Published on 12, July, 2020
I found this article on a routine Google search using the search term 'Autism and anomie'.
It's ten years old now and may be a bit dated. It also, perhaps, doesn't really tell us anything we don't already know. It's 'academic', I'm afraid, so has the usual jargon.
Worth a read, though...
"It's like you are just a spectator in this thing"
I'd be interested to hear opinions...
Interesting, I thought, to read of our experiences from more of a sociological than a psychological perspective.
I was especially interested when it came to the interviews with couples, one of whom was NT and the other ND, and the lack of emotional reciprocity that was often found. One Aspie man was told by a marriage guidance counsellor that he should consider his wife's feelings more. He replied that he would - but he didn't always understand what they were, even when she explained them. Quite!
Fascinating article, thanks for sharing. It led me on to this, which I think you might find interesting too:
‘FILLING IN THE GAPS’: A MICRO-SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF AUTISM by Damian E M Milton
www.larry-arnold.net/.../pdf
I changed primary school for a year and got into huge difficulties over the way I wrote 'S' Looking back on it the fuss they made was ridiculous!
Yes, I picked up on that, too. I've always been led to believe that I 'lack' theory of mind - or the NT 'sixth sense' - or that it's a deficiency instead of simply a different set of perceptions and responses. As you say, when you're in the majority, it's easy to 'repair' any breach.
That's why I became so messed up at primary school, over that issue with writing the figure '3'. I knew what a 3 looked like, and I knew I had drawn it correctly. But the teacher - the person of authority in the room - was saying I was wrong. And the rest of the class seemed to be agreeing with her. Maybe some of them were as confused as I was by what she was saying, but by then the 'group' principle had taken over. We'll agree with the authority figure. Because it's easier that way - rather than trying to defend the minority.
A point made really well in this article is that 'theory of mind' deficit model blames autistic people for any failure in communication with NTs:
Rather than lacking a ‘theory of mind’, it is argued here that due to differences in the way autistic people process information, they are not socialised into the same shared ‘ethno’ as ‘neurotypical’ people, and thus ‘breaches’ in understanding happen all the time, leaving both in a state of confusion. The difference is that the neurotypical person can repair the breach, by the reassuring belief that approximately 99 out of 100 people still think and act like they do, and remind themselves that they are the ‘normal’ ones. For McGeer (2004) the ‘theory of mind’ deficit model of autism is a one-sided asymmetrical view of two people failing to understand one another, with the personal accounts of those diagnosed showing that the supposed lack of subjective awareness of self and others is simply untrue.
Sara Ryan is amazing - I have been following her on twitter for some time. In the back of my mind I knew she was linked with Oxford Uni but I still didn't connect her with this article. How great that you got in touch with her. She battled fearlessly to get justice for LB (Connor) and is carrying on the fight for others.
Oh gosh! I can't believe this.
I actually used the email address on the article to write to her to talk about the 'safe spaces' issue, and how computers (often seen as safe for Aspies because they eliminate the need for face-to-face and proper social interaction) aren't quite as 'safe' as they used to be. I used my example of the work colleague to make the point. Cyber-bullying, too.
I then went to the Oxford University site to look her up. And she's the mother of Connor Sparrowhawk.
I can't believe it.