Can't have Autism because..........

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Item One:
I can't be faceblind because, after a half-century of pretending to be normal and learning a lifetime of tricks, I can pass a face test designed for small children.

Item Two:
This doesn't exactly fit, but it's part of the little-professor (boy) vs little philosopher (girl) theme. If a little boy knows more about trucks than any of the adults in his life, they can look it up and -- gosh darn it if the kid wasn't right. If the little philosopher has something to say that's a bit out of the box or over their heads, there's no way to look it up. She's not an Aspie, she's just rude/weird/whatever.

Last edited by Tahitiii on 19 Jan 2011, 11:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I have a job and I've performed well.

I've waited tables semi-successfully. (Note that I no longer do . . .)

I'm a 19 year old girl who enjoys being around my two friends...

You're not Autistic because:

You're female

You can crack jokes at a whim and make people laugh

You can understand and laugh at most jokes

You have a variety of interests
(a variety of NARROW and SPECIFIC ones!)

You like being around people, and talking to them
(not in an Extro-vert type way, but in general)

You are independent

You are in college doing Uni. Level courses

You can maintain a decent conversation (not as easy as it sounds...)

You are completely verbal and don't just repeat what others say

You can drive/commute/travel by coach or plane alone

Man, I love Stereo-Types. Don't you?

You could talk when you were a young child.

You can drive.

You can hold reciprocal conversations with others who can absorb what you have to say. If only so many had not spent their youth on kicking a ball around and had been better served by their schools.

You don't mind being touched.

You can function independently.

Last edited by sgrannel on 23 Jan 2011, 5:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

"You can't have autism. You're just being a whiny, picky, lazy brat who just wants to make excuses for being a whiny, picky, lazy brat." -My family.

Jeez, did my family adopt you without telling me? 'Cause that sounds just like mine...

"You can't have autism because you can have a conversation."

That's like saying, "You can't have dyslexia because you can read." Yeah, you can, it just takes you a heck of a lot of effort to learn...

Oh yes. Where I live we had the police all around the country looking for a low-functioning autistic boy who has run away from home. The police didn't find him - he found the police, he approached them and let them bring him home safely. Didn't show any fear or anxiety anyway.


Oh yes again. I can see very well when people are bored with what I am saying and I stop blibbering on the spot but I don't know what on Earth should I say to keep a conversation going. So the usual scenario is that other people talk while I try to cram in some talking when they allow me to do so.

Last edited by Severus on 20 Jan 2011, 5:07 pm, edited 2 times in total.

According to the criteria of this thread, I'm not autistic.

Three recent examples:

"But you don't have a monotone voice".
Well yeah; but what if you can barely hear it because I speak so quietly? And you laugh it off when I say "because otherwise it feels like I'm shouting and it hurts".

"You're too high-functioning".
Er, right... Ok... but you hadn't noticed it's on maybe three subjects and nothing else? At all? And all my jobs have only been with two of those things? Sheesh. Anyone with AS would be "too high-functioning" if they were employed to work exclusively with their special interest.

"You look... normal"
What - you mean I'm supposed to have three heads, already?

Last edited by Cornflake on 21 Jan 2011, 6:54 am, edited 1 time in total.

My former psychiatrist: "It's overdiagnosed" "You have warm personality" "you make eye contact"

Lady I know: "You make eye contact" "You are good at conversations"

Some other people have flat out told me know after barely talking to me. But my past therapist and current therapist and a couple other people I have met see it though.

So far I haven't had anyone contradict me when I told them. But I have had them try to minimize my explanations of how it affects me.

There's something fairly obviously wrong with me, and some smart people twig that it's autism. So I don't get told I can't have autism, because people can't deny that I have something.

I don't meet the stereotype of being good at tech, or maths - some people assume I am because they know I'm autistic, though. This is to my benefit, at work.

Mine too.

I've been told, "You're too old to be autistic. It's too late to diagnose you."

I'm 37, I was already grown when autism was officially recognized. So exactly when was I supposed to get this dx as a child? *boggle*

I'm especially empathetic to other posters here who have said they learned 'tricks' to deal with difficulties in their lives, and that it doesn't mean they don't have Asperger's.

Everyone's a little bit autistic.

Oh my gosh yes. I had this battle with my speech teacher (like the regual class about public speaking, not special ed, just for clairification that she doesn't know how to deal with me). She kept telling me to be louder and be more expressive and whatever. I told her I didn't know how. I mean I can be louder, but I feel like I'm screaming at everyone. So I got Bs and Cs all semester until my mom had a meeting and explained that I really didn't know how (like she thought I was lying or something? I can't see the motivation for that, but whatever) and that if she wanted me to improve she was going to have explain exactly what she wanted me to do different. I got 100's on the rest of my speeches even though she ceased telling me to do better and I didn't change anything. I guess she was trying to make up for be a jerk.

Anyways,
I can't have autism because I get good grades.
I can't have autism because I have friends.
I can't have autism because I'm an ABA major. (I don't know where that one comes from. I guess the concepts used to try to "fix" people like me are supposed to be too complicated for someone with autism to understand. I considered taking a class on ABA for autism this semester, but I figured the overwhelming ignorance would just piss me off.)