An Autistic's thoughts on Autism

[Mikkel421427]

Thanks to the person upstairs! (That being you, Crazygirl)
Well, I have ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), which is... Where you're an Aspie... And then again... My shrink tells me I'm two "points" shy of an actual Aspergers, but it certainly doesn't prevent me from looking at the world in what everyone else calls "A weird way".
My world consists... Of a HUD. Waaayy too many videogames... But it's nice. Gives me a clear view of my physical state, my mental state and, most importantly, my "conversational options". God, it's helpful, prevented me from being an ass a lot of times. And no, I don't use it as an excuse for being an ass. But I do use it to stop people insulting me. It's surprising how quickly people will shut up if you say you got a mental issue.
But sometimes, I do enjoy the notion that we're the normal people. And it's everyone else who's weird

 

[holy_secret]

I'd like to talk about my only experience with an autistic person.

I was in charge of a prisoner who was sentenced for attempted rape.
He was driving in his car, saw two girls in another car. He thought they were attractive, so he drove next to them and gave them the thumbs up. They did the same.
He started following them until they arrived to their destination. He tried to take their clothes off and have sex with them.

In the court room, he said that the fact that they did the thumbs up back meant that they wanted sex from him as well. When the prosecutor asked him if he realized what he'd done, he just had a huge question mark over his head.

Everyone treated him like a monster. It's not his fault. He was kinda cool. Calm and collected all the time. He liked me. He'd always stay close to me when there were people in the same room as us.

I asked him how he was doing in his facility.
"I can't make any friends...they're all too autistic".
I just had to smile. So sad, but ironic at the same time.

 

[Pearwood]

I have aspergers syndrome and it isn't the syndrome that needs curing, it's societies reactions to people who differ from the established norm. The syndrome itself has barely effected my ability to function socially at all, I feel. The, for want of a less melodramatic word, trauma from my experiences of other people's lack of understanding and tolerance.

I don't know, I also have it and while I've for the most part been able to overcome the symptoms I certainly wouldn't wish the extra problems I've had to face on somebody else just because people thought it was somehow immoral to research a cure. I completely agree that society's image of autistics needs to be changed though.

 

[Johanthemonster666]

** Deleted due to the horrendous grammar Nazism**

 

[DefunctTheory]

Some people think we should even cure it, which annoys me to no end. I don't want to think I have some incurable disease, and frankly, I like being able to look at the world differently than most people.

And this is where I begin to get furious.

As some one who's met multiple autistic autistics (Low Functioning Autism), the very thought that we should not try to find a cure (Which, from my understanding, would only work when we begin testing at birth) is extremely offensive.

Low functioning autism is a CRIPPLING disease that is corrosive to the family and utterly destructive to the individual. Just because your particular brand of autism is workable, doesn't mean everyone else's is fine.

 

[Serving UpSmiles]

How many hours of minecraft do you play each day? [small][small]kidding, kidding[/small][/small]

Autism is really weird because it runs the whole gamut from einstein to chris-chan. Can't really say I know any though.

Chris only uses that as an excuse for not just being socially awkward, but a pedophile, pervert, lazy, eccentric, pretentious, condesending. Asshole.

I'm sorry it's just people like him really piss me off.

 

[Feralcentaur]

So... Asperger's is just where you're slightly off from, for lack of a better term, normal people? Well, that doesn't sound so bad.

Pretty much, Aspergers is more like a set of some somewhat inconvenient personality quirks than a disability.
But if you have low functioning autism then it sucks, alot.
If you have low functioning autism you're quite far off from what's considered "normal" and life can be very difficult for you.

 

[zhoominator]

One of the things that does aggravate me is the shy=autism think some self diagnosers seem to think. There is so much more to it then that.

My other issues include (but are not restricted to):

- Hypersensitivity to lights and sound. This makes being in many party type situations overwhelming beyond just the social aspect. I've had to be escorted out of a ball because the loud music and flashing lights just completely blew me.
- Not understanding figurative language was another thing I used to find incredibly difficult. I've learnt most of the phrases now but still have to remind myself when people are maybe being non literal. And while basic emotions are easy to see, the more complicated ones (as well as non verbal cues) can be pretty hard to suss out.
- An almost rigid sense of morality (while this one is getting better, it's taken a lot of work). An example was when I once desperately needed to use the bathroom at school when I was about 12 and actually wet myself because asking the teacher to be excused for the bathroom was said to be against the rules.
- Repetitive actions like flapping or fidgeting used to be a major issue. It still is a bit of an issue but when it does happen, I am better at hiding it or I "contain myself" until I'm in my own space.
- Repetitive ways of doing things. Like I must sit in the same place in class every day and get completely thrown of when I can't.
- Eye contact is a killer. I can't do it for very long, not even with my best friends. To this end, some of them have thought in the past that I was less confident around them than I actually was.

I'm also aware that some links are thought to exist between autism and gluten intolerance (which I also have), I don't know if anything there is proven though.

The wikipedia article does bring up a point which many people neglect.

Children with high-functioning autism suffer from more intense and frequent loneliness compared to non-autistic peers, despite the common belief that children with autism prefer to be alone. Making and maintaining friendships often proves to be difficult for those with autism. For them, the quality of friendships, not the number of friends, predicts how lonely they feel.

Even as a young adult (20 years old) I frequently encounter this problem and is probably one of the ones that is taking me the longest to work through.

So, yeah. My two cents on the matter, for what it's worth.

 

[FarleShadow]

Oh good. I was expecting another thread where people with Autism say they are Xmans! With superbrains and aren't you NeuroTYPICALS all the same!

