What do you want people to know about you?

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I have a couple of things actually:

Instead of giving us body language and subtle cues, talk to us if something we are doing is bothering you or you find offensive.

Give us an opportunity to show what we are capible of, especially with our special interests. I am a major player in bringing a community back after a flood, and have brought fresh and innovative ideas to this process.

I'm more emotionally sensitive, than the average person. If you see me crying, don't presume, that I'm having a temper tantrum, because I'm not, and don't call me a baby, or a ret*d.

*pre-recorded voice* I'm sorry, but the person you're trying to speak to is anxious right now. Please leave them alone and try again in a few hours. If you would like this person to get try and contact you when they're calmed down, leave your name after the tone. *BEEEEEP*

I wish I had a message like that to play when people try to talk to me and I'm anxious so they would know to leave me alone.

This is great! Exactly what I'm looking for. Keep 'em coming. I have 30 days in April!

It's 2010, and I have a mind of my own. I can like the British 60s, if I want.

Hear, hear!

Also, that I say what I mean and mean what I say. There is no need to read anything into what I'm saying, because (shockingly) there is nothing there. I've wound up miserably stuck in conversational loops because people keep reading things into what I say, thus misinterpreting entirely what I mean. I'm upfront. I'm blunt. I absolutely cannot talk in circles or communicate via hints. I'm not always aware of my tone. Just take what I've said to be precisely what I mean!

If I want some kind of physical contact, I'll ask for it. If I want a hug, I'll say so. Otherwise, don't touch me. It's nothing personal, I just don't like to be touched. (This does not change when I've been drinking -- why do people think AS goes away when I've had a couple drinks? I guess, like many people, I'm more relaxed when I'm buzzed, but why assume I've suddenly become NT-girl?)

I'm smart. Most people with AS/autism are very, very smart. Nonetheless, in many cases the world is just a very hard place for us. Much harder than for NTs. Imagine being set down somewhere far off where you know neither the language, nor any aspect of their deep and nuanced culture. You're still smart -- but you have no idea what to say or how to behave. Now imagine that culture's norms seem to shift daily, so that what was proper one day is not the next. You're still smart, but you're having trouble keeping up with what's expected. Now imagine every day is like this, and you'll begin to have some idea of what AS is like for me.

Love people to know that this is a hidden problem. I may look like all the other soccer moms in my neighborhood (and I work hard to blend in) but the things they take for granted like PTA meetings, volunteering at the cafeteria or running girl scout meetings, are next to impossible for me. I help out where I can but please don't put me down for not doing more when you don't "know" me.

that i am walking in a certain direction along a preplanned trajectory.
i would like them to know that so as they do not block my way as i walk through.

it would be good if i could email a diagram of my intended trajectory to the local supermarket before i get there, and then they could put barriers and tapes up that forbid others to enter that corridor within my nominated time parameters.

some may point out that if i post replies to questions, that i want others to know my answer to the question, but i just write my replies as something to do so i can get tired.
it is also like writing to myself in a public place just in case i lose the stuff on my computer.

ignore my often inappropriate or absent facial expression and body language, and concentrate instead on my WORDS. be civil with me or leave me alone. know that i am a caring person but am clumsy to a fault in expressing this. know that i often appear mirthless when that is exactly the wrong impression to have of me. ask me what i mean if something i said was clear as mud- don't just let it hang in the air or let the thought waft away. help me and i will help you twice as much. be aware that if you are the least bit nice to me, that i will be like your friend forever. but if you screw me over, fuggedaboudit- i will avoid you forevermore. i never forget and i am very slow to forgive, because in the past i forgave more readily and as a result was screwed-over repeatedly, frequently by the same individuals or groups. know that i am a hermit not because i am rejecting the rest of the world but because it rejected me. i will not belong or affiliate with that which would not have me.
ok, auntie has blabbered enough for now.
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"things are just peaches and scream all over the place."

I'd like NTz to know that I have a brain like a super-computer but my data-input (ears) sometimes works quite slowly and I take EVERYTHING literally.

I'd also like people to know that autism is not an illness. It's a pervasive developmental disorder.

Similar to what has already been said, if I don't talk to you or my conversation are brief and awkward it means I am just really focused on what I am doing or not shutting down and freaking out.

I want people to realize why many autistic people seem 'smart' one moment and 'stupid' the next. I want them to realize that it's not us fooling them into believing there are abilities there that don't really exist, it's them not having a full understanding of intelligence and how it interacts with disability and stress.

Finally, I want people to understand how functioning labels seem to be full of crap. There are people that are considered 'high functioning' and have genius I.Q's but can't live on their own, and there are people with 'low functioning' autism who have their own apartments and so forth. Of course ,this may be more the exceptions than the rules. However, a system used to place autistic people in a hierarchy according to the numbers scored on a test seems pretty damned stupid to me. Plus, all it does is divide autistic people up. Just look at all the hissy fits around from the 'High Functioning' and 'Apergers' autistics. They're treating mental retardation like swine flue for Christ sakes. "Don't even put us in the same category as them, we'll catch it!" Why not just be aware of our autistic difficulties without putting more labels on it? That would be nice. Of course, it'll probably never happen.

That I'm trying very hard and always have.

i want people, my friends especially, to know that i am not lonely even i spend a lot of time alone. and i can only socialise happily in very small doses.
also, when i freak out or have meltdowns in public, it's usually due to sensory overload (mainly visually). i am trying very hard to learn about warnings signs etc, but it's sometimes still out of my control. don't be scared of me. i don't mean to embarrass those with me.

ahhh i just thought of more...

don't laugh at me when i am lost - sometimes when i am in a busy restaurant dining with family or friends, i can't always find straight away our table after going to the loo. i also get very lost at university, the building that our department is in is huge and i find it hard to navigate my way there. i have asperger's as well as dypraxia so i am particularly bad with sense of direction and spatial awareness.

do tell me to speak less frantically and less loudly when i am excited or going on and on about my interest. i don't always realise i am doing it.