Please bear with me. Sometimes, in order to make a point it is necessary to make a few generalizations which some people (including me) might take exception to.
A major challenge in self-advocacy is that sometimes to get one's voice heard in society it takes group dynamics, organization, and sometimes "safety in numbers". I've heard the expression more than once that organizing Autistic people is like herding cats- in other words, it can be done, but it can be a challenge. (I tend to gravitate more toward canines myself but that's beside the point.) By their very nature people on the spectrum tend to be rather independent in their thinking and not as given to the "herd mentality" common in the rest of society. I'm not implying that this makes Autistic people superior or inferior to the rest of society. It's just a general observation. This also can cause Autistic people to be mistaken as selfish, especially in environments where there is a fear of individualism. There are however growing organizations of self-advocates and many popping up organically. I think part of the secret to success is for organizations to accept that they are just collections of individuals working toward a common cause and not monolithic "cults". Unfortunately, not even Autistic people are immune to the "us vs. them" mentality that has always plagued humanity; and yes, the "Autistic/Aspergers community" can have it's own version of cliques, elites, hierarchies/pecking orders, selectiveness, and internal divisions just as there can be anywhere in society. No matter how united any group of people can be if they were all put on a deserted island where there won't be any "them" to disturb "us" anymore, people will usually end up finding other scapegoats and invent new "us vs. them" paradigms.
To be honest most of my contact with others on the spectrum is either online or through organizations where I travel out of town to meet with people. I was never part of the "Aspie" subculture though I have nothing against it. It would always be nice to meet more people in a similar predicament to mine, but I don't even live in a large enough metropolitan area for there to be large subcultures. Where I live it is a blue-collar "rust-belt" area where people tend to associate with those they grew up with and where there a clannish mentality. People here as in a lot of other deeply rooted regions seem to draw harsher lines between "acquaintance" and "friend". Northern Pennsylvania was historically settled by New Englanders of Puritan decent before heavy industry changed the demographics in the 1800's. I do still sense a slight vibe of "Yankee stoicism" here and there. I do have a few friends whom I've had for years and a decent amount of casual acquaintances with rather blurry lines between the two categories. I might not always seem to be the most outgoing guy, but ironically I can be more approachable and open to conversation with strangers than many neurotypical people here in the Northeastern US (though it helps when others approach me first and depends on a lot of other things). I do tend to do a lot of things on my own but I'm still lean toward the social end of the spectrum. In general I don't find "neurotypical" people any more or less hard to get along with than other Autistic people and I enjoy working with both on advocacy issues. I prefer dialogue and communication over isolation.
As to not go too far off on a tangent, the natural aversion many on the Autism spectrum have to the "herd mentality" is a double edged sword in that on one hand it can make group organizing a challenge, but it can also make way for a lot of original ideas and viewpoints that are less affected by bias and group-think.
And of course, cats can cooperate as seen with my friend's cats to the left.
A major challenge in self-advocacy is that sometimes to get one's voice heard in society it takes group dynamics, organization, and sometimes "safety in numbers". I've heard the expression more than once that organizing Autistic people is like herding cats- in other words, it can be done, but it can be a challenge. (I tend to gravitate more toward canines myself but that's beside the point.) By their very nature people on the spectrum tend to be rather independent in their thinking and not as given to the "herd mentality" common in the rest of society. I'm not implying that this makes Autistic people superior or inferior to the rest of society. It's just a general observation. This also can cause Autistic people to be mistaken as selfish, especially in environments where there is a fear of individualism. There are however growing organizations of self-advocates and many popping up organically. I think part of the secret to success is for organizations to accept that they are just collections of individuals working toward a common cause and not monolithic "cults". Unfortunately, not even Autistic people are immune to the "us vs. them" mentality that has always plagued humanity; and yes, the "Autistic/Aspergers community" can have it's own version of cliques, elites, hierarchies/pecking orders, selectiveness, and internal divisions just as there can be anywhere in society. No matter how united any group of people can be if they were all put on a deserted island where there won't be any "them" to disturb "us" anymore, people will usually end up finding other scapegoats and invent new "us vs. them" paradigms.
To be honest most of my contact with others on the spectrum is either online or through organizations where I travel out of town to meet with people. I was never part of the "Aspie" subculture though I have nothing against it. It would always be nice to meet more people in a similar predicament to mine, but I don't even live in a large enough metropolitan area for there to be large subcultures. Where I live it is a blue-collar "rust-belt" area where people tend to associate with those they grew up with and where there a clannish mentality. People here as in a lot of other deeply rooted regions seem to draw harsher lines between "acquaintance" and "friend". Northern Pennsylvania was historically settled by New Englanders of Puritan decent before heavy industry changed the demographics in the 1800's. I do still sense a slight vibe of "Yankee stoicism" here and there. I do have a few friends whom I've had for years and a decent amount of casual acquaintances with rather blurry lines between the two categories. I might not always seem to be the most outgoing guy, but ironically I can be more approachable and open to conversation with strangers than many neurotypical people here in the Northeastern US (though it helps when others approach me first and depends on a lot of other things). I do tend to do a lot of things on my own but I'm still lean toward the social end of the spectrum. In general I don't find "neurotypical" people any more or less hard to get along with than other Autistic people and I enjoy working with both on advocacy issues. I prefer dialogue and communication over isolation.
As to not go too far off on a tangent, the natural aversion many on the Autism spectrum have to the "herd mentality" is a double edged sword in that on one hand it can make group organizing a challenge, but it can also make way for a lot of original ideas and viewpoints that are less affected by bias and group-think.
