What did you think is autistic that isn't?

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I think you have a very pretty face, DK.

Thanks. Now that I think of it, my cheekbones aren't too bad. They just need to be exercised. I used to exercise them when I was fourteen. I had a more attractive face. When I stopped exercising my face it got saggy and lacked definition. I'm back to exercising my face.

I used to think autism gave me superhuman powers.But then I came to find out that was because of a radioactive spider that bit me.

I used to think that autism was why I don't have much of a temper and I am very hard to get angry (which is not to say that some people haven't pulled it off). It turns out though that autism and ADD are both known to make someone's temper a bit worse. It's still a mystery to me why my temper is so mild, I suppose it's just my personality.

Aw DevilKisses, you are lovely.

When I was 12 and first got diagnosed with Asperger's I read/heard that Aspies had deficits with "social skills" and understanding "social rules". I didn't understand what that meant, so I thought that if someone didn't say please and thank you, or picked his nose, or burped without saying excuse me, he was Aspie or autistic.

Later I researched Asperger's more on my own, and I learned that Asperger's isn't about breaking written social norms, but being unaware of the UNwritten ones. (In particular, I remember reading an article that Aspie kids may be uptight about rules like no swearing on the schoolbus, but unaware of rules like not buttoning the top button on your shirt).

I thought that ear worms - having a song playing in my head over and over again was an autistic trait. I've found out that it wasn't. There was a woman in the news who was otherwise normal, who had the song - 'How Much is That Doggy in The Window' by Doris Day playing in her head over and over for 30 years straight. She got some help to get rid of that ear worm.

I thought OCD, depression, and anxiety were all symptoms of Asperger's because I was told it was by my mother and school counselor. Now I know those are just co morbids and they probably meant those are attributed from the condition. My mom said it was all part of Asperger's. I even thought being bullied and being singled out and a loner was a symptom too so that was why they made it a condition because always blame the victim you know by giving them a disorder because they can't stop getting bullied or can't get friends because of closed minded people. While it may be common in ASDs, it's not a symptom, same as for anxiety and OCD and depression. I even thought people with AS had poor social skills because of other people. I thought social skills were having friends and talking to people. Then I thought the only reason why people with AS sucked in them was because of their peers telling them to shut up and not letting them be in their conversations even if they do stay on topic and letting others talk.

I thought OCD and AS routines and obsessions were the same thing because I was given that information in high school so either I was misinformed or I misunderstood. I also thought getting stuck on thoughts and can't stop worrying and thinking about something was also AS because I was told that it was and that OCD is part of it.

I have a strong sense of justice. It can't be just an autism thing.

DevilKisses I hadn't seen your face before! You're so pretty and I love your hair!

What is this about face exercising?

As to the topic- When I first started studying autism, I was pretty confused about what to believe from academic research and what not to believe. I remember being floored the first time that I read Simon Baron-Cohen's work and writing a research paper praising Mindblindness. Much of his research could have been disproven by simply asking autistic people about this or that instead of performing tests and then inferring things from the tests, which is what they did with empathy and theory of mind. His conclusions were spurious, meaning that they were caused by something else that he was not taking into consideration. In the specific cases of empathy and theory of mind, he was not taking language skills or minority culture into consideration.

Could you explain what you mean by "minority culture"?

I thought my lack of remorse and empathy was due to Asperger's. I used to beat myself up for it because of what kind of person I used to be as a child and then grew out for that behavior and the fact I still don't feel bad and I don't feel anything for the other person so when I learned that people with autism lacked empathy, I stopped beating myself up for it and started to feel better about myself because it meant I wasn't a bad kid and selfish. I just didn't realize or understand. Then that theory was debunked in 2009 and it said people with autism feel too much emotions from someone. I realize I have that ASPD trait but it's the only symptom I have. The rest I lack so I don't have psychopathy.

That was me when I was fourteen or fifteen. I'm probably fifteen pounds lighter now. The face exercises I do make my cheekbones more prominent and help me have better facial expressions when my face is resting.

I agree.

Sure! A society is a basically an environment for people. A culture is a soft set of regulations that govern that environment. So like, religious practices, music, language, etc are part of culture and the culture defines what the group of people ARE.

There are special ways of talking and behaving that are part of minority culture. It's how you can identify a group of people as being a minority in the first place. This is how sociologists like me have identified autistics as a minority culture in the first place. Language like, "Nothing about us without us" or special discussions about the correct way to define oneself (a person with autism or an autistic person) are indications that a group of people is emerging as a minority. This kind of language shows that the group has already been isolated away from the main group and is now self-regulating in its own group. The act of passing is another giant example that autistics are behaving as a minority culture. Passing is an act of passive resistance against a majority oppressor. It's a way of saying, "I can wear whatever mask you require, but I am still me on the inside." I could go on but these are probably the two best examples.

So many things are made BY the majority culture FOR use by majority culture members. Like items made by and for right-handed people. When used by other kinds of people, the other kinds of people either have to adapt themselves, or adapt the thing to work for them. A left handed person can find another way to use a right handed item. An autistic person can find an alternate way to do something that was structured for a neurotypical person. The autistic person may do better (be a genius at the test, complete work easily) or worse (score as intellectually disabled or have trouble with the work). The point is that the thing (item, system, whatever) is not made FOR the autistic person, so the autistic person will not have a typical reaction to the thing. The autistic person would have to create their own unique thing for it to work as perfectly for them as a standard neurotypical thing (item, system, whatever) works for standard neurotypical people.

No- it's not odd. Actually not at all. It's called history- specifically colonial history.
Most people with native backgrounds had mothers or such (at some point) that were raped by the white traders/colonialist that came to the Caribbean/America- there was lots and lots and lots of intermixing- with white people. Also, in some parts of the carribean there was lots of intermixing the native peoples with black slaves and also white- so those natives and natives in general can look very pale- depending on what area (eastern us canada, south west, central america, carribean etc) they potentially can look extremely different- even in the same area or family- not as much homogeneity of features.