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[quote="Hector"][quote="Semi_Lost_Serenity"]My theory is that because Aspies feel marginalized by the NT world, they then marginalize the NT world. What are your thoughts?[/quote] Even though I was diagnosed at around the age of three I was never really aware of the "autistic community" until I looked for it about a year and a half ago, only out of curiosity to see what people who were also on the autistic spectrum were like. However I met some other people with AS who felt differently about how their condition was treated by others, mostly on the internet. They seem to feel as if they're on the "wrong planet" altogether and prefer the company of other people with AS. Perhaps this constitutes the majority, at least in those who have bothered to try to integrate with such a "community", but I couldn't say for certain. [quote="Semi_Lost_Serenity"]How do you see your identity as relating to the autistic community?[/quote] Many people seem to have this notion of "autistic pride" which I never understood, at least not in any way remotely pertaining to me. I don't have any issues other than that there may be some social things I have to work on that many other people hardly have to think about. It's not like homosexuality, in the sense that if I was gay I imagine I would be happier having the same relationship freedoms as a straight person except with people of the same sex - I would prefer to appear to others to not have autism or AS at all, while still having some of the more charming quirks of my condition.[/quote]
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<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" width="100%" class="forumline"> <tr> <th class="thCornerL" width="22%" height="26">Author</th> <th class="thCornerR">Message</th> </tr> <tr> <td width="22%" align="left" valign="top" class="row1"><span class="name"><a name=""></a><b>Semi_Lost_Serenity</b></span></td> <td class="row1" height="28" valign="top"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td width="100%"><img src="http://wrongplanet.cachefly.net/modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/icon_minipost.gif" width="12" height="9" alt="Post" title="Post" border="0" /><span class="postdetails">Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:52 pm<span class="gen"> </span> Post subject: </span></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><hr /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><span class="postbody">NewportBeachDude: As to your answer, the paper is already written. The class focuses on Communities of Practice. At the beginning of class, each of us had to choose a community of practice. I choose to "study" Wrongplanet.net. It allows me to study what I absolutely love while praticing my autism awareness skills. For further research - yes, I would very much like to include those who are not online. <br /> <br />- Serenity</span></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" height="1" class="spaceRow"><img src="modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="22%" align="left" valign="top" class="row2"><span class="name"><a name=""></a><b>archetype</b></span></td> <td class="row2" height="28" valign="top"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td width="100%"><img src="http://wrongplanet.cachefly.net/modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/icon_minipost.gif" width="12" height="9" alt="Post" title="Post" border="0" /><span class="postdetails">Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 8:41 pm<span class="gen"> </span> Post subject: </span></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><hr /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><span class="postbody">First, it's always amazing to read everything I write when I read other peoples' posts here. <br /> <br />That might sum up how I look at Autism and AS. <br />Although, yes, there are obvioiusly going to be differences between Autistic individuals, nearly everything I read in these forums, I, myself have definitely written. It does not feel like a different person to me; it feels just as if I wrote it and forgot exactly what I wrote and am re-reading what I wrote. <br /> <br />Yes, there are some differences here and there. But, really, those are speculations. The feelings and experiences are all identical, and I cannot differentiate between my feelings and experiences or anyone else's in these forums. <br /> <br />As far as marginal groups, one of my posts was just replied to by Krex, who indicates they're an "LFA". I would never ever know if they didn't point it out. That was me writing that post. those were my thoughts - which I have always had, and those are my feelings - which I have always had, and those were my observations, educational responses, and that was my care that wrote that post. <br /> <br />I see zero difference. <br /> <br />Orwell, SinsBoldly, Pretorius, KenG ... did I write these things??? <br /> <br /></span><table width="90%" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3" border="0" align="center"><tr> <td><span class="genmed"><b>KenG wrote:</b></span></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="quote"> <br />Before joining the autistic community, I knew the following: <br />1) I liked what nobody else liked. <br />2) I disliked what everybody else liked. <br /> <br />I was always searching for my own place in society, but I only found it once I joined the autistic community. <br />Within the autistic community, I am slowly discovering more and more people with whom I have a common language. It is a true revelation for me.