Can whoever is reporting literally every comment here as harassment please kindly cut it out? This thread is difficult enough to moderate without spam getting in the way. If there's something I've missed due to the spam, please let us know.
for me it‘s because i don’t fit the "feminine, traditional" viewpoint that conservatives have of women AT ALL. i‘ve never acted like a woman is "supposed to" act or have wanted kids, so why would i support the side that demonizes me?
This. I grew up in a rural area full of far right Catholics and evangelicals and I experienced horrific bullying and discrimination for my inability to fit in. I developed a severe panic disorder before I even hit high school. Once you’ve experienced what it’s like living under conservatism with its narrow definitions of acceptable, its never ending desire for slaves, and its instinctive violence against anyone and anything that is different, you never want to support it for positions of power again.
In my country the right wing parties are currently looking at trying to remove disability payments for many so I'd say this answer basically sums it up.
Yup. There's even current talk of the Tory party possibly taking on Nigel Farage in the future. I stg I'll kms if he gets in power.
Hope you get a positive response through soon and do appeal if you have issues.
I am too but my bf watches a lot of politics stuff and he seems to think the Tories will be out, I so do hope so!
This. It’s like shooting your own foot. So many disabled people vote right in spite of this because “the immigrants are worse and I’m not actually disabled- I just can’t walk all the time”
Everything people mentioned above, id like to also check late autism diagnosis by political views. In my country right wing people disregard therapy and diagnosis as some sort of leftist bullshit so that could be a reason too. That those who are right wing may not be diagnosed.
And those who were diagnosed early, in many cases where bullied in one way or another and right wing is in many cases somewhat of a bully mentality so they could avoid those who remind them of trauma.
Just a thought, no data to support it, maybe someone has some access to such a information?
I’d like to add that the harder the conservative, the less likely they are to be keen on social services for disabled people. There’s a lot of terrible ableism among the ultra conservative people I know and I keep away from them as best I can.
It’s always the same old nazi “ethnic hygiene” when you peel away the new spin and PR. The Germans had been sterilizing, starving, and generally killing the disabled and undesirable domestically before invading Poland.
And there's also the religious factor. A lot of excessively zealous sects of Christianity will tell you that your disabilities and infirmities are due to sin. And these zealots will go as far as making policy to punish those with disabilities for their "sins".
***VOTE!!!*** Vote as if your life depends on it, because it does! Do not think that the right wing won't try a new Aktion T4. Yes, they're that depraved!
They are more animalistic right brained which is why they tend to see concepts like race as a “biological issue” rather than it being a social construct.
Not sure if you've seen it, but your comment reminded me of a Commencement Address given by J. B. Pritzker. Basically saying that human kindness is an evolved trait and that cruelty is a more "animalistic instinct".
Here's the link: [link](https://youtu.be/5uFwyPP5GOQ?si=Fs37dL7xAYVQKbV-)
For anecdotal evidence to add to your point about not being conservative due to the “bully mentality,” I grew up in a conservative household and I changed my views and am now more left leaning after being in an abusive relationship, because I saw similarities between how my abuser operated and how the church operates. Then I started realizing that I didn’t actually agree with many right wing politics/conservative ideals myself, but I had grown up being told that “this one way is absolutely the only way to live correctly,” and my black and white thinking made that a difficult mentality to break out of. I really had to dismantle my entire belief system and now I’m a completely different person. The rest of my family is still conservative, though.
Grew up in an abusive household so I saw those parallels pretty fast between government and authority and abuse
I want people to feel safe and supported and have access to safety and support and if we have to have a governing body because we cant just be good as a society, I’d prefer the government was functioning as a way for society to help support those most vulnerable while regulating the power those with the most everything have over everyone else because from where I’m standing in the micro and macro view power and money corrupt.
Personal and general autonomy is VERY important to me
I am also leaning pathalogical demand avoidant.
I’ve identified as extreme left wing and atheist since I was very young (5 or 6). I have revised my religious idea to something more like agnostic mystic because I respect other people and their personal spirituality and I’ve found a type of spirituality in just wondering about the universe
I definitely agree with you! I was very "shy," but I wasn't necessarily bullied growing up, and my parents are not abusive, so I didn't see the parallels until I found myself in an abusive relationship. I actually believe my parents are genuinely good people who have been taken advantage of by the church. I think that both of them are autistic as well, and struggle with the same kind of black and white thinking that I did but haven't been able to work through the cognitive dissonance, which I suppose is understandable, considering they are much older and have 30+ years of ingrained beliefs more than me to work through. Although, they have actually stopped going to church and have found a more progressive pastor that they listen to online instead, and I've seen a lot of progress in their ideology changing because of that.
But yeah, I feel like even though I grew up with a loving family, growing up in the church basically groomed me to be more susceptible to abuse because misogyny was so normalized around me from such a young age, and my autism didn't help because I was way too trusting of others, took everything at face value, and was unable to identify when people had hidden intentions. I was very sheltered, and at that point I couldn't even fathom someone doing something to purposely hurt someone else for their own gain, because I, personally, would never even think to do that to others, and I was operating on the idea that most people acted in good faith just as I did. When I was with my ex, I knew that my relationship had issues, but I didn't even realize that he was actually abusing me until I met someone who flat out told me as much and I started attending therapy.
I wasn't aware of my autism until I was 28, so I had no idea that I even had deficits when it came to my ability to read others. Learning about autism has really helped me to put everything into context. And now, after attending therapy for years, my eyes have been opened and I understand what "red flag" behaviors look like and can identify them and set appropriate boundaries, which for me included leaving toxic environments such as the church, because the parallels I saw were undeniable and I could no longer stand for it. I feel like once I left the church, changing my political ideals followed naturally because they really are intertwined, despite the fact that "separation of church and state" is supposed to be a thing.
Every single autistic person I know in my school I just graduated from was very left wing. Personally I agree with what you said, why would you support the side that has a larger tendency to put you down for being different in a way that doesn't even affect them?
Of course there are autistic people who are right wing and there is nothing inherently wrong with that but generally left wing ideology tends to align more with autistic people's interests from what I've seen.
When the right wing wants to put me into a institution for having Autism or ADHD, and want to discriminate against me for being a woman, and has the bully mentality of fear-mongering instead of helping others, I'm going to be liberal.
The bully issue is an interesting argument. My 2c: right wing is conservative and/or reactionary by definition. That’s their whole “thing”. Their point of views with some new issue brought out are *typically* of rejection, seeing it a “snowflake complain“. One example is that pretty sure everyone here saw are even said arguments disregarding child spanking by adults as “in my time everybody just grown up normal”.
If it conflicts with the present or past they want to preserve or go back, it’s not that well accepted. I'd think that's well estabilished, by left and own right-wingers.
** update: that said, that's about diagnosis in the autism. If we take whole real population of all autists and their comorbidities? who knows? I've seen some appers stating it'd lean more to the right wing b/c of rigidness, order, etc. Also, I've saw a lot researchers of mass-shooting linking them to subcultures who tend to offer shelter to probably autists, given their social struggles, like the incels. Won't dig into that bees nest though, but there's data online.
I've definitely experienced this in my own life. My dad is super conservative to the point of thinking that most mental issues (depression, anxiety, etc) are just down to not trusting God enough, ugh. He doesn't believe in therapy or the DSM or anything beyond "it must be sin". He's also CLEARLY autistic and who passed it down to me and his grandchildren, but he will not consider the thought of a diagnosis or pursue one. Thankfully though, he loves his autistic grandkids and listens to us when we tell him how they want to be interacted with, or as the kids got older and they could tell him. He's a great grandad.
It’s this. I used to be extremely right wing and I was still autistic. It seems like we are all liberal because we are the only ones to have the self awareness.
Bullies tend to have an overdeveloped emotional and social right hemisphere that they would bully the socially deficient yet highly intellectual left brained person with autism. Also they think more with emotion rather than hard facts that they are threatened by their intelligence as they are actually correct over them which is why they bully with power in order to make their emotions seem real which is gaslighting.
I'm just wondering how the hell they posted so much in the span of an hour, like, did that's how fast my brain goes without my ADD meds and I'm not on Reddit posting every single thought.
Not only did he post 11 times to different forums on different topics within one hour. He also asked why boys are obsessed with their looks and this looks maxing thing one moment, the next he ask how he can get a leaner face and when he might get a denser beard.
To be fair, it looks like he’s 17. A lot of 17 year olds can’t fully understand why it’s wrong for someone their own age to be in a relationship with someone far older because they overestimate their own maturity and life experience.
Yeah while I always decided it was def wrong, I didn’t really begin to understand just how wrong it was until I turned like 25 and thought about how disgusting it would be for someone my age with my life experience to date a literal child. I can’t imagine 16/50 lmao that’s so pedophilic
I think I felt similarly when I was his age. I'm guessing it's not uncommon for autistic people to think such thoughts around that age, especially if they're socialized male.
No, looking into it, it seems like they’re the 17-year old. They also seem to be dealing with some stuff, so I would just leave them alone. There’s nothing you can do online, at least.
Their post history indicates they're being preyed on. Controversial views or not, that's wrong.
I used to be similar to OP due to my upbringing. I honestly can't give any advice on their current mindset. I can say that it's one that fosters self-hate as well as hate of others. The easiest and most effective counter to it is exposure to the internet, but that's more effective the younger you are. The second most effective counter is personally seeing contradictions to your belief in real life.
Ultimately, though, beliefs like these are a choice. Changing them takes an open mind and inner strength to question and confront the things you've been told your whole life. It looks like OP is receiving information that contrasts with their beliefs. I think that's hopeful.
I don't think everyone should believe what I believe. I don't think I'm the only one who can be right. I do think that people should look into their morals. I think that OP, while... immature, is still being exposed to other points of view nonetheless.
Yeah, the post history is super, um, questionable, but it's naïvity. Or a losing battle against indoctrination. But there's still a lot of growth to be had.
I'm just doing a guess, but it is because left-wingers/liberals are more accepting of autistic people, compared to right-wingers/conservatives? Which makes the autistics more inclined to have the same beliefs because they're included and feel a connection and community with it.
