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Q: how many autistic people does it take to change a lightbulb? A: that depends entirely on the size and location of the lightbulb. A single autistic person can change most normal bulbs, but changing a bulb in a traffic light requires special tools and collaboration.
A lightbulb on a submarine, for instance, is more complicated. Is the submarine currently submerged? Can the bulb be changed while submerged, or does the ship need to surface first? If the latter, do we say that any autistic people on the crew are participating in the process?
Or what about a lightbulb on a satellite in orbit? Sure it may technically only require a little work to change, but getting the autistic person and the new bulb in a position where they can change it, why, you need a whole space program. (lots of autistic people there)
And this is without even getting into how much time is spent while each autistic person makes a different variation of the "What are we changing the light bulb into?" pun. That really can add up. This is why sometimes it's better for NTs to change lightbulbs. Fewer puns.
What's funny, though, is that more than one autistic may participate in the changing of a normal bulb even if the additional help isn't strictly required. This is because many autistic people like to help support each other in their various endeavors, light-bulb related or not.
Unrelated, unless you want more autistic humor. https://t.co/xARsuuZ8lk
1. Do you know the story of the monks who made mead in the alps in the 1400s? It was in the Sacra di San Michele outside of Turin. The situation was that there was this abbey that produced this amazing mead from the honey of the wildflowers that grew in the area.
This is a really good point and I can't believe I missed it! If the autistic people involved are babies or toddlers then there's probably no amount of them that can safely change the bulb and at some point you should stop adding more to the process. https://t.co/wtNwz33q1Z
*note that some autistic toddlers may be interested in electronics or assembling objects. In that case, allowing those toddlers to assist in the changing of a bulb could be deeply affirming for them, and helpful in the development of their agency. But they will need supervision.