</td> </tr></table><span class="postbody"> <br /> <br />Did I write that? <br />I think I recall writing that. <br /> <br />Except I did have the amazingly blessed fortune to discover an artists' (aRt, not aUt !) community where I lived for 9 years. At 30yo it was my first home, the only home, I ever had. Everywhere else was made for and really belonged to somebody else. I never belonged there ... anywhere; and I knew that. <br /> <br />Autism as my identity? <br />ummm ... yes. <br />I have no other social identity, except as an artist, which is a vague statement I use for human primates. If they ask anything about me, I just tell them "I'm an artist." <br />... and I fit the bill well enough, and I actually am an artist, although I no longer have a <span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="font-style: italic">medium</span></span> ... I have an <span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="font-style: italic">immediacy</span></span>. <br />I make live theatre, live. I star and direct on unwitting victims in impromptu settings. It is immediate, in real time, in real life, and terribly addictive and wholly enticing and outrageously temptionalous and fully irresistable. L'art Pour Le Vive! Le Vive pour L'art! <br />I'm not sure which is which. <br /> <br />Anyhow, I identify fully and utmost with being Autistic, secondarily with being AS. I do not see this as a phase at all, and it can't be a phase, as my feelings and views are exactly the same, only now I know why is why, who is who, and what is what. I can place definitions on things I never could before. Those definitions are now obvious to me. <br /> <br />I detest the same people I used to detest. Except now I know that I can call them "stupid human primates." <br /> <br />What has changed is that I am now much more accurate in my understanding and descriptions and identifications. <br /> <br />I still like, admire, and want to know the same exact people I have always liked, admired and wanted to know. Except now I can call them "Autistics" - and, from the best of humans, "Artists". <br />But I'm far more an Autistic than I am an artist; the similarity governs that. Simply; I am almost identical with all Autistics, but I am only partially similar to some artists. <br /> <br />I did not "turn" into anything; I have always been exactly what I am. Nothing about me, myself has changed, and nothing about anything in the world has changed. Except for a very, very simple clarification: <br />All the people who I always felt and knew I was very different from, all the people that disappointed me, all the people I felt this planet would be far better off without (99%+), all the people I wished would just disappear ... <br /> ... now I know that they are called "humans" and I am called "Autistic". <br />That is the only thing which has changed. <br />I have always been strongly, powerfully, irreversibly me, in the face of overwhelming adversity. <br />I have always found others to be horrifying, ugly, petty, bullies, cowardly, etc., etc., every negative thing. <br />I have always felt and thought that everyone in the world should be like me, and that everyone else has always been completely disposable. <br />I have always felt and thought that everyone else was, in every way, with few exceptions of singular traits occassionally, inferior to me. Those inferior people are now identified as "humans". <br />I have always been at odds with almost all people, save a few. Since I can remember as a young child they were always simply my enemy. They were the one's who caused hurt and suffering. <br />I now know that they are called "humans", and I call them by a more appropriate and accurate term, "human primates" (which term I did not create). <br />There is no question in my mind or body or cells that they have always been human primates and I have always been very, very different. Now I know that I can define myself as "Autistic". <br /> <br />Identify? <br /> <br />That's an understatement. <br />I am. <br />They are. <br />Never have I been so certain, and felt so complete and that my work of 40 years, since I was 5yo, is now complete. I now know everything I have always wanted to know. I've settled into it for the past ten months or so. <br /> <br />Now I look at what I do next. My life-long project is finished. I completed it. I am Autistic. The end. <br /> <br /></span><table width="90%" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3" border="0" align="center"><tr> <td><span class="genmed"><b>sinsboldly wrote:</b></span></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="quote"> <br />I would just aquire mirror neurons, and the ability to read faces, or even recognize faces, I would intuitively know what was appropriate in a conversation and be able to bond with people that love me. <br /> <br />What's wrong with that?