Published on 12, July, 2020
I've been wanting to write this for about three years pretty much ever since I joined the forum, but thought it might be a bit triggering for some.
Now I'm on moderation I guess, IS the time to do it, because if I say anything that is wrongspeak, then at least it might get filtered before I upset anyone.
This thought was triggered many, many years ago when my child was not in her thirties, and we were watching a cartoon and the villain of the piece started to talk about his frustrating life and upbringing etc. and I recognised my own circumstances! All the things that cartoon villain (and many more screen villains before him) described had been a part of my upbringing, and I'd felt the urge to crush, kill, destroy just like they report, but in my case I found that sort of thing to be really unsatisfying and not the life I wanted to lead lead (or role I wanted to pay?) So evil villainly became a part of my character rather than the whole thing.
Now to be honest, there are some people here, who lack my ineffably sunny disposition ( Oh that's funny! One of my best..) and may actually be bad guys, but would they know it? Certainly my experience is some of the worst things I've done, I was quite convinced were righteous at the time...
Then there's the way N.T's react to us and then interact with us.
Do THEY see us as the good guys?.
I find this unsettling to contemplate, but today as I read some current events that are happening in the states, where much is being made of the perpetrators Autism diagnosis, and see the discussion starting to happen in "mainstream" (by my standards) media I think we ought to ask oursleves some searching questions about the nature of Autism and have asome answers ready for anyone who ask before we get further marginalised as a group.
I commend, and salute you, for the considered methodology and timing of this "charged" interjection.
Beyond that commendation.....I will need time to read, and reflect upon, both your OP and the comments from our esteemed compadres below.
I will be back to this.....it is a very important moot that you have raised. I have missed you being around Mr Isperg.
To be honest this actually got written whilst I was on moderation but I let it sit for a while, and then posted afterwards, when I was off moderation, but I did mail them, and ask if they'd give it the once over.
And to be fair the question has been on my mind for a long time. I'm still certain it is a fair one to ask.
OK.....so I've read and reflected.
I'm sure some people who do bad things, either do so;
a) knowing that the things are bad.
b) thinking that those bad things are righteous.
c) having no apparent conscience, so presumably don't give a hoot either way.
d) not bothering to think too hard about whether things are good or bad.
e) intentionally - for whatever reasons they have.
f) unintentionally - for whatever causes exist.
g) by compulsion - for whatever reasons they have.
This is not an exhaustive list, and neither are items on the list mutually exclusive - ie more than one can apply in any given situation..
I really don't think that autism has any special or peculiar bearing on which of these possible "reasons" apply to a perpetrator of "bad things" any more than any other influence.
Furthermore, whether a human observer to these "bad things" is autistic, otherwise ND or generally NT, then "human nature" will always cause the observer to want to try and understand why the "bad things" have happened and will look for identifiable "features" of the perpetrator or identifiable "features" of the circumstances surrounding those "bad things."
I think this matter is universal to the human condition - whether as a perpetrator or as an observer.
I think these things have nowt to do with autism.
Just my opinion.....as always.