Being autistic together

Added on 13/12/2024

Type de contenu

Journal article of the type Perspective ( ; english)

Jim Sinclair *
Being autistic together published in the journal "Disability studies quarterly" n°30, vol.1, 25 pages , doi: 10.18061/dsq.v30i1.1075

*The author has publicly identified as autistic. [Learn more about this mention]

Summary/Presentation

[First lines]

Autistic people are generally seen as lacking in ability to share common interests with others, disconnected from social participation and fellowship, and inaccessible to social transmission of behaviors and attitudes. These are core aspects of what has been described as autistic "aloneness," "withdrawal," and "disconnectedness," autistic people "living in their own worlds," being "trapped" inside "shells" or behind "invisible walls," and many similar terms used by neurotypical (NT) people to describe their perception that autistic people are unable to be "together" with other people. (For examples see Frith, 1992; Maurice, 1994; Kaufman, 1995; Claiborne Park, 1968; Tustin, 1990).
For autistic people the situation is not so clear-cut. Some of us, at some times in our lives (generally early childhood), really aren't aware of other people or their activities or their attempts to connect with us. Others of us are aware of the people around us, but find them difficult or impossible to understand. Some of us have sensory sensitivities that make being around other people distressing to us, either because of the people themselves (unwanted touching, loud talking, perfumes and other overwhelming scents), or because of sensory features of the environments in which we encounter other people. Some of us aren't interested in the same things the people around us are interested in, and we don't have a natural impulse to take interest in things just because we observe that other people find them interesting. Some of us are keenly interested in other people and their interests and activities, but we don't know how to engage with other people around those shared interests.

For your information:

(1) References in blue are resources listed on our site.

(2) Authors listed in this bibliography whose names are in color have published other resources referenced on the site. Clicking on the name allows you to see the list of resources they have published and shared on the site.

(3) Authors whose names are followed by an asterisk have publicly disclosed being autistic.

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