</td> </tr></table><span class="postbody"> <br /> <br />Well, plenty I think. <br />First, humans cannot love, but only feel the sentiment of love. So you don't win there <img src="modules/Forums/images/smiles/icon_razz.gif" alt="Razz" border="0" /> <br />I am able to love far more than any human I have ever met or seen or heard the voice of. <br />I love my cats more than humans love their own children. That is across the board. There are no exceptions because there cannot be any exceptions. The sentiment of a feeling, indirectly experienced by a personality, is not the feeling itself. I read the posts on this site; no-one here identifies with their personality. Each person here finds themselves more than their personality. Such is the lack of identification previous to dx. <br /> <br />Appropriate in a conversation??? <br />You are appropriate in a conversation ... right here and now, with us. <br />Look; see? <br />You are exactly and precisely appropriate in this conversation. Here, with us. <br />Why do you feel the need to be appropriate in human conversation? They have no clue as to what they're really saying, and they have utterly no clue as to why. Not one of them. <br />The "intuitive" is just what their personality does. If you don't have a personality and identify with it and think that your personality is really you, then there is nothing to talk about to personalities, because it's just a personality talking, and everything it says is only always something to re-affirm its own existance ... that's all. <br /> <br />They have no joy. They are completely alone inside there somewhere, terrified. Every human must always do exactly what affirms the exstence of their personality; they can do nothing else, ever. They are each trapped inside a clown costume, going on and on and on, like they're really the clowns they portray. They cannot do anything else, ever. As humans get older, they identify more and more strongly with their adopted and constructed personality. You can actually see the process, if you're around children at all. <br /> <br />Weren't you ever freaked completely out by clowns when you were a child? <br /> <br />When I was in elementary school, I was liked and adored and respected and looked up to by all the other children. That was before they got their personalities hard-wired in. As their personalities became more prominent, I became more and more alone, more and more confused, more and more perplexed, more and more alienated from them all. They changed; I didn't. I'm still the same, today. <br /> <br /><span style="font-weight: bold">I don't have a developmental problem.</span> OMG ... humans do. <br />I am Autistic, and I do not have a personality like humans have to have, that's all. <br />I never 'grew' one. I don't require a personality. I'm Autistic, not human. Only humans require a personality. <br />I remember everything very, very clearly. <br />I remember exactly how everything happened; I don't think I can forget all that. <br />I never changed. I even retained my innocence. All of it. I was never hurtful, like they all became. I never developed an ego, because I never developed a personality. When you have a personality, you can never meet your needs, and so you need to meet your needs indirectly, through obtuse means. That's why humans have an ego, and need to protect their ego and feed it ... and that's why Autistics are able to act and speak selflessly, without ego-needs. Autistics can simply speak the truth. Humans can never, ever do that. <br /> <br />To be human is horrible. <br />Without humans, with full knowledge of who and what we are, we are perfectly fine. <br />Humans are never fine. <br />They can never be loved, and they can never love. They have to rule and conquer and war and own and interfere and destroy everything they touch. Their car isn't good enough - as soon as they drive it home they want a different one. <br />They pick the car that matches their personality. They don't have an actual choice. The choice is mechanical, based completely on their personality constraints. No anti-smoking vegan liberal arts major can drive a GTO with flames painted on the hood and front fenders. No 25yo trailer-park male can drive a four-cyclinder car ... or a mini-van. They would cringe and hide and be terrified of being seen. The ONLY way their personality can do such a thing is to make a joke out of it. <br />Tricky human personalities. <br />But what do you expect when it's a matter of raw survival? <br /> <br />Cured? No, thanks. <br /> <br />AS is freaked out by the word "Love" precisely because we see humans using the word not fully or meaningfully, but only as a two-dimensional sentiment. Such is why I, like other AS, could never speak that word. It was a lie, always, when I heard it from the mouths of humans. I could sense that and it freaked me out like everything they did freaked me out. <br /> <br />As a child, I had no personality; I only learned to emulate personalities to live in this world of personalities. I have fun with my personalities. I can be anyone, anywhere, anyplace, anytime. I can put my personality aside and simply love fully, as myself - not as my personality. <br />No human can do that. <br />That would be impossible. Humans that are de-personalized require severe hospitalizational treatment to gain a sense of personality again. That is a severe breakdown when that happens. They cannot function without a personality. <br /> <br />Every human must defend the substance of their personality no matter what, and they will resort to anything if their personality is endangered or threatened. <br />No