"Êê..vidão" ("What a great life") music by Juliana Paraiso

"Era uma noite de luar", ("Moonlight sky") music by Juliana Paraiso, autist

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Otherists, who are they?

One of the prerequisites concerning autistic persons is that they live isolated inside themselves. Since their childhood they are seen by the "others" around them, sometimes as a baby which does not play with other kids. A "too shy" child, an inconvenient teenager, an embarrassing adult, etc. It is a person that does not reproduce the values and beliefs learned by his original social group.

Persons considered "not-autistic" are considered "normal" when they seem to reproduce these values and beliefs. These values and beliefs are "the norms" of the society they belong, preestablished norms created by the "others" who existed before they were born. "The norms" are dictated by their family and the society which they were born, school, religion, political and economical system, etc.

For example, in the capitalist western culture, a healthy person can work in order to make a living, he can vote and he is considered legally capable to fulfill his obligations and responsibilities. In this case, if autists grow up isolated inside themselves , the "OTHERISTS" grow up following the preestablished norms created by others. In the end, otherists expect that those who are different will, someday, become to be exactly like them and are constantly pushing everyone towards these objectives using social sanctions, social exclusion, etc.

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