I'm heartbroken by all the pessimism on here

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NT's not 'discriminating' against us, they see our symptoms, and depending on the NT will feel either supremacy, pity, uncomfortable, superiority, righteousness, awkward or any one of a score of other feelings.

So NTs are more likely to feel anything except empathy and understanding for Autistic people? Also let's not forget due to NTs contacting Disney with their "meltdowns" over children with disabilities going ahead of them in line, there now is a disability system in place at Disney World that makes it difficult for those with Autism to get help. Not to mention virtually everytime I've brought this up on a Disney parks forum, I've been bullied by NTs acting like small children going "IT'S NOT FFAAAIIIRRR DISABLED PEOPLE GET TO GO TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE! WWWAAAHHH!" We're supposed to act like NT people, who throw a literal tantrum over "entitled" disabled children getting help?

I'm supposed to have empathy and understanding for people who given the opportunity to help the disadvantaged, pout and stomp around about it?

Why anyone would want to go to Disney World is beyond me. I think autistic children react badly to the environment because it is so constraining and artificial.
But yeah, I don't think it's pessimism so much as realism. It's not easy being autistic, at least not these days. If we become better understood things might improve.

I'm not a big fan of Disney places myself--though I've never been to any of them.

I would think that Epcot Center might appeal to those who like the Sciences.

Most NT's don't act like those idiots who said "WAAHHAA...disabled people get to be in front of the line!" Those are idiots, idiots, idiots! They are not true representatives of the NT population.

I went to the Science Centre in Toronto once. It was interesting, but there were no lineups - it was more like a museum. Also the Planetarium is amazing.

I used to LOVE going to the Hayden Planetarium, which is now called the Rose Center or something. It's attached to the American Museum of Natural History!

In the 1970s, all I had to do was donate a penny, and I was in any museum.

You should come to NYC just for the museums!

Oh, I can imagine! Heaven.

When people have those feelings towards members of another race, it's called racism.

I'm sure most racists don't understand the science behind the differences in appearance of other races, or their history or culture of the discriminated against race.

OP, sorry to hear you're heartbroken - hope you find ways to mend.

It is very hard to strike the correct balance between going into denial about the brutal reality of our situation and falling into despair and paranoia. Our condition with it's black and white thinking makes finding the balance more difficult. That is why you see posts where the person feels he or she has no control over their lives, or feels with just optimism and hard work you can be successful just like me.

The most difficult thing the whole situation with autism resembles little else in life in many ways. A positive diagnosis are not joyous things in practically any other human endeavor. The organization speaking for us is despised and does not let us have a say, that is rare in disability circles. There is fundamental disagreement as to what it is and the cause. I see many solutions based on the assumption that autism resembles most human conditions.

As far as 'US' goes, Autism Speaks does not speak for Asperger's Syndrome and never will now that is it has been subsumed under the new DSM5 diagnostic criteria.

However, Asperger's Syndrome per the last report of research while it actually existed as a Syndrome in the U.S. DSM5 diagnostic criteria comprised 9% of total cases of Autism Spectrum Disorders in the US.

So it is rational to suggest that Autism Speaks is still speaking for the majority of the spectrum WHATEVER THAT IS, OTHER THAN the folks who post here.

The organization is simply a non-profit science run organization that does NOT RUN BY EMOTION ALONE, but the science of Autism Spectrum Disorder based on SCIENTIFIC FACT and not conjecture.

And emotional hyperbole is also part of Marketing Science 101 so the experts attempting to generate as much money as possible for research for the more scientifically noted severe aspects of the Spectrum use that to their advantage as all Non-Profit Organizations do.

The 9 percent CANNOT SPEAK FOR THE 91 percent EVEN THOUGH they do OFTEN SPEAK VERY WELL, PER THAT 9 PERCENT.

BUT I LIKE NUMBERS AND VERBAL LANGUAGE TOO.

On this Internet site, the type of Asperger’s syndrome per symptoms of nonverbal learning disorder is common according to informal polls that are done here.

Additionally, while the common stereotype of the Asperger's type of Autism is the STEM major type of mind THAT is a myth in the U.S., as studies in college educated Asperger's type students are only 33 percent of that statistic, with 66 percent in other fields like English.

NO surprise there as science shows over 50 percent of folks diagnosed with the historical DSMIV diagnostic criteria for Asperger's syndrome in the U.S. have symptoms mirroring non-verbal learning disorder.