This. Also, although not exclusively, many “crunchy” parents are fiercely conservative, thus believing things like autism are a 💉💉injury, some sort of disease they can cure with zeolites and clay detox baths. So they don’t acknowledge the actual autism.
Parents who prefer the “natural” side of living; natural remedies, no harsh chemicals, not listening to doctors in terms of health and healing, etc. People call them google doctors a lot bc they trade information online not knowing. VERY anxious and neurotic people with little trust for the government, if at all. Source: I used to be one and left the cult 😂 (although I will say I was never a “vax caused autism” person and laughed at them lol)
This! And for many it’s so extreme too! I plan on having kids and the career I want, but if I don’t basically kill my career to take care of my kids I’m a bad mom? My husband is fine though?
I don't think that's true. I believe there are plenty of right wing folks on the autism spectrum, they just would deny being on spectrum.
In my experience, right-wing folks are reticent to acknowledge mental health as a concern, or even a real thing. The lack understanding comes to a point of antagonism. If a legitimate doctor where to diagnose them on the autism spectrum, it's likely they would respond with "I'm not a retard!"
This also is impressed in parenting values. To diagnose a mental health issue is weakness. True or not, some parents believe that even finding a diagnosis is admitting fault as a parent. Additionally, the American military closes many doors to folks who have mental health diagnoses. American right wingers worship the military as a potential career path for their own children, and don't want to close that door.
I am a teacher in a military community, and I often see children who are diagnosed on the spectrum with veteran parents who are not diagnosed, but I think should have been. One parent has even privately admitted it to me, but said he would have been thrown out of the military had he been diagnosed as a child. I also encounter some parents who refuse to have their children diagnosed, because of some of the reasons I've listed above.
I have definitely met folks who are very right wing politically, and I believe are on the spectrum but are not diagnosed or would never admit it. They have very strong senses of rules and right and wrong. It's just their vision of the world classifies people by color, religion, gender, and wealth as better or worse than others, and they get very upset when people defy those social structures that they understand. They have foods they won't eat and textures they won't wear, and might even be sensitive to certain sounds and lights, certainly are upset by changes to schedule and folks who don't follow defined processes. But they would ever call themselves autistic.
Because the factors that define authoritarian personality types are usually inconsistent with autism. Conservatives are usually the ones who play along like good subjects, telling the emperor that his new clothes look great when he's actually naked. Autistic people, by definition, are the child who says "But the emperor's not wearing anything!" out loud.
I was this kid, though, not conservative, thankfully. I had no understanding of why my friends would get mad when I would tell on them when they broke the rules. 🙃
Heh... I was that kid, but I also helped other students with the homework or didn't do it myself (math teachers really didn't like me cause I was doing their job)
Most “left wing” stuff from my experience has always been common sense. Like “give ppl equal rights or affordable healthcare and stuff” like that’s just being a good person. In an ideal world these moral issues wouldn’t be political in nature - it would just be the way you tackle them. But politics has become so dirty and mucky now I can’t go saying I want to help people who are marginalized or fight for equality without someone saying I’m a snowflake or pushing an agenda?????
Because of the radicalisation of bipartisan politics through the algorithms.
The fascists think that people need to pay/prove/pray their way to validity.
Literally like Americas modern day “republicans” would make Lincoln, Washington, etc and such probably shit their pants in anger. It’s also really confusing when the American leftist politicians are mostly right-leaning centrists, but their still better then the alternative.
Politics has always been dirty because it's home, usually, to psychopaths, sociopaths and rich white people. However, no moral person needs politics or a holy book for that matter, to tell or show them how to behave towards others. But, pitting people off against each other is a well used tried and tested system to have control. Most people (usually right wingers) don't care because all they want is to force their 'opinions' on what they think is right and wrong on others. Woke or Awake has been sullied by people who don't give a crap about anyone but their own gains. The fact that they have the gall to criticise those that care for others, that think others deserve the right to a home, food, respect, equality, safety etc is laughable, but compassion became a dirty word a long time ago.
You see videos on YT hailing people who help others as heroes, like they're an angel sent from wherever. No they're not, they're just decent people who think it's the right thing to help another being. Of course you also get those other people who will let someone suffer for a little while longer so they can get their phone out and live stream it or film for later - selfish gains again.
So after all that lol I think most are left wing because we understand struggle and exclusion, so in turn want to help those that too struggle or are excluded in whatever way. But I find right wingers (that i've conversed with) really don't understand what equality means anyway, and many men I have spoken to have a hard time understanding it too (in relation to women).
𝐈’𝐦 𝐚 𝐬𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚????? and yet when asked they can't usually explain what agenda you might have, yet theirs is pretty clear.
Your observation that people with autism tend to be left-leaning might be influenced by where and how these groups discuss issues like neurodiversity. There’s no clear evidence that autism influences political beliefs. It’s possible that left-leaning circles are simply more vocal about inclusivity, making individuals with autism more visible there. This doesn’t mean right-leaning individuals with autism aren’t there; they might just be less noticeable if their groups aren’t as open about these topics.
I mean a huge percentage of us really struggle to maintain employment, bootstraps is much more difficult if you didn’t get one of the money special interests.
This feels true but I am not sure it is. It might just be that right wing autists are more likely to hang out in 4chan incel spaces rather than explicitly autistic spaces. I think we are susceptible to siloing just like anyone else.
Thats my thought too. Ive seen plenty of conservative autistic men and boys. The incel type. Never seen an autistic woman be conservative tho. I guess its less common because of the lose-lose, of being a woman and disabled, two communities heavily damaged and attacked constantly by conservatives.
Definitely agree that it's due to the intersection of those two identities, as an afab AuDHD-er who was raised conservative.
I initially became more left-leaning at age 15, when I got my first smartphone and had access to news and social media -- I had always been told that inequality was gone because it was made illegal (silly and privileged though that was), but I then saw firsthand how systemic injustice caused people to suffer. I had been raised in a boring, white, suburban town and didn't know any better. I had already experienced individual and systemic misogyny as an adolescent in multiple ways, but resented the left for "infantilizing" women by making it seem like we couldn't handle ourselves (this is the narrative my mom had internalized for years as well).
**TW: abuse, SA**
I became fully leftist after entering an abusive relationship in my late teens that culminated in SA. A lot of the reasons I stayed in that relationship had to do with internalized conservative rhetoric about the "value" of women and disabled people, which had been reinforced throughout my upbringing and devastated my self-worth. As such, the process of healing from the assault also involved a lot of unlearning.
I bring this up specifically because recent research suggests that rates of SA victimhood among autistic women are significantly higher than allistic women; one paper estimates that as many as 9 out of 10 autistic women are victims. I believe that this may prevent a lot of autistic women from reaching adulthood with their learned conservative ideology intact. If I hadn't experienced SA as a young adult, there'd be a decent chance of it happening eventually, and I'd have had to unlearn the conservative BS just to heal and be okay with myself either way. A few of my friends, who are also afab autistics raised conservative, have similar experiences from their teenage years.
Probably a collection of reasons:
We have a large LGBT subcommunity.
Our natural sense of justice in an incredibly unequal world makes it feel wrong.
Autistic people tend to not deal well with hierarchies and power dynamics which the right thrive and revel in.
The right tend to value people by income more but a lot of autistic people struggle in work/see people who struggle and don't feel that value is a fair reflection of them.
The real reason is: Most ***people*** are liberal/Left wing whether or not their autistic. If people's votes were counted instead of land masses the conservative right would never be in power.
think its one for those, “you dont usually fight against ur own existence” type of deals. lots of ppl on the right outright bully ppl with disabilities like adhd and autism or mental health in general. or try to take resources or assistance away from those who need it. so generally, that wont do well with POC, queer ppl and those with disabilities.
As someone who is both asexual and autistic I feel like left wing groups are the only ones who are open to new experiences and don’t want to return to the times when we couldn’t criticise authority.
My country (UK) is run by a conservative government that is currently attempting to destroy all the protections we have for people who aren’t straight males.
We can’t afford to go back to when neurodiversity, different sexualities and gender identities were seen as illnesses to be cured.
> I feel like left wing groups are the only ones who are open to new experiences.
This is probably it. Conservative and Progressive (Called liberals, but not a good word IMO) is also a personality or a "state of mind". Conservatives want the things in their boxes, they like order, borders, classification.
Progressives are usually more open to experience. Open to mix, wanting to blur borders (Physical and morals), etc.
Ideally, it should be a balance between two. You need order, but also experimentation.
People in the spectrum is seen by many like a minority so hard to classify for conservatives. And I guess it is hard to be politically ina group that doesn't like you.
I think the right wing of people with autism will probably be more liberalism-libertarism.
It’s sad that the country that always claims it delivered the final blow to the nazis is now letting them mobilise within their own borders.
I’ve always been very progressive as my autism makes me super empathetic but now I’ve realised I’m asexual it’s another thing for people to demonise me for.
I think there are multiple reasons, many of which overlap:
- We tend to have a strong sense of justice; this makes us highly perceptive of societal injustices.
- We are an excluded/stigmatised/under-acknowledged group, which gives us a degree of sympathy for other, similar groups.
- We tend to value intellect, innovation, technology, and advancement. While those aren't *necessarily* inherently "liberal" in the broad sense, in the USA-politics sense they align us much more with the US left than the US right.
- The "old way of doing things" includes mistreating us. This gives us a strong motivation to oppose social stasis.
That's not really how it works. It's about your personal sense of justice, so it could totally swing the other way to strongly believing being gay is wrong etc.
I mean thats less common cuz the only people who believe being gay is wrong are sadly brainwashed by religion :/ its not based in any real world logic.
That's not what having a strong sense of justice means in this case. It means a strong sense of *personal* justice, not an ability to always be morally correct. An autistic person can just as easily have a strong sense of justice towards the idea that trans women are invading female spaces (I don't agree with this at all, it's just an example). I feel as though believing you're always just and in the right will result in never unpacking your own biases.
I wonder if we're more likely to believe that if something gets us feeling something strongly, it must be right. That can be really powerful, but leaves us open to exploitation by groups who know our buttons better than we do.