human can NOT have a personality, or not identify with it. <br /> <br />Identification? <br /> <br />Each human identifies with the construction of their own personality. Autistics do not identify with their personalities ... and most have difficulty adopting personalities for social occassions. That's why it's draining to be in social settings. You have to make this personality, and then you have to hold it up, and you have to make it consistent ... and it's exhausting. Exactly because Autistics do not have personalities they need to identify with. Only humans do. <br /> <br />There is no such thing as human social skills; it's all personalities, professing their own existence. That's it. Nothing more to it. <br /> <br />So, yes, of course; Autism is my identity and my only identity. What other identity could I have? A personality that thinks it's something or other, with particular likes and dislikes and beliefs and opinions??? <br />I have no personality, and cannot identify with anything a human personality identifies with. <br />I am Autistic. <br /> <br />That is not a stage, it is the truth that has always been true. I have been looking for that defined truth my entire life; to be able to consciously verbalize everything. <br />Now I can, easily. <br /> <br />Them. <br />Me. <br />It's always been that way - since I can remember as a child. <br /> <br />....becomes... <br /> <br />Horrifying and stupid human primates. <br />Autistics. <br /> <br />....becomes.... <br /> <br />Them. <br />Us. <br /> <br /><span style="font-weight: bold">CURE?????</span> <br /> <br />OMG, I just finished with my life's work. No, I do not ever want to be a horrifying and stupid human primate. Why??? <br />Instead, I would infinitely prefer to relate to other Autistics and have only Autistics as my friends, my family, and my lovers. I don't need humans anymore. I've gotten rid of all of them from my life. <br />Finally. <br />Now I'm just alone. But that's just the truth as it's always been. I've <span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="font-style: italic">always</span></span> been alone. <br /> <br />Now, I <span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="font-style: italic">know</span></span> I'm alone, and I'm not fooling myself by even trying to relate with humans. That is a pointless objective. <br />Now I have a meaningful objective; to relate with Autistics like myself. <br />To live among Autistics. <br />To never deal with humans again, except in passing. They are enjoyable enough ... as strangers and delightful casual acquaintences - who I can spend a few hours with and that's enough of that. <br />I don't have to deal with them longer than I want to or need to, anymore. I am free of them. <br /> <br />Now I no longer have to say: <br />"The best friends you will ever have in life are strangers; as soon as they become your friend, they're not your friend anymore." <br />That no longer has to be the only truth I know. <br />Now I know more than that. <br /> <br />I'm used to living in an artists' community and not leaving the building because everything I need is right there. There was nothing outside of the community ... except going out into the world with people from the community. <br /> <br />Now I have a very real and meaningful objective; to surround myself with Autistics - and to never have to deal with human primates again. <br />For what? So they can pile the hurt on? <br />Every one of them ends up doing that, in the end. <br /> <br />So, I no longer have to be alone. <br />There are all of you. <br />You are all like me ... yes, my kin, my kind, my kindred. Reading your posts tells me that. They are the same posts I've written - and always have. That is not a phase; it is the actual, real truth. <br /> <br />I have been looking for where I belong all my life. That is very, very real, that search. <br />Now I have found where I belong. <br />My search is over, and that is very, very real. As real as you. <br /> <br />I am not going to whine about anything; I am grateful beyond belief. <br />Of course I am Autistic. <br />I've always been exactly that. Nothing else, ever. <br /> <br />Thank-you, thank-you.</span></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" height="1" class="spaceRow"><img src="modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="22%" align="left" valign="top" class="row1"><span class="name"><a name=""></a><b>NewportBeachDude</b></span></td> <td class="row1" height="28" valign="top"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td width="100%"><img src="http://wrongplanet.cachefly.net/modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/icon_minipost.gif" width="12" height="9" alt="Post" title="Post" border="0" /><span class="postdetails">Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 4:47 pm<span class="gen"> </span> Post subject: Re: Autism as your identity?</span></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><hr /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><span class="postbody"></span><table width="90%" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3" border="0" align="center"><tr> <td><span class="genmed"><b>Semi_Lost_Serenity wrote:</b></span></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="quote">I am writing a short school assignment that will discuss identity within the autistic community. <br /> <br />My theory is that because Aspies feel marginalized by the NT world, they then marginalize the NT world. <br /> <br />What are your thoughts? <br /> <br />How do you see your identity as relating to the autistic community? <br /> <br />Thanks!