I swear the next person who says Einstein/Newton/famous scientist was Autistic is going to find my foot in their ass. Also, don't hate Autistics, just hate the asshole ones. One girl I went to university with was an assburger sufferer and wanted to make it illegal for websites not to be autistic friendly. And then when she got laughed at, told us the Famous scientist line. And then left because we laughed at that too.

Edit: She was also a biiiiiiiiitch.

 

[zhoominator]

So... Asperger's is just where you're slightly off from, for lack of a better term, normal people? Well, that doesn't sound so bad.

Pretty much, Aspergers is more like a set of some somewhat inconvenient personality quirks than a disability.
But if you have low functioning autism then it sucks, alot.
If you have low functioning autism you're quite far off from what's considered "normal" and life can be very difficult for you.

Wow, really? Asperger's sounds like the skyviest condition ever. Cos I've got high functioning autism and it's waaay more than that. Unless of course you don't have it and/or have poor understanding of how autism can still have a huge impact which doesn't change just because they have an IQ above 70. Aside from the being able to speak thing, that's pretty much the only differentiating factor used to determine which side of the spectrum you're on. You're above 70, you're high functioning, below 70 and you're lower functioning. Most of the other traits can still appear in many degrees and sometimes pretty severely. Like I have a friend who is a genius at computers but he struggles at almost everything else in life because of the way his condition affects him. Yet he is still considered "high functioning" (I think this is just one reason people make the distinction between AS and ASD).

 

[Tenkage]

4th grade, found out, 6-10th grade, I was in hell as a social pariah...life can be tough

 

[Singularly Datarific]

...and chemicals in vaccines have been reputed to be the cause. Well, scientists have debunked this theory, but some people just can't drop it.

Good lord, that lack of sense in that makes me hurt.
(sorry for the impending rant of which you should already know my points)
Vaccines are nothing more than a sample of a neutered pathogen. If there was a substance in the vaccines that causes autism, there'd be no discernible difference since we started using vaccines (the kids being exposed to the exact same things they'd normally be exposed to, just a nonlethal version), except that a crapload of kids are now NOT DEAD.

Anyways, in regards to job-holding, I've read somewhere that Google or Microsoft took notice of significantly higher test scores in people with asperger's or another syndrome (sorry, it's been a while and I can't remember the site where I read it), so they tended to hire them more often.

 

[similar.squirrel]

I'm not autistic myself, but I'm absolutely fascinated by the syndrome. That may sound disrespectful; I realize that being autistic isn't exactly a barrel of laughs, and I don't view autistic people as interesting specimens. I just find the idea of that mindset amazing. Anybody trying to find a 'cure' is at best misguided, and at the worst, intolerant. We shouldn't be trying to change others; we should endeavor to accommodate them and make use of their skills and viewpoints instead.

Edit: I meant high-functioning, and I'm aware that so-called 'savants' are not the norm.

 

[Diligent]

Well, I've never been formally diagnosed with anything, but I was almost held back in grade 1 because I was doing such a poor job of fitting in with the rest of the class. I walked around on my tip toes all the time which my parents ***** slapped me out of, had very repetitive habits including hand and head twitches, and for a good couple years in grade school I spoke in a monotonous voice because I didn't understand the purpose of using inflections at all. To me it was just pointless and I didn't get it so I stopped doing it. My teachers and parents eventually *****-slapped that habit out of me too.
I have enormous difficulty making new friends, and at 27 I've never had a girlfriend and not for lack of trying, I just can't. Without going into it, I will say my college year in residence with a shitty messy room mate was a nightmare.

Sometimes I wonder...but I've never used a self diagnosis as an excuse for anything, as I try to be as nice as possible to people, and I have a steady job, nor do I ever bring up claims of having some condition to anybody.

I suppose I could go seek out a proper diagnosis for something, but my parents didn't do that years ago, and at this stage I don't see the point. I've gotten my life as together as it's going to be for now, and I've accepted my own oddities.

Anyway OP, you're correct. People who self diagnose mental conditions and use it for sympathy or gain are usually just embarrassing themselves.

 

[DragonChi]

I was professionally diagnosed with High-Functioning Autism only 7 years ago (I'm now 27), but I think I also have aspergers. For the most part I'm perfectly fine. I just have terrible short-term memory, I think/work VERY slowly and I am slightly eccentric. While those symptoms DO make it very hard for me to find work, I do believe that it gives me an upper hand with my artwork which I seem to be gifted with doing.

I have never used Aspergers (assuming I have it, and I'm fairly certain I do) as an excuse to not get jobs. I very much want to work, but it's my Autism that makes things difficult. I also am far from being an asshole. I'm one of the nicest people I know. Sadly, not many people in my lifetime cared to get to know me cause they assumed too many things. Stigma's are very ugly things.

My life so far has been everything BUT easy. It's a miracle I made it out of High School. I was bullied ALL the time,I had meltdowns when trying to do homework. It really does suck, but I still think positively and hope for the best. I have always been a "glass is half full" kinda guy.

 

[Rekrul]

I work in an ABA school for autistic kids, and I'm closer and closer to a self-diagnosis everyday

 

[TehCookie]

Does anyone else feel like autism just a way to get rid of the retards and the stigma surrounding them? I bet if you take anyone who was diagnosed mentally retarded had them re-diagnosed today it would be autism. Whoever made it up didn't want autism to have that same negative impact as retard so they put some normal people into the classification. You talk to someone with high-functioning autism, most are completely normal. Perfect isn't normal, everyone has something wrong with them. Unless it's drastically interfering with your life you don't have a problem.