In a W.E.I.R.D. culture where autistic people are pathologised, it can be helpful to point to reflections on culture made by outsiders and members of minorities who are marginalised and often persecuted.
The definition of normality in the industrial era is based on the metaphor of society as a factory and on the metaphor of people as machines. Our laws and social norms have been shaped by these metaphors to a far greater extent than most people are able to comprehend without an in-depth explanation.
As I have been pointing out for the last few years, the commodification of neurodiversity and the exploitation of autistic people is in full swing.
Before hitting the walls of systemic biases that exclude neurominorities, before blatant gender discrimination and xenophobic hate, there was a time when diversity was a source of joy. But it’s hard to focus on fun or remember joy and success when you are treated like nothing. When going through adversity, the one thing we often search for is meaning.
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