</td> </tr></table><span class="postbody"> <br /> <br /> <br />I have a question. Are you doing the research for this paper solely off the internet? Because it might be good for you to join some groups that have a mix of Autistics and Asperger people in them. I think you'd get an entirely different opinion because most of the Aspies I know do not feel maligned. However, you tend to get a great deal of that on the internet. It may be good to actually interview people in person. Just a suggestion.</span></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" height="1" class="spaceRow"><img src="modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="22%" align="left" valign="top" class="row2"><span class="name"><a name=""></a><b>velodog</b></span></td> <td class="row2" height="28" valign="top"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td width="100%"><img src="http://wrongplanet.cachefly.net/modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/icon_minipost.gif" width="12" height="9" alt="Post" title="Post" border="0" /><span class="postdetails">Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 3:06 pm<span class="gen"> </span> Post subject: </span></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><hr /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><span class="postbody">Regarding the two previous posts, I believe that if someone is feeling stuck in a dead end job and has aspirations to do other things then some qualifier would be used. In American culture to some extent, you are what you do. If I had worked for a Phd in something then I would not be too shy to mention it in the proper social setting. It's a pretty good accomplishment after all.</span></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" height="1" class="spaceRow"><img src="modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="22%" align="left" valign="top" class="row1"><span class="name"><a name=""></a><b>nominalist</b></span></td> <td class="row1" height="28" valign="top"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td width="100%"><img src="http://wrongplanet.cachefly.net/modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/icon_minipost.gif" width="12" height="9" alt="Post" title="Post" border="0" /><span class="postdetails">Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:37 am<span class="gen"> </span> Post subject: </span></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><hr /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><span class="postbody"></span><table width="90%" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3" border="0" align="center"><tr> <td><span class="genmed"><b>can_o_worms wrote:</b></span></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="quote">I am 'way too Zen on things to only consider my occupation if someone asked me 'what are you?'</td> </tr></table><span class="postbody"> <br /> <br />Well, I suppose the order would look something like: <br /><ol type="1"><li>sociologist <br /><li>nominalist <br /><li>Bahá'í <br /><li>journalist <br /><li>autistic/aspie</ol></span></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" height="1" class="spaceRow"><img src="modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="22%" align="left" valign="top" class="row2"><span class="name"><a name=""></a><b>can_o_worms</b></span></td> <td class="row2" height="28" valign="top"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td width="100%"><img src="http://wrongplanet.cachefly.net/modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/icon_minipost.gif" width="12" height="9" alt="Post" title="Post" border="0" /><span class="postdetails">Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 2:19 am<span class="gen"> </span> Post subject: </span></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><hr /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><span class="postbody"></span><table width="90%" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3" border="0" align="center"><tr> <td><span class="genmed"><b>nominalist wrote:</b></span></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="quote">It is a part of my identity but not the major part. For instance, if someone walked up to me and said, "What are you?," I would say, "a sociologist," not "an aspie."</td> </tr></table><span class="postbody"> <br /> <br /> <br />I am 'way too Zen on things to only consider my occupation if someone asked me 'what are you?' <br />My diatribe, harping on electrons and protons whirling around in their own galaxies and universes within me, would cascade on for many long winded minutes - causing my interlocutor to regret asking me in the first place. But no, being Autistic would not be the first thing I would mention when getting around to the dimension in which the question was asked. If they couldn't tell from the first salvo, then they can find out the hard way.