Asperger's General Survey

Post Reply New Topic

Gender: male

Age: 23

Special interest(s): psychology, star wars, science, sports

How old were you when you were diagnosed/found out? 12

Do you view ASD as a blessing or a curse? Both

Do you have family members on the spectrum? Yes, my brother

Do you think life would be easier if people knew you had an ASD and actually understood what that means? (yes/no) Yes

Do you have sensory issues? If so, what are they? Mild headaches from strong sights and sounds, discomfort from some physical contact

If people could understand one thing about autism better what would you want them to understand?
We do not view the world in an inferior way, society has just decided that our skills are less important, and that are weaknesses, such as non-verbal communication, are extremely important

Gender: M

Age: 48

Special interest(s): Bicycles/riding, maps, tea, staring at the scenery

How old were you when you were diagnosed/found out? HFA at 48, previously diagnosed ADD-PI, anxiety.

Do you view ASD as a blessing or a curse? Neither

Do you have family members on the spectrum? Possibly a sister, maybe an uncle

Do you think life would be easier if people knew you had an ASD and actually understood what that means? Yes and yes

Do you have sensory issues? If so, what are they? Fluorescent lights, buzzing noises, light touch.

If people could understand one thing about autism better, what would you want them to understand? Encouragement helps, coercion doesn't.

Gender: Female.

Age: 53 (in a couple of days)

Special interest(s): Books, movies, music, cooking, camping, crocheting, trivia, crafts, celebrities, Psychology, Autism, cars, and a whole lot more.

How old were you when you were diagnosed/found out? Late 40s (I can't remember my exact age).

Do you view ASD as a blessing or a curse? Both. I don't think I would be as knowledgeable about so many things if I didn't have such hyper-focus, and I feel that's a blessing. It's a curse regarding relationships----I wish I could have been able to have a life-long relationship with one person.

Do you have family members on the spectrum? I feel it runs rampant in my family----2 sisters, 1st cousin, aunt, uncle, nephew, to name a few----none diagnosed, though.

Do you think life would be easier if people knew you had an ASD and actually understood what that means? (yes/no) No. (Every disease / disorder has to go through a process until it comes to a general public awareness----it happened with polio, AIDS, Multiple Sclerosis, cancer, etc.----but, an ASD is not something you can SEE. If one is in a wheelchair, NO PROBLEM!! If one has a neurological / mental problem, MAJOR PROBLEM, unless one has experienced it, themselves.)

Do you have sensory issues? If so, what are they? Super sensitive to light, sound, and smells.

If people could understand one thing about autism better, what would you want them to understand?
That "smart" and "stupid" can reside in the same body / brain. Just because I might know some information about some things, doesn't mean I can't turn-around and do something that you and I would consider stupid. One day / minute, smart; the next day / minute stupid----that's just the way it is.

I'm not diagnosed... just strongly suspicious. Take it with a grain of salt if you want.


Gender: male

Age: 17

Special interest(s): I've had dozens over the years... currently archery.

How old were you when you because strongly suspicious of it? 15

Do you view ASD as a blessing or a curse? The traits I exhibit are double sided. I don't view it as a blessing or a curse.

Do you have family members on the spectrum? cousin

Do you think life would be easier if people knew you had an ASD and actually understood what that means? Maybe

Do you have sensory issues? If so, what are they? I jump (startle) very... 'hard' or 'vigorously' at light touch. Excessive persistent noise makes me panic somewhat and need to get away. Loud sudden noises startle me with the same effect that light touch has.

If people could understand one thing about autism better, what would you want them to understand? That generally I want to be left alone- especially after sensory overload or coming home from social events.

Gender: Male

Age: 29

Special interest(s): Cars, racing, rallying, Hondas, history.

How old were you when you were diagnosed/found out? 29

Do you view ASD as a blessing or a curse? All of the above.

Do you have family members on the spectrum? No one confirmed but many male relatives show some symptoms consistent with ASD.

Do you think life would be easier if people knew you had an ASD and actually understood what that means? (yes/no) Yes.

Do you have sensory issues? If so, what are they? I can become overstimulated by noise.

If people could understand one thing about autism better, what would you want them to understand? I'm not being difficult, it just is difficult.