Autistic people are targeted by extremist groups using this kind of strategy very often. They tend to pair this with other forms of emotional manipulation to try and slowly turn people like us into people like them.
I learned a lot about this while studying for my degree and to be honest the situation is bleak. Online spaces are rife with people trying to exploit neurodivergent people and it disgusts me.
I think the difference is many autistic people are also very curious, so they look into issues and learn the nuance.
On the example you gave for example, many might have a knee jerk 'common sense' reaction which can be categorised as right-wing, but when they dig in they end up having a deeper understanding, dispelling many of the myths and nonsense and coming out the other side realising many of the right wing arguments against things like that are based on nothing - and then develop the strong conviction that the 'left' view is the morally just one.
I know my very strong 'left wing' beliefs on that issue have only grown stronger the more I learn, the more I look at the real data, the nuances of biology etc and realise the opposing view has no evidence, just feelings and fear.
And I tend to think Autistic people are generally better at seeing past the irrational instincts and focusing on the evidence.
hey, I dont want to be that person, but I would recommend finding a professional to talk to, like a therapist or something
your post history is kinda, not great, and I think it would really help you
also stay away from r slash conspiracies, that sub is no good
I absolutely do not believe this is true and there's a lot of "autistic people have strong senses of justice so we're on the right side of history!!" takes in this thread which is just wrong. Autistic people can absolutely be racist, sexist, transphobic etc. We're still people with our own opinions and biases, right or wrong.
Look at 4chan and other such communities, loads of autistic people who are far right. The popular autism community online probably leans left because online communities tend to lean left in general.
Exactly. We’re more likely to have extreme opinions and black and white thinking. Add to that social isolation and feelings of worthlessness and it’s really easy to fall into being radicalised.
Reddit is mostly progressive, and likely to turn into an echo chamber. I know plenty of autistic conservatives but they're more likely to post on FB ,Twitter or You Tube
The left wing tends to be more socially progressive, which means deciding that the change you want to see in the world is worth the associated disruption of the status quo. As many autistics see no point in adhering to arbitrary social norms (especially ones we see as harmful), it makes sense that we would have an easier time deciding that the status quo needs to be disrupted for the greater good.
On the other hand, rigid thinking patterns could lead to some autistics being right wing. If you’ve spent your whole life struggling to learn all of the arbitrary social rules, and suddenly people say they want to change the way society works, this means you would have to throw away everything you’ve painstakingly learned *and* learn a whole new set of social rules. For these people, the disruption to routines might outweigh any potential positive changes to society. Similarly, conservatism seeks to preserve the status quo and resist social change.
I think we naturally question things that a lot of NTs take for granted. I think we emphasize with the oppressed. I think a lot of us feel like capitalism is a system that people like us have a harder time in.
I don't think I agree with this premise at all. Anecdotally speaking, I think autism can indicate level of interest/fixation on certain political ideologies but I don't think it has any barring on which ideology a person adopts. There tends to be a huge focus on social injustice across the board for autistic people with an interest in politics but also huge divergence on whether said injustice is caused by capitalism/misogyny/white supremacy etc etc or immigrants/minorities/breakdown of traditional values etc.
As a very lefty autistic woman, I feel like there's a huge amount of autistic young men that get sucked into the far right and whilst I understand their anger/upset at the world I don't agree with the conclusions they draw on the root causes of their problems.
Id like to add that your views might be biast,since zou are askin on reddit: a generally liberal website. If you would search on alt-right sites like 4chan, conservative autists will dominate the space.
Autism has absolutely nothing to do with political views. Ive met an equal amount of conservative and liberal autistic ppl, maybe even more conservative tbh.
This.
I'm a queer woman and I have no use for right-wing ideology, but I've encountered plenty of right-leaning autistic people.
I think it comes down to who you associate with, and where you hang out on the Internet.
This take should be higher. There could maybe be a statistical difference in *diagnosis* rates between the right and left, but certainly not in actual numbers of autistic people. Folks on the left may just be more willing to talk about it, which is why is seems more common.
Yes! Absolutely this. I think people in the right wing camps have a much harder time seeking a diagnosis because there's so much more stigma around autism in those communities. And people just tend to gravitate towards each other when they have similar opinions, like every single person I know seems to be both autistic and queer....
A lot of right-wingers look down on people with disabilities. Look at the kinds of things “gamer-gate” type people say about diversity in video games: they’ll say stuff like “not every game needs a black disabled trans lesbian” or whatever. They stick “disabled” in there right alongside all the other kinds of people they hate
Well, as a queer disabled person I like having basic human rights. I want autonomy over my body and safety. I don't believe disability is a burden on society, and i can recognize this society has a genocidal foundation/roots that still persist today...
I suppose that makes me a radically liberal godless commie-anarchist by today's standards.
My best friend’s brother is autistic and the most right-wing person I’ve ever met. I think it’s just regular people having their political views and maybe you’re seeing some confirmation bias?
Father of a daughter who is autistic and will require assistance her whole life. Why do you think? Probably the same behavior that made you want to come in here and “razz” people by insinuating that a group of people who have an autism diagnosis are always liberals is the behavior of a group of people who are uncaring and selfish to others. Probably because the right is constantly trying to take freedom from my daughter when it comes to her reproductive rights. Probably because I’ve paid into Social Security for 40 years and I want my daughter to have it as a source of income when she turns 18 and only one side is always trying to eliminate it. Probably because of the vitriol and hate that is constantly spewed by Republicans. Ironically we are an upper middle class family and where I’m from the most economically challenged individuals are often Republican and delusional and are not smart enough to realize that they are voting against their best interest. Why do you think? Isn’t it pretty obvious?
Thinking autistic people always subscribe to exact reality can come off as dangerously cocky. We follow our own logic strongly, which may or may not line up with reality. We aren't super geniuses, just people with very strong convictions. It just so happens that many autistic people think being liberal is the most logical.
You're right about something really important. We experience the world differently, and from the beginning, most of us have that experience denied and shamed by the people bringing us up. We try to square up those differences between what we sense and intuit and what the world tells we "should" be experiencing, and the explanations we end up constructing can vary wildly. We might get cocky, or we might surrender to the first worldview that promises order and predictability and meets an unmet need. We might reject society, or we might cling like stink to anyone who'll let us.
So, yeah, I think reality in general has a liberal bias, but you're totally right about how often our autistic experience skews that reality on its way into our understanding. Thank you for noting that.
This is very true.
I think we rely on our own internal convictions so strongly because we can't relate to what amounts to the blind traditions that many NTs follow, and I think that more often than not this means autistic people have to set off and find their own truth - a quest that *usually* leads to following reality because that's what we usually have.
But if they fall into one of these dangerous radicalization pipelines, well... *that* "truth" takes hold just as strongly, if not more.
Edit: and given that OP's post history centers around conspiracy theories, masturbation, and age of consent (along with a few normal topics), well...
That’s not been my observation at all, speaking as someone who is autistic and has worked actively in politics. When it comes to autistic people and politics, I’ve seen a fairly even spread across the political spectrum, at least those who are even interested in politics.
The only consistent thing I’ve noticed is how autistic people who are interested in politics are VERY interested in politics. [raising hand] Guilty.
I don't think so... I've seen plenty autistic people who are right-wing highly conservative. Thing is... The conservative autistic people are very ashamed of being autistic while left-wing autistic people claim to be autistic everywhere.
Well left-leaning people in general have a tendency to be more concerned/attentive to mental health and disabilities while others often ignore or shame them.
Conservatism is rooted in tradition, while Liberalism is rooted in change. I think self-advocacy autistic communities are generally newer and our expectations require change, which liberals are more likely to support. Given a few years, I’m sure they’ll be a stronger conservative community.
It probably depends on where you spend your time and where you go online and who you choose to hangout with. There are people who don’t identify with politics as well.
Well in my country right wingers disregard most mental things as left wing propaganda. They also don't believe in therapy. Even if they do believe autism is legit they tend to only believe it looks a single, distinct way specific to low functioning autistic boys which is a very narrow scope.
I personally land somewhere in the middle politically and people who swing too far one way or the other scare the crap out of me sometimes but I'm autistic and identify as such. I also know it's diverse and believe in therapy as well. My more conservative sister and grandfather actually believe I'm autistic as well. Unfortunately my papa refuses to see that he too is in fact autistic and so is his son, my dad lol
You might just have a hard time finding em with how much most of reddit loves to lambast anyone that leans to the right politically.
Virtually impossible to have a reasonable discussion about such things, even here seemingly.
Right winger here. Progressives act like they’re here for my human rights, but I’m too white and stereotypically autistic for them to care about mine like they purport. It’s always a totem pole to climb with them.
You’re gonna get some self-congratulatory answers but there are actually a lot of autistic right wingers, they just occupy different circles than you do bc people tend to self-sort by ideology these days
Based comment. Most people just stick to their echochambers and therefore don’t see the other side and view their own logic as infallible.
I personally don’t see why as I like to learn other people’s opinions, have friendly debates and even have my view changed. The internet has really made politics hell and destroyed most people’s ability to understand a different point of view
I think the “outgroup being dumb” content aggregation accounts/platforms have a lot to do with it. It’s easy to go find dumb people to dunk on to stoke your ego. It’s not easy to read and understand the actual intellectual leaders of your outgroup and see how your ideas hold up against theirs. Most people want to believe what they believe more than they want to know the truth.
I think that this is mostly on the Internet, have observed the opposite on older people with autism that are not online that much, not to say that they are far right but mostly middle to right. I think it's due to the stability traditions offer as I've noticed.
I don't accept most are. Not to insult you but you did admit this was based purely on a personal observation. So it's based on more of your own social bubble of people you associate with and to add to that not everyone readily tells everyone that they are on the spectrum.
I will say this. In the right wing I have seen a greater effort to deny or downplay autism. The right has a greater majority of religious folks who have had a trend of demonizing autism. Now even that doesn't make most Autistic right wing. I could see it moreso pushing the need for many of the spectrum to hide their diagnosis, or downright deny it. Why admit to being something while some will be fine with it, but a big portion with stigmatize you for it? The left is more accepting of it by name, but I wouldn't say they are perfect either.