</span></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" height="1" class="spaceRow"><img src="modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="22%" align="left" valign="top" class="row1"><span class="name"><a name=""></a><b>Hector</b></span></td> <td class="row1" height="28" valign="top"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td width="100%"><img src="http://wrongplanet.cachefly.net/modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/icon_minipost.gif" width="12" height="9" alt="Post" title="Post" border="0" /><span class="postdetails">Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 9:46 am<span class="gen"> </span> Post subject: Re: Autism as your identity?</span></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><hr /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><span class="postbody"></span><table width="90%" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3" border="0" align="center"><tr> <td><span class="genmed"><b>Semi_Lost_Serenity wrote:</b></span></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="quote">My theory is that because Aspies feel marginalized by the NT world, they then marginalize the NT world. <br /> <br />What are your thoughts?</td> </tr></table><span class="postbody"> <br />Even though I was diagnosed at around the age of three I was never really aware of the "autistic community" until I looked for it about a year and a half ago, only out of curiosity to see what people who were also on the autistic spectrum were like. However I met some other people with AS who felt differently about how their condition was treated by others, mostly on the internet. They seem to feel as if they're on the "wrong planet" altogether and prefer the company of other people with AS. Perhaps this constitutes the majority, at least in those who have bothered to try to integrate with such a "community", but I couldn't say for certain. <br /> <br /></span><table width="90%" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3" border="0" align="center"><tr> <td><span class="genmed"><b>Semi_Lost_Serenity wrote:</b></span></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="quote">How do you see your identity as relating to the autistic community?</td> </tr></table><span class="postbody"> <br />Many people seem to have this notion of "autistic pride" which I never understood, at least not in any way remotely pertaining to me. I don't have any issues other than that there may be some social things I have to work on that many other people hardly have to think about. It's not like homosexuality, in the sense that if I was gay I imagine I would be happier having the same relationship freedoms as a straight person except with people of the same sex - I would prefer to appear to others to not have autism or AS at all, while still having some of the more charming quirks of my condition.</span></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" height="1" class="spaceRow"><img src="modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="22%" align="left" valign="top" class="row2"><span class="name"><a name=""></a><b>Gremlin</b></span></td> <td class="row2" height="28" valign="top"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td width="100%"><img src="http://wrongplanet.cachefly.net/modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/icon_minipost.gif" width="12" height="9" alt="Post" title="Post" border="0" /><span class="postdetails">Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 9:06 am<span class="gen"> </span> Post subject: </span></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><hr /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><span class="postbody">I don't personally identify much with either side. Autists are diverse enough that we don't really qualify as a club; and, at the risk of sounding bigoted, the NTs all kinda look alike to me. <br /> <br />Honestly, I don't really think about it very often. Without any real basis for comparison, I tend to regard myself as normal, only remembering that other people are different by contrast. Which is funny, since I'm 6'5" and think of most people as therefore oddly short. <br /> <br />I assume that makes sense, at some level. Isn't that kinda the point of WrongPlanet? The idea that one is perfectly normal, but however unfortunately living amongst an alien, endemic species? Metaphorically, I mean. Well, probably. <br /> <br />Also, I'm not merely autistic. Other adjectives describe me, but don't put me into their clubs either. I'm atheistic, but I don't identify with most other atheists; I smoke, but I don't identify with most other smokers; I write, but most writers annoy me to no end. You might as well ask whether I identify with other mammals more than I identify with the reptiles from which they evolved, though in fact reptiles happen to make more sense to me.