Autism Spectrum Megathread

[Meryuma]

Sounds like it has more to do with patriarchal socialization than autism qua autism. Not everyone on the spectrum is a straight cis dude.

I'm not so sure. I do tend to be pretty controlling when it comes to arguments. And I have the tendency to not stop arguing with someone until they give up or conform to what I consider to be "right".

I can too, but that's never translated to me being verbally abusive in relationships. I feel like the gendered pronouns referring to an autistic man and a neurotypical woman are more than coincidence.

[Costa Fierro]

I'm not so sure. I do tend to be pretty controlling when it comes to arguments. And I have the tendency to not stop arguing with someone until they give up or conform to what I consider to be "right".

I can too, but that's never translated to me being verbally abusive in relationships. I feel like the gendered pronouns referring to an autistic man and a neurotypical woman are more than coincidence.

I dunno. I haven't been in a relationship but I have shown traits of dominance and throwing a hissy fit if nothing goes my way. Hence why I'm concerned that if I do go into one, these traits will burst fourth and ruin everything.

[Glorious KASSRD]

Did Hitler have Asperger's?

Possibly. I'm of the opinion that most people, if not all people, are on the autism spectrum somewhere. It's just that most of us are on the extreme low end.

Pretty sure that's jut normal people. Obviously everyone will show one or two traits that are part of an autistic diagnosis. That's just being normal. The "extreme low" is just normal people.

[United Russian Soviet States]

So that it's clear, I have a degree in Psychology, and a few years experience in mental health counseling, so if my views seem strange, it's simply experience talking. In my opinion, Autism has largely been misdiagnosed. I've spoken with people through referalls who have been diagnosed as being Autistic-Asperger's. I cringe every. Single. Time. When we went from the DSM-III to the DSM IV/(TR), I was rather upset when Asperger's arrived. Every time I experienced it, I noticed a number of similar trends when it came to socialization, or a lack thereof during youth or adolescence, and a general pattern of dishonesty and shame about the fact. These people who were otherwise perfectly fine, had been duped into neurosis to believe that their poor socializing skills were actually a mental defect.

What do I mean by all this? Simple: Asperger's Does Not Exist. Now please, put down your pitchforks and torches and hear me out. Asperger's doesn't exist. Autism does. The two aren't mutually exclusive. What Asperger's actually is is basic poor socializing skills. When I speak with clients, I find out that they're actually just fervent in their interests, not pathological. A lot of them aren't even aware that droning on endlessly about workouts, or video games, or their job isn't pleasant conversation for most people who aren't interested. A bit of CBT and self-realization helps immenseley, not some quack diagnosis that leaves a person feeling like damaged goods.

As for actual Autism Spectrum? That's an entirely different story. It's not a matter of just bein poor conversations, Autistic people have genuine issues conversing in manners that seem logical. And working with them is admittedly very stressful for me, and I try to refer them out whenever possible (in my old practice anyway, pardon the poor use of tense).

My psychologist says it exists. She has more than 20 years of experience and a Ph.D.

[Meryuma]

So that it's clear, I have a degree in Psychology, and a few years experience in mental health counseling, so if my views seem strange, it's simply experience talking. In my opinion, Autism has largely been misdiagnosed. I've spoken with people through referalls who have been diagnosed as being Autistic-Asperger's. I cringe every. Single. Time. When we went from the DSM-III to the DSM IV/(TR), I was rather upset when Asperger's arrived. Every time I experienced it, I noticed a number of similar trends when it came to socialization, or a lack thereof during youth or adolescence, and a general pattern of dishonesty and shame about the fact. These people who were otherwise perfectly fine, had been duped into neurosis to believe that their poor socializing skills were actually a mental defect.

What do I mean by all this? Simple: Asperger's Does Not Exist. Now please, put down your pitchforks and torches and hear me out. Asperger's doesn't exist. Autism does. The two aren't mutually exclusive. What Asperger's actually is is basic poor socializing skills. When I speak with clients, I find out that they're actually just fervent in their interests, not pathological. A lot of them aren't even aware that droning on endlessly about workouts, or video games, or their job isn't pleasant conversation for most people who aren't interested. A bit of CBT and self-realization helps immenseley, not some quack diagnosis that leaves a person feeling like damaged goods.

As for actual Autism Spectrum? That's an entirely different story. It's not a matter of just bein poor conversations, Autistic people have genuine issues conversing in manners that seem logical. And working with them is admittedly very stressful for me, and I try to refer them out whenever possible (in my old practice anyway, pardon the poor use of tense).

