I have quite limited experience interacting directly with other autistic people. other, that is, than members of my family. I have found that autistic people can be as unaware of how things may affect other autistic people as many allistics are. A couple of years ago I went to an Autistic Pride event, which was a picnic in a park. When I turned up, I was quizzed as to why I had turned up without picnic food, to something labelled 'a picnic'. The answers being: it was the first such event I had ever been to, I had no idea what sort of food was appropriate, I arrived by bus (2 buses) and did not want to be carrying lots of food with me and I didn't know the area and what sort of food shops were nearby. In the face of such levels of uncertainty, I decided to have lunch before I arrived and not eat any food at the picnic. I think a fairly standard autistic reaction to uncertainty, in eliminating as much of the uncertainty as possible. In the event I didn't articulate these factors, just mumbled something and felt rather deflated.
I did enjoy the event, especially talking to other autistic people, however. I just thought that the person who quizzed me could have been more accepting of a different interpretation of what the event was about.
I have quite limited experience interacting directly with other autistic people. other, that is, than members of my family. I have found that autistic people can be as unaware of how things may affect other autistic people as many allistics are. A couple of years ago I went to an Autistic Pride event, which was a picnic in a park. When I turned up, I was quizzed as to why I had turned up without picnic food, to something labelled 'a picnic'. The answers being: it was the first such event I had ever been to, I had no idea what sort of food was appropriate, I arrived by bus (2 buses) and did not want to be carrying lots of food with me and I didn't know the area and what sort of food shops were nearby. In the face of such levels of uncertainty, I decided to have lunch before I arrived and not eat any food at the picnic. I think a fairly standard autistic reaction to uncertainty, in eliminating as much of the uncertainty as possible. In the event I didn't articulate these factors, just mumbled something and felt rather deflated.
I did enjoy the event, especially talking to other autistic people, however. I just thought that the person who quizzed me could have been more accepting of a different interpretation of what the event was about.
