Before I attend my PSE (my term for Aspie, representing People with special experiences) support group meets, I almost always ask myself a few questions:
1. Why do we have the need to form an adult PSE group?
2. What are our goals, as individual PSEs?
3. What stops us from our goals?
My personal opinions - subject to extensive and thorough group discussions - are that our group is indeed a group for acceptance, care and support for all PSEs. However, we may need to make our group more accessible for people who do not feel comfortable in a place full of PSEs, while alson acting on and recognising their need for recognition in the wider society.
Even though our society is aware of the term 'autism', they immediately fear Auties and PSEs, as they have deficits in social and perhaps communications skills. As a result, they are tossed aside and humiliated, as seen in some friends' experience in some prestigious primary school, and hence they have the need for care and some place to heal outside school. They also seek support for the various challenges they have in life - interests and hobbies, academic or career advice and even relationship issues.
As individual PSEs, we want to keep asking ourselves; why are we here, what is the purpose of our life, and why are we doing what we are doing? Why do I volunteer in Pathlight and join my college's Psychology Society? Why am I doing Accounting and Finance as a degree? (We know it's the AD/HD cum Aspie buster degree, and I haven't received much accommodation or learning support from my University, resulting in my less-than-desired grades.) I realise all I am doing is out of a sense of duty. What if I just focus on myself? What would I do?
So what stops us from our goals is, we had not been self-aware of our limits. If we know we cannot tolerate debt, if we know we have to get out of school early to support our families, we try to graduate or leave school early. This is especially more like the case, especially when 75% of all Singaporean students will not eventually go on to local public universities, where they get state subsidies. Either they take immense student debt to go on to some Uni, or they empty their parents' pockets to attend one.
This is why I do not agree with some Aspies' outspoken and increasing focus on achievement-oriented agenda, because they seem to miss the point that with every achievement, comes a price. We may also not agree with some parents' coercion to force their children to colleges and universities, when the children do not really want to do a job related to University graduate degrees.
However, I agree that we have to keep on exploring our interests and dreams. What do we really like? Do we really need an university degree to keep things going? (In many PSE cases, we don't need to, though there are exceptions: Researchers must have a good Bachelor's degree.)
1. Why do we have the need to form an adult PSE group?
2. What are our goals, as individual PSEs?
3. What stops us from our goals?
My personal opinions - subject to extensive and thorough group discussions - are that our group is indeed a group for acceptance, care and support for all PSEs. However, we may need to make our group more accessible for people who do not feel comfortable in a place full of PSEs, while alson acting on and recognising their need for recognition in the wider society.
Even though our society is aware of the term 'autism', they immediately fear Auties and PSEs, as they have deficits in social and perhaps communications skills. As a result, they are tossed aside and humiliated, as seen in some friends' experience in some prestigious primary school, and hence they have the need for care and some place to heal outside school. They also seek support for the various challenges they have in life - interests and hobbies, academic or career advice and even relationship issues.
As individual PSEs, we want to keep asking ourselves; why are we here, what is the purpose of our life, and why are we doing what we are doing? Why do I volunteer in Pathlight and join my college's Psychology Society? Why am I doing Accounting and Finance as a degree? (We know it's the AD/HD cum Aspie buster degree, and I haven't received much accommodation or learning support from my University, resulting in my less-than-desired grades.) I realise all I am doing is out of a sense of duty. What if I just focus on myself? What would I do?
So what stops us from our goals is, we had not been self-aware of our limits. If we know we cannot tolerate debt, if we know we have to get out of school early to support our families, we try to graduate or leave school early. This is especially more like the case, especially when 75% of all Singaporean students will not eventually go on to local public universities, where they get state subsidies. Either they take immense student debt to go on to some Uni, or they empty their parents' pockets to attend one.
This is why I do not agree with some Aspies' outspoken and increasing focus on achievement-oriented agenda, because they seem to miss the point that with every achievement, comes a price. We may also not agree with some parents' coercion to force their children to colleges and universities, when the children do not really want to do a job related to University graduate degrees.
However, I agree that we have to keep on exploring our interests and dreams. What do we really like? Do we really need an university degree to keep things going? (In many PSE cases, we don't need to, though there are exceptions: Researchers must have a good Bachelor's degree.)
