I was first diagnosed with Asperger’s in 2012. I have tried to break down the deficits associated with it, and solve them individually. But no matter how hard I try, there is a barrier of communication. And it is related to internal motivations. So I have an analogy that explains the difference that divide the autistic mind from the rest. At the core, autistic people have different behaviors and priorities. And I will explain what I have observed those to be.
Have you ever seen a dog run up to a cat and sniff them, only to be scratched by the cat? This is an example of what happens to me frequently. Imagine that the autistic person is like the dog, and the nuerotypical people are like the cat.
People tend to think and judge actions and words based on their own frame of reference, just like animals do. When a cat sees a dog run up and sniff him, the only way the cat can make sense of the behavior is to think about why a cat would behave this way. And so the cat sees it as an attack or challenge when the dog doesn’t behave like a proper cat should, scratching the dog because it doesn’t understand that is how the dog makes friends.
Just like that analogy, normal people interpret my words and actions in their own frame of reference, they cannot see that the autistic person has primarily different priorities and normal behaviors. For instance, lies are not something we suspect others to tell us. We always prefer truth over platitudes and lies. Specious behaviors and deceptive plots are not something most of us do. So we cannot see it coming when others try to deceive us. It is outside of our understanding. And simultaneously our ingrained preference towards honesty is not understood, instead it is interpreted by the nuerotypical as being intentionally rude, aloof, or mean. And it goes deeper than that too.
With us, we do not have double or hidden meanings in our words, but the nuerotypical always looks for them because they communicate in more subtle ways. We are expected to be like them, expected to understand their subtle communications, and when we do not pick up on it they assume that we did and are ignoring them, or they can make sense of it in some way that they can comprehend it in their frame of reference. All cats think that dogs are just misbehaved cats, and many think they need to be punished and chastised for not behaving like a proper cat should. And all dogs are confused about why the cats don’t act like the dogs, and wonder why all the cats hate them.
The autistic mind does not think in terms of subtleties and manipulations, nor does the autistic mind comprehend why the cats always seem more interested in talking about neutral topics which do not contribute meaningfully to the pursuit of truth and knowledge. We cannot comprehend why cats love to talk about their litter, their sports team, celebrities, many inconsequential things, and we think that everyone thinks like we do too. Our primary default viewpoint is that truth is more important than the way it makes us feel, and cannot understand why the cat has an aversion to it. And the cat cannot understand why the dogs do not prioritize feelings over fact finding. So the cats end up thinking that the dog is offensive on purpose, and the dogs end up thinking that the cat hates him because it lashes out and the dog cannot see a reason for it.
I do not believe that autism is a disability. I think that it seems likely that the Neanderthals contributed the genes that cause autism, as well as the genes that cause intelligence, which are now known to be the many of the same genes. So it would follow, in my logic, that the Neanderthal style of thinking and perceiving is the autistic way of thinking and perceiving. So we are really two separate species, in how our minds work.
It has been known for some time that intelligent parents are more likely to produce autistic children, and they have found that the same genes that cause intelligence cause autism. Looking at the disparities of average intelligence in populations across the globe, we can see a strong correlation with the amount of dna contributed by Neanderthals and the average intelligence of a group, as well as a correlation of rates for autism. In Silicon Valley, some of the smartest people in the world work and live. One of the highest rates of autism exists there.
As we learn more and more about genetics, and the role that they play in individuals and societies too, we will find that certain genes will define a lot about a person’s personality, preferences, and intrinsic nature. And in the same way that a cat cannot understand the motivations of a dog, normal people cannot understand the motivations of an autistic person, and vise versa.
There is no possible way to bridge this gap when every cat on the planet thinks every dog should behave exactly like a cat does. The dogs are a minority, and must try to conform to the standards of the majority, and yet find themselves incapable of comprehending what a cat is supposed to be like. I can never understand what behaviors and words will be perceived differently than they were intended, or why. Something that seems mildly funny to me might seem very rude to the cat, and something that seems normal to the cat could seem alien to me.
I don’t believe the autistic way of thinking is a disability, in many ways it seems superior to how cats think, and in other ways inferior, but it is immutable. We will always be dogs living in the cats’ world. That is the disability. If we were the majority, then it would be the cats who would be considered disabled.
And the reality is that the cats and dogs need each other. The cats need to start listening to what the dogs are saying, because you need us. Without our way of seeing the world, there would be few major advancements in science and math. If you want to live in a future with hover cars, intergalactic travel, free energy, and so much more, then the cats need to wake up and realize that dogs do not need to behave like cats, that dogs need to be encouraged and loved, despite the differences in how our minds work. If the dog is scratched by every other animal it tries to befriend, it withers and dies, or becomes angry and resentful. Stop expecting me to behave like a cat, to think like a cat, and to talk like a cat. I am autistic, and that doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with me, it means that I am like a whole different animal.
