From my earliest recollections, I recognized that I was different from the majority of people around me and that it was sometimes difficult to characterize.
elemy autism care
While all autistics are distinct from one another and the rest of humanity, most would feel so strange that they questioned if they were even the same species.
There aren’t many persons on the autism spectrum that would say, “but I feel just like everyone else. I’m perfectly normal!”
Since my diagnosis, I’ve devoted all of my attention to autism. Having the solution to so many “difference” or “other” questions about myself was quite gratifying, but other doubts remained unanswered.
What precisely does the term “autistic” imply?
elemy autism care
Yes, there are differences in sensory processing (the DSM criteria for repetitive movements and social deficits, among other things), and there are a variety of traits that have been discovered and recorded by various scientists and content producers… but that isn’t enough to explain why we’re so comparable to other autistic people while being so different from non-autistics.
When I came to understand Very Grand Emotions and how autistic people express emotions differently, it allowed me to describe some of that interpersonal gap. Those who experienced Justice, Truth, Mercy, and Work as primary emotions
There was also a difference in how autistics experience empathy, according to recent research.
Those little nuances were somehow connected to another truth I simply couldn’t grasp.
Why is it that the greatest breakthroughs occur during a quarrel?
My first published article on PsychCentral was composed only a few months after I determined that I was autistic. I explained how everything I’d ever read about “people” didn’t describe me, leaving me to feel like I wasn’t “people.”‘
Then, in August of this year, I got into a heated debate with someone who shared similar political beliefs but was definitely not autistic.
I felt as though they were merely repeating party politics without acknowledging their role in racism. They thought that my refusal to conform to partisan doctrine was “making a mountain out of a molehill.”
The voices kept telling me who I was, and they were wrong. In my annoyance, I yelled, “Whatever you are, I am not that!”
Then it dawned on me.
At the level of identity, autism was a difference.
Identity as a Construct
In his book, Dr. Leslie Minnich explains that with the rise of social media and other internet technologies, contemporary youths are undergoing a process of cultural change more rapid than previous generations. According to sociologist Anthony Giddens, human beings develop their own sense of self by engaging in situations where they act as both individuals and members of groups
Social identities
- Gender
- Socioeconomic class
- Race
- Gender
- Sexual orientation
- Neighborhood/region
- Nationality
- Religion
- [Dis]ability
- Career
- Political orientation or party
- Language[s] spoken
- Parental status
- Family size
- Ethnicity
- Education
I discovered that what made me, personally, so unique from the rest of humanity was my unique personality. The more I looked at this notion, the more sense it made. It accounted for virtually everything in terms of conflict and misunderstanding with others. It explained Autistic Empathy and Very Grand Feelings.
Autistics’ identities were formed differently, not a combination of social intersections, but rather based on the intersections of their principles, passions, and experiences.
It’s vital to clarify that before I continue:
- Everyone has preferences, hobbies, and pastimes.
- Everyone has various levels of connection to other people at the same locations.
- The neurological (“wiring” ) difference of autism is still present and has an impact on many different areas of life, even physically. The neurotype distinction between autistics and other types isn’t the only one.
- This is a concept that has yet to be empirically validated. This hypothesis may be further researched and refined through community input.
- Some autistics may not understand what this means.
This is being presented as a hypothesis and not as fact. Autistic people are welcome to offer their thoughts and discuss this theory, whether they believe it or not.
A Social Experiment
I’m notorious for my untested social experiments. I started performing and re-visiting one specific experiment in 2017 to see if it corroborated this personality theory.
Since the start of the experiment, I’ve made modifications and repeated it in different locations. I tried to imagine groups where there weren’t many autistic individuals, and I joined as many as possible.
I created a fake social media account with a pen name and joined numerous groups or boards on several social media platforms. There were groups for becoming wealthy, supporting law enforcement officials, fad diets, dance moms, and more.
I joined groups where I was likely to find non-autistic people, particularly those for mental health and various occupations that are likely to have a lot of autistic individuals. Then I repeated the procedure in an autistic-only environment.
Last, I conducted a similar study as myself using SurveyMonkey to obtain responses.
Regardless of what I did to adjust the experiment, the results were always similar.