I'm sorry, but (sorry for it being in Portuguese, but it's a really complete dissection of what both mean) evidence argues against your input: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-44462006000500002

The early understanding of Asperger's in an underdeveloped country where autism is a much less "hyped" condition than in 2006 (much before the explosion of internet awareness movements reached us) was already compatible with the narrative that it is a legitimate neurological-developmental phenotype with its own particular needs, with people exhibiting similar traits likely because of congenital background, rather than just something created by socialization.

No, it's not just being socially awkward. It's its own set of disability, and by disability I don't mean that we're incapacitated, we're weak, we're disadvantaged, nothing of that. I mean that we have special needs and special considerations, and an understanding about the diversity in human types will help people interact with us in manners that are positive, rather than the traditional societal regard with diversity that is often focused in suppression. This suppression visibly causes terrible consequences for our quality of life, and denying that is very foolish.

Yes, I know that people with Asperger's syndrome can be very neurotypical-passing. Passing. We're not sick, we're not ill, because being different, because having an unusual phenotype, is not a strict abnormality, it's not a negative trait. Still, it would be a lie to say that we aren't a valid diagnosis and that it can't help us, because the fact is that being recognized as disabled people helps us a lot, and makes people who are around us have expectations and attitudes that aren't so frustrating and so denying to all involved.

And I know it might surprise many people that disabled people can, in fact, be smart, rational, lead organized lives, develop on their own their skills and social circles, without stopping to be different, without being better or worse, without needing medication and without having an uniting set of negative characteristics that we can essentialize as people who are a bad influence in society or to themselves, but the fact is that disabled people can indeed be very individual just like neurotypical individuals, and be just as intelligent, talented and/or eloquent as all others, because the fact is that several people who are understood to be broken actually aren't, and that actually it's the way our culture understands human diversity is what is severely lacking.

Which is another reason why I hate that people divide autism in "high" and "low" according to what they perceive to make sense of what people ought to be. It's pretentious and it's patronizing. We're people who might often need help and have issues, because disabilities are complicated. We aren't on a spectrum of people who are more normal or less normal, just of people who are more valued and less valued, and we don't need to turn this limited understanding official to make further harm from what people already ignorantly imagine what it's like to not think and function like they do.

I think that all of these conclusions need people listening to what we actually think about ourselves more.

/rant

^^^
This post is beautiful.

[Kenora County]

i self-diagnosed with autism

[Ivan Drago]

I used to have Asperger's, and I almost died, but then I started eating them and I returned to a healthy weight.

[Western Vale Confederacy]

I used to have Asperger's, and I almost died, but then I started eating them and I returned to a healthy weight.

That's just a rude joke.

[Glorious KASSRD]

I used to have Asperger's, and I almost died, but then I started eating them and I returned to a healthy weight.

What?

[The Alexanderians]

I used to have Asperger's, and I almost died, but then I started eating them and I returned to a healthy weight.

What?

He's being a jackass just ignore him, based on the joke I'm guessing it's a south park reference to Cartman thinking Asperger's was "assburgers"

[Joelyria]

Did Hitler have Asperger's?

No. He is far too good as a spokesman to be someone with an ASD disorder. Also never displayed any autistic characteristics as a child unlike Albert Einstein is a likely case for someone with an ASD disorder.

[Sebtopiaris]

Did Hitler have Asperger's?

illuminate

[Sebtopiaris]

But seriously, as someone who has Aspergers, why the fuck would you people resist a cure so much? I just wanna have less deviancy from coordination, less social awkwardness, ect so bad.

[Perlaraja]

But seriously, as someone who has Aspergers, why the fuck would you people resist a cure so much? I just wanna have less deviancy from coordination, less social awkwardness, ect so bad.

Personally, based from my experience, the social awkwardness kinda goes from communication between the two (or more) parties being very poor because talking with new people is like going to unknown waters. The awkwardness passes once I get to know them and spend some more time with them (the other side should also get the idea, still). You just gotta know and be chill and stuff.

I won't mind for it tho

[Sebtopiaris]

But seriously, as someone who has Aspergers, why the fuck would you people resist a cure so much? I just wanna have less deviancy from coordination, less social awkwardness, ect so bad.

Personally, based from my experience, the social awkwardness kinda goes from communication between the two (or more) parties being very poor because talking with new people is like going to unknown waters. The awkwardness passes once I get to know them and spend some more time with them (the other side should also get the idea, still). You just gotta know and be chill and stuff.

I won't mind for it tho

Yeah. But it'd make life a hell of a lot easier.
Plus, coordination. Because I suck at sport I never play at it, which makes me suck more at sport, which is glorious.

[Edgy Opinions]

But seriously, as someone who has Aspergers, why the fuck would you people resist a cure so much? I just wanna have less deviancy from coordination, less social awkwardness, ect so bad.

