Perception 2. Toward an Understanding of What Makes Us Unique. Profile/Diversity

Hello again.

On this blog we will be exploring topics related to personal perceptions (which means, of course, pretty much everything, just as the first blog entry largely concerned the movie, “2001”), encompassing topics like autism,  teaching/learning observations, literature, novel-authoring, etc.  My background is complex, including, teaching, computers, retail, and real estate. After teaching English for fourteen years, I changed careers, working on the management level for companies as varied as General Mills and Ralph Lauren, and even combining two disciplines by designing curricula for end-user computer training. I lived most of my life in the Northeast but am now living in North Carolina. So much for profile! We will get to know each other not through biography, but through perceptions.

I am on the Autism Spectrum, but so high-functioning that if I didn’t tell you, I don’t think you would realize it through these blogs, except where I mention it directly. But you may find it interesting to imagine your life with some of my “quirks,” such as my inability to talk on the phone—apply that to your own life in today’s world; picture yourself without your phone! I conduct all of my correspondence by email, which presents problems,  some of which may not occur to you. The major stumbling block is that most people today enjoy the immediacy of talking on the telephone, rather than the thought-out communication of email. Some people on the opposite side find emailing to be annoying, and, like me with phones, refuse to do so. This is troublesome, of course, though most of my friends and family have accepted that this is not a choice, but a phobia of sorts. What I have the most trouble conveying to people is that it isn’t that I don’t “want” to talk on the phone, but that I “can’t.” Oh, I can force myself to do so if it is urgent or an emergency, but imagine if you have claustrophobia and are forced to be “trapped” in an elevator for hours. That’s what it’s like. What is most frustrating and disturbing—and not usually talked about—is that deep down inside many (most?) “normal” people don’t really believe that autistics “can’t,” but that they “won’t.”

Now consider your own life. Is there anything about you that you feel you have to hide because others wouldn’t believe that you can’t change, but that you wouldn’t? Afraid you’re not manly or womanly enough, or smart enough, or not tall or thin enough? Do you affect mannerisms to counter this feared perception on the part of others? If so, this is what we autistics call “masking,” attempting to hide personal characteristics that might be frowned upon by others. I choose to mask and do it fairly well (note that this does not apply to my ideas or perceptions—I am vigilant about being open in those areas—thus this blog–only to the way my character appears to others). This is why I have always held that autistics and “neuro-typicals” are not really that different. In our heart of hearts don’t we all have something we want to mask so we don’t “ let the cat out of bag.” If not, you are one of a very fortunate few.

So let’s show each other compassion, overlooking each other’s foibles, and make the world a better place.

Thank you for listening.

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