Calling all Autistics of the Escapist

[Yoshemo]

I got Aspergers. I think I'm better for it~ I like the way it's made me

 

[ElPatron]

I don't have autism however my fiancé does have Asperger's. It does make our relationship incredibly strained at times. He has me but he won't interact with many other people including his own family he's withdrawn from. He can be incredibly pedantic at times. He doesn't quite get why I get upset about things he does and he can not cope with change. I changed the shower head a few weeks ago because the thing was caked in limescale. Turned into a whole "thing" and it still is.

I am almost sure men are like that and it has nothing to do with his condition. I know. I a man. We make a big fuss over small things when we're pissed off about something else, but we don't like to confront our partner with their mistakes.

That, or I have Asperger's too. Highly unlikely.

 

[gigastar]

Diagnosed with hgih functioning Aspergers earlier than 5, not told about it until about 10.

As for getting around it, well... things got strange. Was sent to speech therapies shortly after diagnosis to try and get around the worst of it before it happened, only to discover that even at 5 years old i was far too headstrong for conventionial therapies to work. Im immune to hypnosis and both audio and visual subliminal messages too, figures.

By 16 in a new set of therapy sessions to deal with anger management issues that seem to run in my dads family, i had learned to competently dodge questions from psychiatrists with over a decades worth of experience dealing with people far worse off than me in some cases, yet in that year i could literally count on my fingers the number of times i went to interact with people without prompt from anyone or anything for general social purposes.

I play Minecraft. I am self-diagnosed with autism.

No, stop that. Even joking, that just hurts truly Autistic people.

I think it's time they learned to take a joke then.

You know the last time i heard someone say that to my face i literally took three steps back then delivered a running punch to the guys face. Cost me a months suspension and all internet during that time and an assault charge, but i felt it to be worth it.

Why? Because impairment jokes are only funny one time, any more than that and youre tempting fate, especially when those who have said impairment can hear you and have no physical impairments.

Oh also take it from me, people with Aspergers dont take jokes at thier expense very well.

 

[Twilight_guy]

I have Aspergers. Does that count? Used to be an issue in life, then I learned to deal with it and now I don't think about it too much.

 

[LGC Pominator]

Diagnosed with multiple autistic spectrum disorders at 12. Rechecked at 18.

Knowing from a young(ish) age has helped me create some coping mechanisms and actively identify features and emotions I would normally have trouble with, at 20 it barely shows unless I have a real lapse in concentration, however I remain socially active in order to work on understanding others better, in some cases this does help to negate the effects of the disorders.

My main problem now is getting locked on in conversations or essays, which I have worked on identifying when it happens and stopping myself, however I am nowhere near as good as a 'normal' person.

 

[Athinira]

Diagnosed with Aspergers at 21 (mild case fortunately). Dealt with it for the most part through behavior-training (or rehabilitation), but it's impossible to completely escape, given that it's a a genetical trait.

I recommend others diagnosed with Aspergers who feel that they have trouble socializing, to give it a shot like me. There is a lot of books and courses that can help you. I actually started out with dating/pickup material from David DeAngelo, since a lot of the stuff he teaches about attraction also works in pretty much all other social interaction, including building confidence, being humorous etc. I've got much more control over my behavior now, and find that people respond to me more positively.

Next step for me now is voice training to improve my voice (it's high pitched). This is easily a very important step, although most people don't realize it. For example, if you have a job interviews conducted - or arranged - over the phone, a high pitched voice can really set you back already there since it's a part of a first impression you future employer might get of you (phones amplify high-pitched voice). For me, it's all about being pleasant to spend time or interact with, and i think I'm doing good progress.

 

[persephone]

Have you checked out this recent article on the subject? [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/features/9554-Do-As-They-Say-Not-As-I-Do]

Now that brings back memories! Especially the brushing; I had that treatment too.

I too have sensory integration disorder (also known as sensory integration dysfunction, sensory processing disorder, and a variety of such variations on the name); I never had it quite that bad in the same ways this child does, though. I did have serious auditory issues, though, and I had to be taught to catch myself when I fell (I'd just let my head smash into the pavement without putting my arms out) and I didn't feel pain properly for a long time (which results in odd things like a child who likes belly flopping off the top bunk b/c she doesn't know she's hurting herself). Mostly I'm okay now that I'm an adult, but in my childhood and teenage years, there were some really weird issues.

 

[Mikodite]

Have you checked out this recent article on the subject? [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/features/9554-Do-As-They-Say-Not-As-I-Do]

Now that brings back memories! Especially the brushing; I had that treatment too.

I too have sensory integration disorder (also known as sensory integration dysfunction, sensory processing disorder, and a variety of such variations on the name); I never had it quite that bad in the same ways this child does, though. I did have serious auditory issues, though, and I had to be taught to catch myself when I fell (I'd just let my head smash into the pavement without putting my arms out) and I didn't feel pain properly for a long time (which results in odd things like a child who likes belly flopping off the top bunk b/c she doesn't know she's hurting herself). Mostly I'm okay now that I'm an adult, but in my childhood and teenage years, there were some really weird issues.

I'm so glad to hear the article helped!

 

[BOOM headshot65]

I am autistic. I have Aspergers, and it's awesome.

It's what has made me who I am, and I would not trade it away. I say this, because, there are people out to "cure" autism, thinking it's a disease. It's not. Not in the slightest. If someone were trying to inject me with a needle that would remove my aspergers, I would have to give them several warnings, before beating them senseless. You kill my aspergers, you pretty much kill me. It's how I've been able to create everything I've come up with, and why I tend to be so different from everyone else. And I love it! I just can't stand normality, and often walk backwards down the hall, or strike action poses or Matrix moves when doing something athletic, just for the fun of it. No one else around me seems to be like this, because, they all like to be normal.