Gender: Male

Age: 51

Special interest(s): General knowledge, internet research, running, cryptic crosswords, scrabble, anagrams, writing, fantasy and sci-fi, cartoons / comic strips, nature, various others that come and go.

How old were you when you were diagnosed/found out? 45

Do you view ASD as a blessing or a curse? Both. (more blessing since finally getting a diagnosis on my condition).

Do you have family members on the spectrum? No.

Do you think life would be easier if people knew you had an ASD and actually understood what that means? (yes/no) Yes, I get positive feedback from people who now know, such as former classmates. It generally makes things easier, except certain people may treat me like I need constant help or supervision.

Do you have sensory issues? If so, what are they? I don't like loud noises, especially sudden ones, or the talking of crowds, such as in crowded shopping malls. Poor co-ordination so I can't ride a bicycle or drive manual shift cars. Stimming. Tendency to get in a flap in certain situations.

If people could understand one thing about autism better, what would you want them to understand? That we are the same as them but just with a different thought process and way of doing things. We are not handicapped or in need of constant watching. There is no stereotype as everyone on the spectrum has different "symptoms" and so no assumptions should be made regarding our feelings and what we want.

Gender: female

Age: 54

Special interest(s): Books, history, writing, movies, Judaism, Aspergers

How old were you when you were diagnosed/found out? 51

Do you view ASD as a blessing or a curse? Both

Do you have family members on the spectrum? Not diagnosed. I'm pretty sure my father was though.

Do you think life would be easier if people knew you had an ASD and actually understood what that means? (yes/no) No, you're still expected to conform to certain standards. Even if they understand, it doesn't mean people want to be around you if you don't.

Do you have sensory issues? If so, what are they? Not too much any more. Loud noises, heavy perfume.

If people could understand one thing about autism better, what would you want them to understand? That it's a real condition and that it can be modified but not "cured."

Gender: female

Age: 24

Special interest(s): neuroscience, psychology, medicine/human biology and reading

How old were you when you were diagnosed/found out? 23 (a week before I turned 24).

Do you view ASD as a blessing or a curse? Both. It's incredibly problematic a lot of the time, but at the same time there are some advantages and AS is part of who I am so I wouldn't be the person I am without it.

Do you have family members on the spectrum? Yes, my cousin. Also, my mother can relate to some of my problems but she's not diagnosed or anything.

Do you think life would be easier if people knew you had an ASD and actually understood what that means? Yes.

Do you have sensory issues? If so, what are they? Yes. I'm hypersensitive to sounds. Sounds distract me and make me very tired very quickly. I'm also sensitive to some other things (certain touch, certain visual stimuli etc) but sounds are the main sensory issue.

If people could understand one thing about autism better, what would you want them to understand? Not sure.

Gender: male

Age: 19

Special interest(s): cosmology/philosophy

How old were you when you were diagnosed/found out? 15

Do you view ASD as a blessing or a curse? i think the positive outweighs the negative.. so ig uess blessing

Do you have family members on the spectrum? idk father possibly

Do you think life would be easier if people knew you had an ASD and actually understood what that means? (yes/no) yes

Do you have sensory issues? If so, what are they? loud noises especially voices. strong sense of smell which goes both ways i guess. also i might feel pain more than normals that's probably not a good thing

If people could understand one thing about autism better, what would you want them to understand? its social implications

Gender: male (more like chainmail on some days)

Age: 17

Special interest(s): i like to draw. have been doing it forever, whenever i get the motivation and am not discouraged. i use plain ol pencil and paper, i'm not so prolific. history is nice, i like 20th century european history, i've read mein kampf. i also have an interest in linguistics, especially phonology and writing systems, among my favorite scripts is the hebrew alephbet. very concise.

worldbuilding i have been going ever since i had the mental capacity to do so. (this sort of ties in with linguistics, conlanging)

Cieneret tat, cieneret tat a rwva die! (this does not mean anything, it is simply a transliteration)

How old were you when you were diagnosed/found out? i was diagnosed at the age of four by presumably some dickhead. i was later taken to another place where it was said it was impossible i was autistic, so i may have been misdiagnosed.

Do you view ASD as a blessing or a curse? neither.

Do you have family members on the spectrum? absulutely none that i know of. i suspect my cousin ivan but one can never be too sure of these things. remember, pathologization. until recently my folks vehemently denied i was autistic.

