Autistic People and the Need for Justice

#Autistic people often have intensely strong feelings of justice and fairness, to the point where it is seen as a characteristic trait. This can appear at an extremely young age and persist for a lifetime.

If you think about any #autistic person you know, including yourself, it's very likely you will have noticed that they have very strongly held opinions on some matters. If you haven't noticed, because you bumble through life merrily, then have a think about it.

Now as far as I know (and I may well be wrong) there isn't a huge amount of research on this, so we're going full-on anecdotal here but it may still be interesting.

It could be that our #autistic need for order and clarity is behind this. We expect (or rather need) consistency from the people and systems around us. Without consistency, as we lack that weird intuitive knack of understanding what's happening, we're lost.
Consistency keeps us #autistic folk functioning (hence routines, rigidity etc) and the concept of fair justice is deeply intertwined with consistency. The idea of 'one rule for one, another for another', is so completely unreasonable to me, that I can barely stand it.

But the world seems to revolve around this concept. The idea that some people have to exist under different social circumstances to others is rife, and getting worse. Corruption, from high to low level, is everywhere. As a whole #autistic people can't handle this at all.

(I'm not saying neurotypicals are not outraged by these things too - more that it's a visceral, total inability to understand the mechanism behind injustice. We'd be fantastic Captain Americas, but pretty crap Iron Men.

There is thinking that part if this is our ability to see both the wood and the trees, quite happily. We (generally!) don't get distracted by emotional issues or do bogged down in detail that the main idea is lost. We can focus on the issue completely.

So, Greta Thunberg understands the science of climate change.She understands its is undeniable, and that any attempt to suggest otherwise is bullshit. Therefore she ignores such attempts completely - its irrelevant, it doesn't muddy the water as the water's protected from mud.

Where others may be distracted and convinced that there are mitigating factors or, say, financial reasons to ignore climate change, an #autistic person will often be immune to this as they recognize the fundamental fact climate trumps all.

There's a clarity of vision at play, I think, that may not always be useful (we're very literal thinkers and this can cause problems in communication) but when it comes to justice anx especially social justice it makes #autistic people superhuman!

There's also an interesting thing about #autistic people and authority. We don't respect it. Not in that 'must treat this person differently cos they're in charge' way, anyhow. There's a tendency to talk to very important people normally, to treat them like everyone else.

It's infuriating at times as I'll speak with my boss and afterwards be like "oh shit, what did I just say??" but I guess altogether it's a good, egalitarian thing. I'm certain that if an #autistic person spoke to the Queen, they'd do so as if over a pint or a coffee.

I think it's because hierarchy that goes beyond simple responsibility/oversight is a neurotypical thing, with your fun unknowable codes of conduct and social gaffes and rules (you strange, strange folk!) but is completely pointless in the mind of an #autistic person.

I mean, the whole kow-towing to authority and pretending that they're better than you fundamentally - that's just not on, and if you get a promotion from acting this way, we'll that's not fair or reasonable either. I think #autistic people are the ultimate meritocracy.

If you're good at what you do then great, but don't expect to be treated with reverence or anything.

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