If it weren't for my autism, I never would have come up with the following under my own completely standard mindset...

Oh my God, SO MUCH THIS!!

OT: I was diagnosed with Aspergers after 3 grade (ie, when I was about 8 or 9). I had gotten bullied severely then, to the point I became physically ill because I didnt want to go to school. And the part that really got me mad is that when I went into the nurses office because I was bleeding and had Sandburr bushes stuck to me.

Spoiler: Just for those who dont know what those look like...

I called them "sticker bushes" for a reason. They stick to EVERYTHING and they hurt like hell.

What did my principal say when I came in with those little balls of torture stuck to me? "He is faking it to get attention." She was fired the year after I left, and it still makes me PISSED when people say I am faking my Aspergers. I did NOT go through with it once just to have it happen again.

That said, you could not PAY me to want to get rid of my Aspergers. It makes me who I am, and I dont want to change. I like my photograhic memory too.

 

[Freechoice]

I wish I could read this thread but I have to laugh every time I read "aspie", so I cant.

I mean, could they have named this any more unfortunately? Why dont you just go ahead and call the whole syndrome dicklicker?

*Ahem*

Anyway.

I dont think I have ever met an aspie (heh) IRL. Kinda weird when you think about it, considering so many people are diagnosed.

But it's how you pronounce it. Is it a-spee or ass-pie?

Yup. Never actually seen one. I think I may have known a guy with high functioning autism. Wasn't sure. He was a quiet one.

I am almost sure men are like that and it has nothing to do with his condition. I know. I a man.

Uh, no. One example doesn't prove anything. I'm male and I tend to be observant as fuck so as not to inconvenience people by being a selfish dumbfuck.

 

[cryogeist]

You are all retarded.

that's just wrong dude...

 

[ElPatron]

Uh, no. One example doesn't prove anything. I'm male and I tend to be observant as fuck so as not to inconvenience people by being a selfish dumbfuck.

Yeah, it works when your mind is clear.

When you're absolutely pissed off at the whole world, stressed out and your loved one hurt you there is a lot of ways you can be insensitive.

 

[Freechoice]

Uh, no. One example doesn't prove anything. I'm male and I tend to be observant as fuck so as not to inconvenience people by being a selfish dumbfuck.

Yeah, it works when your mind is clear.

When you're absolutely pissed off at the whole world, stressed out and your loved one hurt you there is a lot of ways you can be insensitive.

Isn't that true for everyone then? Why just make a blanket assumption that men are worse at it than women? Because it's true for you?

 

[Stilkon]

I was diagnosed with Aspergers at a relatively late age of 11. It was deemed a borderline case. Not sure what else there is to say.

 

[The Funslinger]

I think I was diagnosed with aspergers when I was 8. Didn't really bother me, but of course, the stigma is what did the most damage. The school parading it around didn't help. "gifted and talented"...BS. That ain't what it is, and it certainly ain't what you're treated as.

So, I was bullied. This damaged me far more than aspergers ever did. That I didn't really understand the social rules never bothered me, I just knew right from wrong, as long I stuck with that, I didn't care, and in recent years I've found many people don't care either. For years after school though, I was afraid to socially interact. I thought it'd all happen again. I couldn't see why not.

Now I'm at uni. It's a lot better. It bought me far out of my shell, but I still have issues, issues which I believe to be more about the treatment I recieved because of my aspergers than the "disease" itself.

I feel you mate. At the age of four, or three, I was falsely diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. Didn't really get it (I was a little kid, why would I?) but as I got older, and understood how the treatment of me partitioned me from everyone else, it started the snowball effect (along with many other things, including a failed relationship, some extraordinarily proficient psychological bullying, etc) into clinical depression. Which does not go away.

In any case, I was reevaluated a few years ago after vehemently refusing all segregation attempts (I shit you not, they got someone to try to trick me into filling out my yearly evaluation). Records were gone over. You'd be amazed how many false diagnoses there are for Autism and Asperger's just because the psychologist wants to slap a label on it and validate his bill.

It turns out I'm a very highly functioning sociopath, though. Too little, too late in my opinion. Depression (which I would not have if it weren't for this mess) doesn't go away. It's fixed, but ever present. Hell, I'd be willing to bet that my sociopathy developed as a defense mechanism. Those fuckers took my childhood and ruined me.

 

[Khanht Cope]

I'm finding the ignorance of the naysayers quite unnerving.

 

[ElPatron]

Isn't that true for everyone then? Why just make a blanket assumption that men are worse at it than women? Because it's true for you?

Wow, The Escapist is at it again. I can hear the cries of "sexism" already.

I never said that women aren't annoying as fuck. I know they are from personal experience and there are things that piss them off for no reason. Same with men. I know that if my day was bullshit and I found my girlfriend did something I wouldn't want to talk about, I'd get pissed at showerheads.

 

[Destude]

Hello Escapist, my name is Nyistnyeblkj Arflksdfnhgh, and I'm here to talk about my ass burgers. I have suffered much abuse because of these would-be burgers throughout my life, and I want, nay, DESERVE your attention and pity, for I want nothing more than to be accepted and cared about. Shovel your sympathy unto me right about now.

remialcsiD: I od ton evah ssa sregrub. m'I tsuj a lufetah elttil kcirp.

I laughed. +1 internet too you.