</span></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" height="1" class="spaceRow"><img src="modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="22%" align="left" valign="top" class="row1"><span class="name"><a name=""></a><b>auntyjack</b></span></td> <td class="row1" height="28" valign="top"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td width="100%"><img src="http://wrongplanet.cachefly.net/modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/icon_minipost.gif" width="12" height="9" alt="Post" title="Post" border="0" /><span class="postdetails">Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 8:22 am<span class="gen"> </span> Post subject: </span></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><hr /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><span class="postbody"></span><table width="90%" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3" border="0" align="center"><tr> <td><span class="genmed"><b>Semi_Lost_Serenity wrote:</b></span></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="quote"> <br /> <br /> <br />However, Aspies also need to be mindful of social neccessities - there are some who think that, regardless of who a person is, they need to know the basics of what it is to be "a person". In other words, table manners, saying "Please" and "Thank you", giving up your seat for the elderly - the social neccesities that everyone needs to learn for the sake of humanity. <br /> <br />I am not trying to insult anyone - I'm in the same boat! I know the frustration of trying to learn something that you didn't know existed - my mom had to hammer into my skull some of these "rituals". <br /> <br /> <br />Thanks!</td> </tr></table><span class="postbody"> <br /> <br />social necessities are a strange thing. many of our customs come from necessity long ago, but they are no longer required but merely performed as a ritual which has no reason. Shaking hands is one. Touching the skin of strangers or hostile people is utterly revolting to me but in my work, I have to do it. There is no choice, no acceptance of my repugnance and absolutely no reason why shaking hands should be compulsory. i can assure you, I carry no weapons. That is the part that nt people are so stubborn about. They do not care to take the time to revisit their meaningless rituals and impose them with major penalties for anyone who cannot comply. To me, if something has to be hammered into a child's skull, at least examine why it is so important. Chances are it is just a perception of importance.</span></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" height="1" class="spaceRow"><img src="modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="22%" align="left" valign="top" class="row2"><span class="name"><a name=""></a><b>nominalist</b></span></td> <td class="row2" height="28" valign="top"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td width="100%"><img src="http://wrongplanet.cachefly.net/modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/icon_minipost.gif" width="12" height="9" alt="Post" title="Post" border="0" /><span class="postdetails">Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 3:39 pm<span class="gen"> </span> Post subject: </span></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><hr /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><span class="postbody">It is a part of my identity but not the major part. For instance, if someone walked up to me and said, "What are you?," I would say, "a sociologist," not "an aspie."</span></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" height="1" class="spaceRow"><img src="modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="22%" align="left" valign="top" class="row1"><span class="name"><a name=""></a><b>velodog</b></span></td> <td class="row1" height="28" valign="top"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td width="100%"><img src="http://wrongplanet.cachefly.net/modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/icon_minipost.gif" width="12" height="9" alt="Post" title="Post" border="0" /><span class="postdetails">Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 8:00 pm<span class="gen"> </span> Post subject: </span></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><hr /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><span class="postbody">I have had year to consider a lot of things about Autism/AS. I suppose that it is a part of my identity, but not a part that I'm particularly pleased with. For every positive, like great memory and mechanical abilities, there are also huge negatives. 48 years of mostly social futility sucks. Some on these boards have done worse than me with the opposite sex. I have no idea how , on the occasions where it did work out, I ever managed to get a date or girlfriend.</span></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" height="1" class="spaceRow"><img src="modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="22%" align="left" valign="top" class="row2"><span class="name"><a name=""></a><b>Inventor</b></span></td> <td class="row2" height="28" valign="top"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td width="100%"><img src="http://wrongplanet.cachefly.net/modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/icon_minipost.gif" width="12" height="9" alt="Post" title="Post" border="0" /><span class="postdetails">Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 4:48 am<span class="gen"> </span> Post subject: </span></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><hr /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><span class="postbody">I would not bring my motorcycle to a shop to be fixed. <br /> <br />It was built with a system of engineering few know. <br /> <br />Someone new, learning by doing, is going to do some serious damage. <br /> <br />So who could fix humans? <br /> <br />The mind alone is beyond human ability to understand, the Autistic mind more so. <br /> <br />Altering any part of a system is going to affect the whole. <br /> <br />There are drugs that can mask symptoms, that also cause people to cross the