I enjoy what Temple Grandin and John Elder Robison write with their direct method of communication in “pulling no punches” about the challenges and advantages of living on the spectrum.
I also found another person writing about living without a label on “a spectrum” and many things associated with it, equally, if not more impressive in what I can relate to as a spectrum.
What I write below, in a way, is a tribute to that person:
I enjoyed your article, and was having difficulty too, understanding what the “Neurotypical Privilege" comment meant, but it seems to be along the lines of the pejorative phrase "Uncle Tom", which I have seen thrown around in some places in online Autism Communities. Alternatively, Gay people staying in the closet, to gain what some might describe as "straight privilege"
Your analogy of the "non-flamboyant" homosexual male mind living in the female body, in one of the links in your article, is reported similarly by some people online per a "non-butch" homosexual female mind living in a male body.
I cannot help but to think that could be an interesting hormonal driven neurodevelopmental difference that in some part is at the core of what makes up online autism communities, as well as many people to date diagnosed with either PDDNOS or Asperger's Syndrome.
There is a popular therapist in my area specializing in Asperger's syndrome. She identifies Androgyny as a common element in her many years of clinical experience.
Androgyny is not one of those things a person can easily mask. It is a neurological and morphological difference following one through the course of a lifetime that often becomes more evident after puberty.
Androgyny can be an issue where self-acceptance is a big part of a solution in potential life-long internal conflicts in differing expressions of two biological genders sharing one body.
I have never particularly identified with a gender, and no longer try to fit a role. That is one advantage of the online experience, which I think is an attractive option for young people to escape that source of potential inner conflict and just be who they are behind an avatar.
It boggles my mind in trying to figure what the privilege is in having a “gay mind’ and a “straight body”. I do not think that is a "choice" either. It is the farthest thing from typical neurology that I can imagine. :)
However, in all the people I have come across in my lifetime, which is thousands, in working with the public for two decades, those with that type of a-typical neurological/morphological difference, have been some of the most tolerant and accepting of differences in others, that I have come across.
I guess that is part of the "reason'' the gene pool continues to keep them around, as they often accept others for who they are, and can be valued supporting players, even if they do not get around to reproducing. :)
Maybe there is an advantage in having little to no privilege, living center in a much larger spectrum of biological gender difference.
Perhaps it is, most often, the advantage of others or what one might describe as unusual altruism.
Perhaps as far as a type of "Eusocial Primate”.
Maybe just a metaphor or maybe not.
Nevertheless, one not easily forgotten. :) Additional information associated with Androgyny and 2D/4D Digit Ratio:
I purchased the book and found it to be one of the most balanced accounts about relationships and Asperger's syndrome that I have come across. It is certainly not the only one, and much different from some of the other books associated with relationships and Asperger's.
The author used the terms Aspergerian, Aspie, and Autistic to describe people diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome and stated some refer to themselves as Aspergerian or Aspie, but did not suggest that the majority do.
I did a recent informal poll on the Wrong Planet Website, under my user name Aghogday, linked below, and out of over 100 people, there was close to 20% identifying as autistic, about 20% identifying as Aspie, and the rest identifying with neutral or other identification that was not disability/condition first identity.
In addition, out of most of the polls done there recently about a third of individuals are looking for cures for their difficulties on the spectrum. They can feel more comfortable talking about that there now because people have become more supportive of differences of opinions, overall, on the cure vs. anti-cure ideologies. http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt225205.html
The Author referred to the couple's identification with "Aspie Pride". There is certainly, historically, in the last decade, been a strong element against research to mitigate the impairments associated with Asperger's syndrome among some who identify as part of a “so called” "Aspie Pride Movement".
In fact, John Elder Robison, was labeled as a "TMS spammer" in his profile, in one "Aspie Pride online community" for discussing the potential of TMS as a therapy, as discussed in the book in mitigating impairment in connecting with others.
However, since that time, a few years ago, that site has become more supportive of differences of opinions on these types of issues.
