Are you proud of having Asperger's?

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I'm not proud of my AS.

I'm frustrated by it.
It impairs my ability to enjoy life to anything near its full extent.
It blights my whole future.

If I didn't have AS, I'd be able to do a great deal more that I could be proud of.
But AS impairs my chances of ever achieving that.

My heart goes out to everyone else who has to endure this ball and chain.

I'm not proud of it, but I don't totally hate it either, because I only have it mild so there's not much to complain about but where I am affected it's quite annoying and I'm not proud of that.

Not too sure I think I'm inbetween on this one

Aspride topic

I do not envy NT lives. I am proud I can see through their deception. If this is what makes me AS, then I would not trade it for social, materialistic or other mundane pursuits. I am with Cockney Rebel and Slowmutant (now he is a ball of fire--good one). I am happiest in my solitary world.

I won't feel ashamed of asperger but not proud of
it either. The only thing I benefit from asperger is that
I could see everything deeper.

Maybe I will proud of being myself, but asperger syndrome
has nothing to be proud of at all.

Last edited by wrongchild on 04 Jan 2009, 7:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I pretty much have to agree with you... but on the other hand I have a bit of a fighting spirit. When I put my mind to something I don't stop until I achieve it. It might be harder (and definitely more frustrating) for people like us, but anything is possible. At least I like to believe that.

Well, it isn't something to be proud, ashamed, liked, or disliked. It just is.

You say that you didn't do well in school. Well, it's a problem that SOME people with AS have, usually because of co-morbid ADD/ADHD. But the people with plain Asperger's that I know, as well as myself, all excelled in school. The one person who didn't do well in school also had ADD and dyscalcula. So AS isn't exactly to blame for academic troubles.

You say that you have problem giving speeches or talking, but you also say that you stutter. That is also unrelated to AS.

I think a lot of this 'hatred of Asperger's' has a lot to do with people's attitudes towards life. They sit around feeling sorry for themselves, just because of a label, instead of actually TRYING to do something about it. Instead of TRYING to observe other people's behaviours, and learn passable social skills by trial-and-error; they would much rather sit on the computer telling everyone how AS has 'ruined their life'.

The thing is, in comparison to the host of other disabilities that exist out there, I wouldn't trade my plain AS for any of them.

Would I rather be "normal"? Remember, "normal" does not equal "perfect", or even "less challenging". There are plenty of "normal" people that have the same "difficulties" that I do.

I don't even consider myself to be "disabled". After all, I do well in school. I've had no problem finding and keeping employment. I'm not Mrs. Popular, but I have a comfortable amount of friends and social gatherings. I've never been single for the past 8 years, even though both long-term boyfriends I've had are more socially inept than myself. I can cook and clean if I want to, but I often need some motivation to do it. I can keep myself composed in most stressful situations. Bright lights and loud noises are at worst, a mild annoyance.
No one around me would describe me as "disabled", even if they DO know about my AS. If I *tried* to pull the 'disabled card', then I would be reamed out by those around me.

And it's not as if I'm an anamoly here. There are plenty of people I know who have AS that have barely any more problems than the rest of the population. The difference is #1. They usually don't have any additional disorders that complicate their lives, #2. They continue on with their lives as if they DIDN'T have anything "wrong" with them. They look at themselves as "A person who just happens to have a 'disability'", rather than "A disabled person".

'Pride' isn't the right word, how can I be proud of something I didn't do?

I'm happy with myself the way I am.

That's what I was going to say.

I used to hate having aspergers but after talking to ppl on this i think its brilliant to have aspergers because i know as well that my friends love me the way i am and wudnt change me for the world.

I don't think this is necessarily true. Troubles in school can only be caused by, for example, AD(H)D if they are truly related to AD(H)D.

I'm in the process of being diagnosed with AD(H)D and had a hard time concentrating on school work - but that's not the reason I did so horrid in school.

Despite having the cognitive potential to do good in school, I did horrid because I couldn't think like others. When other students understood the material as expected, I took it too literal. I didn't pay attention to the social and morale context of the material. I didn't talk about the details that were considered important by my teachers.