Do you think life would be easier if people knew you had an ASD and actually understood what that means? (yes/no) yes.

Do you have sensory issues? If so, what are they?i don't know if detecting touch on my beanie as if it was part of my head counts. and BLODDY HELL I HATE CROWDS AND LOUD MUSIC. i love rollercoasters, i rarely get motion sickness.

If people could understand one thing about autism better, what would you want them to understand?
i'll go with what envirozentinel said. and it cannot be cured as it is not a disease. you can't "catch" the autism despite what internet nobodies say.

Gender: male

Age: 49

Special interest(s): mathematics (development of symbolic languages) and water based activities (windsurfing, paddling, snorkeling, etc.)

How old were you when you were diagnosed/found out? around 42

Do you view ASD as a blessing or a curse? I defines how I think, and I would not want my thoughts to be any different. It gives me a unique perspective and unique insights.

Do you have family members on the spectrum? Yes, my wife and my son, and as far as I can tell, also my brother in law.

Do you think life would be easier if people knew you had an ASD and actually understood what that means? (yes/no) Yes. I think we are a generation away from an appropriate level of awareness and a reasonable level of understanding, as far as the latter is possible at all.

Do you have sensory issues? If so, what are they? Noise, fluorescent lights, textiles that are too rough. I can only sleep in complete darkness, and use eye coverings and earplugs at night.

If people could understand one thing about autism better, what would you want them to understand?
Firstly, the world simply needs much more tolerance for diversity in human behaviour, not limited to but certainly including autism. Secondly, appreciation that the autistic learning style, which is largely autodidactic, is the essential element in human society that has allowed humans to innovate and to adapt to new environments. Autists should be understood as the drivers of cultural change rather than as misfits who are incapable of "functioning" in human society. Autists generate new forms of human functioning.

Gender: female

Age: 26

Special interest(s): philosophy/semiotics, asperger's

How old were you when you were diagnosed/found out? 26

Do you view ASD as a blessing or a curse? both...but in my current context, more of a curse (life got a lot harder after school)

Do you have family members on the spectrum? father

Do you think life would be easier if people knew you had an ASD and actually understood what that means? yes

Do you have sensory issues? If so, what are they? sounds: crowds, crying children or yowling cats, traffic, vacuum cleaners, etc.; touch: light touch and pretty much anything unexpected, fabrics and tags don't bother me as much as they did as a kid but I still tend toward soft, smooth fabrics; bright lights

If people could understand one thing about autism better, what would you want them to understand? Women on the spectrum; less-publicized aspects like poor executive functioning and working memory; anything that's not a stereotype

Gender
male

Age
mid 20's (do I need to be more specific?)

Special interest(s)
math and animation

How old were you when you were diagnosed/found out?
Two years old

Do you view ASD as a blessing or a curse?
for now, it's a curse

Do you have family members on the spectrum?
Yes

Do you think life would be easier if people knew you had an ASD and actually understood what that means?
Yes

Do you have sensory issues? If so, what are they?
When I'm really hungry or tired, I find it hard to tolerate loud noises like those you hear in traffic.

If people could understand one thing about autism better, what would you want them to understand?
I wish they could understand that not all autistic people are the same; much like neurotypical people, those on the spectrum have a wide variety of strengths to utilize and weaknesses to overcome.

Gender: male

Age: 20

Special interest(s): Games! Also, sometimes mythology.

How old were you when you were diagnosed/found out? Hopefully 20, I'm in the process of evaluation

Do you view ASD as a blessing or a curse? I would call it neither. The same fate awaits us all

Do you have family members on the spectrum? A few biographers have claimed an ancestor of mine was on the spectrum. My father certainly has quite a few traits.

Do you think life would be easier if people knew you had an ASD and actually understood what that means? (yes/no) yes

Do you have sensory issues? If so, what are they? Bright lights are horrible. Flashy colours are horrible. I don't like loud noise. Multiple voices are the worst thing to hear, it is overwhelming.

If people could understand one thing about autism better, what would you want them to understand? That we are actual people.

Gender: Male

Age: 31

Special interest(s): Mostly environmental issues and politics right now.

How old were you when you were diagnosed/found out? 29, almost 30.