While you might think it appropriate to chastise a cat that doesn’t back off when you hiss at it, when you see that the cat is actually a dog, or might be one, then you should try to comprehend that the dog doesn’t understand why the cat doesn’t want to be friends. Instead of lashing out and assuming autistic people even comprehend your cat ways, try to be mindful of the fact that what is rude to you is normal to us, what is weird to you is normal to us, what is mean to you is a kindness to us, what is a kindness to you is a betrayal to us. We prefer unadulterated truth and direct communication, and we do not understand why other people prefer otherwise. It is vitally important that dogs stop being punished for behaving according to their nature. You would not yell at a dog for behaving like a dog does, because you can understand that dogs have their own way of seeing the world. Why can’t people seem to understand that they should not be mad at us for behaving according to our nature? They need to see that we do not offend people because we do not care about their feelings, we offend people because they always look at our behaviors and explain them with why a cat would act that way.
Our brains are not like yours, we do not understand how to behave and communicate like the cat does, and we cannot ever fully grasp it. The greatest problem here is ignorance. You cats all think that everyone else is a cat, that everyone should behave like a proper cat does, the herd mentality ostracizes all that is different from the norm. It is vitally important that cats learn to accept that dogs are different, and that they can never be cats. The cats need to see that dogs are kind and loyal, loving and eager to please, that even though they do not act like cats, they are not bad for acting according to their nature. Dogs play a vital role in society, they are incredible and awesome, but they are very often treated like misbehaved cats. We are not less, or greater, we are different.
You may have noticed, we are bullied and shunned, isolated and even reviled. But many on the autism spectrum long to be accepted, yet we cannot conform to the expectations others have of us. A dog can never be a part of the cats’ society when the cats arrogantly dictate that the only proper way to be is to be a good cat. And a good dog always makes a poor cat. Stop expecting us to think like you do, to act like you do, to have the priorities and methods of communication that you do, because we do not. We think as dogs do, and cannot comprehend exactly how to act like a cat. I can try, but at the core of my being I am just not like that. I cannot understand why a person would subtly hint at their feelings and at the same time expect that everyone understand those subtle hints. I cannot comprehend why a person would lie and manipulate. I cannot comprehend why cats have certain etiquette and behavioral norms. Treating me like I am a bad cat when I am a good dog causes significant harm to me. People need to wake up and see that they need to stop judging everyone based on how cats should be, because dogs have no choice but to be dogs. And we just want to be friends with the cats who tend to interpret our behavior as an attack.
We are not rude or mean, you perceive us that way because you only understand how a cat is supposed to behave. Try to understand that dogs are not bad simply because they do not conform to your expectations of how a cat should behave. If you can understand that, then you’re one step closer to understanding our differences.
Have you ever seen a dog run up to a cat and sniff them, only to be scratched by the cat? This is an example of what happens to me frequently. Imagine that the autistic person is like the dog, and the nuerotypical people are like the cat.
People tend to think and judge actions and words based on their own frame of reference, just like animals do. When a cat sees a dog run up and sniff him, the only way the cat can make sense of the behavior is to think about why a cat would behave this way. And so the cat sees it as an attack or challenge when the dog doesn’t behave like a proper cat should, scratching the dog because it doesn’t understand that is how the dog makes friends.
Just like that analogy, normal people interpret my words and actions in their own frame of reference, they cannot see that the autistic person has primarily different priorities and normal behaviors. For instance, lies are not something we suspect others to tell us. We always prefer truth over platitudes and lies. Specious behaviors and deceptive plots are not something most of us do. So we cannot see it coming when others try to deceive us. It is outside of our understanding. And simultaneously our ingrained preference towards honesty is not understood, instead it is interpreted by the nuerotypical as being intentionally rude, aloof, or mean. And it goes deeper than that too.
With us, we do not have double or hidden meanings in our words, but the nuerotypical always looks for them because they communicate in more subtle ways. We are expected to be like them, expected to understand their subtle communications, and when we do not pick up on it they assume that we did and are ignoring them, or they can make sense of it in some way that they can comprehend it in their frame of reference. All cats think that dogs are just misbehaved cats, and many think they need to be punished and chastised for not behaving like a proper cat should. And all dogs are confused about why the cats don’t act like the dogs, and wonder why all the cats hate them.
The autistic mind does not think in terms of subtleties and manipulations, nor does the autistic mind comprehend why the cats always seem more interested in talking about neutral topics which do not contribute meaningfully to the pursuit of truth and knowledge. We cannot comprehend why cats love to talk about their litter, their sports team, celebrities, many inconsequential things, and we think that everyone thinks like we do too. Our primary default viewpoint is that truth is more important than the way it makes us feel, and cannot understand why the cat has an aversion to it. And the cat cannot understand why the dogs do not prioritize feelings over fact finding. So the cats end up thinking that the dog is offensive on purpose, and the dogs end up thinking that the cat hates him because it lashes out and the dog cannot see a reason for it.
