Sunday 9 September 2012

Wrong Planet Syndrome.

Wrong Planet Syndrome is sometimes used as an explanation and illustration of how people on the autistic spectrum can feel, surrounded by a massive majority of human beings who seen to be a rather different life-form, with peculiar priorities, values, customs, modes of speech and levels of emotion.
Measured, that is, from the thinking for the person with autism.
The majority, forming the local dominant social norm and perspective will measure things  differently, and if told often and strongly enough the autistic individual can soon cone to think there is something "wrong" about their being "different", and can come to see conformity to "normal" as the only proper objective.
(if only to avoid social ostracism and bullying...)

There are other ways of handling that, and understanding "normal", with its variety of meanings.  It can still make it difficult to see "here" as my home planet, to truly be "at home" and relaxed with the world around me.

And now, with CFS I am scoring on the "difference" meter  with a new range of non-standard symptoms and behaviours.  Oddly enough several of them hitting asocial or even antisocial markers, when measured by average cultural expectations.  Around here, anyway.

Be social, mix?  Talk a lot, join in and contribute?  Hold down a job?
Some quotes from a BBC have your say form, on benefit reform.

"let's face it the majority of people on benefits are total scroungers, out for when they can get and no intention of doing a days work in their lives.".

"Most people on benefits are lazy scum with no intention of making a positive contribution to society."

"Come on most of claimants can afford large 50 inch TVs and Sky"

"I do not pity those on benefits. How lucky are they?? Money paid out for you doing often very little."

Not perhaps the majority view, or even highly approved of by others, but another element of "my society" which adds to me feeling isolated and on the wrong planet.
Life on benefits is fun, and easy?
I'm definitely not on the same planet as anyone thinking that, but there are people out there who seeing me on their planet and not working, and now the latest thing of not being athletic, either, will quickly paint me as "lazy scrounger."

I'd do a strong line in re-education and paradigm-shifting, as I did with some ill-informed people with odd ideas lodged in their brains concerning autism.
Except with CFS the energy and focus to explain these things clearly and forcefully is so rarely available.
It's terribly sad to leave the uninformed, the badly informed, and the prejudiced folk wallowing in their ignorance, but what can you do?

Fighting one's corner is a very different game now.









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