Stupid autism and aspergers myths/stereotypes

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Wait, wouldn't an Autistic Society be better?

The one major Asperger's myth that I absolutely hate is the one that most people in my scouting district seem to uphold.

I've tried to ask if numerous times to become a leader in the scouts and numerous times I've been told that I can't because if anything happened to the other leaders and I was left to run the group on my own I wouldn't be able to cope.

I am that sick of hearing that same old rubbish line.

I suppose they are slightly right with this. I certainly can't cope with beavers or cub scouts as firstly my main experience in the past has been with scouts and ventures (now Explorers) as I started off originally in the scouts but beavers and cubs get me too worked up with their shouting and screaming (scouts and explorers do shout and scream, but not as much as beavers and cubs - which causes me anxiety attacks - and not only that scouts and explorers actually approach you and talk to you where as beavers and cubs expect you to talk to them which is a little bit more harder for someone with AS!)

But once I get used to know a few people in the group I'm usually fine and then it starts to build my confidence up.

At the beginning of this year I was going to totally break ranks and go and join a group outside of Warrington to get away from this negativity (I've heard that there are people in Warrington East with Asperger's who are leaders, and also the county commissioner has even pledged his support to me becoming a leader in Warrington despite me Asperger's (although this was after he banned me from going camping at Eurojam in 2005 as he said my communication difficulties might cause embarrassment to the scouts if anything happened there with all the media around - although after that he did revert his decision and allowed me to go to the World Scout Jamboree last year, but after that I was told by the DRC that volunteer groups up until 2006 were allowed to discriminate against people with disabilities, so it could have just been he knew he could get away with it in 2005 but after 2005 he couldn't stop me from going the WSJ as he'd be breaking the DDA - during this time the District Commissioner came to see me about the decision and lied to me, he said it was all the CC's decision, not his and that they'd not broken the DDA, the letter I got from the scouts though stated it was a joint decision between the CC and the DC, since then he's never really talked to me and evades me when I try and a few times at Gang Show I've tried to say Hi to him and he's just ignored me - as for the DDA he was right they didn't break the DDA because the DDA didn't even cover voluntary organisations in 2005 - but even still there are quite a few scout laws that were broke here such as a scout is friendly and considerate and a scout has self respect and respect for others, obviously he had no respect for me or the CC lying like that.)).

At first I went to Wrexham and tried helping out there but found it to be way too far to travel, and also struggled as I enjoy doing the Warrington Gang Show every year, so I really struggled to totally break ranks fully with Warrington, and ended up having to rejoin Warrington Fellowship just because I was in their show (I thought the rules of the Gang Show were just that you had to be an active member of scouting, not actually a member of that district). After the Gang Show I considered I might be making a big mistake, so I talked to one of the members of the Gang Show about my feelings and everything that has happened. She told me your just being silly and do you think it's going to make any difference whether you stay or leave Warrington? And she re-encouraged me that I possibly could become a leader in Warrington if I stayed and tried hard enough.

I decided then to give it one last go. I stayed for a while and tried again to become a leader. Again I met negativity. This time I chose to go and help with Penketh. All I got from them is that it's probably not a good idea for you to become a leader or helper full time (well now that's a change because at least some of the other groups have allowed me to just be a helper - woah we're going from bad to worse here!) but I'll let you know when there is events that we need people to help with. He's asked me to help with ONE (YES ONE) event since April, I even offered to help at District camp after that one event, he said he'd get in touch with me about it nearer the time - he didn't bother. Then somebody else said to me they'd talked to him about it and he actually meant that I could go down and help at anytime but the first time was just a getting to know us meeting. I e-mailed him to confirm whether this is what he meant and if he wanted any help that week with the group - 3 months later I'm still waiting for a reply - oh well.

The main thing that is stupid about all of this is that I regularly help Sense with disabled children, and I enjoy this, I help them really well and Sense are always happy to see me. They don't seem to concerned that my Asperger's might cause me problems when looking after the children and are always more than happy to help me if I run into any difficulties. I also completed my Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award, which took an awful lot of planning (especially seeing as I got a one year extension on the D of E, but Warrington scouts came up with an excuse oh we can't support you because we don't support extensions with the D of E as our limit for the D of E is 24 as Network only runs till your 25th birthday and your 25 so I had to complete it outside of the scouts, this greatly upset me as I like the scouts and would have loved to complete it within the scouts, I also contacted the scout HQ about this attitude and they told me that they run the D of E on behalf of the D of E and if they have allowed an extension the scouts are supposed to honour it regardless of the restrictions on the Network age range), for the exploration I worked in a group of people all with special needs and we all worked together to overcome our disabilities. I also helped mentor my friend and helped him to complete his Gold D of E as well, and give advice to someone else on a camp in West Lancashire who was struggling to complete his Gold D of E due to his disabilities (he was really lucky as he was in a very supportive county as not only did he manage to get an extension on his D of E they also extended his Queen Scout too, something which Warrington weren't prepared to do for me), and finally I've helped on numerous occasions at Jamboree's and other scouting events and been left to help children on my own quite safely.

