If you had two choices before birth, would you choos AS or m

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Fatal-Noogie
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19 Aug 2011, 11:26 pm

Callista wrote:
Verdandi wrote:
I don't want to be someone else.
Exactly.

Now, if you were to pick which you'd want for some random child (not one you'd raise, because then you'd pick AS since you could raise an AS child more easily), then I think it'd be a toss-up. As far as happiness goes, either one has the same problem of being just close enough to typical that people would constantly compare you to typical people, but far enough away that you never could be; and they would both have the same problem of "playing normal" and the invisible disability issue.

Really, if I were to be asked to decide for some random kid I wouldn't get to raise, I'd just flip a coin.
Then I would blackmail you 20 years later, and threaten to tell that person that you flipped a coin to decide their fate. :twisted:

Nah! just kidding. :lol: I think I see where you're trying to get by analogy.


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SammichEater
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19 Aug 2011, 11:35 pm

Fatal-Noogie wrote:
Callista wrote:
Verdandi wrote:
I don't want to be someone else.
Exactly.

Now, if you were to pick which you'd want for some random child (not one you'd raise, because then you'd pick AS since you could raise an AS child more easily), then I think it'd be a toss-up. As far as happiness goes, either one has the same problem of being just close enough to typical that people would constantly compare you to typical people, but far enough away that you never could be; and they would both have the same problem of "playing normal" and the invisible disability issue.

Really, if I were to be asked to decide for some random kid I wouldn't get to raise, I'd just flip a coin.
Then I would blackmail you 20 years later, and threaten to tell that person that you flipped a coin to decide their fate. :twisted:

Nah! just kidding. :lol: I think I see where you're trying to get by analogy.


I don't think so. Even if I were deciding someone's fate other than my own, I would still chose AS over mild mental retardation.

AS means impairment in social and communicational areas. Mental retardation means impairment across the board, with everything.


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littlelily613
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19 Aug 2011, 11:39 pm

I would definitely choose ASD. I see the problems my niece has trying to grasp very simple concepts and she is only borderline, so I definitely would not want to be MMR. If I was, I would probably have a different perspective and might say "I definitely would not want to be autistic"...but as it is, autistic is the only thing I know, so I would choose to be that again.


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Tuttle
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20 Aug 2011, 12:23 am

I don't see this as a question. For myself I'd choose AS even over NT even with all my problems. I don't want to be anyone other than myself.



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20 Aug 2011, 8:42 am

If I had to choose between the two, I would choose mildly ret*d, because (funnily enough) ''stupid'' people get less bullied at school than clever people.

My cousin had learning difficulties, and was behind everyone in her class, but she still had the ability to make friends much better than I had, so she wasn't lonely. When you got AS, you're alone enough to wallow in depression (this is why a lot of Aspies get depressed).

I've found that a lot of people are mildly ret*d, so if you're one of them, you're not alone, whereas all through my school life I felt really alone with having AS because nobody else had it. In every class there was usually at least 3 or 4 kids put on the Special Ed table, due to learning difficulties.


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20 Aug 2011, 8:55 am

I would chose AS but I might be happy more often if I were mildly ret*d.



claudia
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20 Aug 2011, 9:26 am

Joe90 wrote:
If I had to choose between the two, I would choose mildly ret*d, because (funnily enough) ''stupid'' people get less bullied at school than clever people.

I disagree... they're not bullied at school, but they have it worse than clever people later in life. If you are bullied by NTs it's because they somehow fear that they won't be able to stand comparison with you.
They ignore mildly ret*d people for the opposite reason and because they know they can take advantage of them with no need to be aggressive.
Outstanding pupils are likey to be bullied even if they're NTs, I can assure you because it happened to me too. If you are outstanding and eccentric it's worse I think, but school is not forever and you will see advantages later in life.



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20 Aug 2011, 9:29 am

I don't think there's a difference in happiness between AS and mild MR. As someone stated above, both can have the issue of 'too normal to get help but not normal enough to fit in'. I've heard mild MR colloquially referred to as 'seven-hour ret*d' because there's an attitude that it only affects academic performance and nothing else. I've also heard that's a misconception and mild MR can need a lot of help in areas other than schooling, basically the exact same kind of help as AS often need.

And both have their joys that the other kind doesn't have. Non-autistic mild MR tend to enjoy social interaction the same way NTs do, and with less deception and dishonesty. I've seen many mild MR people who have friends with similar IQs, and their friendships seem to be just as important to them as NT friendships. Also, falling in love is a joy I can't have, but asexuality isn't any more common in mild MR than the general population. (Not that I'd want to be sexual, it seems to come with a lot of trouble as well as enjoyment.)

And mild MR don't get the same passionate love of learning that gifted AS people do. The sheer joy of discovering that 8p23 has a gene for microcephaly on it and copy number variations of that gene can cause autism or ADHD, that Rett Syndrome is the Rosetta stone of genetic disorders because MECP2 controls the activation of hundreds of other genes, you have to be highly intelligent and obsessed to experience that kind of joy. And it's one of my favorite things.

Personally I'd chose to be AS because I like myself and don't want to be someone else. About the only thing I would change about myself if I could is that I wish I was a bit more severely autistic, so I was more classic Asperger's instead of mild PDD NOS. Then it would be easier to understand where I fit in this whole thing.



EmmaUK12
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20 Aug 2011, 9:55 am

I think a better question would be AS or NT? I know it has been asked before.



Lecks
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20 Aug 2011, 10:06 am

I can only choose what I have a comfortable amount of knowledge about, so for me this is not much of a choice. Same with the "would you rather be NT" threads, my knowledge of NT's is superficial at best and I'm only familiar with my own collection of symptoms that put me on the autistic spectrum.


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20 Aug 2011, 11:32 am

I would choose what God chooses for me.


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anneurysm
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20 Aug 2011, 2:55 pm

I'd be happier AS, personally....but you shouldn't use the word 'ret*d'. It has fallen out of date and considered derogatory and an insult by many people. The correct term is intellectual disability or developmental disability/delay.

My sister has this disability and I know many other people who have it, including some people I consider friends. They are insulted by the r-word all the time and I am surprised how many people still think it's acceptable.

Sorry, sometimes I get so ticked off due to the fact that there is so much autism and AS awareness but extremely little awareness on intellectual disabilities. It's sad.


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This misdiagnosis caused me significant stress, which lessened upon finding out the truth about myself from my current and past long-term therapists - that I am an anxious and highly sensitive person but do not have an autism spectrum disorder.

My diagnoses - social anxiety disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

I’m no longer involved with the ASD world.


littlelily613
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20 Aug 2011, 3:19 pm

anneurysm wrote:
I'd be happier AS, personally....but you shouldn't use the word 'ret*d'. It has fallen out of date and considered derogatory and an insult by many people. The correct term is intellectual disability or developmental disability/delay.


Actually the term used by the psychology community in their studies, papers, books etc is mental retardation. I only ever see "intellectual disability" in papers written by non-professionals are are attempting to sound politcally correct.


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20 Aug 2011, 3:33 pm

AS, of course. Because by being asked the question we are being provided with direct evidence of the existence of a sadistic God (or some similar higher power) and it'd be useful to have full faculties to bear on working out how to punch them in their metaphysical face.


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