Then how could an autistic person be “manipulative”, not knowing that?

This is yet another example of casting autistic behavior into a mold because that’s how the nonautistic person views it: “Why else would someone do (behavior) unless it was meant to be manipulative?”

If a person asks that rhetorically, they may not be teachable. If they ask from a real desire to know/learn/understand, then things can change.

This is a good example of others’ assumptions being projected onto us, at least concerning emotional manipulation. Physical manipulation, as with guiding a parent’s hand to the refrigerator door, seems pretty transparent.

To me, dealing with someone effectively means presenting information clearly and unambiguously. However, much societal effectiveness seems derived from one’s finesse, and finesse seems nothing if not ambiguous and “grey area”. Persuasiveness thus flows from presentation rather than facts or need. This seems so unfair...

Last revised: June 22, 2007
(c)2007 Dave Spicer
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