Why are many people happy to be diagnosed with AS?

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There's an easy and obvious answer to this question, perhaps two. Perhaps more. (If someone has mentioned this already, my apology for redundancy since I glanced at the topic and am responding without reading all the replies.) The obvious answer: Asperger's Syndrome has a bright side that many disorders do not. It can imply aptitude and genuis, creativity and willpower. These are highly coveted characteristics in the main stream. Who guffaws at being called intelligent? Most people take it as a compliment. The overplayed role of the ditzy bimbo is a tad bit cliche and oh so trite. It's so Three's Company.
So, there's that angle.
Next, there's people who are relieved to finally have a diagnosis of something so they can begin working on their stuff, to have a better, more fulfilling, rewarding life of ease and accomplishment.

I was happy to get diagnosed because it makes me who I am. And with an official diagnosis, I got more help from people to learn social skills.

This will be my last post here. Not because I am upset or don't want to explain myself, but because it is not really good for me to get overstressed, and that's precisely what is happening to me in this thread. Just because I am "neurotypical" doesn't mean I don't have anything. I do indeed have something, it's just not on the autistic spectrum. I need to keep myself away from too much stress. That is why I like anonymous forums - people can only sharpen their pitchforks virtually, not literally.

I admit that I am quite desensitized to the word "disease" because I work in the health care industry, and I used to work with diseases and diagnoses a lot - not anymore since I got that pesky something. Before that, I was virtually certain I had AS, in fact, I used to post here under a different nickname saying I was "self-diagnosed". That is why I understand all of you, both who got diagnosed and those who are not sure.

I want to leave you with one final thought. I would like to take the mission statement of this forum one step further by changing the language. Asperger's Syndrome, in my opinion, should not be diagnosed as a syndrome. Instead, it should be referred to as "Aspergian mentality". That would be much easier to explain without people telling you you must act like "rain man." In addition, it would not negatively stigmatize as much. And finally, here is a link you may find interesting:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/chi ... -all-about

Now I must leave before the virtual pitchforks are sharpened again. No more FAss.

Interesting article. For some of us, it might be news. For most of us though, it isn't. For me, it's all stuff I've thought about on my own, and didn't really need an article to think about.

This response is not meant be blunt, though I suspect that's how it appears. It's simply the truth. For me, trying to explain what it's like to be on the spectrum to anyone who isn't on it themselves, is like trying to build skyscrapers out of rubber. Once in a while, for a moment or two, I might get the concept through, just as a rubber skyscraper might stand straight for a moment or two. Most of the time though, it just bounces and sways, never really standing straight for all practical purposes.

You might think that's the fallacy of the explanations. It isn't. It's in the inability of NT's to understand something they have never experienced. They say you should walk a mile in someone's shoes before you judge them. The problem for us is that in our case, it's impossible unless you are one of us. I don't mean that as an exclusionary thought. It's just a fact. Reading about, and imagining it is one thing, but it's nothing at all like actually being it.

I think this thread has run it's course in terms of potential usefulness and it seems better if I lock it. The OP (or interested members) can pm me if he disagrees with that.