Do you view ASD as a blessing or a curse? It really is both, for me. I'm bright and I know I have several different kinds of intelligence which I can put to good use, and I like that ASD in my case is part of what makes me a gentle and empathetic person (most of the time). I feel gifted because of it. On the negative, I have also felt in the past that it could strongly limit some life possibilities for me, several of which were very important. I feel it does create a small but significant social gulf between me and others. I like feeling different in a good way, but not in any way that puts me out with others. I feel crippled by anxiety at times. I believe I have some form of Executive Dysfunction which is distracting in the moment, but is especially disruptive when it comes to long-term planning and decision making. I feel this hinders my career and direction.

Do you have family members on the spectrum? None living who are diagnosed. I would swear under oath that my dad has it though. I also strongly suspect my mom is the loud, moody, monologing, pedantic kind, and my brother has had what I would describe as meltdowns.

Do you think life would be easier if people knew you had an ASD and actually understood what that means? (yes/no) Yes.

Do you have sensory issues? If so, what are they? Multiple loud voice streams talking over each other make my mind just want to shut down. I would always have said this was a problem for me, but I never did hear any other Aspies pointing to this as a sensory issue until today, so this is very surprising, interesting and validating. Sudden noises can tick me off because they break my concentration or "reset" my internal clock for falling asleep at night. I think I have some touch issues as well; I always hated haircuts as a child to the point of nearly refusing to have them. Tags drove me crazy. I don't like oily things, and I absolutely hate the feeling of standing on something slimy (like a shower with shampoo residue). I have a hard time falling asleep some nights just because I can't get the random tickling sensations to stop.

If people could understand one thing about autism better, what would you want them to understand? I'm going to agree that yes, others should still see us as human. As far as I can tell, I'm not anything else. I feel more like a human with some unusual abilities and hangups than I feel like another sort of being altogether. In my mind, although I know it to be a different kind of mind now, the experience I'm used to living every day is what being human is... sometimes I have more trouble understanding how the "other" experience can be human.

Gender: male

Age: 24

Special interest(s): Early life I was lost in video games. As a teenager Christianity became a major special interest. To the point I read nearly the entire Bible, some parts multiple times, I talked to everyone about it, thought about little else. In that time I became quite fond of hugs as it's an easier, less ambiguous, and just all around happier form of communication for me. As I got older video games faded somewhat and I focused on music, then movies and TV shows. The last few years I've watched a lot of the horror genre following a marathon of Tales From The Crypt. Actresses might count as an interest. I care about them a lot. I don't really want to meet them I just like thinking about them. I think a lot about being different and how the world works. Especially in terms of communication as I've stuttered since I was a child and my stutter is severe.

How old were you when you were diagnosed/found out? Realized at 24.

Do you view ASD as a blessing or a curse? There was a time when I was Christian where the world became incredibly beautiful to me. I got lost in the purity of faith, a belief in love and hope, in a way that I'm not sure I would have without Asperger's. To a degree I still have that but life gets more complicated as you get older. So I would say it's a blessing sometimes. It often feels like a curse when it comes to relationships though. I had great friends but never could truly integrate with them. Not how I wanted to. I wanted to be natural and free but I always had that barrier. Let's just say it's both.

Do you have family members on the spectrum? My aunt is not diagnosed but has displayed noticeable autistic traits while I've been around her. According to my grandma she's been that way her whole life. In most pictures she looks withdrawn even when she was younger.

Do you think life would be easier if people knew you had an ASD and actually understood what that means? That's a tough question. Truthfully I'd say the average neurotypical understanding what ASD means would be quite a personal journey. They might be a slightly, or even moderately, different person afterwards. In theory yes I do think my life would be easier. People would be more likely to give me a chance, to see me and accept me, rather than misunderstanding and disregarding me.

Do you have sensory issues? If so, what are they? Sunlight can be unpleasant. While I like hugs any unexpected touching makes me jump. Being around people for long periods of time without breaks to be alone is overwhelming. One vacation we were going back home on a shuttle and I cried for thirty minutes. No one knew I was crying because it was dark and I looked at the window.

If people could understand one thing about autism better, what would you want them to understand? That we care about people we just don't know how to show it, to express it. That we're so overwhelmed by how complicated the world is that it makes us avoidant. That we need help finding something we're good at in life or we'll keep questioning our worth as we find it hard to find our worth in the socialization process.