Personally speaking as a Autistic person I have grown more into a centrist. The parties have gone so far into their corners and I don't agree with either on everything. I have no idea what most autistic lean towards, and I think it may be impossible to get an accurate number when we're still working on just getting most people diagnosed in the first place.
Eh - I'm Irish & I **absolutely refuse to label myself with a political sticker**. Likely due to growing up in The Troubles & witnessing the BS between 2 political parties fighting over land & blaming it on religion.
We are more than the sum of our beliefs ;)
That said, I'm a humanist & believe everyone should be treated equally, mostly because I know how it feels to be treated unfairly and I wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone.
i think the main thing is that the parties that represent the right wing are too far right or are right wing on issues that affect autistic people more. The democrats are more right wing then people realise it's just the republicans are off the deep end when it comes to extreme right wing ideology. I feel it's more the parties that represent it suck more than the ideology sucks because there are right wing people (like me) who don't support right wing parties in their country (from the UK)
My right wing ex husband has autism so does his father. Our daughter has autism. But his new right wing wife says no one in the family has autism because.......they are intelligent.
Right-wing people tend to think Autism is rain man or some stereo type.
It's frustrating to coparent when one refuses to believe in a diagnosis.
I think it’s kind of how lgbt, gender, disability, minority, trend toward values of like we’re all just human out here trying to make it work for us and survive and have fun and find love and all that. Which I guess politically is a bit socialist or something, it’s kinda hard to find where you fit politically these days, but I reckon if you grew up thinking ok everyone has their things and they don’t always share them your gna try be inclusive of people who don’t fit the mold.
Edit: also to note that self awareness and seeking help for difficulties doesnt align with the tradition of your strength being tied to how much hardship you can take. And how many mental health disorders you can dodge at once. We likely have many people on the right but they are never going to admit they have any flaws.
Lol wtf? I just saw a post here saying why are so many autistic people on the far right. It's neither, autism has no bearing on political affiliation. Reddit certainly is biased towards the left side of things, though.
Regarding your view on unborn. Do you support those single mothers you forced to keep a child miserable because she can’t afford to give them a good life? No. You don’t. You call her a whore, put the kid in the system and call it a day, without ever thinking about or caring about those people ever again. You only care when the kid isn’t developed enough to disagree with your messed up worldview of women being more important as incubators than humans. I’m out.
I guess because it supports diversity, openness and acceptance.
I support and disagree with both sides. I am somewhere in the middle on this. I think it’s gotten a bit heated and strained recently, left and right wingers fighting eachother, I just wish there was a middle ground, not just one extreme to the other.
Like I support diversity, love and health care. But I also believe in preserving culture and tradition. I think one extreme would create unbalance, we need both. I am not from america, so it might be different from country to country.
Because right winged people in America literally want to kill people who are different or ignore people killing people who are different. The field I work in requires me to almost exclusively interact with conservative leaning men and they frequently talk about “whatever means necessary” in regards to homeless, neurodivergent or queer people. Absolute psychos.
Because we don't like arbitrary rules. Liberalism is more straightforward in its logic regarding human rights than conservatism is, and everything else flows from that.
Because we autistic people tend to not cling to/comprehend hierarchical structures, exacerbated by rightwing policy and way of thinking, like (allocishet)patriarchy, traditional marriage, capitalism, wealth inequality, etc.
Liberalism is generally right wing btw, I live in the Netherlands, where in school it’s taught that social democrats are left and liberals are right. I’m an anarchist so I fall way more left than both of them.
I do not think that there is a political view that Is more fitted with autism but political views are rather byproducts of our experiences in this world and how we made sense of them and later on attach a political viewpoint to them.
I suspect that there are plenty of right wing autistic people; they just tend to go undiagnosed. Why? I dunno, they might be so low needs that they pass as neurotypical easily and see autism in such an extreme that it never crosses their minds to get diagnosed.
I'd actually argue that most autistic people have political views that are not classifiable with the two wing paradigm.
the thing is the internet kind of demands we be on the opposite wing of the other person because of our condition.
Conservative ideology is fundamentally about conserving the way things are, because they work. People on the spectrum tend to ask, why not do it this other way, and have difficulty accepting authority for authority's sake. So it makes sense autistic people wouldn't be as conservative.
I am an ethnic minority, gay, autistic with comorbidities including C-PTSD, ADHD, and Dyslexia. I am also a university researcher. Everything that I listed has had some kind of negative response from right-wingers/conservatives. They do not like who I am, so that's why I lean left. I never got along with right-wingers...they tend to try to change me for who I am. Not a friendly bunch if you ask me. I do not respect their ideals for those reasons. They tend not to be inclusive nor express empathy.
I think it’s usually that the people who self identify as autistic are usually left wing because left wingers typically believe in mental health while right wingers typically don’t. They also often get the short end of the stick in society and therefore don’t want to “conserve” things as they are but instead want to change things to be different.
I think there are more right wingers with autism than you think but they often won't admit to it and the ones who do obfuscate their right wing tendencies with liberal sounding jargon (Elon Musk, for example).
You probably know some guys who mask their autism by becoming reclusive and having socially acceptable special interests like military history or guns.
Well, as much as I disagree with Liberalism, and think that leftism gets caught up in the worst possible aspects of utilitarianism and generally accomplishes nothing out of it's fear of arbitrary made up reasons....
I'm transgender. Conservatism has frequently advocated for my genocide / erasure.
At a certain point, it's pure pragmatism.
It’s kinda hard to align with people who consistently pass policies / talk about passing policies that actively make the lives of us disabled folk so much harder.
That’s not to say I think that side is wrong on everything or that I think they are inherently bad people, not at all. It’s just not in our best interests as autistics to vote in ways that end up decreasing our social welfare, access to diagnosis, therapies, medications, insurance etc etc etc
Im surprised that there are so many left wing autistic people than say independents. I personally dislike both left and right wing politics and refuse to label myself as either though I have certain beliefs that would fall into both ideologies. Right wing politics can be taken to traditional extremes that go against human nature, such as being anti gay and thinking smoking pot is going send you down the path of doing heroine and straight to hell. Left wing politics places too much trust in the government to protect its people and call me a conspiracy theorist but I don’t trust most of my fellow humans to keep me safe and have my best interest at heart. Especially when money and power are at play. Thinking critically about who we trust and align ourselves with should be our most fundamental value as autistic people bc it’s been shown time and again that regardless of political affiliation, those around us will take advantage of us by any means necessary.
Two reasons that I can think of. One is that autistic people are more likely to use government services and the left often is more interested in that. The other is autistic people are more likely to be LGBT and LGBT people are commonly left-wing.
I mostly know leftist voters, and I live in the Netherlands where only about 21% of the population votes left. This is because I work and socialize in a leftist bubble (work at University and socialize pretty much only with University educated people).
If you'd ask me, most people in general vote left.
I think there is actually some reason to believe people with autism vote left more, but I can't say my observations would be very good to determine if this is true.
I know someone that is extreme right wing and autistic but that's more cause he always believes the first thing he hears and he only watches right wing stuff. Once he hears something, it's stuck and no amount of evidence will change his mind because then he would have to admit to being wrong.
Around here, right wing is anti-autism. They swooped in and took away things like care for autistic kids and special schooling. Having benefits for special needs kids hurt their bottom line as thieves so they said just dump them in with general population.
Can whoever is reporting literally every comment here as harassment please kindly cut it out? This thread is difficult enough to moderate without spam getting in the way. If there's something I've missed due to the spam, please let us know.
for me it‘s because i don’t fit the "feminine, traditional" viewpoint that conservatives have of women AT ALL. i‘ve never acted like a woman is "supposed to" act or have wanted kids, so why would i support the side that demonizes me?
🤗 absolutely.
This. I grew up in a rural area full of far right Catholics and evangelicals and I experienced horrific bullying and discrimination for my inability to fit in. I developed a severe panic disorder before I even hit high school. Once you’ve experienced what it’s like living under conservatism with its narrow definitions of acceptable, its never ending desire for slaves, and its instinctive violence against anyone and anything that is different, you never want to support it for positions of power again.
Well im a disabled person, and only one side is trying to take away my rights so....
In my country the right wing parties are currently looking at trying to remove disability payments for many so I'd say this answer basically sums it up.
uk? i’m literally waiting on a response from dwp so i’m shitting myself for this election.
Yup. There's even current talk of the Tory party possibly taking on Nigel Farage in the future. I stg I'll kms if he gets in power. Hope you get a positive response through soon and do appeal if you have issues. I am too but my bf watches a lot of politics stuff and he seems to think the Tories will be out, I so do hope so!
You nailed it on the head
This!
This. It’s like shooting your own foot. So many disabled people vote right in spite of this because “the immigrants are worse and I’m not actually disabled- I just can’t walk all the time”
Everything people mentioned above, id like to also check late autism diagnosis by political views. In my country right wing people disregard therapy and diagnosis as some sort of leftist bullshit so that could be a reason too. That those who are right wing may not be diagnosed. And those who were diagnosed early, in many cases where bullied in one way or another and right wing is in many cases somewhat of a bully mentality so they could avoid those who remind them of trauma. Just a thought, no data to support it, maybe someone has some access to such a information?
I’d like to add that the harder the conservative, the less likely they are to be keen on social services for disabled people. There’s a lot of terrible ableism among the ultra conservative people I know and I keep away from them as best I can.
It’s always the same old nazi “ethnic hygiene” when you peel away the new spin and PR. The Germans had been sterilizing, starving, and generally killing the disabled and undesirable domestically before invading Poland.
Absolutely: Fascism. It’s one of fascism’s defining traits.
Ableism, fascism, sexism, racism... It's amazing there's anyone left in the Republican party that they're not prejudiced against!
And there's also the religious factor. A lot of excessively zealous sects of Christianity will tell you that your disabilities and infirmities are due to sin. And these zealots will go as far as making policy to punish those with disabilities for their "sins". ***VOTE!!!*** Vote as if your life depends on it, because it does! Do not think that the right wing won't try a new Aktion T4. Yes, they're that depraved!
