Thursday, September 25, 2008

The Dictated

THE DICTATED

I was thinking about when did it all change?

Today it seems ok to just openly judge someone. To say we like them or don't like them. To analyze them to death on how we feel they are right or wrong. It is not getting better. It is getting worse. When I was younger if someone did something others did not like we were taught to be respectful. To openly judge them was considered rude. Even if we talked privately it was not ok to shove are viewpoints in others faces.

Even how people talk about how "they feel" the disabled should be treated in some cases totally ignores and disrespects the feelings of the disabled themselves.

When did this change happen. Was it the talk shows? Everyone airing their problems to the public to be dissected to death by society. Watching them be analyzed to death by the Dr. Phils. When did we all start to think we were a bunch of Dr. Phils? Or was it all those reality shows where its ok to judge the weakest link and vote them out if we deem they are not worthy enough. Maybe it happened when we started letting all the therapists think for us and slowly we began to loose are own ability to think for ourselves. Got a problem call a therapists. Well my parents had problems and they struggled through them and used their own minds to solve them. Their therapists were their neighbors and they all leaned on each other and it was free too.

We somehow think we can dictate who is right and who is wrong now. I know its always been like this in little ways but it has gotten much worse. One day the person who others is deciding is wrong and being analyzed to death as not being what others feel they should be may be you. Yes "you" the one reading this post right now.

Well I have been fighting for 3 years or more for my right to use my own voice and my own mind. I don't want the DR Phils of the world being the dictator of my life. I want to be my own dictator. I want my right to think and even make mistakes along the way. I am tired of a world that lost its mind by giving it to those who profess to know what is best. If they are so right in all their answers then why is it getting worse???

I call myself a disabled rights activist. Only because I keep fighting for my rights. One day you may loose yours then you will know what it really feels like to be one of the judged. People want to think for us disabled but I think it is crossing over to the other side = your side. Be careful you may loose your rights if you don't take them back soon. Bad news is you already lost them when you let them convince you that it was ok to be the dictator of others.

It is not inclusion for all. It is exclusion of all except those who choose to play the new game of life. Its not living its is simply existing in a world where your mind is now what others decided it should be.

Today is the day I am willing to say that I am a non-conformist, an autistic misfit, a recluse, a social slug, a geek, and a person who will never stop fighting for my rights to be myself in a world that refuses to accept me. When the world refuses to accept you one day, I hope and pray you have the strength to be what you need to be = yourself.

6 comments:

Ashes said...

Aspie, An excellent entry. A key word for me is RESPECT. Where is it? May I live long enough to see the word have it's real meaning again.

Dianne Barbee said...

Aspiegirl,

Awesome blog! Thank you for sharing your passion for inclusion and respect, as well as the personal aspects of your life.

Have a great week!

Caro

Anonymous said...

Excellent blog, so true in every way.

Ashes said...

Aspiegirl, CONGRATULATIONS on your Claymmy Art award!!

You new montage is also a real work of art, totally awesome. Thank you for sharing your talent.

Anonymous said...

I found a lot of the direction the disabled moved with asperger's myself and within the community was away from intergration with the community and towards seperate communities which was at best a hopeless plea. I think that we are disrespected and trashed a lot but it doesn't help either when we throw out unrealisitic desires that are of course going to get trashed. This community needs to keep this squarely aimed at how can we get therapy that allows us to lead not just productive but fulfilling lifes, social lifes and stuff in the frame work of this society? I will give you that sometimes i find the social context has it's issues and when I do feel that way I will say something but for the most part I think it's wrong when someone with As themselves says "fuck you and your entire way of looking at it" and refuses to try to work with the community. I'm not sure where you are on this at all but i will tell you that I am very much for disabled rights but i can't help but look at "Aspergia" and know why people didn't have a lot of sympathy for that.

I found writing myself was very helpful in reconciling the diffences i found in society and actually manage to have the mythological long term relationships people told me i would never actually have.

I will always be an advocate for the disabled but I'm not going to reserve my criticisms for the victims in this either because there is a productive way out of the entanglement and there are unproductive ways too and if we want a way forward we specifically HAVE to be balanced and willing to be the criticised.

Now, as to what you said, right on. but keep in mind that from the broader framework out of what you said there is a large portion of AS kids that are running away from addressing the real issues because they find it too challenging to be called inept and have to deal with those trauams. How do they expect to find a way out if they won't?

Ashes said...

Happy Valentine's Day!
Lots of {{hugs}} to you Aspiegirl :)