• shalafi@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Well, what did you expect? McNamara sent in the marching morons.

    Instead of upping the draft, calling on more young men to go to Vietnam, he lowered the standards for induction to the Armed Services, recalling many young men who had previously been excused from the service for physical and mental disabilities.

    The majority of these men were illiterate or even had below average IQs. Many would have been likely classified as “mentally disabled” in a future generation.

    Remember Bubba from Forest Gump? He wasn’t some random stupid guy, he was one of “McNamara’s morons”.

    I work with a guy like that, probably autistic and not “lemmy autistic”. “LOL, I’m so quirky and have totally typical human traits! Don’t call me the R word! I have legit mental problems!”

    Nah. This guy couldn’t hang working at a hardware store, moving mulch and rocks from point A to B, so they made him the “cart boy”. All he has to do is bring the shopping carts and sleds in from the parking lot. First day, he took the carts from inside and put them back in the parking lot.

    Imagine going into combat with this guy, the most unforgiving quarter in human experience, and you must cooperate or die. I’d frag him to save myself and my buddies.

    • TriflingToad@sh.itjust.works
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      2 days ago

      “lemmy autistic”. “LOL, I’m so quirky and have totally typical human traits! Don’t call me the R word! I have legit mental problems!”

      you do realize high functioning autistic people actually exist, right?

      • shalafi@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Look at the posts on the autism and ADHD comms. They’re all about typical human foibles.

        I suspect it’s a bunch of young people who want to feel special, stand out. The way GenZ’s education went, treating them like identical little prisoners and taking their agency, probably has them screaming to stand out from the crowd. And that’s not getting into social media forcing conformity.

        • Initiateofthevoid@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          2 days ago

          Three things are true:

          1. People seek attention, and often lie to get it.
          2. Seeking attention is not unique to GenZ. People screamed for attention in Pompeii and Ancient Greece, leaving graffiti on the walls and yelling arguments at strangers
          3. Many symptoms of neurodivergence appear at first glance to be typical to the human condition. This is not a coincidence - neurodivergents are human, and therefore face many of the same problems that neurotypical humans do.

          _

          The reason autism and other disorders are evaluated as a spectrum is because the human condition itself is a spectrum of experience. We are not simple creatures.

          The reason people are diagnosed with a disorder is often because they have landed somewhere on the spectrum of human experience that involves an abnormal level of difficulty when faced with “normal” challenges.

          Simple or routine tasks, time management, emotional regulation, conversation - humans universally face normal challenges in these areas at times, but neurodivergent individuals face greater challenges at higher frequencies, to the point where it can be classified as a “symptom” because it directly interferes with their life in a way that is not statistically normal - it produces unhealthy levels of stress or emotional instability, impairs social and professional engagements, interferes with their ability to reason or achieve their own desires, etc. etc.

          These symptoms can often be managed or treated. Just as often, they can only be coped with.

          In short, “invisible” symptoms, masking, misdiagnosis, and societal misunderstandings all contribute to this very common idea that the average neurodivergent is just an attention seeker.

          Is it likely that you have come across someone who has incorrectly self-diagnosed? Absolutely. People will lie on the internet. People will lie to your face. People will lie to themselves.

          But it is also incredibly likely that you have come across people with severe symptoms that you had absolutely no understanding of. People who have been driven to the brink of suicide because they couldn’t manage their own mind, people who can convince you they are okay but can’t convince themselves.

          It’s a goddamn spectrum, and people who can’t function at all belong on it just as much as people who can mask, treat, or cope with their symptoms enough to blend in. You don’t get to write off their existence just because their struggles aren’t obvious to you.

        • TriflingToad@sh.itjust.works
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          2 days ago

          neurotypical people still have the same issues neurodivergent people do, just to a much much lesser extent.
          Education on neurodivergent people has been hella warped throughout history so it’s understandable that you don’t have a realistic understanding on the topic.

      • shalafi@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Almost deleted it, but it does hit hard and explains how many of those men likely died.

      • KeenFlame@feddit.nu
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        2 days ago

        It’s fan fiction I think. Being elitist with mental handicap because they have “overcome” theirs with intellect and willpower, most likely. Probably scared they are the one that would get fragged. In dire need of human companionship if I was to take a gander.

        • ChexMax@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          Obviously we need to support everyone and ableism is bad, but I wouldn’t want to get drafted which is basically a death sentence and then a guy who gets bring from A to B mixed up with bring from B to A is beside me with a loaded gun. I definitely wouldn’t want him behind me with that gun. To say that’s elitist is intentionally naive.

          • KeenFlame@feddit.nu
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            2 days ago

            Nah, I hate that they did that. But in their comment they belittled every autistic person on lenmy, and it’s not hard to see through why someone would be angry after willingly engaging with anonymous autistic spaces out of curiosity

        • shalafi@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          The hell you on about? Read every post I’ve ever written, find me one where I say anything like that. While you’re at it, you’ll find plenty of posts about my awesome wife.

          This take reeks of projection. Hate to say that because we throw that accusation a little too freely around here, but damn are you pulling fiction out your ass.

          • KeenFlame@feddit.nu
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            2 days ago

            So what you are saying is “spot on”? Or why are you angry like a child that didn’t grow up yet?