I asked everyone I met: “Who are you?”
Non-autistic people began referring to themselves in terms of their relationships with others, often solely on their own initiative.
They were a parent, spouse, what their profession was, where they lived, what religion they practiced and had roles connected to others (sister to a senator, military brat, pastor’s wife, soccer mom).
Many, if not all, autistic people answered that they were what they loved to do, their values, and what they had experienced.
Many of them even recognized the basis of the theory without being told. Among the responses were: “I am a verb,” “I am what I love,” and “Who I am is defined by what I do.
Of course, there were a few exceptions to both neurotypes.
It’s also worth noting that many, many autistic individuals simply responded, “I’m who I am,” “I’m me,” or “I don’t know who I am.”
I’ve come up with a few reasons why so many autistic people find it difficult to express themselves. Some of it may be due to the fact that they do not perceive oneself in the same way as the general public does, making it difficult to comprehend themselves within a non-neurotypical paradigm. Others might have been shamed and over-
How does having a manufactured social identity affect your love life?
A social identity is one that is based on how much belonging – or, conversely, how much isolation – one feels among others who share the same collective social identities.
People with a socially-constructed identification seek affiliation in their overlapping identities, perhaps concentrating more on developing and embellishing aspects of their identity that are most meaningful or successful for them.
An example of this is Rita, a non-autistic Latinx woman who is an EMT, heterosexual, middle class, a spouse, a mother, a musician, and Christian. This might imply that she finds the greatest connection with other EMTs and first responders as well as people of the same faith.
For those social identities that are most essential to her individually, Rita might devote herself fully to ensuring the health of those collective social identities.
Because her own identity is invested in these social connections, challenges or dangers to first responder and Christian are threats to her personal identity.
Rita may place higher levels of respect, empathy, and loyalty to people in those collective social identities who are in leadership positions and positions of authority within collective social hierarchies.
The hierarchy maintains the stability and honor of her aggregate identities by ensuring that followers feel subservient.
What are the effects of having an experientially built personality on relationships?
We know that autistics can be “hyper focused” on their interests and passions, and that they may have a strong commitment to their principles.
But we don’t know why those characteristics exist in autistic people, nor the implications for how it relates to autistic identity.
A person with autism does not have to be denied the same social intersections or collective identities as a non-autistic individual. For example, Lis is an autistic Latinx woman who is an EMT, heterosexual, middle class, spouse, mother, musician, and Christian.
Although in both cycles, Lis is a paramedic and Christian.
Even though, on paper, Lis appears to be quite comparable to Rita, she is more likely to live a very unique existence.
Her unwavering commitment to her principles and experiences contributes more to her personal identity than her station of belongingness in her society’s collective social identity as an autistic individual.
Consider that both Rita and Lis work as emergency medical technicians in the same precinct. The city-wide financial audit and proposed budget change was covered by local news, which recommended significant cuts in emergency services funding.
According to the audit, too much money had been spent on emergency services while not enough had been invested in community supports. The piece focused on how.
Similar cities had disinvested money from emergency services to community support programs aimed at assisting youth and young adults in learning job skills, putting mobile health clinics in low-income communities, and enhancing access to free mental health and crisis assistance, according to an audit report.
Having access to these services decreased criminal activity as well as preventable health problems.
Both Rita and Lis became EMTs for the same reason: to preserve lives. Both read the article and comments, but their reactions are quite different.
Although the story takes place in a peaceful, safe environment, it is clear that many of the characters are non-autistic.
Like her father and brother before him, she has always been brave and selfless. This dedication to assisting others at all costs may have made her appear oblivious to the feelings of others while performing acts of kindness throughout his life.
Rita is furious. Attacking her group identity is to attack her most essential self. Through her church, she organizes a charity and appreciation dinner for emergency personnel. She wants to boost the morale of her key collective identification.
Lis (autistic) is more dedicated to her beliefs than to the group identity. She learns about the benefits of increasing access to social services and understands that community life is preserved when more people have access to support services.
She examines the feedback area and finds methods for her department to improve service delivery in order to avoid imposing undue, long-term suffering.
