Asperger's: The Engineer's Disease (PBS)

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Sheerboredom
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23 Mar 2013, 12:06 am

Necro much



BornThisWay
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23 Mar 2013, 11:14 pm

A condition of personality is only a disease when it prevents one from functioning in his or her environment. Saying that no one wants to have Aspergers or HFA is a rather arrogant assumption of someone who cannot imagine that successful and fulfilling lives can be, and are built by those who are not neurotypical. Successful Aspergians overcome, get around, recreate and eventually learn to manipulate the NT social maze. We find a way that works and stick with it.

For someone like me (and all my mining and electical engineering forbears) it is hard to understand a life that does not include the intense creativity and rich inner life that is the positive part of AS. We eventually learn the social skills stuff as necessary, and some of us even get pretty insightful about it.

Yes, it can be a very painful situation when we are young, but it can and does get better as we age into ourselves. Tragically, some do not survive the process - but enough of us do go on to have families and AS kids as well. Perhaps because we are social outsiders - we can exercise a unique vantage point. Having a label that is formulated as a disorder or a disease speaks a much about the society as it does the individual. if someone has a label that is negative, their opinions can be ignored and they can be relegated to the sub-normal or 'not quite human' category...with the attendant evils that such a point of view generates.

There have always been people like us



ruveyn
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24 Mar 2013, 7:27 am

BornThisWay wrote:
A condition of personality is only a disease when it prevents one from functioning in his or her environment. Saying that no one wants to have Aspergers or HFA is a rather arrogant assumption of someone who cannot imagine that successful and fulfilling lives can be, and are built by those who are not neurotypical. Successful Aspergians overcome, get around, recreate and eventually learn to manipulate the NT social maze. We find a way that works and stick with it.



Bingo! My view precisely. I do not consider my Aspergarian condition a disability. In spite of the difficulties I had when I was young, I consider it a Gift.

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24 Mar 2013, 9:26 am

Calling it the Engineer's Disease doesn't show that there are not so smart people who have Asperger's.



ghoti
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24 Mar 2013, 11:47 am

Odd as i am a civil engineer, but still can't find employment as they still only want to hire NT extroverts who are ladder climbers.



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24 Mar 2013, 11:50 am

BornThisWay wrote:
A condition of personality is only a disease when it prevents one from functioning in his or her environment. Saying that no one wants to have Aspergers or HFA is a rather arrogant assumption of someone who cannot imagine that successful and fulfilling lives can be, and are built by those who are not neurotypical. Successful Aspergians overcome, get around, recreate and eventually learn to manipulate the NT social maze. We find a way that works and stick with it.

For someone like me (and all my mining and electical engineering forbears) it is hard to understand a life that does not include the intense creativity and rich inner life that is the positive part of AS. We eventually learn the social skills stuff as necessary, and some of us even get pretty insightful about it.

Yes, it can be a very painful situation when we are young, but it can and does get better as we age into ourselves. Tragically, some do not survive the process - but enough of us do go on to have families and AS kids as well. Perhaps because we are social outsiders - we can exercise a unique vantage point. Having a label that is formulated as a disorder or a disease speaks a much about the society as it does the individual. if someone has a label that is negative, their opinions can be ignored and they can be relegated to the sub-normal or 'not quite human' category...with the attendant evils that such a point of view generates.

There have always been people like us



The problem with having AS is, apart from the prevailence of immaturity, ADD/ADHD and dyscalculia that we have almost nonexistent social skills. An engineer today has to function in a team, spend hours every day on the phone and in meetings. There are no jobs today that just consists of sitting alone behind a closed door in an office working on computer code. Engineering today is about selling a product and to serve in a support function and that's what makes engineering a hopeless job for us.


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Lonermutant
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24 Mar 2013, 11:55 am

Drehmaschine wrote:
Calling it the Engineer's Disease doesn't show that there are not so smart people who have Asperger's.


Exactly.


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24 Mar 2013, 8:21 pm

They could have left the disease part out,but it is interesting.My grandpa was a structural engineer,worked on bridges.An odd bird,had nothing to do with any of the family.I met him only once,at a funeral.


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ruveyn
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25 Mar 2013, 11:16 am

Lonermutant wrote:
Drehmaschine wrote:
Calling it the Engineer's Disease doesn't show that there are not so smart people who have Asperger's.


Exactly.


Nor does it disparage brilliant NTs.

ruveyn



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25 Mar 2013, 3:17 pm

How many female engineer's on the spectrum?
The only job aptitude test I took was ASVAB,I scored 98/100 verbal,but the other high score was trade technical,when they scored you against same sex I got a 81/100.I guess I did better than the other girls.Suggested jobs,aircraft hydraulic repair,jet engine mechanic,power plant maintenance,etc...I got a hoot out of it.
I kept my test to spite the teacher who said I was most likely to stupid to read.FU Mrs.B.


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