There is no wide agreement on what "neurodiversity" means, which is not necessarily the same concept as "Aspie Pride" that was discussed in the book.
As an example, some people allow schizophrenics in their interpretation of the "neurodiversity spectrum" while others do not. Some others suggest that every human is part of it. According to what Wiki has been able to surmise the "neurodiversity movement" is centered on an anti-cure ideology, which dismisses the medical model of disability.
Both models apply in Autism, as the major genetic causal factor identified for Autism at this point in time is Fragile X syndrome in about 5% of the spectrum, where a genetic mutation resulting in a difficulty with protein synthesis has been reported along with promising research to "cure" or "remediate" associated impairments.
That is just one example of a subgroup of the spectrum where underlying factors associated with identified behavioral impairments are much different from what may underlie similar defined and observed behavioral impairments described as an autism spectrum disorder, in other subgroups on the spectrum.
While some people define the word "cure" in the historical context of the term, as a complete remedy for an illness, the modern medical definition of cure is more reasonable as one that does include mitigation of symptoms. http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/cure
The complexity of disease and/or disorder and limitation of "cure" is more fully understood as a result of modern medical research.
The organization that Plank broke the barrier to work with, along with Robison and others identifies the needs of "cure" in alignment with the modern medical definition of the word, including elements of psychological well-being that may result from improved acceptance and support.
The statement that some are looking for cures through research and some are looking for acceptance and support, with an understanding of the differences of actual difficulties and needs across the full spectrum, was not an unreasonable description given by the author among those that have a balanced view of the spectrum.
The author referred to discussions of Alex Plank creating an Aspie dating site, after he had created the Wrong Planet website.
The Wrong Planet Website is not a dating site but there are discussions about love, dating, and issues people have with it that are important for support. Some people may find offline relationships there, as in any other social networking site.
"Aspie Affection" created by Plank is a dating site, and is what was referred to per the statement about creating a dating site for people diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome in the book. It is rarely discussed on the wrong planet website site, but there are "Google Adsense" advertisements for it, if one does not have an "Ad blocker” in their browser.
In general, dating sites on the internet can be a risky proposition, but the same was true in the dancing bars and other bars in real life, that were more prevalent, last century in the "real world".
While some people may be looking for another person on the spectrum to date, for others an on and off the broader autism phenotype type of relationship can be a very complementary one, with much different ways of thinking, as opposites often do attract. :)
The wrong planet website offers a great deal of support for people of all orientations of gender and sexual orientation, many of who are not looking to date at all.
Many people on the spectrum are not comfortable communicating on blogs or Facebook. It is unfortunate that the "Wrong Planet website" does not receive the same type of awareness of existence as the much larger social media arenas that have the "Facebook advantage" of sharing information.
Never the less, over 70K registered members is good evidence of a good word of mouth advertisement that the site does exist for some. Along with sites like the "Thinking Person's Guide to Autism", that highlight it on their cover page, as an excellent support site that does meet the needs of support for some people on the spectrum.
The Wrong Planet website is also a valuable resource of Google search on almost any Autism subject, for a comprehensive view from people on the spectrum for those off the spectrum to come to know how diverse it is in different ways of thinking, perspectives, and symptoms that make up a full spectrum of diversity.
This is one area of advantage that Facebook does not provide as Google searches usually end up in a dead end result on the top of a cover page, and not directed at an actual topic of interest or information.
I suspect that this will change soon for Facebook, as it is steadily becoming a massive social resource for blogging and interactive discussion, instead of just a place for social connection, organizational awareness, and comment. Timeline was the first real step in that direction. I also suspect it will not be long before Google succumbs and becomes the official search engine instead of the comparatively weak search resource of "Bing".
If Facebook and Google can reach a compromise perhaps more people with an anti-cure ideology and a cure-ideology can reach additional compromise too, as illustrated well in the book through the philosophy of Jack, Kirsten, Plank, Robison, and many others that have found points of agreement or tolerance on issues of controversy associated with the different ideologies.
Autism, the Internet and "Ideological First Identity", a Collection of Thoughts:
