In watching today's eps of "Babylon 5", I remembered something from a while back that I had forgotten before: I need to write an essay comparing the plight of autistics in our society to the plight of telepaths in Babylon 5. The nature of telepaths, and the way they're treated in human society, has a lot of parallels to what it's like to be autistic in our society, and how our society often treats us. In fact, there's even a "telepathic spectrum": telepaths are rated from P1 (very slightly telepathic, not much more than an unusually strong intuition) to P12 (telepathy so powerful that you have to learn how not to hear other people's thoughts, and you can even control other people's behavior in a limited way). There are also unusual telepathic abilities, such as telekinesis, but they're very rare; most telepathy consists of mental communication, nothing more.
Telepaths, once they're identified as such, are required by law to either join the Psi Corps so they can be monitored and regulated, or to take special drugs, called "sleepers", that suppress their telepathy (and which also have some pretty harsh side effects... those who take the sleepers are often compared to zombies because they're always so out of it). And there are laws on what telepaths may or may not do; for example, it's illegal for telepaths to go into casinos, even if they're not actually gambling.
From the ep that I'm watching right now, "The Paragon of Animals", here's a quote from Byron, a P12 who is the leader of a small group of telepaths that are rebelling against the tyranny that they're subjected to on Earth. "Do you know what a telepath has to do in order to avoid picking up stray thoughts? We have to kick down our natural abilities. Run rhymes and little songs through our heads, round and round. All that to keep from picking up what you're broadcasting loud enough to be heard halfway down the hall... Mundanes want us to fill our heads with noise and babble so we won't hear what you're shouting at the top of your minds."
Not an exact parallel to being autistic, but pretty damn close...
Posted by Zathras at April 14, 2004 02:28 PMJust read the comment about B5's telepaths. I fully concur with the parallels. I saw those episodes before I was fully aware of my AS. I knew I had it but had no guidance as to what aspects of 'me' were AS related. I learned to pretend that good ideas of mine were those of other people because they would not believe that I could be so innovative. I want the world to be aware of our 'specialness' but I hate the idea that we may end up marshalled as 'superbrains' if you get my drift.
Always liked Zathras, thought he was well cool in an enigmatic fashion. Good alias my friend.
Vinnie IX
Posted by: Vinnie IX at April 17, 2004 03:06 PMHi, Vinnie, thanks for stopping by. I'll get that essay written sooner or later... I am, for the most part, pleased with my autistic traits, but some of them are annoying. Unfortunately, I'm one of the ones who has a lot of problems with executive function, so who knows when I'll write that essay? *chuckle*
I visited your site. I'm glad to see that you have a support group for those in autistic relationships, since such relationships present special challenges, but I do think the tone is rather unfortunate in that the site talks about those who "suffer" from autism. Autistics do not "suffer" from autism, they suffer from society's treatment of autism (just as B5 telepaths do not "suffer" from telepathy, they suffer from the way they are treated by mundanes). That is, in fact, the main point that I want to make in that essay if I ever get around to writing it.
Posted by: Zathras at April 17, 2004 03:40 PMI'm happy being autistic; it doesn't make me suffer at all. Noisy or otherwise insensitive asshats sure do, however.
I'm also happy being with an autistic partner, provided he's not attempting to appear NT. All of the things that *do* cause trouble in our relationship are the result of cretins abusing him (in the past and currently) for his autistic traits, not the autism itself.
Posted by: Moggy at April 17, 2004 04:26 PMHmmm - are you going to make a parallel autistic scale - A1 through A12? :)
I think I'm probably an A3 or an A4 :)
Posted by: Matt at April 18, 2004 05:14 AMThe parallel with AS is strong, but I think it's even stronger with many other organic traits. All that seems needed for the parallel to apply is for a very large majority of people to lack the trait (or have it to only a very small degree), and for them to view individuals in the minority as being hopelessly wrong, evil, pitiable, or scornworthy because of being so "ab-normal".
I remember reading a chilling short story, maybe by Rudyard Kipling. The protagonist is hopelessly lost in a wilderness or jungle or some such. He is found and taken in by a members of a previously unknown civilization. All of them are blind, gentle, generous, tolerant, etc., etc.; he is sighted and in all other ways normal. After patiently tolerating the man's delusional fantasies for several months (such as his believing he can perceive silent objects at a distance, or his systems of invention regarding qualities like "color" that exist only in his mind and would serve no purpose even if they were real), they realize how severe his mental illness is. Being loving and benevolent people, they apply the appropriate therapy, harsh though it is, to deliver him from his otherwise incurable mental anguish.
Posted by: Paul at April 28, 2004 09:11 PMHi, Paul, thanks for dropping by.
That story does sound a lot like the teeps, the autistics, and, as you point out, so many other parallels across history. I'll have to read it sometime.
Posted by: Zathras at April 28, 2004 09:15 PM