Definition of Autistan

1. Freedom of interpretation

Everyone is free to see Autistan as they want, and no one has an obligation to conform to our definitions (or attempts at definitions).
However, you will find below some useful information to form your own opinion on this subject..

Be careful though (for communication and events) :
The use of the Flag of Autistan is regulated. (This link opens a new tab.)

2. The analogy with a “country of…”

When we hear “Help”, we immediately think of “countries of autistic”.
Indeed, the suffix “-stan” means “lieu” in Persian.
This is how Afghanistan is “the place of the Afghans”, that is to say the country of the Afghans, Kazakhstan is the country of Kazakhs, etc. etc., and therefore Autistan is “the land of autistics”, although it is not an official country, nor even a physical country.
Therefore, if we remember the first idea of Autistan that comes to mind (that of a country), this is obviously a country in a figurative or metaphorical sense.

Regarding the suffix “-stan”, everything is explained here : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/-stan
And Autistan (or more precisely, our organization) is even cited here : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/-stan#Autres

Photo Cinzia Agoni

3. The metaphor of “world of…” or “world of…”

On dit “the business world”, “the world of cinema”, “the world of politics”, “the world of sports”, ‘the world of online games”, etc.

When you meet an autistic person, and if she shares with us “his world”, we have the impression of discovering “another world”. It is “the world of autism” (very original and diverse) : Autistan.

In summary, Autistan, it's simply “the world of autism”.
It is therefore an abstract concept which refers to everything that characterizes autism and autistic people., and which is difficult to find outside.

Autistic people see and experience “the world” in a very different way from non-autistic people, who is “autistic people's view of the world”, or “the world according to autistic people”, concept which is close to “the world of autism”.

To understand even better, we could say that “the world of football fans” (and they outnumber autistic people) would be “Footballistan”, with his rules, in culture, its particularities (Who, like for autism, can seem very strange to those who are foreigners(eras) to this world).
And when we say “Bureaucratistan”, everyone understands what that means : the world (often Kafkaesque) bureaucratic officials, or bureaucratic administrative procedures (and painful).

4. The metaphor “be in his world”

Everyone knows that autistic people are generally “in their bubble”, that's to say “in their world”, in other words, more or less “lost in their thoughts”, or more precisely, focused in their thoughts.
It is therefore a second reason which reinforces the relevance of the idea of a “world of autistic”.

Noticed : If you think about it carefully, you don't have to be autistic to be “lost(e) in his thoughts”. And when it happens to you, when you come back to reality, you don't know how long it lasted, in “where you were”. You can even drive a car during this “mental escape”, and you won't even remember the road or the landscape : you were mentally “in another world” mentally, outside of time and space, and this gives a pretty good idea of this “absence de dimension” of the Autistan, that is to say a world or a functioning where it is possible to be very focused(e) on thoughts, or if “disconnect” of the environment, with disadvantages (inadequacy and lack of realism, therefore autonomy) but also advantages (protection of “social absurdities”, creativity, problem solving ability…).

5. Options for developing the notion of “pays” in concrete reality

ONG……….. (to do)
Ideas for concrete countries……. (to do)
No desire for isolation……… (to do)

6. A “autistic nation” or “autistic nation”

All autistic people are autistic from birth; therefore, they can be considered as:

THE “native” of the Autistan
form a “autistic nation” (or autistic), that is to say a “biological minority” more than 70 million people, since the word “nation” comes from Latin “nation”, which derives from the verb “be born” (to be born).

About the notion of “autistic minority”, an autistic organization in Switzerland specializes in this theme, and strives to defend autistic people before UN bodies : Autistic Minority International.

7. A synonym of “Autism”

With time, we realize that we can often replace the word “autism” par “Help”, which is logical since Autistan refers, in summary, to everything that characterizes autism.

8. Evocation by Josef Schovanec

“(…) trip to Autistan, this country that begins very close to you, behind the wall that perhaps separates you from a neighbor you never see because he devotes his life to his collection of 19th century Russian batteries or to the mutations of the optative in archaic Sanskrit (…)“
(See the page on the origin of the name Autistan (This link opens a new tab.))

9. Origin

–> See the page on the origin of the name Autistan (This link opens a new tab.)

