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autism in different cultures

electra

I've been having an email discussion with an NT friend on how to overcome the problems I'm having at work. Now retired, he held a very senior position in the finance sector and said the worst clash of communication styles he had to deal wih was between a Dutch man and a Chinese woman. The Dutch man was very direct and the Chinese woman preferred more nuanced communication, misunderstandings and conflicts abounded.

But this got me thinking: with regard to communication, do autistic people have an easier time in Holland where people are typically more direct than us or are they more blunt than their countrymen and so still have the same problems? Conversely do autistic Chinese people find more barriers to comunication in China where etiquette and politeness matter more?

Parents

  • I think it helped me that schools were quiet. We did most of our lessons in silence, listening to a teacher.

    However, I did not fit in very well. I could not answer the class register at all during my first year at school. At junior school, I remember being"sent to coventry"by my class mates, for those unfamiliar, the whole class refused to speak to me for several days. I also had problems understanding things I was told to do and obeying rules. I was frequently in trouble, and was told at one point age 16, that people like me were not welcome in their school. I grovelled a lot, and was taken back. I had also been discouraged from applying for certain school trips. I never let that get to full confrontation, just avoided the situation. 

    I always assumed that, at secondary school, it was a social class barrier. My father was working class and most at my school were middle class. Now, I think it was my asd.

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  • I think it helped me that schools were quiet. We did most of our lessons in silence, listening to a teacher.

    However, I did not fit in very well. I could not answer the class register at all during my first year at school. At junior school, I remember being"sent to coventry"by my class mates, for those unfamiliar, the whole class refused to speak to me for several days. I also had problems understanding things I was told to do and obeying rules. I was frequently in trouble, and was told at one point age 16, that people like me were not welcome in their school. I grovelled a lot, and was taken back. I had also been discouraged from applying for certain school trips. I never let that get to full confrontation, just avoided the situation. 

    I always assumed that, at secondary school, it was a social class barrier. My father was working class and most at my school were middle class. Now, I think it was my asd.

Children
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