Our individually unique nervous systems and sensitivities develop and evolve over the course of our lives. 85% of neurodivergent adults often or always feel overwhelmed and misunderstood, and over 60% often or always feel disrespected and unsafe. Our overall sense of wellbeing is determined by alignment between our sensitivity profiles and the ecology of care we are embedded in (or not).
Development and evolution of human nervous systems
Our individually unique nervous systems and sensitivities develop and evolve over the course of our lives, shaped by the following factors:
- Sensitivities that are encoded epigenetically, at least some of which may be the result of traumatising experiences in earlier generations. We now know that childhood trauma can affect the sensitivity profiles of our nervous systems across multiple generations.
- Sensitivities that result from childhood trauma due to the internalised ableism we encounter in our social environment, especially from caregivers, peers, educators, and health professionals.
- Sensitivities that result from further trauma due to the cultural mainstream we are immersed in, i.e. due to the “normalisation” of many forms of violence, bullying, and neglect within social norms, laws, workplaces, healthcare settings, default family structures, anthropocentric religions, and dehumanising economic ideologies.
- Persistent positive experiences (over months, years, decades) in the social and ecological environment beyond the human that allow us to feel understood and loved, i.e. experiences with non-judgemental animals and people with compatible sensitivity profiles – such positive experiences allow us to incrementally let go of internalised ableism, and they teach us how to nurture trustworthy de-powered (non-coercive) caring relationships with other living beings.
Laws and social norms that are deemed to be applicable in large (“super human”) scale societies can never be a substitute for trustworthy caring and loving relationships. By definition such laws and social norms are formulated in ignorance of our individual sensitivity profiles and individual life circumstances.
Cults vs healthy cultural organisms
Large scale anonymous social environments are inherently traumatising, as they involve many interactions between people who know very little or nothing about each other. In contrast, over time, small “human” scale social environments minimise interactions between people who know nothing about each other.
Healing involves collaborative niche construction with others who are committed to nurturing shared understanding and de-powered ecologies of care beyond the human in egalitarian human scale environments. Healthy social ecologies allow us to develop a positive relationship with our sensitivity profiles. The laws and social norms that emerge and evolve in egalitarian human scale cultural organisms are attuned to a specific ecological context rather than being shaped by abstract institutions in far away places.
All non-egalitarian social environments, irrespective of scale, have all the characteristics of a cult. So-called “civilisations” based on hierarchical structures of coercive power are no exception. All empires are based on a myth of cultural superiority – including normalisation of institutionalised forms of violence, bullying, and neglect. The laws and social norms that emerge and evolve in cults are primarily concerned with the perpetuation of specific hierarchical structures of coercive powers and violence, and much less with human and non-human wellbeing.
The only difference between smaller cults and the social power structures within modern corporations and nation states is scale.
The reality of internalised ableism
The extent to which people consciously experience their social environment as a traumatising cult depends on their level of internalised ableism and their ability to maintain cognitive dissonance over months, years, and decades – which in turn comes back to our individual sensitivity profiles.
AutCollab participatory research reveals that many Autistic and intersectionally marginalised people experience the dominant culture they are embedded in as highly traumatising.
In our hypernormative “civilisation” marginalised population segments are routinely at the receiving end of internalised ableism. In contrast, those who consider themselves to be culturally “well adjusted” experience the dominant culture as relatively “safe” – they have internalised the behavioural patterns of homo economicus.
Cultural and psychological safety in workplace settings
For the experience in workplace environments, our global survey results show that non-marginalised employees experience the culture in typical workplace settings as “normal”. In contrast, employees from marginalised population segments feel much less safe and welcome at work.
Over 40% of employees are often or always afraid to be their authentic self when interacting with “superiors”, and over 25% of employees are often or always afraid to be their authentic self when interacting with peers.
Our survey results include large numbers of responses from marginalised population segments. This explains the stark contrast between the overall aggregate results (below) and the corresponding numbers for those who consider themselves culturally “well adjusted” (in the following subsection).
