===================== who has the disorder? ===================== by Andrew Main (Zefram) 2004-06-26 abstract -------- Non-autistic people describe autism as a neurological disorder. From an autistic point of view, it is the lack of autism that appears to be a disorder. This essay argues that neither should be treated as a disorder, but rather they should be viewed as different cultures. who has the disorder? ===================== Greetings to the 99% of people who are not autistic. There's been a communication problem between us; allegedly this is because one of us has a neurological disorder. Let's try to work out which of us it is. Me, is it? Jumping to conclusions already? Ah, that'll be because of the label. "Autistic". Sure sounds like a disorder, doesn't it. Let's even things up a bit: you can have a label too. "Allistic". (Ask a friend who knows some Greek to explain it.) If this is your first label, congratulations, and a quick primer on being a Label Bearer: (1) labels can be useful in describing the world. (2) A lot of people jump to bad conclusions based on labels. (3) As a result of (2), labels have a bad name. Don't let that put you off (1). So now we're all on label terms, let's look at my communication skills. I love to communicate; I use this nifty tool called "language". It lets me convey information by encoding it in a sequence of letters or speech sounds. Someone else can look at the letters or listen to the sounds and reconstruct in their mind exactly the same idea I have in my mind! This is way cool, and I use it all the time to exchange ideas with my friends. Apparently there are some other ways people have tried to communicate, but they don't really work, and pale in comparison to the versatility and fidelity of skilled use of language. You also can use written and spoken language, but most of you seem to have missed the point of it. You just don't pay attention to the subtleties and intricate details of what is said to you. It's as if you're listening to Beethoven while wearing earmuffs. It works the other way too: most of what I hear from you is more like Britney Spears than Beethoven. You express little accurate detail. So you see, the communication difficulties between us are simply because you allistic people lack skill in the use of language. I pity you, suffering from such a debilitating disorder. Oh, I've got a biased viewpoint, have I? Yes, so I do, I have an autistic point of view. So let's balance things by now looking at this from your allistic point of view. You love to communicate; you use this nifty ability called "empathy". It lets you convey emotions by wiggling your facial muscles or telling a story. Someone else can look at your face or listen to the story and they automatically feel something close to the same emotion you feel! This is way cool, and you use it all the time to emotionally bond with your friends. Apparently there are some other ways people have tried to communicate, but they don't really work, and pale in comparison to the immediacy and impact of empathy. I also can tell and listen to stories, but I seem to have missed the point of them. I just don't pay attention to the emotions and sensations aroused by what is said to me. It's as if I'm looking at a Van Gogh through a monochrome filter. It works the other way too: most of what you get from me is more like forensic photography than Van Gogh. I express little emotion. So obviously the communication difficulties between us are simply because we autistic people lack empathy. You pity us, suffering from such a debilitating disorder. So which of us really has the disorder? According to turn-of-the-century Western society, I do. Your viewpoint predominates. But consider: there are 99 of you for every one of me. Which viewpoint would predominate if it were 99 of me to every one of you? Would we really be wrong? "Autistic" and "allistic" are labels, not disorders. They label different forms of communication, and, more fundamentally, different forms of cognition. Allistic people tend to feel that they feel things, whereas autistic people tend to think that they think things. Watch for the words "feel" and "think" when people are expressing their opinions: it's quite revealing of how they view their mental processes. We are each to some extent dismissive of the other's approach to the world, and so see only each other's deficiencies in our preferred style of communication. We overlook the richness of each other's styles of communication, rather like a blind person and a deaf person debating whether Beethoven or Van Gogh was the greater artist. What we have here is not a communicative disability but a cultural misunderstanding. I do not "suffer" from autism any more than you "suffer" from allism, but I do suffer from being misunderstood. Who has the disorder? The disorder is in our attempts to communicate without making allowances for this culture gap. This kind of disorder is best tackled initially by translators and ambassadors, but is only truly solved by ordinary people learning about each other's cultures. Incidentally, I think (note, "think", but you're welcome to feel it instead) that anyone hoping for contact with non-human intelligent beings should pay attention to what happens between the autistic and allistic cultures. Cetaceans and extra-terrestrials will almost certainly be more alien in their thought and communication patterns than Homo sapiens aspergeri. So I say to you all, learn about autistic culture. But first, brush up on those skills you pride yourselves on, of looking at the world from other people's points of view. A lot of you are only good at seeing the world from the point of view of someone who thinks and feels in the same way that you do. Over here in the autistic culture, those of us who have developed the walk-a-mile-in-their-shoes skill routinely imagine different modes of thought as well as different circumstances. Can you imagine finding a large collection of parallel lines more visually appealing than a person's face? Probably about as well as you can imagine seeing your religion's sacraments as blasphemous. Let's not try to convert each other. Autistic and allistic cultures can learn from each other and both benefit from the exchange. I'm looking forward to it.