During a pandemic, she organizes a fundraiser and sets up a food pantry for those who are having trouble making ends meet. She wants to boost the spirits of her community as a whole.
Both Lis and Rita offer suggestions for how the department may respond to the audit at the next meeting.
Rita suggests a public relations campaign that emphasizes the efforts made by first responders and recounts stories of people saved due to their bravery as city council members discuss the budget.
During downtime, employees can use the time to participate in online crisis intervention training, according to Lis. Employees may also collaborate with other first responders to develop strategies for promoting healthy community engagement.
Rita is regarded as a team player by her coworkers and bosses, who praise her professionalism. Lis is considered to be a traitorous collaborator who agrees with the bad guys.
Employees accuse Lis of not caring about her work, of supporting cuts to first responders, and of doubting in the worth of first responders.
The Consequences and Implications of Having a Bad Credit Score
There is no research on this topic, as far as I’m aware. To my knowledge, there is research to back up this idea, which has not been explored.
In 2020, researchers conducted a study looking at how autistic people and nonautistic individuals allocate money to charity.
Non-autistic individuals made the decision that benefited them financially in private, but when their decision was public, non-autists chose the option that best benefitted their reputation. Both in public and in private, autistic persons picked the option
The Value Theory of Mind, in contrast, explains that because humans are inherently inclined to pursue goals and rewards through the paths of others, there must be a need for individuals with specialized skills who can assist them.
The way we treat each other is based on how much influence we think we have over another person’s life.
The above example of the autistic EMT is likely to be very useful to persons with autism. Most of them have been accused of “hating” their collective identities, which they belong to as adults.
Their presence and their commitment to their principles threaten the group cohesiveness of their social collectives.
Non-autistics will perceive challenges from someone who is seen as being on a lower “rank” in a group social identity as inconsiderate and disrespectful.
The importance of their personal identity is contingent upon the strength of their “team” identification. In contrast, an autistic individual is unlikely to be aware that most individuals regard themselves as important components of.
Autistics who liked their own communities–professional, religious, racial, LGBTQ+, and so on–were excluded from them for not being a “team player” or for “creating division.”
Autistic individuals are averse to relatedness and believe that their identity does not belong in the context of a team game.
As a value-centric and experientially-driven person, I’m less concerned with what others think. This frees an autistic person up to make decisions based on research, past experience, and the net benefit of contribution to the Greater Good.
The Identity Theory of Autism explains why autistics empathize by relating their most personal experience or asking someone to reframe their point of view, because the autistic person thinks that others wish to think about themselves and their relationships as being based on shared principles rather than common social identities.
Autistic people may talk about issues in their own identity, providing the other person an opportunity to verify if they share the same values.
A Christian autistic, for example, might express his or her dissatisfaction with the church’s focus on money and financial “blessings,” arguing that such attitudes are a reflection of greed and that moral responsibility is associated with.
Non-autistic individuals are more likely to communicate by introducing hidden identities to which they belong, laying the groundwork for the other person to confirm whether or not they are a member of that collective identity.
A non-autistic Christian, for example, may leave hints in their communication about their social identity. They might say “blessed” .
Autistics are always informing.
Even autistics who don’t realize it can often be discouraged by individuals in their shared social roles because they believe others are hypocrites.
Autistic people perceive individuals defending the reputation of their collective identification over its ideals, and they feel that those around them are being phony. Left-leaning autistics are frequently discouraged by persons identifying as progressive who refuse to .
When an autistic person lives differently or challenges the values and attitudes of family members, non-autistic family members frequently feel ashamed or disloyal to the family.
When an autistic individual lives differently or questions the beliefs and behaviors of family members, they are considered a traitor or ungrateful to the family. Autistic individuals do not automatically give value to.
Many individuals on the spectrum consider that the entire society is involved in telling social lies. That’s because whole group identities do, in fact, agree to lies and fail to deal with behaviors and attitudes that lead to injury.
Because their social identification’s safety is jeopardized by visible facts, half of the United States may deny that police abuse disproportionately affects Black.
NeuroClastic once encouraged the Autistic community to finish the sentence, “Being Autistic is…” Many of the answers—and, surely, those that people felt were most accurate—confirmed the Identity Theory’s assertion.
