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Graet article - by Donna Williams
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asplanet
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 10:18 pm    Post subject: Graet article - by Donna Williams Reply with quote

Autism and competition; when one just won´t compete!

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/71669
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aspiartist
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 12:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for posting this article. It explains a lot, especially the "all self-no other" and "all other-no self". I identified with the entire article and saved it in favorites for future reference, reassurrance, encouragement, etc. I think as a child and on through most of my adult life I was all other-no self and now all self-no other. I'd like to learn more about what that's all about. I thought more highly of myself when I was more self-sacrificing but it also cost me a lot in many ways and really wasn't that good for me. The other isn't so good for me either. It would be nice to find a balance.

Thanks again...
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aspiartist
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 12:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

And yes, I have never been one who would compete.
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asplanet
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 12:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

aspiartist wrote:
And yes, I have never been one who would compete.

I agree, even though I have always loved sport prefer to run alone, kayak alone etc...
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aspiartist
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 12:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ditto, me too, but it does get kind of lonesome sometimes, although the alternatives aren't all that enticing.
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Danielismyname
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 5:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I like/liked "competing" in sport and/or anything, it's just that I don't care if I win or lose like most people seem to care for.

I'll do my best to win, it's just that I don't care if I lose (I don't have much of an ego).
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asplanet
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 7:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm not even sure if it is about the winning or losing, its the being told what to do by others I find hard, all the instructions, takes the fun away, complicates things... I do care if I win or lose I feel to much, its the pressure this brings I can not handle...

and I agree it can be lonely sometimes, but when I am doing some think I really enjoy alone, it brings with it a great freedom, hard to explain but its like a kind of belonging, at one with the world.
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serenity
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 9:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm not competitive at all. The whole concept just goes right over my head. I think that most of my childhood "friends" hung out with me mostly for an ego-boost. I would always let them win at everything, because I just didn't care. I only applied my best effort to things that interested me, and those were solitary activities. Even if I had done them well, I never thought about letting anyone know about it. It just didn't occur to me.

The inability to multi-task that was spoke of in the article is a major problem of mine. I have some severe problems that are related to my inability to multi-task. It is probably the one thing that I'd change about myself if I could.
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Sora
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 12:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I compete. But only when I want to.

I was never caught with the usual promises of taking part in a competition. I don't care for losing or winning for the sake of others winning/losing, because I don't care for what others think.

That's kind of me for the rest:
Quote:
Of course personality figures too. Someone with personality traits which have a high need for admiration or recognition or even a high tendency toward narcissism or aggressive traits driving them to seek power over others or the conscientious trait which desires achievement will be MOTIVATED to strive to retain a consistent sense of self and other.

Means I do have a huge ego and other people have the importance of ants to me. So if somebody asks me to compete with them, I turn them down usually. I don't care for comparing strengths and social hierarchy and all, because I'm all good by myself.

If there's a situation in which I happen to care for what the competition is about I'm all in to show I'm the best.
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asplanet
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 7:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was just reading back thought the article and had to highlight this para:
"Now some people with Aspergers and many people with autism swing between a sense of "all self-no other" and "all other-no self" so when in all self mode, awareness of other people´s reactions, one´s place in relation to them or the consequences, can evaporate. In all other-no self mode, one can stop, stare and have little response yet be mapping everything the other person has done even though they may have no conscious awareness or access to what they think or feel about that at that time."

Interesting way of putting my different moods"swing between a sense of "all self-no other" and "all other-no self" " so me and thought just mood swings, bipolar traits... but forget the labels, feel many of us on the spectrum have differing moods... traits and labels overlap, and seem to vary from person to person... as Donna may put it, we are an interesting "fruit salad" mix, but are we all mixed with the same traits and the professional world find various labels to try and figure our differences... I believe there are 2 sets of people in this world those on the autism spectrum and those that are not... of course we are all unique and all affected by circumstances, environmental factors, medical etc... sometimes I feel like none aspies try and fix what they can label, but forget the most important part of who we are, our core, The Autism Heart thats where the real difference lies...
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sartresue
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 12:06 pm    Post subject: Graet article-by Donna Williams Reply with quote

All "graet" articles topic

I have read the first of Donna's books--I hope to read the other nine. (Edit--I mean eight others!) Biographies and philosophical analyses are one of my many interests. Very Happy

Her Autism is not mine. I did not have visions or hallucinations. I also did not have the behaviour issues, though our mothers are similar. Her father did seem like more of a decent sort than mine. I have never made any friends, nor do I find a need for this. A spouse is not necessary. My brother and sister did tease me, and I am estranged from them. I did not compete either in my family, or with others. If I was unhappy with my own abilities, it was because I had better self-expectations. I did it for ME.

As I have grown older, past fifty, I am becoming more as I was between the ages of twelve and sixteen, drawn inward, and even more reflective. I only come out to the other in terms of my children still at home. Perhaps if I had been childfree, this might not have happened, but this is only conjecture. I have been a mother for nearly thirty-five years, and I regret nothing. Very Happy

Donna's article is an excellent analysis of her Autistic spin on her world, and it is a keeper. Very Happy
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asplanet
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 5:25 pm    Post subject: Re: Graet article-by Donna Williams Reply with quote

sartresue wrote:
As I have grown older, past fifty, I am becoming more as I was between the ages of twelve and sixteen, drawn inward, and even more reflective. I only come out to the other in terms of my children still at home. Perhaps if I had been child free, this might not have happened, but this is only conjecture. I have been a mother for nearly thirty-five years, and I regret nothing.


Like yourself I am a mother my greatest joy in life and also would have it's no other way, it's given me a sense of belonging I never had before, I am almost fifty and find like you the older I get the more I seem to be drawn inward, and reflect... is this wisdom I ask, I am much happier and do feel if I was child free, maybe I would of excluded myself from the game playing society brings, and taken off that masks much sooner....

Donna Williams I have so much respect for and yes I know she is an autie and me an aspie, but a can see so many similarities, parallels and feel there is not such a big differance with those of us on the autism spectrum, we may all be as deserve and different as those not on the autism spectrum in one respect... by our cores, the center which I call the autism heart is the same.

I did an on line interview with Donna myself a while ago, which you may like to read...
http://asplanet.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=63&Itemid=107
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aspiartist
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 6:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

For me "all other-no self" meant I could only feel the feelings of others and didn't experience my own, not at all, but did wonder about it. I spent most of my life here. Now I'm more "all self-no other" in that I'm less sensitive to the feelings or concerns of others, even though I still sob the minute I see someone cry and even worse see animals exposed to suffering and situations that are cruel or insensitive to their needs. People have taken advantage though of my generous nature and for the most part I think that's why I have changed or switched over. I'm completely bled to death and now can't care so much anymore. I always wondered why I couldn't actually feel my own pain or experiences but I could feel those of others. It's interesting to think about but I don't think I will get any answers anytime soon.

Nice thread.
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asplanet
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 6:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

aspiartist wrote:
I always wondered why I couldn't actually feel my own pain or experiences but I could feel those of others. It's interesting to think about but I don't think I will get any answers anytime soon.


Put like that has made me re-look at myself and your so right, thats exactly what I do... for others I show real emotion, for myself I retreat, withdraw into myself searching now, curious if anyone can explain this!
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aspiartist
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 6:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

What was happening to me was so intense that I knew it was particularly odd I couldn't experience myself or any associating feelings in regard to my own. But when I saw other people hurt it would crush me unbelievably and the pain was immense. It seems like a curious thing to know about. In a less traumatic environment, perhaps this aspect is harder to pick up on or notice. But you identified as soon as you heard it.
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