Aspergirls

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Meow101
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20 Oct 2011, 10:39 pm

Verdandi wrote:

Rose_in_Winter wrote:

industrialx wrote:

One thing I just remembered is that the book proposes that in ASD, the commonly-perceived 'lack of empathy' and similar traits are not actually that, but rather related to sensory overload.

That sounds possible to me. I empathise very strongly with animals, much more so than humans. I sometimes feel things so acutely (like the pain of an animal in a puppy mill) that I have to shut down or meltdown.

Sensory overload certainly makes it harder for me to read people or know how to respond appropriately. I think there's more to it, but I suspect it has little to do with any nonsense like "missing social modules" and more to do with how autistic people process information.

This is interesting, because when my sensory issues are at their worst is when I get accused of being "selfish" and "lacking empathy" the most.

~Kate

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CheeseDeprived
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22 Oct 2011, 3:47 am

It was the first book I read after being diagnosed. As such it will always be special to me. I could identify with most of it. The parts I didn't I just read through and forgot about. But I was going to highlight the bits that applied to me and gave up on the idea because I would have ended up highlighting most of the book.

In fact, it was Rudy's website and specifically the list of female Asperger's traits that finally led me to pursue a diagnosis. When I read that list, so many pennies dropped. I feel as though I owe a lot of to her.

BuyerBeware
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22 Oct 2011, 12:05 pm

I bought it because I thought, after 14 years of being encouraged to be extra-passive (after all, all the experts know that ALL Aspies are stubborn and aggressive, right??) I thought some empowerment might be helpful for a change.

I was right. At least in my case. It really did a lot for my self-esteem. I felt like a person again, for the first time in a long time, like I didn't have to scratch and claw for my right to be (at least a little bit) myself, like that right was something I just HAD, as much as any NT woman. It was a really good feeling.

I was a little hurt and offended by the Ms. Simone's gently urging readers not to procreate, 'cause I like raising my kids and get really sick of being told that Aspies can't be good mothers. But-- I also understand that she's just trying to counteract all the pressure society puts on anyone with a vagina to adore and desire offspring, to say that it's OK to NOT want them too.

With world population set to top 7 billion any day now (and a long struggle with environmental guilt over the choice to have a third child) that seems to me to go without saying, but I guess that's not the case for everyone.

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fraac
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22 Oct 2011, 12:21 pm

Rose_in_Winter wrote:

industrialx wrote:

One thing I just remembered is that the book proposes that in ASD, the commonly-perceived 'lack of empathy' and similar traits are not actually that, but rather related to sensory overload.

Also we have different motives than NTs. You can't empathise with someone with different motives, at least not unless you recognise the difference.

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28 Oct 2011, 5:18 pm

I love her book! I found it online after stumbling across her blog on Psychology Today's website and my parents (who have been doing rediculus amounts of research on AS since my diagnosis) were instantly willing to buy it seeing as there are so few books on females with Asperger's.

My mom is blind so I have been reading it aloud to her (though I finished it within a few days of receiving it) and we've both noticed a lot of little things that apply to me, things that I've never noticed, but have always been there.

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psayles56
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15 Nov 2011, 3:24 am

industrialx wrote:

Today I bought a book by Rudy Simone called 'Aspergirls: Empowering Females with Asperger Syndrome.' As a self-diagnosed AS female, I am finding it quite interesting, although I have one or two reservations, which aren't really important. I was wondering if anyone else has read this book or any of Simone's books, and what you thought of it/them.

I want to check this book out.

I love your avatar by the way.

psayles56
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15 Nov 2011, 3:32 pm

I also want to read the fool.

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