In this video I talk about stereotypes and the parallels between the portrayals of different minority groups throughout history. www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_...
So today I found your channel through a video that was on Hyperosmia. I suffer from Hyperosmia and it produces migraines and overall loss of daily life. I subscribed to your channel and even browsed your blog. After, I started to look through your videos. This is the 3rd video with topics of our intersecting interest. You and I have similar qualities and interests and often I have wondered if I have made it to the age of 32 without being diagnosed as member of the spectrum. Anyway you are absolutely fascinating: your quirks and method of expression. I can see your thoughts rolling out like a thunderstorm; the cadence and gait of expression meeting your need to have a completeness of thought not matched by ability to speak. Often I have thought about how horrible text messaging is because of how condensed it must be. Unpacking, packing thoughts into the most precise language while having to constantly account for loss of meaning in the perforations of the medium. Anyway, I can tell that one thing we have in common is that you dynamically compress the world around you while also showing desire to connect. Paradoxical, but necessary. Einstein once mentioned that looking at the world in forms of vibrations can bring understanding. You employ natural forms of signals processing as function to your coping. I think what I am trying to say is: I hear you. You're not alone. Ground control to major Tom. You're signal made it to the southern united states and harmonized with a like mind.
I know it can be frustrating if someone comes off as patronizing, but I don't think people need to automatically get offended. If someone says, "I'm sorry that you're like that" when we tell them we have autism, we don't need to let it upset us. They didn't mean it in a mean way. I'm sure they just mean that they're sorry that we have something that can potentially make our life harder. The same thing with the American roommates who didn't know the Nigerian woman could use a stove. Those people didn't make that assumption out of hate, they just didn't know if she had ever had access to the same type of stove as they had. There's no sense in letting every single thing offend you.
I can get upset about these things, even though, as you say, it's probably best not to get upset. Unfortunately my emotions are often uncontrollable and get the better of me regardless. People tend to speak out if ignorance, not hate, or they say something because they're fallible (as we all are) and can't think of anything better to say at the time. It would be good , though, if people could reflect more on what their pity is conveying and whether they need to show pity when someone discloses a difference, at least not until they get to know the person first.
