"You definitely don't have Asperger's"

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Chloe33
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31 Mar 2013, 10:12 am

Tyri0n wrote:

My acting teacher for the acting class I'm taking got on my case for always having a stiff upper body and trouble making certain sounds as well as issues with projecting energy/"too laid back" as she called it (I have sensory issues that make it difficult to open my eyes very wide), so I told her I have "NLD, which is like mild Asperger's" since I didn't feel like explaining PDD-NOS to ask for her suggestions in dealing with it.

She said "no you don't. We had a girl come in from a group home to one of my classes. She was the sweetest thing ever, but she was completely useless and couldn't learn lines or arrange to meet with other students. So you definitely don't have it."

It seems like here there are lots of semi-functional people with Asperger's here to whom I can relate and some more functional than me in a variety of areas. I have talked with one girl from here on Skype who almost seems like a full NT but still has few or no friends. Why is it so impossible for people to understand how ASD can be mild and nearly invisible and still cause a host of difficulties?

Isn't this a type of discrimination? An institution or employer making incorrect assumptions about a person's disability or refusing to accept paperwork showing that the person has one or just stereotyping based on a label is actually illegal under Title I of the ADA.

The teacher is stereotyping from one student she had. That's not good.
I think teachers are supposed to give constructive critizm, not beat people down. Sounds like a bad teacher to assume from having one Autistic student that all would be the same. No 2 Autistics are alike.

However the teacher doesn't think that you have aspergers or autism, as she compared you to the girl she has and said "so you definitely don't have it" so maybe she thinks that you are doing fine. We also have no idea where on the spectrum the girl was. Yet it's not nice of the teacher to think all autistics are alike like that. She needs to deal with more autistic people to get a variety and change her views.

tall-p
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31 Mar 2013, 3:43 pm

Tyri0n wrote:

What is the discrimination part... that the teacher doesn't beleive you have NLD (which you don't)? Maybe acting isn't for you if you have to squint and have a tight upper body, and are too laid back. Most people have to rely on their own experience for what these different labels mean. Do you think that the teacher should just cut you slack because you have NLD (which you don't)? It sounds to me like you are saying that you can't change... ie learn.

Do you want to sue her?

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31 Mar 2013, 4:18 pm

tall-p wrote:

Tyri0n wrote:

How do you know he doesn't have NLD, NLD is very common in people on the spectrum. Stop making assumptions.

bumble
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31 Mar 2013, 4:42 pm

I believe there are a number of actors who either have or are suspected to have an ASD and they still manage to be able to act. It doesn't mean they don't have an ASD, it just means they are still able to act with it.

Its like saying that all people with an ASD should be like Einstein or a real life sheldon. That probably is not the case.

Even people with ASD's have different skill sets and abilities, just like NT's.

I suspect it would depend on which ASD traits you have and to what degree combined with aspects such as your personality, socioeconomic background, environment and so on. This is what makes each person with an ASD an individual and not a carbon copy of each other...the same applies to NT's.

As a result in some people an ASD will be obvious and in others you won't hardly be able to see it at all and all shades of grey in between.

Ie I made it through a drama course and a media studies course at college, but my social life is still a shambles, I still adore my fascinations (I wont call my interests obsessive it sounds too negative, I am passionate about them instead) and spend much of my time indulging them, I still have sensitivities and a liking for sameness in certain ways and what appear to be meltdowns etc. But does it mean I couldn't possibly have an ASD just because I passed a drama and medias studies class at college?

I can also do science...so does that mean we are back to the possibility that I could have an ASD on that criteria alone (ignoring all the other stuff?).

Meh. Ignore your teacher.

bumble
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31 Mar 2013, 4:54 pm

It is also possible to put out the appearance of being NT...for short periods of time anyway, otherwise it becomes exhausting and can end up making you feel miserable.

Appearing 'normal' 24/7 is hard work.

Tyri0n
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31 Mar 2013, 4:54 pm

tall-p wrote:

Tyri0n wrote:

Wow, this is ridiculous. If you read my OP, you'll see that my purpose was to ask for constructive advice on remedying these problems. I explained what caused them, described other problems that she was only vaguely aware of, and then asked what I should do to fix the problems. That is not the same as asking to be cut some slack. Basically, if you read my OP, I was doing the opposite of what you accuse me of doing.

She didn't deny I had NLD. She said "you definitely don't have Asperger's" when I compared it to Asperger's when she wasn't familiar with it. My purpose of taking this class was to get over some of these problems, so I wanted her to be more aware of them so she could help me work on them. Maybe my OP didn't make this clear enough.

Also, yes I have NLD. I have a 54-point gap between my VIQ and PIQ, which isn't just NLD, it's actually a very severe case of it. Also, blunted emotions, the relational part of my brain doesn't exist, bad executive functioning, horrible navigation skills -- whether or not I actually have ASD apart from extra severe NLD causing me to meet the criteria by another route, making the ASD diagnosis redundant, that's debatable. But I DEFINITELY have NLD.

