Hey, I'm an adult recently diagnosed with Aspergers after it first came to my attention in a random way a couple of years ago. Honestly it is really remarkable to me that no one put this together before, but no. I had the childhood selective mutism, speaking only to a handful of people (immediate family members) and in first grade, was put in a special educational setting to focus on social interaction and communication. Always had my own all-absorbing special interests and never really socialized or interacted with other kids, etc. Very detail-oriented and precise, tended to do well academically, considered "gifted" and that kind of thing. I have some sensitivities to light and sound. Very analytical and mentally-focused or mentally-oriented. I tend to analyze everything, trying to connect parts and make it into a system to a great extent. Have a bit of the spectrum-related OCD-like stuff. I write quite a bit. Very bad at multi-tasking, and making a lot of lists so that I can focus on one thing at a time and check it off is really characteristic of me. I specifically don't have the stereotypical photographic memory, memorizing numbers and that kind of thing. Sounds like a great thing to have, but no such luck. Horrible with names. It's not pervasive at all and is a more minor trait for me, but i do experience issues with facial recognition to a limited degree.
As an adult I'm a graphic designer. Studied architecture for a couple years in grad school as well. Some of my big interests are politics (not really because of the "horse-race" aspect so much as in the justice and progress aspects). I'd be described as being on the left, and very civil-liberties oriented. Really interested in the Occupy movement, and it's global counterparts (Arab Spring, the Indian anti-corruption movement, etc.) Also vegetarianism and animal welfare. Food and cooking. A lot of things with cultures, particularly Indian. Certain types of philosophy... I could go on about all of these things extensively but I'm trying to keep it bare-bones for the purposes of an introduction.
Was very relieved to receive the diagnosis, because it FINALLY made sense of a huge number of things I had dealt with all my life: I felt like I was no longer a freak with 500 random idiosyncrasies, but rather it was one, identifiable thing--and I was FiINE. The diagnosis really depersonalized these things for me and made me feel much better about myself. I'm content to embrace the idea of being autistic, and while of course there are difficulties here and there, I'm used to them and I tend not to see it as a "disability", or a net negative. Everything is a trade-off in life. And I'm quite happy with myself as I am and wouldn't change in order to become NT. I think we're SUPPOSED to be here, and that autistic people have historically had a huge impact on moving society forward, as Temple Grandin seems to suggest. I highly resent these wealthy, politically-connected, NT "big shots" peddling fear and pathology at the expense of those they purport to "speak" for, in order to boost their own profile and fill their coffers, and talking about a "cure", an "epidemic", "divorce", "broken families", etc. I think this is really beyond outrageous and highly abusive and irresponsible on so many levels. It is clear exploitation and has to be vocally fought, in my opinion. This is very much a political issue for me.
I'm pretty non-social (as opposed to anti-social or apathetic). The only way I really extensively "talk" to people is online. My normal in-person mode is to be quiet and pretty much to interact as little as I can get away with. I will do it when need be, but I try to avoid it. It has nothing to do with "not liking people", being "cold' or "superior" etc, there is just too much to figure out, too many things to deal with simultaneously, too many judgements as a result of mismatched understandings--which make me feel terrible, etc; and all this makes it really nerve-wracking and exhausting. I'm also not great at the eye-contact thing. I don't really have people that I "hang out" with, do activities with or that sort of thing--just my partner. I'm content with that though. I don't know a lot of other autistic people. I'm here to hopefully meet interesting people with interesting things to say, and hopefully to find a little support, understanding, validation and so on.
21 Aug 2012, 9:58 am
