Calling all Autistics of the Escapist

[Grey Day for Elcia]

This thread is full of misdiagnosed Americans blaming poor social skills on a wishy-washy "disease" (assburgers) which they then use as an excuse, making a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Implying the people in here are all American. Implying the disorder is a disease. Implying they know more than the American Psychiatric Association and suggesting Autism is "wishy-washy."

Pray tell where you received your doctorate. I am eager to know.

 

[Chemical Alia]

This thread is full of misdiagnosed Americans blaming poor social skills on a wishy-washy "disease" (assburgers) which they then use as an excuse, making a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I sometimes wonder if we're just a lot better at diagnosing things these days, or if aspberger's is just the ADD of today's teens. Whatever the case, they seem to be a lot more common on the internet, as I've only known one person with autism. Daughter of my mom's friend, has Aspberger's and OCD, and will need special care pretty much her whole life. I don't envy her.

I hate those people so much, all my rage!

I have diagnosed high functioning Asbergers myself, and while I do have problems with communication, and reading body language (which has got me into trouble on more than one occasion). I always try to better myself, and become social, and try to challenge myself in any way possible. For example, going to various pubs, and events such as concerts, even if it is on my lonesome.

Also, the life skills are incredible, I have a neat and tidy flat, financially I'm fine, and I always clean, dress, and feed myself well.

I usually don't give myself a lot of credit for the things I do, but considering I have other friends that have Asbergers, I'm incredibly able bodied in comparison to them.

That's pretty awesome, dude. Builiding confidence in social settings, especially around strangers is super tough. I've been working on that, myself.

 

[Fappy]

Due to several severe ear infections as a small child my educational development was impaired (I couldn't hear very well) and ended up in special education supplementary classes (i.e. it didn't encompass my entire education at the time). I slowly caught up and worked my way out of it in elementary school, but it wasn't until Freshmen year of high school that I was finally able to break free of it entirely by simply telling the school I don't need there help and never visiting my councilor. Worked out pretty well I am glad to report. This experience has always put a bad taste in my mouth regarding special help in public education though.

They think they're the experts and know exactly what you need when in reality most kids can handle themselves quite well despite some early development setbacks. Yes, parents should listen to professionals when they are trying to explain that their kid may have a problem, but this should never be taken at 100% face value. Some people forget that kids will be kids and that we live in an age that rewards instant gratification.

I am not sure about the autism misdiagnosis, but I do know my country has a very bad habit of diagnosing ADD to everyone and their dog.

 

[Detective Prince]

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.

 

[TehCookie]

My cousin was diagnosed with aspergers and it is the biggest load of shit I have ever seen, and I've seen a lake of shit. It's not a mental illness unless it interferes with your ability to live your life. Some of you may have it that bad but I know not everyone diagnosed does. It's like depression, you do not have depression because you feel sad. You do not have aspergers if you have a slightly harder time communicating with people than normal.

 

[That M Guy]

Diagnosed with Aspergers when I was...3? 4? Before I can remember at any rate. Told about it when I was 10. Possibly the most frightened I've ever been. I had no idea if it was a mental disorder that would destroy me as I got older, like Alzheimers or something. I come from a relatively small town, where any advice for coping with this type of stuff was something like "just try to be more normal". I had no idea about what Aspergers was at all, so from when I was about 10-14/15-ish, I pretty much just tried to copy & imitate whoever was around me at the time e.g. If I knew I was going to be in a class of sports-jocks, I'd try & figure out what was going on with the football at the time, & pretend like I didn't like my more "nerdy" hobbies. I'd try & copy the funny people who most-everyone was friends with & hope that others would think I was normal. It wasn't until well into high-school that I was able to man-up & go online & research exactly what it was. Since then, I've gone about my life, being myself as much as I can but trying not to do anything that would make people guess. Luckily for me, the people I've made friends with either know about it & I don't know that they know (ignorance is bliss, isn't it?) or they just happen to find me entertaining & funny.

 

[That M Guy]

Re-reading my own post, I fear that in just writing my thoughts as I think them, I forgot a slight detail. All I was told about it when I was first told (Mothers exact words) "you might be slightly awkward, but don't worry, you'll grow out of it one day". THAT's what gave me the idea to try & copy normal people & hope that I'd eventually learn how to just do it without thinking.

 

[Elgnirp100]

I was diagnosed with Aspergers at about 9 years old. Properly, by a doctor.
Social interaction is not one of my strong points, but I've been learning and I'm getting better.

 

[Erana]

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

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

This is thread is entertaining reading. Today I've learnt 99% of the people on The Escapist have Asperger's. Utterly ridiculous.

And if a thread that asked for gay Escapists exists, we'd all be gay in your mind too, now, wouldn't we?
Think about which thread you're posting in.

This thread is full of misdiagnosed Americans blaming poor social skills on a wishy-washy "disease" (assburgers) which they then use as an excuse, making a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Yeah, its probably over-diagnosed, but that doesn't mean that the disorder is any less real.
And just because you've met some idiots who blame their faults on a disease doesn't mean that all people with Asperger's do. You're just making yourself look like a jerk by making such negative generalizations.

