What would daily life be like for Autistic people if there was no discrimination against us, if ‘accommodations’ was a meaningless term because everything under that heading was freely available to all, if being Autistic was no more a justification for exclusion or celebration than being musical or sporty or scientifically-minded.
The biggest change we would see, being transported to such a world, is an awful lot more Autistic people. There are several reasons for this. First, the notion of diagnosis would seem absurd, and self-identification (and recognition by others) would just arise naturally from how a person lives their life, much as we come to recognise people as ‘outdoorsy’ or ‘bookish’ or ‘crafty’ or ‘spiritual.’
We would see many more Autistic people also because the notion of attaching shame to being Autistic would not exist. Nobody should feel ashamed to ‘admit’ or ‘reveal’ or ‘disclose’ they are Autistic. Seriously, how silly is that? Can you imagine a discussion about when to tell your child they’ve been diagnosed sporty? Or about when to disclose to a love interest that you (oh, mortification!) enjoy sketching or clay modelling. What might happen if you open up at the wrong time? Should you drop casual hints to test the water… wearing a t-shirt with a Van Gogh on it, not masking the scent of oil paints, suggesting an art gallery visit for a date…?
We would see way more Autistic people, and in particular Autistic elders, because the stress, exclusion and discrimination that so badly impacts Autistic peoples’ health and longevity would actually mean more Autistic people alive at any given point in time. Not just alive, but visible. Not just visible but freely expressing themselves. Masking would be unnecessary. The harm masking does and the years-long struggle to unmask would simply never arise.
For that matter, would a word like ‘autistic’ even have meaning in this alternate world? It was coined to describe an inward-turned attention, someone preoccupied with themselves and largely oblivious to other people and their affairs. We know Autistic people are mostly ultra-attuned to emotional nuance, and to the vast range of signals and detail in the environment, so ‘autistic’ is not just a misnomer, it is the opposite of reality… perhaps in this world we would talk about ‘omnistic’ or ‘hyperistic’ people – the minority who are super-aware of everything everywhere all at once.
And how might this world treat such remarkable people? With similar admiration as offered to poets, artists, musicians, athletes? Perhaps. For some anyway.
So what would life be like, then, living as an ‘omnistic’ person in this alternate world?
Ordinary.
It is hard to express just how lovely that actually sounds. The idea of just living a typical, average, nondescript life.
Sure some of us would excel at this or that, others will face unrelated challenges and obstacles (qualifier on that below, though!) but in the main Autistic people would just be humans doing human stuff among other humans.
By ordinary I don’t just mean treated with respect and dignity on a par with others, or having ready access to tools, techniques, supports, workarounds and accommodations as everyday elements of life similar to being able to get glasses or the right shoe fitting… I mean not having to devote inordinate amounts of your energy to contend with disrespect and shaming, to mask, to do 90% of the work in communicating with non-Autistics, and above all not having to be obliged to be campaigners and diplomats and persuaders and educators.
I want to be ordinary. Right now I can’t. We, as a community and as individuals are bound by a moral duty to give yet more of ourselves for the sake of the next generation, to create or at least get closer to that ‘AUtopia.’
But ‘AUtopia’ won’t just be better for Autistic people. To achieve anything like this world requires a significant change in all our attitudes to all forms of difference among our population. So, would some Autistics still face other kinds of obstacle or struggle? Somewhat, yes, but actually by putting dignity and respect, patience and compassion, mutual support and encouragement of curiosity and creativity to the fore as social goals, we change the experience of everyone… and let’s face it, almost everyone faces some kind of exclusion or difficulty, and what makes life easier for Autistics by definition is the same as what would make life easier for others too.
How so?
Because the space between us today and this ‘AUtopia’ is not filled with disorder and incapability and limitations, it is filled by a wall of people.
And people can learn. People can change. People can build trust and hope. Humans at heart are cooperative beings, not competitive. As anyone attending AUsome Training courses will attest, this is what is at the core of what we do – all Autistics are human; all humans try to do what they think is best; when we cooperate life is better for everyone.
This is just scratching the surface of what ‘AUtopia’ might be like. I’d be fascinated to know what you would see in such a future world. Include flying cars if you like.
What do you think ‘AUtopia’ and genuine respect for ‘omnistic’ humans would be like?
