Need help spreading message about AS

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In my school, we have a ton of kids who make fun of aspies, simply because they're unaware of their condition. But then the treat the more severe autistic kids with more respect since their condition is obvious. We're not AS autistic as those kids, but we shouldn't have to be treated lower than them just because we are more independent yet display some of the same behaviors. And I'm also not saying that we should get more respect than the more severe autistic kids, but instead just get the same amount of respect. It hurts me to see kids walkiing down the halls making fun of other kids with AS, I just want to go up to that person and confront them about it. But I'm too scared to. I've only been able to tell a few people, one being a friend I can trust and help me when I need advise, then there were these girls who were making fun of an autism video so I told them that I have AS so they stopped REAL fast. I'm tired of everyone being so cruel. But at the same time, I fear rejection from my other friends and classmates. What should I do to educate everyone in my school about the life of an aspie?

You know, I am a bit detached from school these days, and when I was in school this sort of method didn't work well... but perhaps your first step could be to talk to an enthusiastic teacher or counselor.

The thing is, there are teachers who want to take on these sorts of things because they believe they can help the school. So if you can get a teacher to support then perhaps you can make some sort of campaign to get the idea out there.

Adults are punks, I as someone recently crossed over into my 30s will be the first to admit it... so be careful... if someone brushes you off move on to another teacher until you find someone who gets excited when you express that you think this needs to be communicated. Once you have an adult who can be as "bought-in" as you are about your initiative they can really be a big help. They'll have resources and communication channels to take advantage of to make things happen.

If you don;t have teachers around that could do that, then I don't know... it's sort of tough because as much as students want to have authority in school without sponsorship from administration there isn't much that a student can do to make things happen.

I honestly wish you well with your endeavors, and I could make alot of suggestions, but I first I would posit that, until our school system is vastly overhauled, AS kids are just as much targets as the Chess Club or Nerds in general (Assuming there are Nerds in your school that aren't AS). Bully's tend to be pretty equal opportunity about their targets as long as they're not considered cool by the student body at large.......

As far as awareness goes, you could try becoming an advocate for your school for AS, this will require alot of knowledge gaining on your part, followed by some sort of recognition by at least a Student Government Council if not an Administration approval. Barring that, an Assembly outlining life as an AS, a series of after school seminars, posters/flyers, whatever. All of this will require approval if not outright participation of others, and will be a big undertaking for almost any High Schooler in an average Public School, much less someone with AS, but again I wish you well with anything you decide to persue. Feel free to PM me with questions, though I could suggest dropping Mr Alex (The guy that runs this site) a line and seeing if he has any suggestions about how to go about it on a high school level, since he seems to be pretty actively persuing AS Awareness in the world at Large.

That all said, I would caution against raising your hopes too high. If you do anything I mention above, PLEASE do it for yourself, or for someone/thing you care very deeply for. Do not do it hoping to change the world in a few well meaning actions, because though the possibility is there, I would honestly fear for your severe disappointment later. At the very least, if you do anything I mention, or anything extracurricular will be something you can take with you after you leave high school, both as an experience for your own personal remembrance, but also to put on a resume or a college App.

Finally, my experience of our wonderful public school system could simply be summed up with "It keeps it head down, or it gets the smack down again". Generations of institutionalized inequality building is a hard issue to fight against when you're stuck in the middle of the institution thats proliferating it..... I think many here would probably relate similar experiences/realizations.

As gloomy as this post may be, I honestly wish you well,
Aldran

[Moved from General Autism Discussion to School and College Life]

I'm actually doing some presentations for my school's Psychology classes if you are interested in hearing about that.

PM me if you details.