Not as of yet diagnosed, but I "very likely" have aspergers. I have a proper assessment this month.

Urgh, not knowing something like that is scary. One doctor told me that I'm epileptic, but two others disputed it, saying that I just have "abnormal, but healthy" brainwaves.
I was so relieved to not have to take those terrifying seizure medications, I didn't think to ask what that means. :/


Still, I'm not Autistic, but I totally throw my support in for my fellow Escapists who are. Yall're just you, nothing more and nothing less, and the only thing having the diagnosis should do is give you resources to more easily deal with the issue.

 

[GigaHz]

This thread is full of misdiagnosed Americans blaming poor social skills on a wishy-washy "disease" (assburgers) which they then use as an excuse, making a self-fulfilling prophecy.

This guy gets it.

You know that it's possible to be socially awkward without having a disease? It's called being a nerd. Many of us here, myself included, fall under that category. I would never label myself under any spectrum of Autism, regardless of what any flimsy diagnosis says.

Unless you have a severe problem with speech, have strange reoccurring behavioural, organizational or movement patterns, or view people in the same way you would view a spoon, you are not autistic.

 

[Erana]

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. Here's a list of things that should offend me:
-Holocaust jokes (grandparent is a holocaust survivor)
-Any Jewish jokes
-Any jokes about depressed people, I have a history of depression
-Jokes about psychologists, I still have therapy so I should be very offended if anyone laughs about the psychologists
And there are probably others I can dig up. And yet, I still laugh at those jokes because they mean no harm to anyone, they're just what they are; a joke.In fact, I think some self-deprecating humor is always healthy for you!

Discrimination against people with Autism is too real a thing to be joking about it right now. I quoted two other people from a two-page thread on autism making genuinely negative comments against people with the disorder at the same time I was quoting you, and a third person did so while I was typing.

Too. Fucking. Soon.

When people like that stop being serious about their hateful comments, then you can make your jokes all you want.

 

[persephone]

This thread is full of misdiagnosed Americans blaming poor social skills on a wishy-washy "disease" (assburgers) which they then use as an excuse, making a self-fulfilling prophecy.

This guy gets it.

You know that it's possible to be socially awkward without having a disease? It's called being a nerd. Many of us here, myself included, fall under that category. I would never label myself under any spectrum of Autism, regardless of what any flimsy diagnosis says.

Unless you have a severe problem with speech, have strange reoccurring behavioural, organizational or movement patterns, or view people in the same way you would view a spoon, you are not autistic.

There are different types and degrees of autism, and not all of them display any or all of the characteristics you list. I hear stories about the autistic students my mother works with every day, and not all of them view people the same way you would a spoon or light switch or have trouble talking. That said, yes, some *do* have those problems, and we should never gloss over or make light of that fact. But not all do.

 

[GigaHz]

There are different types and degrees of autism, and not all of them display any or all of the characteristics you list. I hear stories about the autistic students my mother works with every day, and not all of them view people the same way you would a spoon or light switch or have trouble talking. That said, yes, some *do* have those problems, and we should never gloss over or make light of that fact. But not all do.

Yes, of course, but those who define themselves as having Aspergers are not even remotely similar to those with actual Autism, yet they are conveniently lumped into the same category because they may have a few quirks. Those I have had the fortune of meeting who have been diagnosed with the disease are nothing more than highly functioning, quirky adults with either heavy anxiety or social phobias. Then again, I have met non autistic people with heavy anxiety or social phobias, so it makes you wonder where the line is drawn.

 

[persephone]

There are different types and degrees of autism, and not all of them display any or all of the characteristics you list. I hear stories about the autistic students my mother works with every day, and not all of them view people the same way you would a spoon or light switch or have trouble talking. That said, yes, some *do* have those problems, and we should never gloss over or make light of that fact. But not all do.

Yes, of course, but those who define themselves as having Aspergers are not even remotely similar to those with actual Autism, yet they are conveniently lumped into the same category because they may have a few quirks. Those I have had the fortune of meeting who have been diagnosed with the disease are nothing more than highly functioning, quirky adults with either heavy anxiety or social phobias. Then again, I have met non autistic people with heavy anxiety or social phobias, so it makes you wonder where the line is drawn.

You are right that Aspergers is a funny case; I know that autism specialists have been looking at whether or not it should fall onto the autism spectrum proper or not. Ultimately, all such definitions are a product of the human need/tendency to categorize ideas in order to understand them better, which means that drawing the line can be rather odd. I do believe such categorizations are useful, though, in that they can help us to understand phenomena better.

 

[GigaHz]

You are right that Aspergers is a funny case; I know that autism specialists have been looking at whether or not it should fall onto the autism spectrum proper or not. Ultimately, all such definitions are a product of the human need/tendency to categorize ideas in order to understand them better, which means that drawing the line can be rather odd. I do believe such categorizations are useful, though, in that they can help us to understand phenomena better.

Agreed sir, kudos!

 

[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]