A common symptom of nonverbal learning disorder reported here often to break the math nerd genius stereotype is problems with math ranging to dyscalculia where a person is effectively number blind, and also potentially mind blind as to not even recognizing facial features.

I am not suggesting that anyone has these issues in this discussion as I have no way of knowing that, but based on my expertise in numbers as that is a large part of what I did for decades in life, there are likely people in this discussion that have no way of cognitive empathy through the math of statistics to understand the common sense behind what I am saying here.

The Autism Spectrum is extremely complex and per the exhaustive study I will link below.

http://katiemiaaghogday.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-problem-of-determining-who-is.html

Truly NO ONE HERE can speak for anyone else.

But some organization somewhere has to, to make things work in an approximation of what they can REASONABLY SCIENTIFICALLY DO, and for that 91%, which is truly only an approximation, Autism Speaks does a great job as their over a million supporters do agree with.

But still EVEN THAT is only a very small percentage of the United States Population, so even Autism Speaks is still just a RELATIVE voice in the wilderness crying out, AND MUCH MORE THAN A FEW THOUSAND FOLKS SCREAMING on the Internet that are part of that 9%, overall.

TO BE FRANK, and statistically correct, all of this complaining about Autism Speaks, is a total waste of time, that does not change anything to the positive nor to the negative overall about anything other than causing people who have related by their own report paranoia, in this overall forum, worrying that their life is at risk, because of a totally benevolent seeking non-profit organization, and that per individual suffering is truly sad to me, as it COMPLETELY AVOIDABLE BY JUST TURNING THE SWITCH OFF ON MISINFORMATION.

BUT truly some folks have no innate way of understanding the statistics and that is just a fact of nature, and probably why I cannot get through to some folks per the truth, as I did for literally years here trying, as now I understand better potentially why I could NOT through my own scientific research per SOME OF the folks who post here.

In real life the majority of people just see a puzzle piece and give some money at wherever it is being collected at, as for any other problem of human beings that other folks collect for to help the herd.

If it is not a BAD PROBLEM PEOPLE DO NOT GIVE, so YES, TO MAKE DONATIONS WORK THAT IS THE ONLY WAY in marketing science 101 per the non-profit way of generating money for research for any human disorder to work.

And yes, science, not me, shows that Autism overall is a very disabling condition per limits of function of the human brain, as well as legally NOW, per the list of disabilities that Autism is now included in U.S. LEGAL CODE that consistently results in virtually all cases of protection under the Americans with Disabilities ACT.

This is serious business and serious business takes very deep pockets that have it to give, as well as the motivation to empty those pockets that takes the pulling of human heart strings through both cognitive and affective human empathy, and that is WHAT AUTISM SPEAKS excels in, in their relatively paltry effort of achieving donations that are still only 4 percent of total Autism Research as indicated in the last government report in 2010.

The Simon's foundation did 3 times as much, but the Simon's foundation for Autism Research is self funded by a billionaire philanthropist.

Mr. Wright and his 'Cohorts' did it through hard work and volunteer effort as that is how human cognitive and affective empathy can work when one of ONE'S own is affected and effected and one translates that human condition altruistically to other human beings undergoing the same type of human REAL LIFE SUFFERING, AS FOR SOME FOLKS WITH AUTISM THAT IS PRECISELY WHAT IT IS, HUMAN SUFFERING, AS SCIENCE SHOWS, IRREFUTABLY AS SUCH.

AND THAT IS PRECISELY why Autism Speaks still has over a million supporters including hundreds of thousands who volunteer their time to the betterment of their fellow human beings.

And as I have said many times here, my son died directly as a causal effect of the Autism co-morbid contributing factor of 22q11.2 gene deletion syndrome so the stakes here are LIFE AND DEATH FOR AT LEAST SOME FOLKS ON THE SPECTRUM, and researching the associated co-morbid symptoms that make this type of human suffering a LIFE OR DEATH REALITY is a part of AUTISM SPEAKS mission and goals, set forth as such.

AND WITH ALL OF THIS information for anyone who dismisses it as not warranted as such, there are potentially other problems that I cannot SCIENTIFICALLY address as to avoid hurting anyone's feelings.

If anything, I'm surprised more people here are not more upset and angry with the way they are being treated. I find too much self-loathing on here at times. It seems as though the insults and disappointments of the world have broken them down to the point where they cannot see any positives in themselves at all. That is unfortunate.

