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Most Homo sapiens still retained a predominantly social nature and therefore ostracised those who were of a predominantly individual nature and who are today known as autistics. We were the oddballs, weirdoes and lunatics, as well as the scientists, artists and human rights activists since our individual nature prevents us from conforming, compromising and accepting the status quo.
Interestingly, all children are born with individual identities but are pressured by society to replace these with collective identities. Those who resist this deindividuation process and grow up in a non-supportive (i.e. conservative) environment are most likely to receive an autism diagnosis. - Full Article
‘It’s our failure to conform to society, it’s our failure to think the way others think, it’s our failure to subscribe to group dynamics and groupthink, it’s our failure to give in to peer pressure, it’s our failure to blindly follow tradition, it’s our failure to unquestioningly obey authority, and it’s our failure to accept the status quo that have driven human progress for tens of thousands of years, thanks to autistic individuals who successfully resisted attempts at being mainstreamed.’ - Full Article
Many of us were and are pressured into suppressing our individual identities which more often than not leads to serious health problems, such as gastrointestinal issues or PTSD. In many cases these health problems are mistaken for symptoms of autism. - Full Article
In the 1940s (at a time that saw the ruthless enforcement of conformity in their countries) Professors Hans Asperger and Leo Kanner eventually gave our individual nature a name and spread panic about us being disordered or disabled (even though Asperger acknowledged our intellectual potential). As a result several methods to suppress our identities were developed, the most widespread one being a conversion 'therapy' called Applied Behaviour Analysis. - Full Article
You probably heard a lot about ‘low-functioning autism’ which makes as much sense as ‘low-functioning left-handedness’. Besides the possibility of an autistic person being affected by an actual disability (in which case autism can’t be blamed), low-functioningness usually occurs as a reaction to said attempts of suppressing our individual identities or as a response to pressure or discouragement. - Full Article
Traditional teaching methods usually fail autistic children, and the biographies of most successful scientists and artists tell us that they taught themselves in their areas of expertise. Therefore I think it is vital to develop an approach to teach children in the way they learn best and with a strong autodidactic element. (Such an approach would actually benefit all children, not just autistic ones.) - Full Article
Homo sapiens were quite unremarkable until they met the highly sophisticated Neanderthals. Assimilating the Neanderthal led to the Great Leap Forward since it caused a drastic increase in Homo sapiens’ brain size and consequently brought about their rapid evolution by combining the creativity, resourcefulness and inquisitive spirit of Neanderthals, who were of an individual nature, with the ambition and networking skills of Homo sapiens who were of a social nature. The type, combination and manifestation of Neanderthal genes determine whether somebody is autistic. - Full Article
Because of our individual nature we tend to be unsusceptible to group dynamics, peer pressure, cognitive (and other) biases, manipulation and illusions. - Full Article