Culturally “well adjusted” employees
Amongst the employees who consider themselves to be culturally well adjusted over 20% are not entirely relaxed when engaging with their bosses, but more than 90% are at ease when amongst peers.
Employees from marginalised population segments
Amongst employees who identify with one or more marginalised population segments, over 50% are often or always afraid to be their authentic self when interacting with “superiors”, and over 25% are often or always afraid to be their authentic self when interacting with peers.
This raises serious questions about the concept of “normality” in modern industrialised societies.
Neurodivergent employees
Amongst employees who identify as neurodivergent, 70% are often or always afraid to be their authentic self when interacting with “superiors”, and over 40% are often or always afraid to be their authentic self when interacting with peers.
The differences between these responses and the responses of those who consider themselves culturally “well adjusted” are stark. Internalised ableism in the workplace is an undeniable reality.
The neurodivergent childhood experience in our “civilisation”
The experience of being at the receiving end of internalised ableism starts at a young age in powered-up family structures and education environments.
Amongst neurodivergent children, 90% are often or always afraid to be their authentic self at school, and close to 70% are often or always afraid to be their authentic self within their families. Furthermore, over 90% of neurodivergent children often or always feel overwhelmed and misunderstood, over 80% often or always feel disrespected, and over 70% often or always feel unsafe.
As a result, over 70% of neurodivergent children often or always distrust family, friends, and classmates, and around 80% detach emotionally in order to cope and survive. Over 90% often or always experience anxiety, and 80% often or always feel depressed.
The adult neurodivergent experience in our “civilisation”
The experience of being at the receiving end of internalised ableism continues into adulthood, into all aspects of our lives – unless we consciously choose to opt out of the hypernormative and traumatising life path of “modern civilisation”.
The ability to opt out depends on the extent to which we are embedded in a healthy ecology of care, the establishment of which can take decades. For many the ability to opt out remains out of reach.
Amongst neurodivergent adults, 70% are often or always afraid to be their authentic self at work, close to 60% are often or always afraid to be their authentic self within their families, and over 45% are often or always afraid to be their authentic self amongst “friends”. Furthermore, 85% of neurodivergent adults often or always feel overwhelmed and misunderstood, and over 60% often or always feel disrespected and unsafe.
As a result, over 35% of neurodivergent adults often or always distrust family, parents, and friends, and over 60% detach emotionally in order to cope and survive. Over 80% often or always experience anxiety, and 50% often or always feel depressed.
The human sense of agency
Our sense of agency is a human scale phenomenon that emerges from de-powered dialogues within healthy trustworthy relationships.
Our research shows that most neurodivergent people don’t have many healthy trustworthy relationships, and therefore have very limited opportunity to engage in de-powered dialogue.
Our “individual sense of agency” is the feeling of being understood, respected, and cared for, and the experience of actively contributing to group decisions without being subjected to coercive forces.
Healthy cultures understand agency as a collaborative human scale phenomenon rather than as an individual attribute or an attribute of abstract super human scale institutions. In a healthy non-coercive environment Autistic learning styles avoid over-imitation, and thereby help to reduce spurious cultural complexity.
The competitive “individual sense of agency” postulated by the ideology of homo economicus turns out to be a misguided myth that is incompatible with our scientific understanding of human cognition and the relational ecology of life.
The acknowledgement that human agency operates within a collaborative frame, and is inherently not scalable to super human scales without causing untold harm, is in direct conflict with the progress myth of industrialised societies. Clinging to the anthropocentric myths of technological progress and meritocracy that form the corner stones of modern industrialised societies is arguably the biggest obstacle towards greater levels of compassion, ecological wellbeing, global intersectional solidarity, and paradigmatic cultural adaptation within a context of ecological overshoot on a finite planet.
Cognitive dissonance
Our overall sense of wellbeing is determined by the health of the ecology of care we are embedded in, by our sensitivity profiles, and our (in)ability to resolve cognitive dissonance.