Would a 'solution' even work on people our age? Most drugs and treatments come with possible after-effects. And I doubt it'd turn us neurotypical.

Efforts to turn babies more neurotypical-like is what is feared, because it'd have catastrophic consequences. And even so I doubt they wouldn't be any autistic, they just would be different but not enough to reach a diagnosis. And that, to me, is even worse for their self-understanding than getting experience as functionally diverse people.

Not that I think having a disability is fun and games, but Asperger's is usually not that bad for society to not offer us a perfectly equal and inclusive treatment with just a bit of accommodation. (Yes, I'm lying to myself.)

[Costa Fierro]

But seriously, as someone who has Aspergers, why the fuck would you people resist a cure so much? I just wanna have less deviancy from coordination, less social awkwardness, ect so bad.

This is why I'm technically a hermit.

[Perlaraja]

Personally, based from my experience, the social awkwardness kinda goes from communication between the two (or more) parties being very poor because talking with new people is like going to unknown waters. The awkwardness passes once I get to know them and spend some more time with them (the other side should also get the idea, still). You just gotta know and be chill and stuff.

I won't mind for it tho

Yeah. But it'd make life a hell of a lot easier.
Plus, coordination. Because I suck at sport I never play at it, which makes me suck more at sport, which is glorious.

Hey, at least we can say we are good at things we like right

[Edgy Opinions]

But seriously, as someone who has Aspergers, why the fuck would you people resist a cure so much? I just wanna have less deviancy from coordination, less social awkwardness, ect so bad.

This is why I'm technically a hermit.

Hey, you're not the single one in this situation.

[Sebtopiaris]

Yeah. But it'd make life a hell of a lot easier.
Plus, coordination. Because I suck at sport I never play at it, which makes me suck more at sport, which is glorious.

Hey, at least we can say we are good at things we like right

While it is more likely due to the fixation, that honestly depends on the person, like with neurotypicals. And that thing can be entirely useless.

This is why I'm technically a hermit.

Hey, you're not the single one in this situation.

School forces me to deal with people outside of my spare time, but I'm introverted anyway so meh.

[Old Tyrannia]

But seriously, as someone who has Aspergers, why the fuck would you people resist a cure so much? I just wanna have less deviancy from coordination, less social awkwardness, ect so bad.

It's fairly simple. My ASD has a significant impact on my personality; it helped to shape me into the person I am. I happen to like that person, imperfect though he may be; the idea of becoming more like other people and less like myself does not appeal to me. In some ways, losing my ASD would be tantamount to dying, insofar as that I would no longer be the person I was before. That person would have ceased to exist.

[Costa Fierro]

School forces me to deal with people outside of my spare time, but I'm introverted anyway so meh.

Ah, school. Weirdly, I actually miss it a little but because I got to spend a lot of time with familiar people (well, at least until August 2011 anyway).

Now, no one has any time. The only person I've actually managed to catch up with is my best friend who is a flight attendant.

[Edgy Opinions]

School forces me to deal with people outside of my spare time, but I'm introverted anyway so meh.

Ah, school. Weirdly, I actually miss it a little but because I got to spend a lot of time with familiar people (well, at least until August 2011 anyway).

Now, no one has any time. The only person I've actually managed to catch up with is my best friend who is a flight attendant.

This is why I won't finish high school until I can be sure I will enter a University at the same time I get my diploma.

Well, the most important reason for that, anyway.

[Glorious KASSRD]

But seriously, as someone who has Aspergers, why the fuck would you people resist a cure so much? I just wanna have less deviancy from coordination, less social awkwardness, ect so bad.

It's fairly simple. My ASD has a significant impact on my personality; it helped to shape me into the person I am. I happen to like that person, imperfect though he may be; the idea of becoming more like other people and less like myself does not appeal to me. In some ways, losing my ASD would be tantamount to dying, insofar as that I would no longer be the person I was before. That person would have ceased to exist.

This basically sums up my opinion on the issue. Maybe on babies it would work, but for those of us who have lived for years or decades, a vaccine for Autism would essentially wipe away a large part of our personality. I would be like taking away our memories, or giving us a new family.

[Salandriagado]

But seriously, as someone who has Aspergers, why the fuck would you people resist a cure so much? I just wanna have less deviancy from coordination, less social awkwardness, ect so bad.

I absolutely support a cure in general, and providing it to infants in particular, and indeed if someone asked me if they should get the cure, I would advise them to do so (all of this assuming no major side-effects, of course). But I certainly wouldn't go anywhere near it myself. I'm just not comfortable with the idea of changing the functioning of my brain on such a fundamental level.