Autism: Really making a difference

http://iautistic.com/autism-making-a-difference.php

Eric, you may not understand these:

- Aspies don't owe others a living. Aspies need to be more able, if they need acceptance. But there are indeed able Aspies who just need more acceptance, for them to achieve and contribute to our world
.
- "asking the opposition parties to take up his cause or starting initiatives to help others with autism"

Who knows -

Aaron already knows about the pitfalls of politics (who knows, it may divide more than heal society, and note it’s written before the 2011 GE) or... that, perhaps, help other autistic people may be just to create conditions 'ripe' for him and his Aspie friends, to thrive in our world?

"it is even better if some people can come together to create a sustainable social enterprise"

Do you think, given that Aspies take up as many as 1 in 30, 40 people, that this is even possible? Too many people to be helped. Do you think social enterprises are enough to solve the issue of Aspie and Autie unemployment and dissatisfaction?

"One of the keys to success is to focus on something that we can do, instead of complaining about something we cannot do anything about"

There is little that Aspies can do without NS, group work or even, well, school. I believe in one part of your article, you did mention 'unless I have fantastic grades...' this ain't happening in Aspies! Yes, we have tuition, butit doesn't solve Aspies' issue of really doing something we don't like, for low
pay, and things that take Aspies away from their innate talents.

"1) Do autism advocacy work
2) Volunteer at an autism organization
3) Become an autism professional or work in a related occupation

I know Aspies who tried 1), 2) and 3). Nothing works. Aspies don't do anything much if they do 1), 2) or 3) - they may have all the certificates of merits or AAAs they want. But to organisations, people skills are now number one - I mean, people skills to 'follow instructions' and to 'meet organisational goals'. Name me any Aspie who can do this – it defeats the whole point of being Aspie in an
NT world eh?

4) Achieve success outside the autism community by focusing on one’spersonal development

Well, good luck. Ability will lead to acceptance. But do we even have the acceptance to
have people to be more able, to meet societal goals? Our choice is to overwork, over-stress and isolate Aspies from the rest of society. Now, this isn’t value-adding for our society. How about
you, Mr Chen? You yourself may have chosen to advocate for autism, but have you walked a step in others’ shoes, to see the tremendous amount of obstacles some Aspies have to make even if they try to develop personal development? More on that later…

“I did not list building our own autism organization as an option. Almost all the people with autism who suggest such an idea to me never follow through with their plans. Of those who do, they usually end up creating a small online forum that lasts for less than 2 years.”

I have to laugh at this. What a joke. I see that this idea is only natural and practical - you just don't want to listen to others and work a solution, as a team, for the whole autism community. We want both acceptance and assurance that as long as we do something, we will succeed (this being societal approval). What’s more, I have the intuition that such organisations fail because, precisely, people decide to discredit others rather than building the organisation. What a shame for you
and the Singapore autism community, they deserve better.

“I would also like to remind readers on the spectrum, that most of us have some degree of executive skills handicap. This means that we may not have the instincts to make good long term decisions; even our dreams and aspirations are still developing. The adage “follow your heart” may not be a good idea for us until we gain more worldly experience.”

My goodness – if you are the world leader in World of Warcrafts (which is something socially desirable, but still may not bring money), you don’t actually do anything else. Do you have the idea whether you’re the best in the world to do what you are doing? If you don’t, go do your day job instead of complaining that someone complains more than you.

“He sought to follow his dream to study urban planning at a prestigious university
in the USA.”

You may not know that ‘prestigious university in the USA’ is an oxymoron, unless it's Harvard and the likes. NUS' rankings are equal to some Ivy League universities. But it’s true that only Britain and the States offer urban planning. And Singapore doesn’t has urban planning, perhaps it’s a way to say, ‘I’d rather be a pauper in the United States rather than a 2nd class citizen in my homeland’.

“His family is well off but not wealthy. His parents have probably noted that urban planning is a specialized subject which is harder to find employment, and which require the social skills to network with a broad base of people such as politicians, residents and business operators.”

Who knows, they might even be poor!

That friend has the option of bankrupting himself, since special needs people, to my best of understanding, have shorter lifespans than others? Do you want to over-work to death, or do you prefer a long but sorrowful life?

“Reasoning that my friend is most suited to freelance employment, they told him to study
accounting at a low cost local university instead. Accountants are always in demand by businesses, and many of them work freelance. This is excellent for him, who could not hold down a day job. Accounting does not require much social skills, and he is more than capable of crunching the numbers or following the rigid rules of accounting.

However, accounting is a terribly boring subject to my friend. He resents not having the chance to follow his dreams overseas. I told him that the person who pays the bills has the right to decide how the money is spent; if he so desires, he can still earn the money to follow his dreams in the future. At
this moment, it is wiser to follow his parents’ plan until he becomes financially independent.
His parents did not explain their reasoning, but when I heard his story, I instinctively knew what his parents were thinking. I remembered my struggles with my mother, who insisted that I find a full-time day job instead of trying to make a career in autism advocacy. She went as far as to call my work
substandard and my efforts a waste of my youth. I thought that my mother was simply having a negative attitude and ignored her. Although I achieved far more than what my mother expected, her main argument remains valid. Unless I have powerful academic credentials, much wealth, or am
living in a large “Western” country supportive of artistic expression, there is simply no way for me to make a living out of autism work. In addition, the stresses of constantly not having enough resources and having to follow my sponsors’ every whim took a heavy psychological toll on me.
It is financially safer, and much less emotionally stressful, if I find a day job that I can tolerate and do autism work part-time. The real life experiences have provided me with valuable insights to enrich my work. I still plan to follow my big dream to bring Humanity to its next stage of development.”

Autism work is not something serious if you can’t have a full-time job. So does art, music, etc -

But because circumstances force us to, we can’t keep finding our job. The only certain jobs are related to the civil service. And as Aaron says, there is no certainty and no assurance that Aspies can be employed in the civil service, if they follow a certain protocol - they are better off hanging in the dry, even if they manage to survive all the schools they go to.

Also, Eric Chen may not know this - but Accounting has a high burnout rate. Half of all Accounting graduates in Nanyang Business School quit Accounting after 5 years. How's that.

Because creating acceptance, to the Aspies, is the day job, for them to survive, for them to
lead the life their talents would deserve had not they been autistic in some sort. Is autism a damned disability that means, Aspies cannot lead a meaningful life?

My suggestion is to both Aaron and Eric:

Is it true you really enjoy autism work?
Focus not on autism work, it has failed and it will fail.
I guess you’d been forced to advocate rather than do it.
Let professionals, trained in standing up for the disadvantaged, do the job.
Like maybe Chee Soon Juan, M Ravi or your Denise Phua?

Focus, instead, on the outcomes of what you can do.

If you seek an alternative world, go ahead, it had been done. In the past, Dissending Churches do form their own schools when top schools don’t accept their own adherents.

If you want to adapt, go ahead, it also had been done. In my opinion, you'd lost your Aspie/Autie soul while doing that.