street without looking both ways, the drug helps them fit in, and death is only a side effect. <br /> <br />Cure is vauge, Cure Religion! Does this mean everyone being of the one true faith, or getting rid of it? <br /> <br />Both have been tried. <br /> <br />Psychology cures it's self every five years. So do we go with the current fad? <br /> <br />Cure is hype, without any basis. Fund raisers make a living from it, some gets to researchers, but that does not help us. <br /> <br />Tony Attwood should get all the money, for his model is living with Autism. We do, so it is real. <br /> <br />Wrong Planet is the only treatment I have ever had, and it works. <br /> <br />So how is it that Alex Plank has done more than everyone else for us? <br /> <br />Support Wrong Planet! <br /> <br />It is the only thing that directly supports you, and your community.</span></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" height="1" class="spaceRow"><img src="modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="22%" align="left" valign="top" class="row1"><span class="name"><a name=""></a><b>SKOREAPV83</b></span></td> <td class="row1" height="28" valign="top"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td width="100%"><img src="http://wrongplanet.cachefly.net/modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/icon_minipost.gif" width="12" height="9" alt="Post" title="Post" border="0" /><span class="postdetails">Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 2:05 pm<span class="gen"> </span> Post subject: re: autism as identity</span></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><hr /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><span class="postbody">I am proud to claim autism as a cultural identity. It's NOT popular to claim, nor has it been studied that people with ASDs have their own culture. But we do. I REFUSE to change my culture to suit anyone other than myself. I don't care how long it'll take for me to change jobs, get new friends, etc. People gotta learn to take me the way I am but no...no no...they demand for me to change, and I want nothing to do with those who demand for me to change. Autism IS an excuse for my behavior, no matter what them nasty Baby Boomers say. I am incapable of having better social skills and that's that. I certainly have the memory capacity to learn, but I do NOT understand the concepts taught when trying to learn new social skills. Maybe I'd understand better if I was being educated on social skills by someone who knows ASL. As long as I'm stuck with someone who doesn't know it, I sure as hell won't understand.</span></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" height="1" class="spaceRow"><img src="modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="22%" align="left" valign="top" class="row2"><span class="name"><a name=""></a><b>biostructure</b></span></td> <td class="row2" height="28" valign="top"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td width="100%"><img src="http://wrongplanet.cachefly.net/modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/icon_minipost.gif" width="12" height="9" alt="Post" title="Post" border="0" /><span class="postdetails">Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 4:44 am<span class="gen"> </span> Post subject: </span></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><hr /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><span class="postbody">I feel that being on the autism spectrum is an important part of my identity. However, I don't feel as if my emotions and thoughts work like the "typical" autistic either, if there even is such a thing. In other words, it's not as if I come here and after reading people's comments, get the impression "that describes me perfectly as well". This is particularly true when it comes to discussing relationships with the opposite sex, but is noticeable in other areas as well. This makes me often feel like an outsider even within the autistic community.</span></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" height="1" class="spaceRow"><img src="modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="22%" align="left" valign="top" class="row1"><span class="name"><a name=""></a><b>Pixel8</b></span></td> <td class="row1" height="28" valign="top"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td width="100%"><img src="http://wrongplanet.cachefly.net/modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/icon_minipost.gif" width="12" height="9" alt="Post" title="Post" border="0" /><span class="postdetails">Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 2:15 am<span class="gen"> </span> Post subject: </span></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><hr /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"><span class="postbody">I like to think that variety is the spice of life, genetic mutation is the engine of evolution, the human mind is a dazzlingly complex thing and society needs some aspies sprinkled into the mix to help it collectively reach uncharted territory in its understanding of some things.</span></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" height="1" class="spaceRow"><img src="modules/Forums/templates/subSilver/images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" /></td> </tr> </table>
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Asperger's is not a disease
