After the unprecedented 2016 presidential election a glass ceiling has been shattered here in the United States of America. Not the obvious gender based one that all attention had been trained upon. The ‘glass ceiling’ we refer to is an entirely new concept. The communication “glass ceiling” that has expanded greatly in 2016 and …as we have been saying all along, this entire great decade of change. We are living in the generations of complete and total plugged in communications. Just look at what our lifetimes have witnessed. In the last century our ability to communicate globally went from 0%————————————-100%.
Completely downloaded and connected!
With just the push of a button and the stroke of some keys…you can be heard and you can be read; LOUDLY and CLEARLY all around the world. What communication ‘ceiling shattering’ progress!! Progress we don’t seem to marvel at or even acknowledge because, it has become so ‘normal’ so common-place. Something that was once unheard of has become our everyday experience.
In this 2016 news cycle of social interconnectedness we communicate freely with the greatest of ease and at lightening speeds.
But do WE…really?
In today’s society we frequently see communications that are filled with disdain. Conversations that are unkind, extremely harsh, personally critical and beyond. People seemingly have less and less empathy in this fast paced entertainment and information driven society to be mindful and gracious. It is seemingly all about out doing one and other or having the final word. The art of communication has been lost. Many people spend time “branding themselves” and “messaging” their personal agendas instead of listening to one and other and enjoying authentic or caring human connections.
In this GENERATION of COMMUNICATION what better time and place in history for us to RE~BRAND those communicative styles. In Autism we have a responsibility to our culture to understand communication on levels that are as deep as the ocean. We cannot merely skim the surface and rush along as so many people seem to. Communications must be respected and reworked in most instances and through this process you find much more respect for the individuality of each person you interface with. In our fast paced lifestyle how often does this contemplation even occur? More and more we seem to witness people talking at one and other and in many cases not truly understanding who they are even talking to.
Melania Trump recently revealed that she wants to have a national conversation about this harsh style of communication in the world. Many people made a big joke of that by saying, “She should start at home with her husband.” There is some truth in that because, honestly we should ALL start at home within our own families. We can all be more respectful to our individual family members; ‘Autistic or Nautistic.’ More forgiving and respectful of our neighbors and those we meet and greet on a daily basis. Autistic people have shown us their extreme discomfort in conjunction with many of the so called “social norms” or “ways of the world.” Listening to those discomforts and concerns will guide us to more authentic ways of getting our information, thoughts and feelings recognized. Let’s join the new first lady on her platform for respectful communication change!! AutismHWY hopes that kinder and clearer communication is ONE THING we can all agree upon as we move forward to 2020 visions…