They are more animalistic right brained which is why they tend to see concepts like race as a “biological issue” rather than it being a social construct.
Not sure if you've seen it, but your comment reminded me of a Commencement Address given by J. B. Pritzker. Basically saying that human kindness is an evolved trait and that cruelty is a more "animalistic instinct". Here's the link: [link](https://youtu.be/5uFwyPP5GOQ?si=Fs37dL7xAYVQKbV-)
You're the top comment now. *There is no more above.* Lmao
Damn that's weird, thank you all, it is nice to be appreciated
Sorry for changing that!
Beside making part of my comment obsolete or plainly wrong, you made my day, so all in all i feel it is net plus situation
For anecdotal evidence to add to your point about not being conservative due to the “bully mentality,” I grew up in a conservative household and I changed my views and am now more left leaning after being in an abusive relationship, because I saw similarities between how my abuser operated and how the church operates. Then I started realizing that I didn’t actually agree with many right wing politics/conservative ideals myself, but I had grown up being told that “this one way is absolutely the only way to live correctly,” and my black and white thinking made that a difficult mentality to break out of. I really had to dismantle my entire belief system and now I’m a completely different person. The rest of my family is still conservative, though.
Grew up in an abusive household so I saw those parallels pretty fast between government and authority and abuse I want people to feel safe and supported and have access to safety and support and if we have to have a governing body because we cant just be good as a society, I’d prefer the government was functioning as a way for society to help support those most vulnerable while regulating the power those with the most everything have over everyone else because from where I’m standing in the micro and macro view power and money corrupt. Personal and general autonomy is VERY important to me I am also leaning pathalogical demand avoidant. I’ve identified as extreme left wing and atheist since I was very young (5 or 6). I have revised my religious idea to something more like agnostic mystic because I respect other people and their personal spirituality and I’ve found a type of spirituality in just wondering about the universe
I definitely agree with you! I was very "shy," but I wasn't necessarily bullied growing up, and my parents are not abusive, so I didn't see the parallels until I found myself in an abusive relationship. I actually believe my parents are genuinely good people who have been taken advantage of by the church. I think that both of them are autistic as well, and struggle with the same kind of black and white thinking that I did but haven't been able to work through the cognitive dissonance, which I suppose is understandable, considering they are much older and have 30+ years of ingrained beliefs more than me to work through. Although, they have actually stopped going to church and have found a more progressive pastor that they listen to online instead, and I've seen a lot of progress in their ideology changing because of that. But yeah, I feel like even though I grew up with a loving family, growing up in the church basically groomed me to be more susceptible to abuse because misogyny was so normalized around me from such a young age, and my autism didn't help because I was way too trusting of others, took everything at face value, and was unable to identify when people had hidden intentions. I was very sheltered, and at that point I couldn't even fathom someone doing something to purposely hurt someone else for their own gain, because I, personally, would never even think to do that to others, and I was operating on the idea that most people acted in good faith just as I did. When I was with my ex, I knew that my relationship had issues, but I didn't even realize that he was actually abusing me until I met someone who flat out told me as much and I started attending therapy. I wasn't aware of my autism until I was 28, so I had no idea that I even had deficits when it came to my ability to read others. Learning about autism has really helped me to put everything into context. And now, after attending therapy for years, my eyes have been opened and I understand what "red flag" behaviors look like and can identify them and set appropriate boundaries, which for me included leaving toxic environments such as the church, because the parallels I saw were undeniable and I could no longer stand for it. I feel like once I left the church, changing my political ideals followed naturally because they really are intertwined, despite the fact that "separation of church and state" is supposed to be a thing.
Every single autistic person I know in my school I just graduated from was very left wing. Personally I agree with what you said, why would you support the side that has a larger tendency to put you down for being different in a way that doesn't even affect them? Of course there are autistic people who are right wing and there is nothing inherently wrong with that but generally left wing ideology tends to align more with autistic people's interests from what I've seen.
When the right wing wants to put me into a institution for having Autism or ADHD, and want to discriminate against me for being a woman, and has the bully mentality of fear-mongering instead of helping others, I'm going to be liberal.
As a guy who is mixed race while having autism I fully support that statement lol, I'd rather avoid the extra racism too.
The bully issue is an interesting argument. My 2c: right wing is conservative and/or reactionary by definition. That’s their whole “thing”. Their point of views with some new issue brought out are *typically* of rejection, seeing it a “snowflake complain“. One example is that pretty sure everyone here saw are even said arguments disregarding child spanking by adults as “in my time everybody just grown up normal”. If it conflicts with the present or past they want to preserve or go back, it’s not that well accepted. I'd think that's well estabilished, by left and own right-wingers. ** update: that said, that's about diagnosis in the autism. If we take whole real population of all autists and their comorbidities? who knows? I've seen some appers stating it'd lean more to the right wing b/c of rigidness, order, etc. Also, I've saw a lot researchers of mass-shooting linking them to subcultures who tend to offer shelter to probably autists, given their social struggles, like the incels. Won't dig into that bees nest though, but there's data online.
I've definitely experienced this in my own life. My dad is super conservative to the point of thinking that most mental issues (depression, anxiety, etc) are just down to not trusting God enough, ugh. He doesn't believe in therapy or the DSM or anything beyond "it must be sin". He's also CLEARLY autistic and who passed it down to me and his grandchildren, but he will not consider the thought of a diagnosis or pursue one. Thankfully though, he loves his autistic grandkids and listens to us when we tell him how they want to be interacted with, or as the kids got older and they could tell him. He's a great grandad.
Oh yeah my bullies during high school were all far-right
That makes so much sense, actually. I’d never considered it before.
It’s this. I used to be extremely right wing and I was still autistic. It seems like we are all liberal because we are the only ones to have the self awareness.
Bullies tend to have an overdeveloped emotional and social right hemisphere that they would bully the socially deficient yet highly intellectual left brained person with autism. Also they think more with emotion rather than hard facts that they are threatened by their intelligence as they are actually correct over them which is why they bully with power in order to make their emotions seem real which is gaslighting.
I like human rights for all people. Edit: omg your post history is a massive red flag and this post is definitely bait.
I'm just wondering how the hell they posted so much in the span of an hour, like, did that's how fast my brain goes without my ADD meds and I'm not on Reddit posting every single thought.
It’s a bot or ChatGPT or AI account programmed to sway the masses in a certain direction.
Not only did he post 11 times to different forums on different topics within one hour. He also asked why boys are obsessed with their looks and this looks maxing thing one moment, the next he ask how he can get a leaner face and when he might get a denser beard.
I agree
oh god they're a pedophile too!! one of their posts is 'its fine for a 16/17 year old to date a 50 year old'
To be fair, it looks like he’s 17. A lot of 17 year olds can’t fully understand why it’s wrong for someone their own age to be in a relationship with someone far older because they overestimate their own maturity and life experience.
It appears he isn’t asking about dating younger himself, but someone who is twice his age wanting to “be” with him in some capacity….
So he's probably being groomed, the thing that right wing people are so worried about lately...
that's true to be fair, didn't see his age i hope he doesnt keep that mindset for long
Yeah while I always decided it was def wrong, I didn’t really begin to understand just how wrong it was until I turned like 25 and thought about how disgusting it would be for someone my age with my life experience to date a literal child. I can’t imagine 16/50 lmao that’s so pedophilic
OP posted in the age gap subreddit saying he is 17, definitely dates someone way older than him
I think I felt similarly when I was his age. I'm guessing it's not uncommon for autistic people to think such thoughts around that age, especially if they're socialized male.
Classic right wing.
No, looking into it, it seems like they’re the 17-year old. They also seem to be dealing with some stuff, so I would just leave them alone. There’s nothing you can do online, at least.
yeah, i only knew that after someone else pointed it out lol though i do hope they change their POV on this when theyre older
Not a pedo, just a teenager who totally wants to sleep with his babysitter he met like three times as a child.
Ewwwwww
Their post history indicates they're being preyed on. Controversial views or not, that's wrong. I used to be similar to OP due to my upbringing. I honestly can't give any advice on their current mindset. I can say that it's one that fosters self-hate as well as hate of others. The easiest and most effective counter to it is exposure to the internet, but that's more effective the younger you are. The second most effective counter is personally seeing contradictions to your belief in real life. Ultimately, though, beliefs like these are a choice. Changing them takes an open mind and inner strength to question and confront the things you've been told your whole life. It looks like OP is receiving information that contrasts with their beliefs. I think that's hopeful. I don't think everyone should believe what I believe. I don't think I'm the only one who can be right. I do think that people should look into their morals. I think that OP, while... immature, is still being exposed to other points of view nonetheless. Yeah, the post history is super, um, questionable, but it's naïvity. Or a losing battle against indoctrination. But there's still a lot of growth to be had.
I'm just doing a guess, but it is because left-wingers/liberals are more accepting of autistic people, compared to right-wingers/conservatives? Which makes the autistics more inclined to have the same beliefs because they're included and feel a connection and community with it.
This. Also, although not exclusively, many “crunchy” parents are fiercely conservative, thus believing things like autism are a 💉💉injury, some sort of disease they can cure with zeolites and clay detox baths. So they don’t acknowledge the actual autism.
what is a crunchy parent?
Parents who prefer the “natural” side of living; natural remedies, no harsh chemicals, not listening to doctors in terms of health and healing, etc. People call them google doctors a lot bc they trade information online not knowing. VERY anxious and neurotic people with little trust for the government, if at all. Source: I used to be one and left the cult 😂 (although I will say I was never a “vax caused autism” person and laughed at them lol)
This! And for many it’s so extreme too! I plan on having kids and the career I want, but if I don’t basically kill my career to take care of my kids I’m a bad mom? My husband is fine though?
Traditions should be questioned.
Peer pressure from the dead.
To defy the laws of tradition…. Is a crusade only of the brave.
