care and feeding of your aspie

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I just discovered this... there was no rhyme or reason... and both my blogs are gone... Not sure why... and there is NO WAY to get ahold of anyone at google to get an explanation... there is a maze of BS and no one to talk to... I have many of them archived... but I AM FURIOUS right now

should be fixed now

Yup They're fixed! Still a little unsure why they got removed in the first place, though :s

There were issues... but you would be amazed at what the phrase "I suspect media suppression of an autism self advocacy blog" will do for you

Maybe Part 31 ruffled some feathers jk but who knows.

I hope you don't have any more problems in the future, though Google in general seems to be lacking in their products lately (half the time they aren't reliable anymore), especially Google Hangouts. Blogger usually isn't too bad though, in my experience.

Yeah... Jenny McCarthy is out to take me down... Actually, in one of the issues, the phrase "and over..." was repeated in a way that triggered their spam filter...

it involved a very helpful, but politically correct woman at google headquarters... who said encouraging things like, "you're very well spoken for someone with autism"... and not so helpful things like... "you only have ten followers"...

I don't care so much about the site as I do the work... and today, I figured out how to archive it... and will be doing so weekly, so if this happens again, I can just import it from the back up.

>>>Part 33<<< - Money Matters

Please tell us when your book comes out. I will need seven copies to distribute to my family.

>>>Part 34<<< - Celebrities, Historical Figures and Fictional Characters

*De-lurk*

Hi Feralucce.
I love your 'care and feeding of your aspie' series, as I too believe that NTs with aspies in their lives need to learn about us from the perspectives of our own kind more than the ramblings of the so-called 'experts' of the NT variey, most of whom seem to have very little understanding of the internal worlds of aspies.

Although my experiences as an aspie seem to be significantly different from yours in many ways, the similarities far outweigh the differences, and for that reason, and with the caveat that not all of the things in it apply to me (teeth out without weeks of horrific, debilitating pain, really? lucky...) I would recommend this series to those around me to read to get a far better idea of who and what I am and how they might better deal with me in various situations.

If it's not too bold of me, this being my first post on these forums and all, I would like to suggest a topic that you've touched on several times in many different contexts:

'Asperger's Syndrome is real, no matter how 'normal' we seem at times. No, we're not just making excuses, our brains actually work differently from yours. Seriously.' ...or something to that effect. I'm not much of a writer, but I'm sure you can come up with a clever way to put it.

I can't tell you how many times I've told people that I'm an aspie, and explained that aspies are people diagnosed with a form of high functioning autism called Asperger's Syndrome, and have been met with responses like "But you seem normal to me." or "You're not autistic, I've seen/met/worked with autistic people and they're all severely disabled..." or something similar.

Convincing friends, family, co-workers, and bosses that my brain just doesn't work like theirs and even that Asperger's Syndrome is a real thing and it's not that I'm just an anti-social jerk with self control & anger issues who takes everything too literally, is lazy, and has no tact has been a huge struggle. My older sister, with a masters degree in psychology no less, hasn't spoken to me in over fourteen years because she still believes that. I feel like it'd be helpful for you to write a section that takes on the assumptions that NTs make about us, Asperger's Syndrome, autism and ASDs in general, and the fact that it's quite possible and likely for people to be autistic but act in seemingly 'normal' ways most of the time.

Just a thought.

I was particularly impressed with your arguments for the use of the term disease, which I was skeptical about as I dislike the stigma which NTs tend to associate with the term, but which I must concede, given your extremely persuasive logic, is the proper term which has a pragmatic purpose.
Still, I would contend that we are autistic/we are aspies, we don't 'have autism' or 'have Asperger's syndrome' like one might have a physical disorder. Being autistics/aspies is a part of who we are as much as being part of a certain ethnic group, religion, nationality, gender, or sexual orientation is for most people. I feel like saying we 'have autism' or 'have Asperger's syndrome' tends to negate or diminish that, and is relatively offensive.
In that sense, I can understand why then defining ASD as a disease would rub some people the wrong way, since it's hard to swallow part of who we are as being something which is fundamentally wrong in some way. However, your arguments have convinced me that this is exactly what we must do if we are to be truly honest with ourselves, whatever the cost to our pride and self esteem.
Please do not take this endorsement lightly. I seldom change my mind about something, even more seldom do I do so because someone else convinces me to, and that happens only if someone makes a logical, fact & practical reality based argument that successfully refutes any and all arguments against their argument. I'm very, very impressed that you were able to do so, and I'm excited to be proven wrong and learn something new in the process.

Again, I would like to thank you for your intelligent, insightful series, and I hope that you continue it and eventually publish it as a full sized book.

Keep up the good work!

I'm loving the series and have thought of some more topics for you if you need them. But first, I want to comment on part 29 on the term "Disease".

I understand that the we fit into the medical definition of having a disease, but also feel that this word carries with it some connotations that I don't like. It's like your example of "whore" and "prostitute". They both mean the same but one sounds so much worse. And "disease" is the whore. Very similar to how "cool" can mean something other then slightly cold and "gay" can mean something other then happy, I think "disease" can mean something other then the medical definition. I think disorder, condition or syndrome all convey the same thing but without that bad taste that none of us want.

And not to be a stickler, but I just can't let this one line go:

"By insisting that we are just different, we are stating that we don't need treatment, advocacy, or special education or even awareness of our condition, because we are just like everyone else."
If we cut out the commas:
"By insisting that we are just different...because we are just like everyone else."

We can't be just like everyone else if we are just different.

So here are some other possible topics:

Aspie in the workplace. Do you put it on your medical history when you apply for a job? If you are already working, do you tell your coworkers? Your boss? How do you describe it to them without sounding like you are making an excuse to be a jerk?

Being an aspie parent and raising an aspie child. How do you not but heads constantly? What do they really need to know about their disorder as a child?

And to go along with that one, basic education for your aspie child. Public school? Private school? Home school? what's the right choice?