I am broken and must struggle to force myself to see positives within myself. I'm 44. I spent the first 38 years of my life trying to be a person that others wanted me to be. Any hint of myself was met with fear or reprisal. This world has not been a friendly place for me. It's probably different for the younger generations of autistics.

I'm almost 34, so I'm not (that) far away from you in age. I spent my whole childhood not knowing what was up with me. I wasn't officially diagnosed until age 31 in 2012. My parents tried getting a general evaluation for me in 1992, 3 years before Asperger's was recognized in the DSM. The doctors who ran the test went to my mother and literally said, "what do you want us to write down as your son's diagnosis?" Maybe not knowing what was wrong for all those years was a help to me. Perhaps it was the fact that I was able to still get married and start a career despite my "issues" that gave me confidence and that made the actual diagnosis matter less, I don't know.

I'm not going to sit here and argue on this site for the 8,567,345th time about whether Asperger's is "a blessing or a curse." Frankly, we are all different, and so it will manifest in ourselves a bit differently. However, I can say with confidence that we are all still human, and therefore we should be allowed all the same services, treatment, and most importantly, respect that everyone else gets. The fact that there are Aspies out there who can even entertain the thought that they are less than others, and that certain NTs or Autism Speaks or whoever has the right to insult, degrade and dehumanize them in any way, kind of makes me sad a little.

Firstly, let me remind you, that the world does not revolve around magical wishes and gum drop faeries. Things will not change for the better, simply because you forced yourself to smile and think happy thoughts, that is nonsense.

#notmssng has had an overwhelming turnout, while #mssng has mainly been used like this: "The only thing #mssng is any kind of support from Autism Speaks".
That's not a surprise because Autism Speaks has always been seen misrepresenting AS people as diseased, while pretending to speak for them, thus opinion of them in the AS community is always negative, and has been for a long time. To call the entire AS community a 'vocal minority' is just nonsense, and I have never met an AS person that after reading or hearing about Speaks approves of them. I think there's even a poll going on right now for Autism Speaks. John Elder Robison even shared much about his experiences with Autism Speaks, and none of it is misinformation. Autism Speaks painted themselves in this light, on no part of anyone else.

You seem to be under the illusion that the detractors themselves are the ones responsible for all this fear, it's strange that I should even have to mention that it's not the case. Consider the recent terror attacks on that school in Peshawar -- News channels pick that up, and reported on the horror, and many people spoke out against the killing of all those children. Now, those that spoke out against it, and reported on it, are not the ones responsible for causing that fear, it's not a case of that they did something inappropriate by talking about it. Is her majesty 'spreading fear' by consoling Pakistan? What you are suggesting, is so callous and backward that it's hard not to cringe over it.

My condolences for the loss of your son.
Now, gene deletion, actually has nothing to do with Autism, in fact, I had not heard of it being linked to Autism, or even talked about within the context of Autism, that is until you mentioned it. It doesn't matter if you're an AS person or not, one can still have gene deletion either way, meaning, it's not unique to the spectrum. I too can understand that kind of grief, and can see why you would be so heavily biased in this matter. That's great that you want to stop gene deletion and save lives, but this is not the place to talk about such things, perhaps there are some other forums on gene deletion. When you say something along the lines of "Oh, there's this very serious gene disorder, sure not everyone has it, but we need an Autism cure because of this." you're effectively generalising, and shoving me, and everyone else into a category of a life and death disorder, when that has no basis in reality, and don't you dare do it again.

And while I'm at it, don't go issuing challenges as a "martial artist". A real martial artist knows just how insane, and stupidly irresponsible that is. They know just how easily they can kill someone, or worse, should one accept their asinine little challenge, or if they take on someone else's chest thumping "dare".

NICE TRY AT MISQUOTING ALMOST EVERYTHING I SAID IN YOUR QUOTE ABOVE.. BUT IT DIDN'T WORK.

Go back and quote what I really said if you want to have any chance of effective communication about this topic.

I've already done the research and am in the know.

Your attempts at personally attacking me here do not mean anything to me.

I am interested in how science shows life works, as well as beyond what science knows too.

And in this case Autism Speaks strictly speaking is a science organization and not an Internet foo foo.. organization....

And by the way.. foo foo.. is meaningless... i just made it up to be funny......;)

And by the way this is what I said below, NOT YOUR MISTRUTHS ABOVE ATTRIBUTED TO ME AS SUCH BY WAY OF YOUR QUOTE NOT MINE.