The trouble with living on the margins is that we too often get trampled by the mainstream herd.
The mainstream is like a massive herd of cows, or maybe I should say sheep. It is kind of like a super-tanker, it can’t be turned quickly. Trying to get the mainstream to understand those on the margins is a very long-term thing. It simply doesn’t happen overnight.
The mainstream thinks that what they believe, or at least are told to believe, is the only way things can be done. To convince them otherwise is a gigantic task that could take years. I am willing to spend the rest of my life, however long that is, to help change the way the mainstream thinks, at least in a few areas.
I guess I am at odds with the scientific community, or whatever you call the deciders in the field of neurology, in that they seem to want to put every neurological condition into a common box. I guess that just makes things easier for them to manage. Maybe the biological origins are the same but not separating them into more useful categories that the “herd” can readily understand does more harm than good. To me, it is kinda like saying that all forms of cancer are the same, and of course, we all know that is not the case. You don’t use the same treatment for skin cancer that you do for pancreatic cancer.
Asperger’s was once considered to be a separate classification of neurological based autism, and for me, I intend to keep it that way, at least for now. So, I will leave the debilitating neurological cases to others and will only concentrate on Asperger’s and similar conditions in my current life goals. It is not that I don’t have empathy for those on the deep end of the spectrum, they need all the help they can get. Trying to change mainstream mentality about those of us who are high functioning productive members of society is a big enough task for me.
I have been trampled enough by the herd when it comes to their view of my Aspie traits to know the task before me. But, I kinda think that if I do it one person at a time, at least I will make a contribution for future Aspies or whatever they may eventually be called.
“What would happen if the autism gene was eliminated from the gene pool? You would have a bunch of people standing around in a cave, chatting and socializing and not getting anything done.” –
Dr. Temple Grandin
“And now I know it is perfectly natural for me not to look at someone when I talk. Those of us with Asperger’s are just not comfortable doing it. In fact, I don’t really understand why it’s considered normal to stare at someone’s eyeballs.”
John Elder Robison
RJ's Corner 
While not in the same league as autism or whatever is the newly approved label, I have started reading “Quiet.” It focuses on how introverts have to behave in a world that can’t stop talking.
I am an introvert though nobody who knows me thinks that is true. I can put on a social face, but much prefer my own company. The label of introvert usually is seen as a negative in a totally connected society. That may be but I must be true to myself.
More power to you, RJ.
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Thank you, Bob, for your testimonial. I, too, have always enjoyed my own company instead of crowds. That is just part of my Aspie traits that I didn’t have a name for. Not every Aspie is an introvert, nor is every introvert an Aspie.
I will have to get a copy of the book you mentioned. Many of us do have to wear masks to deal with the mainstream. Taking off that mask is a popular topic over at The Medium, but we can never be totally free of coping by wearing a mask. Almost everyone has to do that to a degree. Without masks, we probably couldn’t function as a society. But, it is always comforting to be true to ourselves as you mention. It seems as we get older that is easier to do. Thank the Lord 🥴
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