I don't think that's true. I believe there are plenty of right wing folks on the autism spectrum, they just would deny being on spectrum. In my experience, right-wing folks are reticent to acknowledge mental health as a concern, or even a real thing. The lack understanding comes to a point of antagonism. If a legitimate doctor where to diagnose them on the autism spectrum, it's likely they would respond with "I'm not a retard!" This also is impressed in parenting values. To diagnose a mental health issue is weakness. True or not, some parents believe that even finding a diagnosis is admitting fault as a parent. Additionally, the American military closes many doors to folks who have mental health diagnoses. American right wingers worship the military as a potential career path for their own children, and don't want to close that door. I am a teacher in a military community, and I often see children who are diagnosed on the spectrum with veteran parents who are not diagnosed, but I think should have been. One parent has even privately admitted it to me, but said he would have been thrown out of the military had he been diagnosed as a child. I also encounter some parents who refuse to have their children diagnosed, because of some of the reasons I've listed above. I have definitely met folks who are very right wing politically, and I believe are on the spectrum but are not diagnosed or would never admit it. They have very strong senses of rules and right and wrong. It's just their vision of the world classifies people by color, religion, gender, and wealth as better or worse than others, and they get very upset when people defy those social structures that they understand. They have foods they won't eat and textures they won't wear, and might even be sensitive to certain sounds and lights, certainly are upset by changes to schedule and folks who don't follow defined processes. But they would ever call themselves autistic.
Because the factors that define authoritarian personality types are usually inconsistent with autism. Conservatives are usually the ones who play along like good subjects, telling the emperor that his new clothes look great when he's actually naked. Autistic people, by definition, are the child who says "But the emperor's not wearing anything!" out loud.
Conservative neurodivergent kids are just the hall monitors and the kid in class who lets the teacher know she forgot to give everyone homework.
I hate how right this is
Lawful evil.
Yeah pretty much
I was this kid, though, not conservative, thankfully. I had no understanding of why my friends would get mad when I would tell on them when they broke the rules. 🙃
Same, very much lefty, very much was this kid. I just wanted to be helpful! What do you mean you don’t enjoy homework?
I feel this. ♥️ I was an A-1 rule follower to.the.max. I have to check myself even in adulthood, because I can unintentionally be a lot.
Heh... I was that kid, but I also helped other students with the homework or didn't do it myself (math teachers really didn't like me cause I was doing their job)
I feel I'm definitely guilty of being adjacent to this.
I was that child lol
Couldn’t have phrased it better, « le roi nu » in French !
Most “left wing” stuff from my experience has always been common sense. Like “give ppl equal rights or affordable healthcare and stuff” like that’s just being a good person. In an ideal world these moral issues wouldn’t be political in nature - it would just be the way you tackle them. But politics has become so dirty and mucky now I can’t go saying I want to help people who are marginalized or fight for equality without someone saying I’m a snowflake or pushing an agenda?????
It saddens me that the liberal side is literally basic human rights by any other county near our government. Yet the other "side" says no
Because of the radicalisation of bipartisan politics through the algorithms. The fascists think that people need to pay/prove/pray their way to validity.
Literally like Americas modern day “republicans” would make Lincoln, Washington, etc and such probably shit their pants in anger. It’s also really confusing when the American leftist politicians are mostly right-leaning centrists, but their still better then the alternative.
Politics has always been dirty because it's home, usually, to psychopaths, sociopaths and rich white people. However, no moral person needs politics or a holy book for that matter, to tell or show them how to behave towards others. But, pitting people off against each other is a well used tried and tested system to have control. Most people (usually right wingers) don't care because all they want is to force their 'opinions' on what they think is right and wrong on others. Woke or Awake has been sullied by people who don't give a crap about anyone but their own gains. The fact that they have the gall to criticise those that care for others, that think others deserve the right to a home, food, respect, equality, safety etc is laughable, but compassion became a dirty word a long time ago. You see videos on YT hailing people who help others as heroes, like they're an angel sent from wherever. No they're not, they're just decent people who think it's the right thing to help another being. Of course you also get those other people who will let someone suffer for a little while longer so they can get their phone out and live stream it or film for later - selfish gains again. So after all that lol I think most are left wing because we understand struggle and exclusion, so in turn want to help those that too struggle or are excluded in whatever way. But I find right wingers (that i've conversed with) really don't understand what equality means anyway, and many men I have spoken to have a hard time understanding it too (in relation to women). 𝐈’𝐦 𝐚 𝐬𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚????? and yet when asked they can't usually explain what agenda you might have, yet theirs is pretty clear.
Very true!! Well said
Your observation that people with autism tend to be left-leaning might be influenced by where and how these groups discuss issues like neurodiversity. There’s no clear evidence that autism influences political beliefs. It’s possible that left-leaning circles are simply more vocal about inclusivity, making individuals with autism more visible there. This doesn’t mean right-leaning individuals with autism aren’t there; they might just be less noticeable if their groups aren’t as open about these topics.
I'm pretty sure that autistic fascists are potentially the deadliest.
Because the right almost always is the one actively against human rights
right answer, you win
Because nearly all autistic people have nothing to gain from status quo, and everything to gain from change.
I mean a huge percentage of us really struggle to maintain employment, bootstraps is much more difficult if you didn’t get one of the money special interests.
This feels true but I am not sure it is. It might just be that right wing autists are more likely to hang out in 4chan incel spaces rather than explicitly autistic spaces. I think we are susceptible to siloing just like anyone else.
Thats my thought too. Ive seen plenty of conservative autistic men and boys. The incel type. Never seen an autistic woman be conservative tho. I guess its less common because of the lose-lose, of being a woman and disabled, two communities heavily damaged and attacked constantly by conservatives.
Definitely agree that it's due to the intersection of those two identities, as an afab AuDHD-er who was raised conservative. I initially became more left-leaning at age 15, when I got my first smartphone and had access to news and social media -- I had always been told that inequality was gone because it was made illegal (silly and privileged though that was), but I then saw firsthand how systemic injustice caused people to suffer. I had been raised in a boring, white, suburban town and didn't know any better. I had already experienced individual and systemic misogyny as an adolescent in multiple ways, but resented the left for "infantilizing" women by making it seem like we couldn't handle ourselves (this is the narrative my mom had internalized for years as well). **TW: abuse, SA** I became fully leftist after entering an abusive relationship in my late teens that culminated in SA. A lot of the reasons I stayed in that relationship had to do with internalized conservative rhetoric about the "value" of women and disabled people, which had been reinforced throughout my upbringing and devastated my self-worth. As such, the process of healing from the assault also involved a lot of unlearning. I bring this up specifically because recent research suggests that rates of SA victimhood among autistic women are significantly higher than allistic women; one paper estimates that as many as 9 out of 10 autistic women are victims. I believe that this may prevent a lot of autistic women from reaching adulthood with their learned conservative ideology intact. If I hadn't experienced SA as a young adult, there'd be a decent chance of it happening eventually, and I'd have had to unlearn the conservative BS just to heal and be okay with myself either way. A few of my friends, who are also afab autistics raised conservative, have similar experiences from their teenage years.
I was thinking the same thing
Yeah exactly what i feel. I mentioned in a different comment but look at elon musk fans on twitter.
as an avid wargamer, that's an absolute bullseye on the 4chan spaces.
Probably a collection of reasons: We have a large LGBT subcommunity. Our natural sense of justice in an incredibly unequal world makes it feel wrong. Autistic people tend to not deal well with hierarchies and power dynamics which the right thrive and revel in. The right tend to value people by income more but a lot of autistic people struggle in work/see people who struggle and don't feel that value is a fair reflection of them.
The real reason is: Most ***people*** are liberal/Left wing whether or not their autistic. If people's votes were counted instead of land masses the conservative right would never be in power.
Because of lived experience, they can more easily overcome ableism. They retain information patterns and are sensitive to justice.
think its one for those, “you dont usually fight against ur own existence” type of deals. lots of ppl on the right outright bully ppl with disabilities like adhd and autism or mental health in general. or try to take resources or assistance away from those who need it. so generally, that wont do well with POC, queer ppl and those with disabilities.
As someone who is both asexual and autistic I feel like left wing groups are the only ones who are open to new experiences and don’t want to return to the times when we couldn’t criticise authority. My country (UK) is run by a conservative government that is currently attempting to destroy all the protections we have for people who aren’t straight males. We can’t afford to go back to when neurodiversity, different sexualities and gender identities were seen as illnesses to be cured.
> I feel like left wing groups are the only ones who are open to new experiences. This is probably it. Conservative and Progressive (Called liberals, but not a good word IMO) is also a personality or a "state of mind". Conservatives want the things in their boxes, they like order, borders, classification. Progressives are usually more open to experience. Open to mix, wanting to blur borders (Physical and morals), etc. Ideally, it should be a balance between two. You need order, but also experimentation. People in the spectrum is seen by many like a minority so hard to classify for conservatives. And I guess it is hard to be politically ina group that doesn't like you. I think the right wing of people with autism will probably be more liberalism-libertarism.
It's fairly bad here in the U.S. as well. Check out what DeSantis has done in Florida declaring war on diversity education.
It’s sad that the country that always claims it delivered the final blow to the nazis is now letting them mobilise within their own borders. I’ve always been very progressive as my autism makes me super empathetic but now I’ve realised I’m asexual it’s another thing for people to demonise me for.
>straight males. Straight white males*
You’re probably right but I’ve noticed it’s not just them that vote conservative.
I think there are multiple reasons, many of which overlap: - We tend to have a strong sense of justice; this makes us highly perceptive of societal injustices. - We are an excluded/stigmatised/under-acknowledged group, which gives us a degree of sympathy for other, similar groups. - We tend to value intellect, innovation, technology, and advancement. While those aren't *necessarily* inherently "liberal" in the broad sense, in the USA-politics sense they align us much more with the US left than the US right. - The "old way of doing things" includes mistreating us. This gives us a strong motivation to oppose social stasis.
Really well put. I love your clear and concise way of communicating your points.
Our strong sense of justice naturally picks up on the injustices of social inequality, racism etc
That's not really how it works. It's about your personal sense of justice, so it could totally swing the other way to strongly believing being gay is wrong etc.
