Being part of the autistic community

Hard for me to comment on any of these three communities that you mention, because I am not part of any of them.

I am merely a part of this particular forum community here - and frustration is the main emotion that it induces within me these days.

The first 12-18 months of me becoming accepted and integrated into this forum community felt connective and reassuring - I discovered that "me" was not as "otherly" as I had once thought - because other people kindly shared their personal thoughts and experiences of the world around them, as autistic people.  I discovered overwhelming criss-crosses of common ground.....and this made me happy.

I was eventually able to connect directly with some people who valued the mutual ability to discuss ANYTHING without fear or favour, safe in the knowledge of our shared autistic challenges, although the precise colour, volume and tone of those challenges are often very different.

Personally, I feel that being autistic makes membership of any "shared community" VERY hard, whether that be an "autistic community" or any other type of community that you care to mention.

It is interesting to see that you feel the "autistic community" is harder for you than the other two that you mention.  Thanks for sharing that.  I love to learn.

It's more psychologically demanding. Some people are at their best in such an environment/situation I'm the complete opposite. I constantly worry about saying something that  will result in the disapproval of those self appointed gatekeepers of how an autistic person should be.

As Iain says.....I get you too regarding this statement;

Unknown said:

I constantly worry about saying something that  will result in the disapproval of those self appointed gatekeepers of how an autistic person should be.

.....but with me, compared to you and your statement, I can substitute the word "worry" for "feel frustration."

Iain states that his approach is to "push back"....whereas with me, I  tend just to hold back and say nowt because I get even MORE frustrated becoming embroiled in a fruitless tit-for-tat of opinion......often where EVIDENCE is demanded of me for whatever my opinion or understanding is.

I don't understand the concept of "irrefutable" in the same way that so many others appear to do.  Talk of the "current zeitgeist" as the new irrefutable "truth" seems a bit ridiculous to me......because it changes so very much over such very short periods of time these days.

As Iain says.....I get you too regarding this statement;

Unknown said:

I constantly worry about saying something that  will result in the disapproval of those self appointed gatekeepers of how an autistic person should be.

.....but with me, compared to you and your statement, I can substitute the word "worry" for "feel frustration."

Iain states that his approach is to "push back"....whereas with me, I  tend just to hold back and say nowt because I get even MORE frustrated becoming embroiled in a fruitless tit-for-tat of opinion......often where EVIDENCE is demanded of me for whatever my opinion or understanding is.

I don't understand the concept of "irrefutable" in the same way that so many others appear to do.  Talk of the "current zeitgeist" as the new irrefutable "truth" seems a bit ridiculous to me......because it changes so very much over such very short periods of time these days.