AS stereotypes

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This twit in my art class has a conception of autism based entirely on Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. He holds the following beliefs:
-All people with ASD are asexual (I am, but most aren't!)
-People with ASD have no emotions.
-People with ASD are incapable of any kind of human relationship.
-All people with ASD are profoundly impaired by their condition.
-People with ASD are animal lovers.
-Autism is a moral failure that results from severe selfishness.
And my personal favorite:
-We are all good at math.



What stereotypes have you encountered?

But the dog did nothing in the night!
That is the curious incidence - Sherlock Holmes...

sorry, couldn't resist. Best he leave psychiatry to those who've had some training.

Having no control over anything (as in our own bodies for example)
or
That we should all be psychicish (like the ability to do extremely hard math problems in a split second)
or
Have an extremely good memory (for what is different almost every time)


I think thats general autism though...i tell people I'm autistic and I usually get "ya, ok". its like....I'm trying to tell these people something that would help us both to have a better relationship. Like they might wonder why I think some way, or I might need them to explain something...

And then trying to explain to some people what "aspergers or high functioning autism" is and they refuse to listen.
ANd stuff. I'm really stressed right now, as I haven't been able to find my anti-depression/anxiety pills.
My sister gets it though. Sometimes I wonder if she's autistic too, but no... she's an aquarius sign, so that would explain it.

I thought Chris had emotions in the book. IMO I thought he was more autistic than AS.


All people with AS are into technical stuff (eg. electronics, gadgets, cars, computers)
All people with AS take things apart
All people with AS are savants
All people with AS have photographic memories

-All people with ASD are asexual (I am, but most aren't!)

Heh heh. My hormone levels are like a Siamese cat's. Maybe its better to be asexual if building rapport is hard. I always had too keen an imagination for what I was missing, until I finally had a personal relationship.

-People with ASD have no emotions.

I have difficulty EXPRESSING emotions but I do have them--quite intense actually.

-People with ASD are incapable of any kind of human relationship.

I tend to have relatively few, relatively intense relationships. Extremely loyal and very "nice". It was a slow realization that "normal" people associate this with put-on behavior for strangers, and it make them feel uncomfortable. My friends and I chat away like the gopher twins ("would you be so kind as to..." "oh, thank you so much!" "my fault...no, MY fault...oh no, I insist on taking the blame...").

-All people with ASD are profoundly impaired by their condition.

I am quite functional and prosperous. My "weakness"--lack of rapport with others--is also my strength. I think "outside the box" and can solve problems that are beyond the scope of conventional conceptual spaces. I am oblivious to groupthink.

-People with ASD are animal lovers.

This is a hard one. I don't hate animals. I don't think of myself as an "animal lover" and tend to fear getting attached to something that doesn't have nearly as long a lifespan as I do (I cry when pets die). I don't eat animals. I am very self-conscious and feel guilty should I cause an unprovoked death of an animal. I don't try to stop other people from eating (or wearing) animals...just as I don't stop the cat who lives with us from killing and eating mice.

-Autism is a moral failure that results from severe selfishness.

This one hurts. My sister hates me because she says I "lack empathy" (selfish, egocentric, yadda yadda). Actually, if I dare say, a lot of non-AS-enhanced people delude themselves with their own pretensions of "care and concern". They mistake group-think for "empathy" and mistake "empathy" for compassion. I am unable to play along with their delusions and it causes friction. My sister is not a kind person; she is physically and verbally abusive. She abused me physically when we were little (I was younger and got beaten a lot by her), she still abuses me verbally, and she abused her own son (I witnessed her punching him when he was already an adult man--and everybody wonders why he is so standoffish) and has smacked my kids when they have visited.

And my personal favorite:
-We are all good at math.

I would like to have been better and would still like to brush up.

I don't like being told that I "lack empathy". I also don't like being told that I have no consideration for other people's feelings. I am VERY careful about what I say. I have never said something like "Your arms look like fat sausages" (actual example from a book about AS/HFA).

I don't like insinuations that I'm a little slow. My IQ has been tested to around 152. Yes, I do sometimes have difficulty recognizing sarcasm in strangers (but not in people I know well enough to 2nd guess), but that does not mean that I am "the last one in a group to get a joke". To me, sarcasm seems more obnoxious than funny or witty. I can't figure out why other people think it's clever to say something they don't mean.

My ex husband is operating under the delusion that my son and I cannot have AS because:

*We have friends and AS people are incapable of having friendships or meaningful relationships with people.
*We do things in public and AS people are so completely neurotic that they are incapable of leaving their little cages.
*We don't have a lot of flapping or other physical showings unless we are completely stressed and God knows, those AS people are just flapping like crazy all of the time.
*We can actually communicate semi-coherently and AS people are completely incapable of being verbal or any sort of communication that makes sense.

If I run across any other bits of his stupidity, I'll let you know.

This seems to be what many people think about people with ASDs...if they've even heard of ASDs. I know that's why some people don't believe that I have AS. But I am an animal lover.

