Dreams of an Earthling

I've started this blog because, as the neurotypical girlfriend of an Asperger guy with an interest in neuropsychology and a bit of an idealistic side, and as someone who has actually felt rather disappointed about being a "normal person" (not being special or valuable) and has been looking for ways to accept and value herself without some official excuse to do so, I want to add my voice to the world of autism-spectrum issues and neurodifference.

Most people who are interested in autism and neurodifference issues are either neurodifferent themselves, or are the parents of neurologically quirky children. I am neither. I'm just the girlfriend - a long way from considering marriage, and unlikely to ever want kids - of someone on the autistic spectrum, and a hobby psychology geek. My connection to the issues of the autism spectrum is thus looser, in a way, than those of most people interested in the subject. I'm kind of part of that general public that some of the autistic adults out there seem to be hoping to educate, and so perhaps I can serve to let them know that not everybody who isn't an autistic adult or an openminded parent is an ignorant "curebie."

There also doesn't seem to be as much out there pertaining to peer relationships involving autistic-spectrum adults as there is pertaining to parents and children. I have to wonder why.

I have read some adult autism blogs on and off, and been involved in forums. But here, I'm starting to think that I might want to get more involved in the autism/neurodifference blogging world, as a member of the general public and a romantic partner of an Asperger person who feels that AS/autistic and NT people really are capable of relating to each other as equals, if they use their imaginations, and that the autism spectrum is not a simple matter of the autistic individual having social and communication problems. I think the biggest problem is that neither autistics nor NTs, when uninformed or misinformed, usually even manage to think of where the critical differences lie, because people in general, regardless of their wiring, would default to taking such basics as cognition and perception for granted. And the autism spectrum, at its heart, seems to be primarily a matter of "minority" styles of cognition and perception, from what I've learned so far.

So I want to share what I've learned...and also learn more. I sure hope this won't all become a narcissistic trip and that I won't canonize myself as some kind of saint and not reconsider my own viewpoints. We NTs have to watch out for that kind of behavior.

This blog will primarily consist of stories and issues from my romantic relationship with my AS partner, and various musings and rants on neurodiversity issues and what it means to be normal.