Contrast that to my social performance where I felt socially/sexually isolated. I cannot read any social cues. Things were getting so bad that I not only tried masking to present decently, I went way, way, out of my comfort zone to approach women. It was so disturbing to me when I was seen as welcome as a turd in a punchbowl and left me feeling even more damaged. I am amazed that I did not become a misogynist.

Yes. It is not all about training, it is a lot about ENVIRONMENT that counts. Sure we people are part of the environment… What could be used is a Third space, a service design concept, that brings the concept of permaculture from agriculture to the context of social wellbeing … called Inspiration Space. I have been working on this concept over 20 years on my free time, … juts to become to understand that I am an aspie myself, and this is a solution that could work for many of us, aspies or not. My challenge is and has been to invite other people to build a prototype and test this idea that combines everything I have learned in over 40 years as an artist, student, performer, yoga and meditation and make-up art teacher, and as a mom and wife.

A key observation in this article is that, “…many are blind to the fact that they have a blind side.”…a perfect observation of one of the hallmark traits of those of us with Asperger’s, and one that no amount of “training” will ameliorate. Also, “Individuals who aren’t able to express themselves well aren’t heard, so their best ideas are often missed. Companies can’t afford that.”, is absolutely true, but it’s the companies themselves who require training to better understand the traits of these employees. Otherwise, especially in highly political environments, the companies will miss their sometimes crucial contributions, and, more importantly, it has a profoundly negative effect on some of these individuals – often the only ones who clearly see problems and solutions without the distorting lens of “political reality” getting in the way of what I call Actual Physical Reality.

It is the companies themselves who are blind to the fact that they have a blind spot, especially when the Emperor so plainly has no clothes. And it is the responsibility of HR departments, who frequently are used to ‘discipline’ these politically unskilled employees into ‘compliance’, to understand and educate companies and their training staffs about the characteristics, deficits, and, most especially, uniquely unmatched skills that we Aspies bring to the table. These Humans are the ones who are blind to the uniquely and crucially skilled Resources that otherwise go to waste.

Otherwise, we all lose…well, except those who are politically skilled, especially in environments that value orthodoxy over Reality.