10. Other considerations or avenues for reflection

10.1. Autistan, considered as a country or as a world, is a virtual and therefore imaginary thing, MORE Autistan is not imaginary because this word refers to things that actually exist.
For example, the notion of “love” or other feelings is not tangible, but that doesn't mean it's imaginary (which would mean that it doesn't really exist).
To take a counterexample, Santa Claus is a perfectly imaginary thing, because we know with certainty that this does not exist in reality.
For us autistic people, Autistan is a thing that really exists, because it’s a bit our way of thinking and seeing the world.
10.2. The notion of “world of autistic” does not imply that autistic people see things in the same way.
Actually, one of the main differences between non-autistics and autistics, is that the former tend to see things and think in ways formed by the “standards”, habits, conventions and norms of the social groups in which they live.
While the latter (Autistics), due to their “distancing” society (which we could call “the Non-Drivers”), are much less influenced by these “formatages”, and therefore, “everything is possible”.
(It is also because of this that, often, the mathematical symbol for infinity is used to represent autism.)
Some say that there is “as many autisms as autistics”. Maybe it's true, but this statement poses a problem, which is the idea that we could not really define the characteristics of autistic people. However, it is quite possible, there are generalities, and anyway, autism is defined by its definition “medical” original (that is to say by the people of “Medicalistan” who see everything with a doctor's eye).
1.3. The vast majority of autistic people have never heard of Autistan, but it's not a problem and that does not prevent this reality from existing, whatever the name and contours we give it.
1.4. Autistan does not know the notions of materiality, of space or time, and begins where the States, territories and regions end.
1.5. In conclusion, “the land of autistics” is the world of autistic people: a world without borders, without limits.
1.6. Another theoretical approach to the metaphor of “countries of autistic”
It is possible to name “Help” the special mental world characteristic of autistic thinking when it is “in autism” (and not in the world “ordinary”).
It is therefore possible to say that Autistan is inhabited by each autistic person when their thinking is there.

Table of Contents

Fast presentation :

1. Autistan is the “world of autistic” : This designates, in summary, everything that characterizes autism and autistic.
2. Autistan's diplomatic organization has the main purpose of’inform public authorities countries, so that they better understand the needs and difficulties of autistic people, for the purpose of a “Correct account of autism everywhere” allowing a “Accessibility for people with autism exposed to disabling situations“, to reduce “Socio-generated attacks (sensory, mental or other)”.
Our organization is “extra-nationale”, She does not “external interference”, It offers additional contributions thanks to a very wide approach, diverse, different, which allows very useful comparisons and reflections to improve public policies.
3. Autistic people do not suffer “autism” : They suffer from consequences of the absence of correct consideration of autism everywhere, and therefore of the absence of policies and public measures allowing accessibility thanks to the reduction of these external attacks.
4. For that, It is essential to start by understanding that “Autism” (which is a human difference with many qualities) is a different thing from “Autism disorders” (which are only problems, Objectives or subjective).
5. Autistic people must be able to “Learn non-autism” To live by adapting, But without complying with it that is to say without “obligation to become non-autistic”, Because we must preserve the qualities specific to autism, And you must avoid the many and dangerous defects and social traps, in particular the one which consists in creating self -esteem through the “Judgment possible by strangers”, which requires a kind of “Social image dictatorship” obliging to “glasses” (what is absurd, superficial, and particularly toxic to autistic).
6. It is imperative that autistic people are not upset in their interests or companies (Apart from the minimum managers of good manners), that they are not exposed to restrictions, over-protection or deprivation of freedom because of their autism.
Indeed, It is unfair but above all this prevents any positive evolution.
The positive development of the autistic person is only possible if he can follow “His own life path”, that is not ordinary, and which will be favored by an unlimited multitude of possibilities, choice, hazard, experiences, meetings, adventure, of trips etc., and not by the way : the restriction and aridity of an even more limited and restless life than that of most non-autist (who is very “Standardized and robotics”).
For that, It is imperative and essential that the parents of autistic people can be “educated in autism”.
7. Freedom and experimentation are therefore essential, and understanding these principles (Among many others that we can explain and demonstrate in detail) is essential for society to allow A better life for autistic : freest, fairer, more fulfilled, with the same level of possibilities and chances as non-autist, that is to say a “real life”, worthy and happy.
8. This would be possible if people who can explain these things were listened to carefully, And if the public authorities made efforts and understood that the necessary modifications are not abusive : these are corrections that are beneficial for the whole company.
Try to awaken attention, And to explain these things convincingly with examples and evidence “of real life” : This is the only goal of our organization.