What if Neurotypicals (Non-Autistics) Were Stigmatized the Way Autistic People Are?

Originally Posted to Facebook On April 18th

What would the world look like if being neurotypical had the same stigma attached to it that being autistic has? What if autistic people were the majority, and they had a similar negative understanding of being neurotypical that many people have towards autism currently? I thought it would be interesting to imagine a thought experiment where this is the case. In this thought experiment, an autistic psychologist describes the “horror” of being neurotypical, which he calls Emotional Neutrality Disorder, or END.

“Good afternoon, my name is Doctor Ravi Saavol. And today I would like to tell you about a tragic affliction called Emotional Neutrality Disorder, or END. Now, there may be some extremists in the audience who will tell you that END is just a different way of being human, but I tell you now that those extremists are absolute lunatics, and that END is a horrible, terrifying tragedy, and we need to find a cure for this affliction immediately, or at the very least make it so that END children are indistinguishable from their peers.

I would like to tell you about one of the patients under my care called Micheal, who suffers from END. This means that Micheal is incapable of feeling proper autistic emotions. He experiences neither emotional highs nor lows, not joy, sadness, or anxiety, just a constant emotionally neutral state. What this entails is responding to everything with phrases like “Okay” or “Alright” or “Grand.” The other day was simply heartbreaking to watch. His favourite tv show came on, and he did not once flap his hands with joy. He simply remained still and watched it without experiencing any extreme emotion at all. I came up to him when it was over and asked him what he thought of it, and I feared in terror for the answer. He responded, “It was okay I suppose.”

END people also have a terrible, terrible affliction where they cannot seem to perceive the fact that their ears are being damaged. They regularly go to buildings, known as public houses, or pubs, where a large group of people gather and make a lot of deafening noise. And END people are curiously indifferent to the fact that their ears are being damaged by this noise. And here is the other curious thing. They start making loud exuberant noises, but only while drunk, and not also while sober like a normal autistic person.

The other tragedy of the END person is that they have no need for sameness. I changed Micheal’s routine to see what would happen. His breakfast meal was provided in the evening, his trip to the park happened on Wednesday instead of Friday, and his trip to the supermarket happened four hours earlier than usual. His response? It chilled my blood to hear it. He responded, “That’s grand, I don’t mind.” The END mind is so disordered that they crave a complete lack of routine.

END people don’t have any grasp of social skills. If you engage them in conversation, not only do they talk extensively about the weather regardless of whether that subject interests them or not, but when talking to you they will continuously stare into your eyes relentlessly. So deficient are they in social skills that they have no concept of the social requirement of avoiding eye contact. In fact, this is how we first diagnose END. I had a frightened mother ring me up and tell me that her four year old son kept making eye contact with her. It broke my heart to tell her that he almost certainly had END.

So you see, END people are a terrible evolutionary mistake that must be stopped. With proper funding, we can cure people with END, or failing that, force ENDs to act like us through years of bullying, intimidation and shaming. We can win the war against END. We can live in a world where we never hear the word “grand” ever again!”

So, to anyone who read this who is non-autistic, if you thought either you are not like how I have described, or you are in certain respects like this, but that there is nothing wrong with it, then that is exactly the point. In this thought experiment, I described neurotypical people as being near devoid of emotions based on the absolute flimsiest of justifications. Autistic people for years (this is now changing) were considered to lack empathy, also based on the most bizarre justifications. Autistic people are considered to be “deficient” because of our sensory issues, but who’s to say our sensitivity to for example loud noises doesn’t protect us from hearing damage? The few times I go to loud pubs, I often leave with ringing in my ears, maybe my hearing would be damaged if I went to pubs more often. And autistic people are absolutely baffled by the social requirement to make eye contact. What is wrong with carrying out a conversation without doing so? And autistic people are shamed for emotional displays such as hand flapping, without any explanation of how this does any harm to anyone.

I hope this thought experiment was interesting to people. And don’t worry, Dr Ravi Saavol’s campaign against END people was defeated eventually!