them.

As Tassimo mentioned, many people come in, get angry or frustrated, and then leave. I must confess, I even got bored myself. I couldn't wrap my head around why so many here are depressed and anxious all the time, but then, I'm angry, frustrated, or ambivalent much of the time. Different experiences, different perspectives, different manifestations of our conditions.

As Martin mentioned, and many seem to forget, a narrow field of view is a particularly common and strong trait of autism. To be honest, the few autistic people I've met can be some of the most frustrating to have a discussion with because of, well, autism. But that's also what makes it interesting.

That's why I always mention perspective and perception, partly also to remind myself that it isn't all about me. Actually, it is all about me, hahaha 

It seems some people come in demanding to be helped, blame the world for everything, but either refuse the help people on here try to offer, or don't actually want to be helped at all.

I have been combative, aggressive, nihilistic at times in my life, but even I am dismayed at some of the anger and hatred that is sometimes expressed on the forum.

And as KikiCat said, all we have to do is take a break, calm down a bit, find some distractions elsewhere, then come back when we're ready to engage again.

Sometimes, we have to look at ourselves really hard and ask whether, even in some very small way, we might actually be part of our own problem. I mean, not all of my problems are caused by the world around me...

I think the OP might have also mistaken this place for Reddit or Twitter, hahahaaa.

I think the OP might have also mistaken this place for Reddit or Twitter, hahahaaa.

doubtful, you cant post anything on twitter without being banned outright. twitter is the sound of complete silence as you cant post anything without being hit by the ban hammer.

I think the OP might have also mistaken this place for Reddit or Twitter, hahahaaa.

doubtful, you cant post anything on twitter without being banned outright. twitter is the sound of complete silence as you cant post anything without being hit by the ban hammer.

I Sperg said:

People get agitated about the really, really, small stuff now.

Well increasing levels of 'normalised abuse' are taking people away from being comfortably numb and dumb about it ~ all the way up to experiencing excruciatingly red raw and sore levels of ringing-stinging agony about it now.

Martin said:

After a while, one gets a ineradicable fence-top indentation in the hindquarters. Possibly the only drawback.

I take the more comfortable position of wondering peacefully along proverbial alleyways or relaxing in contemplative gardens between the fences.

Or if one feels more proactive perhaps ~ sit comfortably like as do umpire's at tennis matches, and call, "OUT! ~ 2 SQUARES; 4 RECTANGLES!" when people are as if arguing (in absolute 'all-or-nothing' terms) that a cuboid block (representing the subject matter) has only a single square or only a single rectangle as being it's entire surface area.

Martin said:

Autistic humans are still humans, to expect superior beings is probably unrealistic.

I am not a 'human' myself but I am though a human 'being', and the only thing realistic about 'survival of the elitist' delusions as opposed to natural and actual selection without coercion ~ is the compound and compounding issues that result from 'excessive competition' and 'regressive cooperation'.

As a former cell biologist, I too think of the body as a machine; a soft, squishy machine that is incredibly complex, but still obeys all the physical and chemical rules of the universe.

Martin said:

After a while, one gets a ineradicable fence-top indentation in the hindquarters. Possibly the only drawback

Not if one balances a comfy chair on top of said fence, but it's a somewhat precarious situation with the risk of toppling into one side, or the other. 

Martin said:

Autistic humans are still humans, to expect superior beings is probably unrealistic.

Indeed. That's how I think about things. Humans do what humans do, what animals do, it's in our nature, we are animals after all. 

But we do have the mental capacity as a species to try to circumvent our natural animal behaviours, to a certain degree.

I'm no scientist, but I think that's why I get more comfort reading about neurobiology and neurochemistry etc to try to understand what is actually going on inside. When I was young, I imagined myself as a robot or android, and I see the body in some ways as a biological machine. So understanding some of the machinery helps me understand myself a bit better.

Very true. So much is automated now that we have little to intellectually challenge us. I regularly feel 'intellectually challenged' - that's how my good friends describe me too sometimes, ha ha.

'ineradicable' - a new word for me! Lovely word too - thank you.

After a while, one gets a ineradicable fence-top indentation in the hindquarters. Possibly the only drawback. Autistic humans are still humans, to expect superior beings is probably unrealistic.

Yes, Yes.

I was looking for cool reflection and supportive information when I was finding out about ASC, but I soon began to realise that it potentially was just another tribe, with infighting, and outfighting. That was exactly what I was trying to get away from with my diagnosis, and find more understanding.

The irony is, a facet of autism has a slant toward a narrowing of interests. I suppose it makes sense why certain bodies are concerned about the connection between autism and radicalisation, for example.

Anyway, yeah, I do tend to focus too much on the smaller details, but I also spend a lot of time pondering the bigger picture.

The problem is, I completely miss the middle bit, the bit where people actually exist and interact, hahaha.

Good point, but I was generalizing, as I am wont to do 

I suppose it depends which topics we are reading on Reddit etc. I wasn't specifically referring to the autism subs. There is some good info on Reddit, but there are also a lot of argumentative people who seem to jump in without fully thinking things through.

This forum is somewhat limited, but it doesn't seem to be as chaotic and noisy as some others.

Anyway, my comment wasn't really about various social media platforms, it is was more about having a rather narrow mindset wherein a person only sees, or wants to see, a particular reality. The autism/neurodivergent 'community' seemingly has  a predilection for maintaining the US and THEM mentality. I know there really are in-groups and out-groups, and people can be mean or abusive, and people do have real difficulties and real struggles, but maintaining this us/them line of thinking really doesn't help anybody.

I've been like that, it doesn't really help and it doesn't really work. And it clouds reasonable thought and reasonable discussion.

But I decided a long time ago to sit on the fence and watch as various sides squabble with each other.

People get agitated about the really small stuff because they have little else to think about. In the not so distant past, living was often a struggle to survive, whereas now it's more often a struggle to remember online passwords.

That's interesting you think that. I suggested Reddit to the OP because of it's much wider reach - there's something for everyone and even if you can't find what you want you can create your own sub-forum on it (with rules and stuff).  Currently, there's about 12 boards with 'aspergers, autism, neurodiversity,' or similar in the sub forum communities - many are very kind, some are silly, some are horrible. There's just more choice. Not knocking this discussion forum at all - this one is different and there's good and sometimes immediate links if you need help. I just wish I could make the font bigger and have wider spacing when I type but I can live with that.  I am very aware that the written word can be interpreted in different ways by different eyes.

I went to the aspergers thread on reddit when I was first informally tested, and came away thinking "Good God, I don't; want that, any full blown mental illness you can think of, seems to be a symptom for those poor sods"... I really did.

And of course we are all immersed in a society where we are actively experimentng with "double think" and "wrongspeech" for some reason. People get agitated about the really, really, small stuff now.

Haha, yeah, I was joking.

I meant it in the context of the irrational and combative tone of some of their comments. 

I haven't been on Twitter in ages because it seems impossible for it not to turn into some kind of sh*tshow.