Why Aspies ARE disabled, and we should embrace that.

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And social networking skills mean nothing if you lack the intelligence to be successful in a given career.
I can get by just fine. I might have to work harder to compensate for my lack of social graces, but that will be at least partially offset by my ability and academic record. My point was that Asperger's hasn't hindered me, so I would not consider myself "damaged." My dad is Aspie, and he has had a long and successful career. He may lack the social networking skills to maneuver through the office politics, but on the occasions when co-workers have attempted to damage his career, he was simply good enough at doing his job that they ended up looking foolish.

Good for you. Education means nothing if you lack the social networking skills to make a career of it.

Disabled is just who I am. I embrace it because I feel I need to, to move beyond it.
Handicapped - no flamin' way.

I am on disability. So, praise God in the Highest!

I think we are getting bogged down here, in semantics (again). I had to research this a few years ago for an article i was writing, as well as a book. OK, times and ideas change fast in society, but I don't think they change THAT fast.

What I discovered then and still feel is current - disability is not only physical, it can be hidden as well. A physical disability can be hidden or apparent; a mental/emotional/social disability can also be hidden, or apparent.
But a disability does NOT mean (necessarily) anything negative.

Which brings us to "handicap". You can be disabled, but still able to do everything you choose to do. Your particular handicap may influence the choices you make, but if it does not stop you doing anything you want, you are not handicapped by it.
Often, handicap is what is imposed on us by society. People's attitudes, etc. Again, you still (often) have a choice - to take what people say on board and let it diminish you, or to ignore it and carry on being who you want to be. If what is being imposed on you is physical limitation, then it is hard to ignore or carry on. You can't continue down a road when someone places a security barrier on it.

I am physically disabled. I have MS. There is a constant underlay of muscle weakness. before my disability, I could ice skate really well. I always wanted to learn to ski, but was HANDICAPPED by lack of money. Now I'm handicapped by increased disability. I was able to continue ice skating for ten years after I developed this condition, but when I last tried, my muscles had grown too weak for me to maintain my balance on that narrow bar of steel.
In other aspects of my life, I have walked away from doors which are now closed, and kicked open a few others. I have found other things I am good at which now occupy my energies. Because I do not engage in areas where my disability is likely to be an issue, I do not consider myself handicapped.

Think of it in terms of a golf handicap. Or horseracing. There, a handicap is imposed on the more proficient, in order to bring things back to a fairer level for all players. I teach chess to local kids - if I see a very unbalanced chess match about to begin, I will impose a handicap on the better player - play without your queen. This makes the game play for longer, makes the better player work harder, gives the weaker player more chance to learn. It also benefits the better player who learns to do well with his remaining pieces. If the better player wins, he can say, "I won - without using my queen."
It is from here that we get the concept of "handicap". But society's imposing of handicaps is not always done in the spirit of making things fairer. Because "society" is a catch-all word for life with other people involved, what we are describing is something chaotic. Laws are imposed on all society, some of those laws designed to keep things as fair as possible. New buildings are supposed to include consideration for physically disabled users - ramps, wider parking spaces with a disabled logo, toilet doors opening outwards, that sort of thing. These laws are designed to reduce the handicap. Trust me, nothing society does will change my disability.

I do consider Asperger's and autism to be a disability, but I do not necessarily see it as a handicap. I have raised my children (on the spectrum) to see it this way as well. Their disability IS apparent to others (not everybody) so we can't 'pretend' there is nothing out of the ordinary there. So we tell people, and that knowledge generally leads to a better understanding and less hassles. Anyone continuing to hassle, especially after knowing the diagnosis - t hey are in breach of a number of human rights laws and will feel my steel-capped boots in their rear. or at least, my lawyer's. They now have absolutely no excuse, if they try to impose a handicap on me or my kids.

I embrace "disability" because it IS part of who I am. I do not let it limit me in any way, but I keep actively enjoying a full and productive life.

I am using the definitions I expressed here, to make this statement.

HECK, sometimes I have been! A couple weeks ago I was balled out for seeming "unapproachable" and a month or so before that, I almost called a jerk an idiot, but I DID call his whole team idiots TO HIS FACE! I am doing too much of the work too well to get rid of me. Besides, I only said the truth.

Anyway, socially good people that are stupid can't do ANYTHING without some halfway intelligent people there. Many smart people don't need to be that sociable to be hired.

And that reason is? That we are all special and have our on unique roles to play in society? I'm sure you love your kids, but they are not special, they are freaks, and you know this deep down but don't want to accept it.

Face it people; we are damaged, and no amount of rationalization or blame-gaming is going to change that.

Yes, we are disabled. No, it's not something to celebrate.

Kwiksnax, you are an ass.

The reason is because it takes all sorts of people to make this universe function. We all have places in this world. You are only damaged if you believe yourself to be. I am fantastically creative and most of the time am not hindered horribly by my AS. My son is definitely not crippled by his AS.

Weird is good.

Your razor-sharp retort cuts me to the core...


NTs are creative too. Your answer boils down to 'everything is OK if you believe it is'. That's fine if you're happy to live in your own little dream world, and everyone does to an extent. But to imply that AS is not a huge disadvantage (and I daresay defect) is just sticking your head in the sand. Be as happy with yourself as you like, it doesn't mean other people view you that way.


Provided you have the social skill and know-how to do something useful with it. Otherwise weird is just weird...

You make some valid points- you do need to be able to deal with other people to get along in society, and Aspies certainly don't have a monopoly on creativity or intelligence. If we're jerks to the people we work with, friendlier people will be found who can still do the job. However, I will agree with one of Liverbird's points- we need all sorts of people for society to function properly. The point is that if you are able to get along ok in life, AS does not mean you are "broken." It's not necessarily even a disadvantage. I've derived some advantage from my Aspergian traits. As long as I work toward doing better in a social context and learn enough tact not to piss people off, I should be fine. But again, I know people with better social skills than me who will have to work hard to compensate for the areas in which I'm stronger than they are. We all have our own niche, our own individual talents and deficits. Asperger's happens to be a particular set of defects and benefits. Some get a slightly different distribution of the traits, making life accordingly easier or harder. There are 4 Aspies that I've known at my high school (including me). 2 of us have excellent scientific aptitude and bright futures. Most don't even notice that the two of us are autistic. The other two are obviously different, and tend to struggle more academically. However, they are also very intelligent, often amazing those around them with just how much they know. Because of extreme social difficulties, they will struggle. But not all Aspies have quite so much trouble, and so it is unreasonable to claim that all Aspies are "broken."
Just be a little less confrontational in your posts and you'll find more people receptive to your points.

Better terms for disability are, IMO, differently abled (though I realize some don't like it) and challenged. I tend to alternate between both designations, but I rarely use disability.