{"id":871,"date":"2026-08-31T00:04:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T07:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/?p=871"},"modified":"2026-10-19T17:06:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T00:06:21","slug":"isolation-%e2%86%94%ef%b8%8f-resolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/2026\/08\/31\/isolation-%e2%86%94%ef%b8%8f-resolution\/","title":{"rendered":"isolation \u2194\ufe0f resolution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

the etymology of the term ‘autism’ derives from an idea that a person with autistic traits is somehow isolated in a world of their own, that others can’t reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

i would offer that this is exactly wrong, and a projection by an observer with a mindset built from a variety of assumptions that prevents them from understanding the way the observed person moves through the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

the isolation being described is that of the observer, not the observed. an isolation from nature, and from processes that take place across long arcs, and within complex systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and this isolation prevents the observer not only from understanding the observed, but from understanding their own true nature, and the ways that certain qualities that appear awkward in a limited social context are vital for the human project as it plays out in relationship with nature, the earth, and the universe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

for this reason, i advocate for new language that acknowledges the contribution of the person who moves across a longer arc; whose body remembers what has always been important, even when people in the room have forgotten; whose mind forgets what is not important, even when the people in the room are catastrophizing about a missed deadline; whose presence requires the room to reassess what is important at every turn; whose character collects specific fields of information that, when recognized, enrich the community in unmonetizable ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

so, i’m going to be speaking in awkward sentences, as i try to articulate the experience, from the inside, of a person who recognizes something of what is important; who recognizes and loves themselves and those around themselves; and who is unsatisfied with the direction that a large swath of humanity has taken\u2014away from nature, and a harmonious relationship with the universe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sometimes, in coming to our senses, it’s important to disengage from a compulsion to make sense. thank you for your attention to this matter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

the etymology of the term ‘autism’ derives from an idea that a person with autistic traits is somehow isolated in a world of their own, that others can’t reach. i would offer that this is exactly wrong, and a projection by an observer with a mindset built from a variety of assumptions that prevents them…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[29,27,124,603,14,15,9,39,30],"tags":[544,87,539,409,543,542,541,546,540,405,429,545,538,404],"class_list":["post-871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chronicle","category-didactics","category-education","category-essay","category-neurodiversity","category-politics","category-reflection","category-work","category-zen","tag-attention","tag-autism","tag-awakening","tag-disability","tag-memory","tag-misunderstanding","tag-nature","tag-neologism","tag-neurodivergence","tag-presence","tag-recognition","tag-self-understanding","tag-somatic-memory","tag-time","hs-thumb"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paor1p-e3","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":660,"url":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/12\/the-rabbit-hole\/","url_meta":{"origin":871,"position":0},"title":"the rabbit hole","author":"Ryk Groetchen","date":"October 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"as an autistic person, who is highly competent in certain environments, and near disabled in others, I've found that I can do things that are normally quite difficult for me if they are related to my field of interest\u2013parsing seemingly arbitrary lists of conditions to fill out necessary forms, for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "chronicle"","block_context":{"text":"chronicle","link":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/category\/chronicle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":486,"url":"https:\/\/ryk.groetchen.com\/blog\/2025\/07\/26\/framing-is-everything\/","url_meta":{"origin":871,"position":1},"title":"framing is everything","author":"Ryk Groetchen","date":"July 26, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Neurodiversity is the new (different! better!) cognitive frame. 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