Well I'm not AS but I will answer as myself......

All people with ASD are asexual (I am, but most aren't!)

No

People with ASD have no emotions.

Check.


People with ASD are incapable of any kind of human relationship.

I only get along with 2 people- My brother and my best friend. So I guess this is still a no.

All people with ASD are profoundly impaired by their condition.

Besides the fact that I cannot communicate with other people without arguing; I'm pretty much okay.

People with ASD are animal lovers.

Check


Autism is a moral failure that results from severe selfishness.

><! !!???. I don't want to put a check here.


We are all good at math.

Check.

Ok, here goes.
-No, read a few of my posts and you will get some idea as to how I think about sexuality
-No, I have a lot of emotion, and struggle a great deal when there is only one person that I can express them to properly
-No, I have friends, I have had a girlfriend. I am not very good, but incapable of any? Nooo.
-Yes, I love animals, and can relate to them better than to people, they are less judgemental
-Hmm, I have a moral code, it just revolves around what I think is right...
-I am not bad at math, but I had to take the next test lower for GCSE because I kept failing the mock exam.

My sister was the first person to make any connection between me and AS, then turned round and said that I am making it up for attention. That must be true, I love the feeling I get when I have to talk to someone and my heartbeat trebles and I start mumbling. The first thing I am thinking of is "look at me!". I would happily sit in a corner and go un-noticed...

Conversely, I finally told my best friend that I am slightly autistic. His reply?

"Slightly?"

I would rather he said that than say

"No you aren't"

because the latter would then bring out my ten page argument to back up my original statement. He was not surprised.

The only stereotypes that describe me, are that I'm an animal lover and I have a photographic memory.

For these two: most of us are incapable of relationships; most of us are profoundly impaired with our condition.

The others are erroneous (we get along with animals well for obvious reasons; it doesn't mean we all like them).

-All people with ASD are asexual
No. I certainly am not. I've had a couple of girlfriends, it didn't get that far, but I know that I gravitate towards females. Getting my neck bitten by my now ex girlfriend is definatly a pleasant and enjoyable experience(hickie)....yeah. enough said.


-People with ASD have no emotions.
I can at sometimes tend to be a bit cold towards others, I rarely smile as evidenced by a lot of my pictures, and with the exception of my first ex, who surprisingly enough was able to get me to smile(I think by tickling me), I don't smile, unless my parents in the rare album moment get us together for an xmas picture, and want me to smile, which I won't, they mention her name and I grin...don't know. the girl I took to the dance on Sunday, somehow got me to smile.


-People with ASD are incapable of any kind of human relationship.
As evidenced by my previous two statements, I'd say no. I've got a lot of good friends, and a few close aquaintances, one of them being my boss/es at my jobs who look out for me.


-All people with ASD are profoundly impaired by their condition.
Er...........no. not that I know of.

-People with ASD are animal lovers.
Yes. when I'm done with college and have my own apartment, I'm getting a kitten. I used to be a dog person, but I want a cat. less of a mess, more cuddly, and more independant.

-Autism is a moral failure that results from severe selfishness.
I have a moral code, I also believe that if you try and hurt my family, I will hunt you down.

okay, so taht was a bit.........meh. But I have my morals. I believe in God and wahtnot, and I follow the bible........not that closely, but overall I believe.
And my personal favorite:
-We are all good at math.
HAHAHAHAHA. No.

I just put a curse on your family. Start hunting.

Couldn't resist.

The main stereotype I see is that we are all Rain Man.

You can't say this and remain a lady, but tell him to F**k Off! Sorry. Those are the dumbest misconceptions I've ever heard. A good hearty laugh is just about the only comback. Or....."Gee, I'm all of that? Pretty good for someone you've never taken the time to talk to or gotten to know. Your loss....er, I mean, get lost!"

Agreed that autism and AS have a resilient set of stereotypes attached to them by NTs. Here are a few stereotypes I've run across over the 7 years that I've been diagnosed with AS.

- All people with AS are inseparable from computers.
- All people with AS are sedentary, and never exercise.
- All people with AS must live with their parents, since they can't support themselves.
- All people with AS are incapable of producing healthy offspring.
- All people with AS are passive in the face of conflict - not aggressive.
- All people with AS are proud of it.
- All people with AS would not do well in a 'dog-eat-dog' business model.
- All people with AS are incapable of showing true love.
- All people with AS have severely low self esteem.

the asexual one is true---to an extent [am have never even come across someone who knows about asexuality before,at least he knows what it is?],and autists do often have better awareness of,and better relationships with-animals than humans.
the only problem is when saying everyone is the same.

In a way,cannot really blame people who do not have anything to do with kanners or aspergers [such as being support for/working with/living with autistics] for being ignorant on autism because there is not enough awareness out there and they're not going to look for it unless it's of interest/help,the NAS helped with their recent campaign though.
The blame is more with media for focusing on stereotypes,but ASD is extremely complex,it's impossible to get right with one desecription and say it represents everyone on the spectrum because it's a different experience for every autistic.