Now surely if they are worried that I can't look after children with my Asperger's then how did I manage to do so much previously. I am very independent and if I know something needs doing and no-one is prepared to help I will turn my back on them and go and do it myself.

I'm getting that fed up of hearing these lame excuses from my local scouts that I'm thinking of just ditching them once and for all. I gave them one last chance in April this year and they have gone and blown it.

The other thing that is so funny about all of this is that according to the Scout rules the situation where one leader is left to run a group would never arise anyway as to run a scout group due to child protection you must have at least 2 adults and if that can't happen the group must finish early. So this rubbish about me not being able to cope if I'm left on my own with the kids is a load of rubbish.

The one that as soon as you say the word "autistic", everyone thinks you're a ret*d.

The math/geek connection. I suck at maths.

The "no humour" theme, I love sarcasm, black humour and irony.

The "no eye contact", I have more than average eye contact with the people around me.... maybe a little too much.

heres one
people who are autistic live in there fantasy world
i think this might be true but not all the time mostly im searching out theorys in
my head so being autistic just means you are in your brain all the time thats also a
sign of telling where ret*d

im glad somebody brought this thread back up, kingdomofrats gave me great ideas, thanks! I also have to agree im getting a lot of that how can you type on here so fluently yet not be able to verbally speak as well, or you cant be classic autie your typing on here tells you otherwise, like give me a break. I can type while headshaking with my eyes closed, i just am a very skilled typer.

You can't possibly be autistic. Your face is too expressive.

Oh yeah? Read this expression!

I actually heard that one from a Freudian psychiatrist who thought she actually knew something about autism.

lol wow

People with ASD lack empathy and compassion.

damn, I can't do that.....

Someone told me to stop acting so autistic recently because I was angry and was flapping my hands. What enraged me what that she said , 'because you are so intelligent'. I wish intelligence would get rid of all my problems!

another one which bugs me:

Autistic people cannot form emotional attachments

I don't like it when people assume that I'm ret*d when my husband explains to them that I have AS. I don't talk in public because I don't know these people.

Another one is when your son's kindergarden teacher says "Wow, you must be high functioning!" just because I can walk, talk intelligently, and raise my kids.

The term idiot savant really gets me too. AS is not another word for Rainman!

it would seem like a great idea,but even when it's tried at a very small level [institution/residential homes for autists] an all autist environment can be a disaster.
Autists-on all levels can often only have one thing in common-the label,beyond the diagnosis and the minimum criteria-there are differences as no two are alike-all have different needs, difficulties, wants,likes,hates etc. it is when these clash between autists that becomes the big problem-because it can become impossible to live with.
autists who are hf enough to adapt for others,and get along in mainstream society well would probably do better in an all autist society.
one of the worst incompatibilities with autists is hyposensitive v hypersensitive-something that would be over common in an all autist society,what makes quality of life good for one,makes it hell for another.
control is another big issue as well,everyone would be wanting it,and fighting for it [this is how it works in all the homes am have lived in].

non mainstream society like the camphill communities work well and are a better idea because they mix all different forms of developmental and learning disability,some autists will find it a lot easier to live with a DSer [downs syndrome] or LDer because DSers tend to be more easy going [though can share some issues as with autism] and LDers dont have the same complex issues and needs as with autism and as.



Age,
the trouble are getting about speech/classic autism...it isn't on the autism speaks forum is it?

those who make the assumption that verbal ability is the same as writing ability really need to educate themselves on autism,and not only what they or their kid experiences.
they are completely different and [sorry,non techy description coming up] are controlled by different things, some non verbal autists also have severe language difficulties so are unable to make use of written word [usually the most commonly heard of type],not all NVers have language difficulty,some may have mild or moderate difficulty,doesnt mean using a forum or any form of text is equal to not having classic autism.


good stereotypes all [if they can be called 'good'],not got around to reading first page yet.

Here are a few silly ones that I recently found-

Autistic People Rarely Lie- oh yeah? how about those times that I was in school, took a test and failed it... but of course I told my parents that I aced it so I wouldn't get into trouble.. or how about faking sick? Don't tell me that kids under the spectrum don't pull that stuff!

People with Autism Rarely Judge Others- that depends personally but if someone comes off as judgmental and ignorant, then I can't help but to judge... I personally never judge anyone for their background and appearance.. or anything like that but I can't believe that all with autism wouldn't.

People with Autism Have Terrific Memories- with some things I have a photographic memory, but if you were to ask me what happened a year ago today... I couldn't tell you

Autistic People Play Fewer Head Games- oh please I used to crank call people in high school and I shamefully admit I have played some silly pranks since... but I've grown up just a little since then

There are a few there that I just...

great list-so true,it could also represent a lot of users here [if remove the memory stereotype].

"Intelligent people are judgemental"

haha anyone we know?