rights – Real Social Skills

Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of variations on a story that goes “Autistic people love detail, and it makes them naturally well suited for repetitive jobs that most people find intolerably boring.”

This is usually said with great fanfare, and described as a step away from stigma and towards celebration.

But — autistic people don’t all have a convenient love of tedious tasks. Some of us find them as boring as everyone else does.

This model of “autistic strengths” celebrates us doing jobs everyone else hates. It has no room for us to pursue jobs that others want. We’re supposed to stay in a special place for special people, doing the boring tasks the ideology says we love — and making no trouble for the normal people who do the interesting jobs.

This isn’t ok, and it isn’t acceptance. Some of us like things that others don’t, but none of us should be forced into a box. Autistic people have the full range of interests, talents, and skills that anyone else does. We shouldn’t be tracked into jobs based on stereotypes. We have the right to decide for ourselves what to pursue.

Irrational people have the right to make choices.

Personal autonomy is not conditional on other people thinking that you are using it correctly.

That’s pretty much what makes it personal autonomy.

For instance, people have the right not to interact with dogs

Even if the only reason they don’t want to is that they have a phobia
Even if the phobia is completely irrational
Even if they would be better off getting over the phobia and learning to like dogs
None of this gives anyone the right to make them interact with the dog
That’s their business and their choice

People have the right to decide what they eat

Even if it’s for ridiculous reasons
Even if they think it’s healthy and it isn’t
Even if they are in the grip of food fads and think that avoiding the color blue will solve their health problems
Even if they’re too religious for their own good
Even if they’re picky
Even if they’re fat
Even if they’re thin
Even if they’re being overly cautious about their allergies
Even if they are completely, utterly wrong
People have the right to make their own decisions about these things

People have the right to end relationships

Even if they’re only doing it because of a fear of committment
Even if the person they’re breaking up with has all kinds of reasons for thinking the relationship is a good idea
Even if they’re going to regret it
Even if it’s a stupid decision
People have the right to make their own choices about who who spend time with and be close with

People have the right to choose how to spend their time

Even if they are wasting it
Even if they will regret wasting it
Even if they have tons of potential and could be accomplishing so much more if they just applied themselves
Even if they watch a lot of TV and have terrible taste in TV
Even if they express dissatisfaction with the choices they are making
People’s time is their own, and they have the right to choose how they spend it.

The right to make choices includes the right to make mistakes.