Asperger’s and Invisibility

by spectrumscribe, postcardsfromtheedgeofthespectrum.wordpress.com

My main and almost only social memories of school, are of relentless ostracism.

The verb ostracize has its origin in Ancient Greece.

• It was an act of banishment from a city
• for 5 or 10 years!
• decided by a vote!

Banishment describes perfectly how I felt for most of my school life.

There are worse things than dying and there are worse things than banishment.

Ostracism

At school I was ostracized by children who knew me.

• It was personal and spiteful
• And it wasn’t just the banishment/exclusion
• There was the relentless taunting, the name calling
• It was a deliberate, conscious choice

At least the ostracized ranks of Ancient Greece did not have to face their tormentors every day.

But invisibility takes ostracism to a whole new level.

Invisibility

When meeting new people, after the initial pleasantries and tap dancing around, I generally become……invisible.

This happens in work settings.

• People may exchange pleasantries with me
• But beyond that they will take no interest in me
• I won’t be invited to participate in out of work activities
• They won’t even ask me what my plans are at the weekend

Sometimes this happens immediately.

• Sometimes it takes a little longer
• But eventually I find myself in that familiar place, outside, looking in

This isn’t just familiarity breeding contempt either.

The same thing happens at social events and parties with strangers.

• I’ll find the conversation drifting away from me
• A bit like a tennis match being played on the other side of the net
• I’ll also find the group physically drifting away from me too

The difference here is that this is not a deliberate act of unkindness, spitefulness or unpleasantness.

Something else is in play here.

• This is intuition at work
• The bringer of invisibility

Advocacy

It’s easy to see that my experiences of ostracism and invisibility are a big driver in my Autism Advocacy work.

Advocates help give people a voice, or a louder voice and make sure that no one is treated as invisible.

This was a big part of my inspiration for setting up the World Autism Project

• That and my love of maps
• and other cultures

The Invisible Man

To see the Invisible Man, was an episode of the Twilight zone, which first aired in 1986.

• Mitchell Chaplin is sentenced to 1 year of invisibility
• ‘For the crime of Coldness and not opening up his emotions to his fellow citizens’
• Testimony had been given by Chaplin’s family of his lack of caring and concern for others

A mark is applied to his forehead, signalling to and requiring others to treat him as invisible.

• Chaplin makes light of this
• Initially!

To see the Invisible Man (1/3)

See Video:

To see the Invisible Man (2/3)

See Video:

To see the Invisible Man (3/3)

See Video:

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