I never knew that others would not understand my argumentation and my structure in my exams. I couldn't imitate that structure from other students even though I understood it in no time when they showed/told me.

I had trouble with various aspects of abstract thinking and also with too detail orientated thinking.

I was struggling with social reciprocity, being able to do the back-and-forth thing in a discussion and I didn't understand implied meanings and teacher's plans for the lessons when I participated.

My language was another problem, but I assume that will be tagged more HFA than AS. So I'm going to leave that out for AS.

The inability to work in groups, the common breaks of routines, the sensory overload in the class-room environment were additional aspects that were definitely stemming from AS. Not the least ADHD-related. ADHD traits are mostly the opposite to these traits.

So this is, except for the language, 'just AS'. It's probably one type of AS and there are other types besides that, because we're all affected differently. But it is indeed another version of hf AS too.

I am neither proud or ashamed because of it. It's simply a condition I have that I wish would go away because of how it impacts my life in such a negative fashion.

I'm in the middle. I think I would have more friends if I didn't have AS. But I am happy with the friends I do have. And I don't think I would make such a fool out of myself when I am in public, and people hate it when I stim.

But who needs friends, I love the friends I do have, and I don't care what other people think of me (which is my favorite thing about me) Plus, the big bonus: I can be an expert at any field that my mind chooses, unlike most NTs who usually concentrate on the current fashions and anything that is superficial, and will be uncool the next day...

Not at all. I'm not really diagnosed, but from what I have learned from this site and several tests, I'm almost sure I've got AS or something in the specter. Maybe I avoid a proper diagnose because of my pride. I have come this far in life, passed as a NT, that sometimes can be distant and sometimes give rude and direct comments, when it's suits me. I'm not very social either, but who are really, nowadays? I think I'll reserve the diagnose for later, If things get harder. Right know, I can deal with the job and get by quite well. My AS suspicion is not exactly anything I go around bragging about.
But, no offence for those who really are proud about it. We are all different

Last edited by mosez on 04 Jan 2009, 2:36 pm, edited 2 times in total.

pride may not be the right word but we'll go with it anyway...

yes i'm proud to think for myself. the standards i set for integrity are pretty high and i feel good about it.

i'm no leader and i'm no follower.....in my childhood and adolescence i thought you had to be one or the other. not being either is huge and i love it.

okay, so i'm extremely socially deficient. i don't like playing ball..social games. but it does have its upside....for instance i spend a lot of time developing my interests instead of doing things that would be quite gratifying but essentially a waste of time. i've learned to feel good about myself by developing into someone I like instead of someone everyone else likes. that is way cool. no one else has to live with you but you're stuck with yourself.

i miss having successful relationships. this is the worst part of having aspergers. i've always enjoyed my solitude but it would be nice to have a choice about it. i have no choice about it. my present goal is simply to avoid turning my several acquaintances into enemies...and i'm happy to report that i'm doing splendidly in that regard. no expectations other than simply being pleasant and a tad friendly. i'll admit it doesn't come easy but definitely worth doing. it's amazing how NTs appear more comfortable with me and receptive to my presence, and vice versa. baby steps is really working and i'm ecstatic about it. NTs seem to sense that i've come to terms with what i am and working to be the best i can socially -----which amounts to refraining from alienating people. NTs sense i've made progress and am striving to be less obnoxious in a social setting. you can't expect much more than that even from normal people.

i've discovered that NTs and me do best when we place few or no demands on each other. what a revelation! that would be common sense if i had known i was aspie all along, which i didn't....

so yes, i'm proud that i'm doing as well as i am now that i know what's bothering me is bothering a lot of us. the social ineptitude that has caused me so much misery is something common to those on the spectrum. that is a huge consolation and has given me strength and courage to fight my innate tendency to be overwhelmingly obnoxious.

btw, being obnoxious is definitely not something to be proud of.

how can anyone be proud of something they didn't achieve but were born with? if you've never achieved anything then I guess you could pride yourself in stuff that you had nothing to do with, but that's still kind of sad.

There are some symptoms I'm proud to have, but some I don't like.