Do You Believe in Neurodiversity?

I think you have hit the nail right on the head there. There seem to be many forms of transitory happiness, that which comes from getting a new job, a new thing, a new lover, getting one up on an adversary etc. But they all quickly fade, and if you chase those feelings it's like chasing a drug high. In my view the effort involved in the chasing rarely is balanced by the achievable happiness. 

In short happiness goes up and down (I think because it is reliant on external events) but contentment comes from within, so tends to stay with you once you have achieved it. 

From my perspective our lives today seem to allow the pursuit pf happiness whilst doing it's best via advertising and such like forces to destroy your sense of contentment.

As for the OP's original question, It's very hard not to believe in Neurodiversity when you get treated differently to most people and always seem to be on the end of some "double standard" for a handful of decades...  The question for us Spergs, Aspies and Autists gathered here in this internet refuge, surely is; "What are we going to do about it?"...

I agree with you "denial of" would of been a better way of putting it.

I get that. And I absolutely agree.

same. a lot of autistic people think like that! essentially i view nt's as a bit thick they are all chasing after the same stupid lifestyle. not to discriminate that's just how i often feel. in particular the wacky socialising techniques they use (inpressoin over person with literally thousands of unspoken rules) are utterly baffling.

Well to be fair in the 1970s autism is completely pathologised with no acceptance so there are benefits of living in the modern era

yeah hacking forever

Great post this. I don't think the its something to believe in or not it's something that you can be in denial of or not. there is nothing at all to suggest scientifically that autism is an abnormality or defection, even the most stereotypical research papers are clearly just describing differences. To suggest that over 1% of the population have always been defective for the past thousands of years is actually absurd, in particular in light of the great contributions  autistic people have made to science and a happy fulfilling and different lives they can lead.

in a sense the anti-autistic movement is no different to any other form of discrimination the same as trying to make black people white or cure homosexuality, or persecute people with certain beliefs or religions.

On the topic of 'happy' - I've explored this a little and it's usually a temporary state.

Some philosophies recommend seeking contentment rather than happiness itself, because this is a different, more permanent type of happiness. Perhaps this is a different state than 'happy' implies, but if happy is just feeling good or even only okay, then contentment would be the same. It's a LOT easier to achieve a feeling of contentment (e.g. keeping a gratitude journal is one practice that can help this).

So I believe 'perfectly happy' is just one of those phrases that is about a myth, rather than a reality. Perfect doesn't really exist.

However (I'm definitely waffling now!) 'perfectly imperfect' is one of my favourite phrases. It's something that I need to ponder each time I come across it, but it reminds me of something I feel is true: that imperfection is full of more joy than perfection, which I find a little dull. 

Yes, I love what you wrote - that's how I see things, too.

Oh! Oh! I may not have too much of an insightful view on this whole thing, but I just talked about something similar a few days ago with my friend. Like, in my opinion, it's impossible for anyone to be like "perfectly normal" or "perfectly happy"? I don't really... Understand it? Do neurotypical people really exist? I'm sure everyone struggles with something, so yeah? Why are some people considered "typical"? I don't know, in my opinion, humans are suuuuuch complex creatures, putting them in any boxes or giving labels just makes no sense to me... But again, that's just how I view it!

Mantra,

Your not alone on this view, I haven't believed in the existence of normal people ever since I were told everyone is different, as you know when people are in standard norms they're pretending to be someone they're not.

I believe all nature has a harmonious relationship, that not just humans but all we see around us is connected as one, like we need green life for oxygen and green life needs carbon dioxide from us to survive, one can't survive without the other.

I do think neurodiversity exists, but neurotypical is a myth. I say this because there is such a vast array of differences between individuals that I believe the idea of 'normal' is harmful.

If you look at any type of animal in nature, you have those that are more unique and those that are more common, those that are highly adapted to their specific environment and those that have generalised their strengths. Even autism is unique in each individual. There are not such clearly defined edges in nature (nature includes brains!)

I may be one of very few who see things this way, though. It is probably not a popular viewpoint since it means holding two contradictory beliefs at the same time. One is that we are unique, the other is that we are all one.

I definitely agree with the neurodiversity paradigm as autism is a neurological processing difference. I think the neurodiversity paradigm is really important to enable people to accept that everyone thinks differently and these differences bring both strengths and weaknesses. I think being autistic is really positive and the term neurodiversity helps people to embrace diversity generally. Also, autism is only perceived negatively because the majority of the population is neurotypical and therefore autism is different from the so called ‘norm’. It is personally really useful to understand that my brain is actually wired differently and that affects my entire perception and interaction with the world.

Some nights it's really clear especially in winter a few times its been clear enough to see satellites 

Have you got good dark skies near you?

Differently-Abled is exactly how the author PhD. Thomas Armstrong explained it and said these conditions can be part of "The Human-Ability Spectrum".

Just reading and enjoying Jennifer Cook O'Toole's book, Autism in Heels. She's bringing up a lot of the ideas in this thread. What does average mean any way? Aren't we all a human spectrum, with people with autism at one place in the continuum of it in some respects, blending at the edges into other places?

And I absolutely agree, Daniel, there is no one correct way to develop neurologically. 

Yes, I believe in diversity. Who wants to live on a planet where are all the same? We would never grow. The suffering seems to come from a failure of society to appreciate differences of all kinds of things that make us what we are as individuals (neurological make up, sexuality  gender, race...) not from the mere fact of having an attribute which is less common or less accepted.

And the concept of autistic spectrum even, whilst useful, still can't capture all of the potential diversity and bleeds out from the boundaries of the diagnostic criteria to a whole range of other folks whose brains are "sub-spectrum" on a point or two for a diagnosis, but who have traits which mean they aren't exactly "neuro typical" either, and share some of the gifts and challenges nonetheless. 

I await a diagnosis still. But I know I'm a long way from the neurological mean point of the general population, whatever that means. I've had a diagnosis of dyslexia since my teens. It is objective fact that have so many life long sensory issues that I'm going to my assessment not with the question 'are my senses different?', but 'why are my senses different?'. I'll leave it to them to tell me whether, when they take into account the cognitive, behavioral and social stuff, it is autism or something else. I think it probable I am autistic, maybe I am "sub-spectrum" with some strong traits in a few areas, maybe it's an entirely different neurological issue...but whatever it is, I am not neurologically "average" and am sitting on some less usual point of the spectrum of all potential human neuro diversity somewhere.

Thank you, Daniel. I understand now. It's a bit like the theory that no one is dis-abled and that we are all differently-abled.

If you look right down at the actual problem ,the base or start of the issue ,it is the need for control .

You can't control a population who think outside the box ,who don't react the same .

This then has been made necessary by the massive increase in population over the last 150 years .

I don't want to keep up with the neighbours ,have a 9 to 5 job ,mortgage , sit on a beach in a spanish resort , buy loads of cloths ,have a flash car . I question what i hear .I see things from a different perspective . So the authoritys have very little control ,other than label me and lock me up . I'M Neurodiverse  ,havn't had a diagonises yet so don't now what label they would put on me ,but certainly not average.

There's a quote I have in my head I can't remember where it's from but it goes something like... 

"I was born to early to explore the stars but born to late to explore the earth"

That often pops into my head especially when i sit outside at night and watch the stars