Published on 12, July, 2020
"That's not autism. Everyone gets anxious in social situations."
"You can't have Asperger's. You work in care."
"What's your special talent?"
"But you don't look autistic."
"Autistic people have no imagination, but you're highly imaginative."
"I'm only joking! Don't take everything so seriously."
"But you have a sense of humour."
"You do keep going on about it."
"Why are you doing it that way?"
"But you seem friendly enough."
"I haven't finished speaking yet."
"Hello? Is anybody there? Are you listening to me?"
"I shouldn't keep having to explain this to you."
Quite!
I'm 1m95. People get a scare when I'm behind them where they didn't expect me.
I decided NT people should be treated with due care. They have a mental set of shades that allows them to see the world in a way that protects their brains. And for sure they're not all nice people who happen to be just a bit flustered with your odd behavior. So I would prefer not to bring it up. Also not to friendly co-workers.
Your superpower could be one of these:
- you don't feel the need to get a brand of coffee because some Cloony actor tells you to.
- you see bugs in computerprograms because you read what's there, not what should be
- you can either not have an opinion, or a very well informed one
Well said, MDC. Never felt the need to do what advertising tells me I should do. Always finding faults in the system that others tell me is right. Black or white on opinions - but very hot on subjects that mean a lot to me.
Somebody told me the analogy with colorblind people. In the second world war, these people were liked a lot, because they were able to tell you there was a camouflaged tank over there in the woods. They noticed something 'odd' where normal people would not. I'm not sure if the story is true or not (fac(k)ebook news)... but having autism feels a bit like being colorblind in this respect.
On the other hand... in the land of the blind, one-eye is the annoying guy who tells you about rainbows and other nonsense... many colorblind soldiers probably failed to warn their comrades...