I do not believe that autism is a disability. I think that it seems likely that the Neanderthals contributed the genes that cause autism, as well as the genes that cause intelligence, which are now known to be the many of the same genes. So it would follow, in my logic, that the Neanderthal style of thinking and perceiving is the autistic way of thinking and perceiving. So we are really two separate species, in how our minds work.
It has been known for some time that intelligent parents are more likely to produce autistic children, and they have found that the same genes that cause intelligence cause autism. Looking at the disparities of average intelligence in populations across the globe, we can see a strong correlation with the amount of dna contributed by Neanderthals and the average intelligence of a group, as well as a correlation of rates for autism. In Silicon Valley, some of the smartest people in the world work and live. One of the highest rates of autism exists there.
As we learn more and more about genetics, and the role that they play in individuals and societies too, we will find that certain genes will define a lot about a person’s personality, preferences, and intrinsic nature. And in the same way that a cat cannot understand the motivations of a dog, normal people cannot understand the motivations of an autistic person, and vise versa.
There is no possible way to bridge this gap when every cat on the planet thinks every dog should behave exactly like a cat does. The dogs are a minority, and must try to conform to the standards of the majority, and yet find themselves incapable of comprehending what a cat is supposed to be like. I can never understand what behaviors and words will be perceived differently than they were intended, or why. Something that seems mildly funny to me might seem very rude to the cat, and something that seems normal to the cat could seem alien to me.
I don’t believe the autistic way of thinking is a disability, in many ways it seems superior to how cats think, and in other ways inferior, but it is immutable. We will always be dogs living in the cats’ world. That is the disability. If we were the majority, then it would be the cats who would be considered disabled.
And the reality is that the cats and dogs need each other. The cats need to start listening to what the dogs are saying, because you need us. Without our way of seeing the world, there would be few major advancements in science and math. If you want to live in a future with hover cars, intergalactic travel, free energy, and so much more, then the cats need to wake up and realize that dogs do not need to behave like cats, that dogs need to be encouraged and loved, despite the differences in how our minds work. If the dog is scratched by every other animal it tries to befriend, it withers and dies, or becomes angry and resentful. Stop expecting me to behave like a cat, to think like a cat, and to talk like a cat. I am autistic, and that doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with me, it means that I am like a whole different animal.
While you might think it appropriate to chastise a cat that doesn’t back off when you hiss at it, when you see that the cat is actually a dog, or might be one, then you should try to comprehend that the dog doesn’t understand why the cat doesn’t want to be friends. Instead of lashing out and assuming autistic people even comprehend your cat ways, try to be mindful of the fact that what is rude to you is normal to us, what is weird to you is normal to us, what is mean to you is a kindness to us, what is a kindness to you is a betrayal to us. We prefer unadulterated truth and direct communication, and we do not understand why other people prefer otherwise. It is vitally important that dogs stop being punished for behaving according to their nature. You would not yell at a dog for behaving like a dog does, because you can understand that dogs have their own way of seeing the world. Why can’t people seem to understand that they should not be mad at us for behaving according to our nature? They need to see that we do not offend people because we do not care about their feelings, we offend people because they always look at our behaviors and explain them with why a cat would act that way.
Our brains are not like yours, we do not understand how to behave and communicate like the cat does, and we cannot ever fully grasp it. The greatest problem here is ignorance. You cats all think that everyone else is a cat, that everyone should behave like a proper cat does, the herd mentality ostracizes all that is different from the norm. It is vitally important that cats learn to accept that dogs are different, and that they can never be cats. The cats need to see that dogs are kind and loyal, loving and eager to please, that even though they do not act like cats, they are not bad for acting according to their nature. Dogs play a vital role in society, they are incredible and awesome, but they are very often treated like misbehaved cats. We are not less, or greater, we are different.
You may have noticed, we are bullied and shunned, isolated and even reviled. But many on the autism spectrum long to be accepted, yet we cannot conform to the expectations others have of us. A dog can never be a part of the cats’ society when the cats arrogantly dictate that the only proper way to be is to be a good cat. And a good dog always makes a poor cat. Stop expecting us to think like you do, to act like you do, to have the priorities and methods of communication that you do, because we do not. We think as dogs do, and cannot comprehend exactly how to act like a cat. I can try, but at the core of my being I am just not like that. I cannot understand why a person would subtly hint at their feelings and at the same time expect that everyone understand those subtle hints. I cannot comprehend why a person would lie and manipulate. I cannot comprehend why cats have certain etiquette and behavioral norms. Treating me like I am a bad cat when I am a good dog causes significant harm to me. People need to wake up and see that they need to stop judging everyone based on how cats should be, because dogs have no choice but to be dogs. And we just want to be friends with the cats who tend to interpret our behavior as an attack.
We are not rude or mean, you perceive us that way because you only understand how a cat is supposed to behave. Try to understand that dogs are not bad simply because they do not conform to your expectations of how a cat should behave. If you can understand that, then you’re one step closer to understanding our differences.
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