I wouldn’t say always, but it’s true that many of us don’t blindly accept authority in the way that NTs do.
I could go on for hours about this topic but in short, authority figures don’t like when you point out shitty behaviour or the faults that they and everyone else would rather ignore.
Autistic people often have their own way of doing things that differs from the ‘norm’. I definitely have strict ideas about right and wrong, but a lot of the time my ‘right’ is totally different to the ‘right’ that’s being asked of me. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the need to follow rules in situations where someone is in power. But when I’ve approached authority figures in the past(particularly in the workplace) with new strategies we can implement or ideas on how we can manage things better, they’re always more focused on the fact that I’m DARING to question their authority by suggesting a different approach than actually taking the time to listen to me. They’d rather exercise their power than consider that they might’ve missed something and that there is a much more efficient, thorough and beneficial way of doing things (that to many autistic people is obtrusively obvious).
My entire life I’ve watched authority figures get away with treating people unfairly. We’re all human, so why does having a title over your head give you the right to blatantly treat people with disrespect? And a lot of the time this kind of treatment is dished out just for the fun of it too. I’m sure many people have similar thoughts about it but I think what makes autistic people different is that we call it out. I will always address bad behaviour when I see it, regardless of whether I’m explicitly involved and especially if it involves someone who is vulnerable or being victimised or taken advantage of.
I’ve left a couple of jobs because of issues with authority. There was one particular situation though where my manager was so abusive and horrible to so many staff members but everyone was too scared of him to say anything. I was the first person to properly speak up about it, wrote a detailed email to HR which prompted a whole investigation and then he ended up getting fired. Sometimes all it takes is that one person to make the first move and then others will follow. When you have a whole team of people standing up in protest about an issue, something is bound to be done about it. Autistic people speak up, NTs would rather stay silent and not disrupt the status quo.
No comments:
Post a Comment