How come people with Aspergers can't work ?

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What I mean is, for example, there should be no traffic accidents, I mean there's lights controlling the traffic. Then why do so many people die every year from them?

So far, my ability to talk and write well have only made me less employable.

Being articulate means squat without a verbal filter.

I am not cherry picking, but referring to your initial post on this thread, in which you agreed with cavendish 100% for saying "I am not saying that people with Aspergers don't have some problems, but why can't they get out there and work?" You Also offered your litmus test for yourself at least, when you stated that because your grandfather was injured in WWII but "never whined about not being able to do something" that you have no right to, I assume, complain. Also that there are people with far more problems than you working, therefore you have no right to be anything less than self-supporting. You offered a disclaimer at the end that some people with ASDs cannot work, but your actual statement is that "Disability is for those who are too disabled to work, not for those who can work, but choose to use the label of a minor disability."

You are not actually complaining about people receiving benefits who are not disabled. You offer two examples of people with actual disabilities who worked (yourself and your grandfather), and your complaint is about people whom you deem to be insufficiently disabled. Since there is no reason to assume that you can be objective about this, and because you are agreeing 100% with someone who spends a lot of time browbeating others who consider work very difficult or impossible, then why should I assume that your dog whistle about people who are "really disabled enough to work" is actually meaningful?



I said you aligned yourself with fairly conventional right wing talking points. I didn't say you aligned yourself with Conservatives, I was much more specific than that. Still, it's true, your comments in this thread are fairly conservative. You say you're a non-partisan, and I take that at face value, but I have come across quite a few non-partisans (which refers to political party, not political spectrum) and a lot of democrats who hold fairly conservative views even if their outlook is overall liberal.

Also, the person with whom you agree with 100% is the one who said that people should be more willing to work, often addressing specific people who have stated that they have difficulties with working. Which individual are you talking about that you know their situation and thus can judge better than their doctors, therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, etc. whether they really work or not?



The statements you made in this thread about employment and disability would not be radical at all among conservatives and religious fundamentalists, unless they have a realistic perspective about disability and ability to work (I know one such conservative, who is a good friend). You can certainly hold other views that are unconventional and radical, and I made no statement about such possible other views.

You are being melodramatic. You introduced the word "evil" to the discussion, and I did not claim you said that I called you evil. I said "No one's called you evil." Bringing the word into the discussion without anyone having said anything of the sort is melodramatic.

Telling someone that the things they say are untrue is not the equivalent of calling them a liar. They may be deliberately stating untrue things, they may be stating things they believe are true, but actually are not. In the latter case, pointing out what they said is untrue is not calling them a liar. If you feel that I am accusing you of lying, that's more about you than it is about me, but I don't personally think you're lying.

I find it fascinating that you constantly accuse me of cherry picking, but take a few quotes out of several posts and twist my wording into things I never said (like claiming that I said you called me evil when all I said was "no one called you evil"). I guess I can see why you get into flame wars whenever you discuss this topic. You react very poorly to disagreement.

That's a good point.

I didn't think you thought he was telling the truth, I was agreeing with you and just kvetching a bit that he ignores factual information in favor of his theories and shoulds and such.

Exactly. When I can only speak succintly if I've scripted what I need to say in advance, and when I do not things happen such as my explanation that I am not immediately in danger of killing myself nearly gets me hospitalized as a suicide risk, I am not sure that "articulate" quite means what cavendish wants it to mean.

That's a population that is really suffering alot - but (speaking only for Canada because I don't know the situation in the U.S.) I think much of that has to do with the enormous, government interference in the lives of Native Americans, that was at the best paternalistc and the wost malicious, which occured through very recent history and continues even to this day. I can't find stats. attesting to this (reliable stats. for Canada are hard to find) but I have heard stories that once a Native leaves a reserve they are generally happier and have a better time finding a job.

I think that in the US there are similar difficulties, even if the form the government interference takes is different.

Cavendish - your ignorance really is shocking. As mentioned before, many can't work due to the ignorance of others. I am one such person. Someone (who isn't medically trained; nor is she aware what my psychiatrist and I discussed) once decided that my Autism can't be that bad. She's spent a total of about 4 hours with me this year.

But there isn't. And that's the problem. There is no support at all. I've tried getting some support; but there is no, apparently.

I'm curious about this - what kind of support do you think would be benefical to help Autistics finding a job? Interview help, AS friendly job placement agencies? What sort of help do you think Austicis need and is most lacking?

I obviously can't speak for everyone else, but:
For me, it's things like interview skills and AS friendly jobs.

In the US, Vocational Rehabilitation is supposed to help with that, but I am not sure how effective it is. I know that learning how to interview may not actually overcome autistic weaknesses in such a situation. I've taken classes on how to interview for work, but I never get hired on the basis of an interview. The closest I ever came was a fairly unconventional interview in a fairly unconventional workplace, and much of the interview was about how to use google to find anything and everything.

Two serious problems that I'd have with interviews are social anxiety and that I won't lie in them. Actually I'm so shy I don't even know if I could ask for an application. When my toilet was broken I wouldn't even ask for the bathroom key in the fast food place I went to. I just left and kept looking for an unlocked bathroon.

Not that it matters since I only got a chance to do one interview in my life. The two jobs I actually had I didn't have to interview for.

Last edited by hanyo on 15 Jul 2012, 6:32 am, edited 1 time in total.

I don't think we have anything like this. I've had 2 interviews for jobs. One was a face-to-face interview and the other was a group based interview. I've also done computer based assessments and got a job that way. Unfortunately, that was only as a Christmas temp. As boring as that job was, it was perfect for me.

One thing I find odd:

What is up with people talking about veterans of war being so super duper tough, who if suffer from PTSD and/or have wounds, they then can't work? How is that any worst than being born with deficits that are equal or worst than? Wouldn't someone having to experience this their whole life be more deserving of veneration?

It's not like you can't get PTSD and/or physical wounds from other things (not to mention that PTSD is generally treatable and far less severe than ASDs).

I've noticed this a lot. (not on here specifically) It seems that if you're a war veteran, you're a hero and the rest of us are scroungers.

It's sad.

You get ostracized by many due to disability you were born with (not trying hard enough, lazy, leech, and all of that), and you get people saying it's your fault that you can't work.

It's hilariously sad.

Getting out of bed is a battle each day for me, and everything I do is hard; nothing is easy.