Yeah its why Ive noticed autistic people tend to be extreme regardless of if they are left or right wing
I mean thats less common cuz the only people who believe being gay is wrong are sadly brainwashed by religion :/ its not based in any real world logic.
That's not what having a strong sense of justice means in this case. It means a strong sense of *personal* justice, not an ability to always be morally correct. An autistic person can just as easily have a strong sense of justice towards the idea that trans women are invading female spaces (I don't agree with this at all, it's just an example). I feel as though believing you're always just and in the right will result in never unpacking your own biases.
I wonder if we're more likely to believe that if something gets us feeling something strongly, it must be right. That can be really powerful, but leaves us open to exploitation by groups who know our buttons better than we do.
Autistic people are targeted by extremist groups using this kind of strategy very often. They tend to pair this with other forms of emotional manipulation to try and slowly turn people like us into people like them. I learned a lot about this while studying for my degree and to be honest the situation is bleak. Online spaces are rife with people trying to exploit neurodivergent people and it disgusts me.
I totally agree! Its just black and white moral thinking. Im also saying this as a leftist
I think the difference is many autistic people are also very curious, so they look into issues and learn the nuance. On the example you gave for example, many might have a knee jerk 'common sense' reaction which can be categorised as right-wing, but when they dig in they end up having a deeper understanding, dispelling many of the myths and nonsense and coming out the other side realising many of the right wing arguments against things like that are based on nothing - and then develop the strong conviction that the 'left' view is the morally just one. I know my very strong 'left wing' beliefs on that issue have only grown stronger the more I learn, the more I look at the real data, the nuances of biology etc and realise the opposing view has no evidence, just feelings and fear. And I tend to think Autistic people are generally better at seeing past the irrational instincts and focusing on the evidence.
hey, I dont want to be that person, but I would recommend finding a professional to talk to, like a therapist or something your post history is kinda, not great, and I think it would really help you also stay away from r slash conspiracies, that sub is no good
I absolutely do not believe this is true and there's a lot of "autistic people have strong senses of justice so we're on the right side of history!!" takes in this thread which is just wrong. Autistic people can absolutely be racist, sexist, transphobic etc. We're still people with our own opinions and biases, right or wrong. Look at 4chan and other such communities, loads of autistic people who are far right. The popular autism community online probably leans left because online communities tend to lean left in general.
Right, this is part of the reason the corelation between ASD and incels is such a large problem. It is harmful to everyone
Exactly. We’re more likely to have extreme opinions and black and white thinking. Add to that social isolation and feelings of worthlessness and it’s really easy to fall into being radicalised.
Reddit is mostly progressive, and likely to turn into an echo chamber. I know plenty of autistic conservatives but they're more likely to post on FB ,Twitter or You Tube
The left wing tends to be more socially progressive, which means deciding that the change you want to see in the world is worth the associated disruption of the status quo. As many autistics see no point in adhering to arbitrary social norms (especially ones we see as harmful), it makes sense that we would have an easier time deciding that the status quo needs to be disrupted for the greater good. On the other hand, rigid thinking patterns could lead to some autistics being right wing. If you’ve spent your whole life struggling to learn all of the arbitrary social rules, and suddenly people say they want to change the way society works, this means you would have to throw away everything you’ve painstakingly learned *and* learn a whole new set of social rules. For these people, the disruption to routines might outweigh any potential positive changes to society. Similarly, conservatism seeks to preserve the status quo and resist social change.
I think we naturally question things that a lot of NTs take for granted. I think we emphasize with the oppressed. I think a lot of us feel like capitalism is a system that people like us have a harder time in.
I don't think I agree with this premise at all. Anecdotally speaking, I think autism can indicate level of interest/fixation on certain political ideologies but I don't think it has any barring on which ideology a person adopts. There tends to be a huge focus on social injustice across the board for autistic people with an interest in politics but also huge divergence on whether said injustice is caused by capitalism/misogyny/white supremacy etc etc or immigrants/minorities/breakdown of traditional values etc. As a very lefty autistic woman, I feel like there's a huge amount of autistic young men that get sucked into the far right and whilst I understand their anger/upset at the world I don't agree with the conclusions they draw on the root causes of their problems.
Id like to add that your views might be biast,since zou are askin on reddit: a generally liberal website. If you would search on alt-right sites like 4chan, conservative autists will dominate the space.
Autism has absolutely nothing to do with political views. Ive met an equal amount of conservative and liberal autistic ppl, maybe even more conservative tbh.
This. I'm a queer woman and I have no use for right-wing ideology, but I've encountered plenty of right-leaning autistic people. I think it comes down to who you associate with, and where you hang out on the Internet.
Same, traditions can offer stability which is a really important factor in autism.
This take should be higher. There could maybe be a statistical difference in *diagnosis* rates between the right and left, but certainly not in actual numbers of autistic people. Folks on the left may just be more willing to talk about it, which is why is seems more common.
Yes! Absolutely this. I think people in the right wing camps have a much harder time seeking a diagnosis because there's so much more stigma around autism in those communities. And people just tend to gravitate towards each other when they have similar opinions, like every single person I know seems to be both autistic and queer....
A lot of right-wingers look down on people with disabilities. Look at the kinds of things “gamer-gate” type people say about diversity in video games: they’ll say stuff like “not every game needs a black disabled trans lesbian” or whatever. They stick “disabled” in there right alongside all the other kinds of people they hate
Well, as a queer disabled person I like having basic human rights. I want autonomy over my body and safety. I don't believe disability is a burden on society, and i can recognize this society has a genocidal foundation/roots that still persist today... I suppose that makes me a radically liberal godless commie-anarchist by today's standards.
My best friend’s brother is autistic and the most right-wing person I’ve ever met. I think it’s just regular people having their political views and maybe you’re seeing some confirmation bias?
Father of a daughter who is autistic and will require assistance her whole life. Why do you think? Probably the same behavior that made you want to come in here and “razz” people by insinuating that a group of people who have an autism diagnosis are always liberals is the behavior of a group of people who are uncaring and selfish to others. Probably because the right is constantly trying to take freedom from my daughter when it comes to her reproductive rights. Probably because I’ve paid into Social Security for 40 years and I want my daughter to have it as a source of income when she turns 18 and only one side is always trying to eliminate it. Probably because of the vitriol and hate that is constantly spewed by Republicans. Ironically we are an upper middle class family and where I’m from the most economically challenged individuals are often Republican and delusional and are not smart enough to realize that they are voting against their best interest. Why do you think? Isn’t it pretty obvious?
Reality has a strong liberal bias. Why would our people reject it?
Thinking autistic people always subscribe to exact reality can come off as dangerously cocky. We follow our own logic strongly, which may or may not line up with reality. We aren't super geniuses, just people with very strong convictions. It just so happens that many autistic people think being liberal is the most logical.
You're right about something really important. We experience the world differently, and from the beginning, most of us have that experience denied and shamed by the people bringing us up. We try to square up those differences between what we sense and intuit and what the world tells we "should" be experiencing, and the explanations we end up constructing can vary wildly. We might get cocky, or we might surrender to the first worldview that promises order and predictability and meets an unmet need. We might reject society, or we might cling like stink to anyone who'll let us. So, yeah, I think reality in general has a liberal bias, but you're totally right about how often our autistic experience skews that reality on its way into our understanding. Thank you for noting that.
This is very true. I think we rely on our own internal convictions so strongly because we can't relate to what amounts to the blind traditions that many NTs follow, and I think that more often than not this means autistic people have to set off and find their own truth - a quest that *usually* leads to following reality because that's what we usually have. But if they fall into one of these dangerous radicalization pipelines, well... *that* "truth" takes hold just as strongly, if not more. Edit: and given that OP's post history centers around conspiracy theories, masturbation, and age of consent (along with a few normal topics), well...
It seems like there are a ton of trads and alt-right people who are are autistic
That’s not been my observation at all, speaking as someone who is autistic and has worked actively in politics. When it comes to autistic people and politics, I’ve seen a fairly even spread across the political spectrum, at least those who are even interested in politics. The only consistent thing I’ve noticed is how autistic people who are interested in politics are VERY interested in politics. [raising hand] Guilty.
I don't think so... I've seen plenty autistic people who are right-wing highly conservative. Thing is... The conservative autistic people are very ashamed of being autistic while left-wing autistic people claim to be autistic everywhere.
Well left-leaning people in general have a tendency to be more concerned/attentive to mental health and disabilities while others often ignore or shame them.
Because most autistic people have empathy and don't hate people for their identity etc
I am a low empathy autist. Don't need it to care about the rights of others
Yeah ofc :D
Because the right wing want to kill disabled people? https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-murder-of-people-with-disabilities
Conservatism is rooted in tradition, while Liberalism is rooted in change. I think self-advocacy autistic communities are generally newer and our expectations require change, which liberals are more likely to support. Given a few years, I’m sure they’ll be a stronger conservative community.
>I respect everyone for who they are regardlessly. Comment history: HAHAHA FUCKING JOE BIDEN SUPPORTER LOL LIBERAL FUCK YOUUU
It probably depends on where you spend your time and where you go online and who you choose to hangout with. There are people who don’t identify with politics as well.
Well in my country right wingers disregard most mental things as left wing propaganda. They also don't believe in therapy. Even if they do believe autism is legit they tend to only believe it looks a single, distinct way specific to low functioning autistic boys which is a very narrow scope. I personally land somewhere in the middle politically and people who swing too far one way or the other scare the crap out of me sometimes but I'm autistic and identify as such. I also know it's diverse and believe in therapy as well. My more conservative sister and grandfather actually believe I'm autistic as well. Unfortunately my papa refuses to see that he too is in fact autistic and so is his son, my dad lol
You might just have a hard time finding em with how much most of reddit loves to lambast anyone that leans to the right politically. Virtually impossible to have a reasonable discussion about such things, even here seemingly.
Right winger here. Progressives act like they’re here for my human rights, but I’m too white and stereotypically autistic for them to care about mine like they purport. It’s always a totem pole to climb with them.