These elements are woven together at human scale. Our individual sense of wellbeing is a reflection of communal wellbeing, i.e. a reflection of the health of all the relationships that constitute our sense of “self”. Cognitive dissonance surfaces whenever human emotional limits are reached.
The catch is that those humans who are capable of considering themselves to be culturally “well adjusted” have a capacity for maintaining cognitive dissonance that seems nearly unlimited from an Autistic perspective.
The extent to which the toxic cultural environment of the global mono-cult has created a hypercompetitive atmosphere in which institutions are almost exclusively concerned with perception management, is revealed by our research into the cognitive dissonance experienced by intersectionally marginalised people.
Rediscovering our faith in humanity
Recognising that cognitive and emotional limits are just as real, immutable, and relevant for our survival as the laws of physics may allow us to embark on a path of intersectional solidarity and healing on the margins of society.
It is only within nurturing, small ecologies of care beyond the human, that we can (re)discover our faith in humanity and our faith in the healing powers of the big cycle of life, which is far beyond human comprehensibility.
The beautiful diversity of Autistic and otherwise neurodivergent sensitivity profiles constitutes the human cultural immune system that can guide us back towards healthy, life affirming cultural organisms. Small is beautiful.
Along the way we can offer:
- compassionate exit paths for the inmates of dying institutions, many of whom are addicted to the convenience of the unsustainable industrialised way of life and various forms of social status,
- as well as palliative care for the institutions of the mono-cult.
It is encouraging that more and more young people are discovering that an energetically de-powered and less materialistic life is beneficial for our physical wellbeing, and that a socially de-powered life at human scale is essential for our mental wellbeing.
Given the current state of ecological overshoot, the path ahead includes unavoidable human and non-human suffering.
Becoming fully aware of human scale limitations not only helps us to minimise suffering and cognitive dissonance, it also reintegrates us into the sacred cycle of life via trustworthy relationships beyond the human.
Dr. B. Educated – Research
The vast majority of healthcare professionals are ignorant not only about Autistic culture and Autistic ways of being, they are also ignorant about the prevalence of complex trauma amongst intersectionally marginalised people.
Encouragingly, committed allies of the neurodiversity movement, such as Dr. Zoe Raos (Te Āti Awa), a gastroenterologist in Waitematā, Tāmaki Makaurau, are starting to speak up about the lack of cultural and psychological safety for Autistic patients and colleagues.
Feeling Safe – Survey
This 5 minute anonymous survey (fourteen questions) is conducted by the Autistic Collaboration Trust and is sponsored by S23M.
Feeling Safe Growing Up – Survey
This 5 minute anonymous survey (fifteen questions) is conducted by the Autistic Collaboration Trust and is sponsored by S23M.
Cognitive Dissonance in Our Lives – Survey
This 8 minute anonymous survey (25 questions) is conducted by the Autistic Collaboration Trust and is sponsored by S23M.
Intersectional Safety – Experience Reports
This research programme depends on the breadth and depth of lived Autistic and otherwise neurodivergent experience that we can draw on. Autistic and otherwise neurodivergent and marginalised people are invited to contribute their lived experience.
Safety in Healthcare – Experience Reports
We invite everyone – including you, whether neuronormative or neurodivergent, to support our education efforts with reports of your lived experience in healthcare settings. As needed you can remain entirely anonymous to protect yourself from further harm.
Inclusive Communication in Healthcare
Neurodivergent and otherwise marginalised people often have specific communication preferences, and in some cases, are only able to communicate in one or two specific modalities. In this research project we are collecting examples of both inclusive and marginalising forms of interactions encountered in healthcare settings. You are invited to contribute both negative and positive scenarios, comparing scenarios that you had hoped for or expected with the scenarios that you actually encountered.
Safety in the Workplace – Survey
S23M is maintaining a unique global database of anonymous baseline data on psychological safety in the workplace via an ongoing online survey. The data is of particular interest for neurodivergent people and other marginalised groups who are experiencing bullying and more or less subtle forms of discrimination at work. You can contribute to this important ongoing research by participating in a 3 minute survey, and by encouraging your friends to participate.
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