Last edited by Tyri0n on 31 Mar 2013, 5:03 pm, edited 2 times in total.

bumble
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31 Mar 2013, 4:59 pm

Who_Am_I wrote:

I don't see how Asperger's stops one from memorising lines; aren't we meant to be famed for our rote memories?
When I did acting as a kid I memorised the entire plays.

Indeed. I had such a good memory I could get straight A grades in exams without ever doing any revision for them.

I was also very good at memorising any lines I had in plays. Although, at school (rather than college) I always used to get the role of narrator rather than a starring role in the play itself. I did have to remember quite a lot of text though and people used to comment on how good my memory was because I never needed to refer to my script to help me, whereas my co-narrator (if there was one) used to have their script with them even during the actual performance.

I also tried tap dancing classes but I was a bit too clumsy for that. Hence the name of bumble. I bumbled and was not a graceful child by any means.

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31 Mar 2013, 5:04 pm

I wouldn't be taking this statement personally as my identity is not tied up with having Aspergers

I'd probably say 'That's very interesting, why do you say that?' and consider what they said as I'm always in two minds myself as to what 'condition' I've got as I went through primary and secondary school with no one saying they thought I had anything.

I'd see it as an issue open to debate. If the person wanted to think I didn't have it that would be up to them. I only 'have it' due to a diagnosis I didn't even seek out myself so I have no great attachment to it.

It's not an exact science so anyone could potentially have anything!

Tyri0n
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31 Mar 2013, 5:12 pm

bumble wrote:

Who_Am_I wrote:

I don't see how Asperger's stops one from memorising lines; aren't we meant to be famed for our rote memories?
When I did acting as a kid I memorised the entire plays.

I also have an amazing rote memory but a horrible visual memory. My gross motor skills (dancing, martial arts) are not too bad and actually good in some areas; it's actually my fine motor skills (handwriting and the block test in the Weschler IQ test) that are absolute s**t.

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31 Mar 2013, 5:19 pm

Tyri0n wrote:

It seems like here there are lots of semi-functional people with Asperger's here to whom I can relate and some more functional than me in a variety of areas. I have talked with one girl from here on Skype who almost seems like a full NT but still has few or no friends. Why is it so impossible for people to understand how ASD can be mild and nearly invisible and still cause a host of difficulties?

Isn't this a type of discrimination? An institution or employer making incorrect assumptions about a person's disability or refusing to accept paperwork showing that the person has one or just stereotyping based on a label is actually illegal under Title I of the ADA.

Yes it is wrong and Yes most people out there are flat out cynics when it comes to invisible disabilities, if not flat out stupid. I am not meaning to be condescending but if you are optionally ignorant you are stupid. And optional ignorance in my book qualifies as forming a stern opinion without base research at least or being open to being wrong.

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31 Mar 2013, 8:47 pm

She was completely out of line with what she said. Making assumptions about other people's disabilities is not cool.

CharlesMonster
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31 Mar 2013, 8:57 pm

Quote:

She said "no you don't. We had a girl come in from a group home to one of my classes. She was the sweetest thing ever, but she was completely useless and couldn't learn lines or arrange to meet with other students. So you definitely don't have it."

Isn't this a type of discrimination? An institution or employer making incorrect assumptions about a person's disability or refusing to accept paperwork showing that the person has one or just stereotyping based on a label is actually illegal under Title I of the ADA.

You can't really hold ignorance against people. I'm a high functioning Aspie, and I get this all the time. It's not discrimination.

All you can do is state that you have some issues, not all issues can be stereotyped and that you may need extra help to deal with your issues.

I stopped people from using "ret*d" jokes, because it can be viewed as offensive. Also to stop referring to me as the resident "crazy man". Both terms were used in ignorance and not really with a malign intent.

A customer came into a place where I worked, and my employer at the time outed me without my consent. The customer then informed my employer that Aspies are extremely violent, and that I shouldn't be using power tools. Total ignorance.

Although I don't like ignorance, I will forgive people for not understanding, because they're the 98%, and we're the 2%, and they know no better.

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01 Apr 2013, 2:22 am

I've heard that before, many times. "Psh, you don't have Aspergers!" Thanks for discounting the stuff I deal with, and at the same time acting like no one could have Aspergers and be anything but whatever stereotype they have in their head.

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23 Jun 2013, 3:39 am

Hope I'm not necroposting... I don't know if this forum is strict about that.

So now someone close to me thinks I'm pretending to have Asperger's because I'm trying to fit under a label then brings in the "You're too old for that!" line. I guess I can't have an issue, now can I? I have to be completely normal. It's because I read up on it and found that the issues match a lot of the things that I have difficulties with in life yet It is quickly dismissed because I haven't been diagnosed and can't afford one. It makes me very sad.

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23 Jun 2013, 3:49 am

When I started seriously investigating the possibility, several people of my acquaintance at the time tried to convince me that it must be something else, that I was wrong and could not possibly be correct. They came up with elaborate theories as to why I was actually behaving like I was autistic that enabled them to insist that I couldn't possibly be autistic.

I actually received apologies from some of them.

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23 Jun 2013, 5:06 am

Tyri0n wrote:

She doesn't know what she's talking about. Point her in the direct of the Aspie actress Darryl Hannah, and there are other well-known actors with AS.

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