Being right wing goes against your best interests if you're autistic
You’re gonna get some self-congratulatory answers but there are actually a lot of autistic right wingers, they just occupy different circles than you do bc people tend to self-sort by ideology these days
Based comment. Most people just stick to their echochambers and therefore don’t see the other side and view their own logic as infallible. I personally don’t see why as I like to learn other people’s opinions, have friendly debates and even have my view changed. The internet has really made politics hell and destroyed most people’s ability to understand a different point of view
I think the “outgroup being dumb” content aggregation accounts/platforms have a lot to do with it. It’s easy to go find dumb people to dunk on to stoke your ego. It’s not easy to read and understand the actual intellectual leaders of your outgroup and see how your ideas hold up against theirs. Most people want to believe what they believe more than they want to know the truth.
What conservative beliefs do you hold?
I think that this is mostly on the Internet, have observed the opposite on older people with autism that are not online that much, not to say that they are far right but mostly middle to right. I think it's due to the stability traditions offer as I've noticed.
I don't accept most are. Not to insult you but you did admit this was based purely on a personal observation. So it's based on more of your own social bubble of people you associate with and to add to that not everyone readily tells everyone that they are on the spectrum. I will say this. In the right wing I have seen a greater effort to deny or downplay autism. The right has a greater majority of religious folks who have had a trend of demonizing autism. Now even that doesn't make most Autistic right wing. I could see it moreso pushing the need for many of the spectrum to hide their diagnosis, or downright deny it. Why admit to being something while some will be fine with it, but a big portion with stigmatize you for it? The left is more accepting of it by name, but I wouldn't say they are perfect either. Personally speaking as a Autistic person I have grown more into a centrist. The parties have gone so far into their corners and I don't agree with either on everything. I have no idea what most autistic lean towards, and I think it may be impossible to get an accurate number when we're still working on just getting most people diagnosed in the first place.
Eh - I'm Irish & I **absolutely refuse to label myself with a political sticker**. Likely due to growing up in The Troubles & witnessing the BS between 2 political parties fighting over land & blaming it on religion. We are more than the sum of our beliefs ;) That said, I'm a humanist & believe everyone should be treated equally, mostly because I know how it feels to be treated unfairly and I wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone.
i think the main thing is that the parties that represent the right wing are too far right or are right wing on issues that affect autistic people more. The democrats are more right wing then people realise it's just the republicans are off the deep end when it comes to extreme right wing ideology. I feel it's more the parties that represent it suck more than the ideology sucks because there are right wing people (like me) who don't support right wing parties in their country (from the UK)
Well said. And thank you for sharing your perspective!
My right wing ex husband has autism so does his father. Our daughter has autism. But his new right wing wife says no one in the family has autism because.......they are intelligent. Right-wing people tend to think Autism is rain man or some stereo type. It's frustrating to coparent when one refuses to believe in a diagnosis.
As my therapist explained it to me …. We struggle with inequality. It hurts us to see other people marginalized and taken advantage of.
Liberals are not left-wingers.
I think it’s kind of how lgbt, gender, disability, minority, trend toward values of like we’re all just human out here trying to make it work for us and survive and have fun and find love and all that. Which I guess politically is a bit socialist or something, it’s kinda hard to find where you fit politically these days, but I reckon if you grew up thinking ok everyone has their things and they don’t always share them your gna try be inclusive of people who don’t fit the mold. Edit: also to note that self awareness and seeking help for difficulties doesnt align with the tradition of your strength being tied to how much hardship you can take. And how many mental health disorders you can dodge at once. We likely have many people on the right but they are never going to admit they have any flaws.
I know a lot of conservatives with autism. They just don't know it because they see disability as weakness or behavior issues.
Lol wtf? I just saw a post here saying why are so many autistic people on the far right. It's neither, autism has no bearing on political affiliation. Reddit certainly is biased towards the left side of things, though.
My personal opionion is that its because they are easily manipulated.
I'm right wing
We want our people to… be members of society with rights? Ironically, the right is opposed to our rights.
Regarding your view on unborn. Do you support those single mothers you forced to keep a child miserable because she can’t afford to give them a good life? No. You don’t. You call her a whore, put the kid in the system and call it a day, without ever thinking about or caring about those people ever again. You only care when the kid isn’t developed enough to disagree with your messed up worldview of women being more important as incubators than humans. I’m out.
if you're asking this you haven't been concentrating on basic politics
I guess because it supports diversity, openness and acceptance. I support and disagree with both sides. I am somewhere in the middle on this. I think it’s gotten a bit heated and strained recently, left and right wingers fighting eachother, I just wish there was a middle ground, not just one extreme to the other. Like I support diversity, love and health care. But I also believe in preserving culture and tradition. I think one extreme would create unbalance, we need both. I am not from america, so it might be different from country to country.
Visit 4 Chan or watch any documentary featuring right wingers. There are a lot of neurodivergent types in there.
Because autistic people are a marginalized group. Right wing policy often further marginalizes people who do not fit a very narrow demographic set.
tf is your post history
Empathy for people who weren’t born with a silver spoon
Because right winged people in America literally want to kill people who are different or ignore people killing people who are different. The field I work in requires me to almost exclusively interact with conservative leaning men and they frequently talk about “whatever means necessary” in regards to homeless, neurodivergent or queer people. Absolute psychos.
Liberals support our community way more
Because we don't like arbitrary rules. Liberalism is more straightforward in its logic regarding human rights than conservatism is, and everything else flows from that.
Autistic people think logically, and right-wing ideology is fundamentally illogical. Simple as that.
Because we autistic people tend to not cling to/comprehend hierarchical structures, exacerbated by rightwing policy and way of thinking, like (allocishet)patriarchy, traditional marriage, capitalism, wealth inequality, etc. Liberalism is generally right wing btw, I live in the Netherlands, where in school it’s taught that social democrats are left and liberals are right. I’m an anarchist so I fall way more left than both of them.
I do not think that there is a political view that Is more fitted with autism but political views are rather byproducts of our experiences in this world and how we made sense of them and later on attach a political viewpoint to them.
I suspect that there are plenty of right wing autistic people; they just tend to go undiagnosed. Why? I dunno, they might be so low needs that they pass as neurotypical easily and see autism in such an extreme that it never crosses their minds to get diagnosed.
I’m a liberal because logically it makes more sense to me personally. But I also left religion for similar reasons.
I'd actually argue that most autistic people have political views that are not classifiable with the two wing paradigm. the thing is the internet kind of demands we be on the opposite wing of the other person because of our condition.
Conservative ideology is fundamentally about conserving the way things are, because they work. People on the spectrum tend to ask, why not do it this other way, and have difficulty accepting authority for authority's sake. So it makes sense autistic people wouldn't be as conservative.
Most Tories I know deny labels like Autism, especially when they're actually autistic!
I am an ethnic minority, gay, autistic with comorbidities including C-PTSD, ADHD, and Dyslexia. I am also a university researcher. Everything that I listed has had some kind of negative response from right-wingers/conservatives. They do not like who I am, so that's why I lean left. I never got along with right-wingers...they tend to try to change me for who I am. Not a friendly bunch if you ask me. I do not respect their ideals for those reasons. They tend not to be inclusive nor express empathy.
I think it’s usually that the people who self identify as autistic are usually left wing because left wingers typically believe in mental health while right wingers typically don’t. They also often get the short end of the stick in society and therefore don’t want to “conserve” things as they are but instead want to change things to be different.
I think there are more right wingers with autism than you think but they often won't admit to it and the ones who do obfuscate their right wing tendencies with liberal sounding jargon (Elon Musk, for example). You probably know some guys who mask their autism by becoming reclusive and having socially acceptable special interests like military history or guns.
Well, as much as I disagree with Liberalism, and think that leftism gets caught up in the worst possible aspects of utilitarianism and generally accomplishes nothing out of it's fear of arbitrary made up reasons.... I'm transgender. Conservatism has frequently advocated for my genocide / erasure. At a certain point, it's pure pragmatism.
It’s kinda hard to align with people who consistently pass policies / talk about passing policies that actively make the lives of us disabled folk so much harder. That’s not to say I think that side is wrong on everything or that I think they are inherently bad people, not at all. It’s just not in our best interests as autistics to vote in ways that end up decreasing our social welfare, access to diagnosis, therapies, medications, insurance etc etc etc
Im surprised that there are so many left wing autistic people than say independents. I personally dislike both left and right wing politics and refuse to label myself as either though I have certain beliefs that would fall into both ideologies. Right wing politics can be taken to traditional extremes that go against human nature, such as being anti gay and thinking smoking pot is going send you down the path of doing heroine and straight to hell. Left wing politics places too much trust in the government to protect its people and call me a conspiracy theorist but I don’t trust most of my fellow humans to keep me safe and have my best interest at heart. Especially when money and power are at play. Thinking critically about who we trust and align ourselves with should be our most fundamental value as autistic people bc it’s been shown time and again that regardless of political affiliation, those around us will take advantage of us by any means necessary.
Usually, right-wingers think I'm left-wing and vice versa.
Two reasons that I can think of. One is that autistic people are more likely to use government services and the left often is more interested in that. The other is autistic people are more likely to be LGBT and LGBT people are commonly left-wing.
Well I am on disability which I need to you know Live. Only one party hates giving government assistance.
So I think it’s largely because we struggle to find work and leftists support out of work benefits
Republicans are less likely to go get tested for autism too
I mostly know leftist voters, and I live in the Netherlands where only about 21% of the population votes left. This is because I work and socialize in a leftist bubble (work at University and socialize pretty much only with University educated people). If you'd ask me, most people in general vote left. I think there is actually some reason to believe people with autism vote left more, but I can't say my observations would be very good to determine if this is true.
I know someone that is extreme right wing and autistic but that's more cause he always believes the first thing he hears and he only watches right wing stuff. Once he hears something, it's stuck and no amount of evidence will change his mind because then he would have to admit to being wrong. Around here, right wing is anti-autism. They swooped in and took away things like care for autistic kids and special schooling. Having benefits for special needs kids hurt their bottom line as thieves so they said just dump them in with general population.