The Truth About Aspergers

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This is here to teach people who don't know what Asperger's is the truth, instead of what's in the media. This is also to show my friends, whether or not they don't have Asperger's or might have it.
Here are popular myths about Asperger's. Just because the sentence in bold says something doesn't mean it's true. The paragraph below it says whether it's true or not:
Claim: Aspies (people with Asperger's) are mentally ret*d.
Myth. Asperger's is a kind of High Functioning Autism. (not all who are high functioning actually have Asperger's) Basically this means they have trouble with coordination and social skills, but have normal to high IQs. Yes, I did just say NORMAL IQs. many have high ones, but there are also Aspies that are no smarter than "normal" people.

Claim: ALL Aspies hate Neurotypicals ("normal" people, aka NT's):
Myth. For some reason there's this big hatred of NT's and in almost every post at least SOMEBODY is going to be hateful, but there are many who don't. It's basically like reverse-racism and reverse-sexism, it's just as bad as the original and needs to stop!

Claim: Aspies MUST wear the same looking clothing everyday, or similar clothing.
Myth. While they might have a favorite article of clothing like a shirt, or something smaller like a bracelet, this doesn't necessarily mean their whole closet's going to be full of the same Beatles shirt and skinny jeans .

Claim: Aspies are violent and can potentually harm someone or an animal.
Myth. While an Aspie CAN have meltdowns, that doesn't mean they can harm someone. If an aspie has meltdowns they typically hit inanimate objects, NOT people or animals. If they HURT a person, that usually means the person did something horribly wrong, like act pervertedly or hurt them or their friends. That is NOT a meltdown. meltdowns are usually do to sensory overload, which is when the brain reacts to the senses. Aspie brains don't interpret senses the way Neurotypical (non-Autistic) people do, the senses are much stronger and more confusing, so Aspies have to take care of all the extra energy they get (basically sensory overload is similar to a panic attack)

Claim: All Aspies are snobby and rude, and may use Asperger's as an excuse.
Myth. While there ARE some that are just AWFUL people, that doesn't mean all Aspies act like them. Most of the time Aspies don't even want to be around people like that. While Asperger's can make someone seem unintentionally rude (sometimes unintentionally flirty too though!) because they might not think what they said/did through, that doesn't mean they'd ever call you stupid or ugly and say it was the Asperger's that made them do it! (Or if they seemed like they flirted with you, it MAY not really be what they meant)

Claim: Aspies have trouble with social situations.
Fact. Aspies DO actually. Some Aspies try not to, but mostly there's some kind of trouble with all things social, some are worse than others. Not all of us Aspies run away from people, but there's usually some kind of nervousness around new people/crowds. I imagine some Aspies have trained themselves to not notice the nervousness, but I haven't. That doesn't mean run away though. I just don't talk much. I talk more the more often I see a person though. If those times are spread too far apart, I'll still be fairly shy. I'm not sure if this is that way for ALL Aspies, but if I plan to hang out with them more often, I'll talk a LOT more. Just something to keep in mind if you have a shy Aspie friend.

Claim: Aspies are interested in one subject more than others.
Fact. Some Aspies are interested in vague topics like Technology, or something more specific like Apple Products. While Aspies CAN like things other than their favorite subject, they always have to mention it at least once, maybe twice, in a conversation. If they go on and on I call it becoming Grandpa Alva, because my grandpa does this very often (he has Asperger's) and can be very annoying, but they're not able to control it. If they get nervous or embarrased they might mention the thing they like as a way to change the subject.

Claim: Aspies have trouble listening.
Fact. Not all do but I have AWFUL hearing. This does NOT mean everyone does, but if you notice an aspie didn't hear you, they might have hearing problems or were daydreaming. DON'T be rude about it, just repeat what you said. If they still can't hear you, try to get their attention or write what you want them to know on paper. I have one ear that's much worse than the other, instead of just typical bad hearing my right eardrum burst when I was little. I hear better when people are on my left. If an Aspie has trouble hearing figure out which ear is their good ear and stay on that side more often.

Claim: Aspies have to meet EVERY symptom to be Asperger's.
Myth. There are a lot of people with Asperger's who act more "normal" than others. A lot of Aspies don't even know they have Asperger's. Sometimes "professionals" don't diagnose Aspies correctly because they don't fit every symptom. Some Aspies can tell who is an Aspie easily, and if an Aspie says you might be, you might actually be! It's like a gaydar but instead of spotting gay people it spots Aspies. (While some Aspies are gay, Aspies and Gay people are NOT the same. Many are straight, bi, or asexual)
Like gaydars, not everyone has one.

Claim: Aspies have no morals.
Myth. While an Aspie might not realize something is socially unacceptable, that DOESN'T mean they're going to run around being disturbing. They have AS MUCH OF A CHANCE of being bad as "normal" people do. If the Aspie near you is saying nasty things to you or trying to hurt you, make SURE they get punished as equally as normal people. Just because they aren't Neurotypical doesn't mean they can't learn their lesson if they do something TOO awful.

Claim: All Aspies dress poorly and have bad Heigene.
Myth. Some dress very nice actually. And use deodorant! Just because one Aspie you know smells like a rotting onion doesn't mean one can't smell like something nice, like sugar cookies! Not all Aspies wear the same clothing style too. I wear skinny jeans, band t-shirts, and a hoodie, and have blue and purple hair, but that doesn't mean EVERYONE you see will look like me! And I normally smell like vanilla. (Also doesn't mean everyone likes the smell of vanilla)

So these are most of the main claims about Asperger's. I probably missed some but my fingers are tired, it took me so long to phrase everything right. There might be some typos. If something doesn't make sense, that's because there is no spellcheck. Just warning you.

Last edited by theaspiemusician on 08 Jan 2012, 7:20 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Is it a coincidence you made this EXACTLY 15 minutes after my FAQs thread?

Yeah it took me about an hour to write all this down rofl

It's pretty good but all you really need to do is take out ALL and replace with SOME.
My clothing style doesn't change. I used to wear skinny jeans but my tactile sensitivity got in the way so now I'm all jeans and khakis. I love my army jackets and Canada hoody too.

People can get hurt in meltdowns like if you push them away and they trip and fall. When you hurt someone in a meltdown it's not deliberate, you're just so overloaded that you can't control what you do. Not all meltdowns are sensory too. Emotional stress is a big one.

I feel like I'm preaching to the choir here so will stop.

I probably should have capitalized certain words. It's alright. Hopefully I'll remember.


I have not look at the clothing bit but i'm sure I said may or might. I might not have though.

Yet its also common for aspies to wear the same looking clothing every day. While this isn't true for every aspie, the way you wrote this up made it sound like this isn't an aspie trait, while it certainly is. It's a version of routine and not needing to worry about sensory issues. It definitely often happens.



First off, its common for aspies to have meltdowns, saying they just 'can' has the wrong implications.

Second off, sometimes aspies do harm people in meltdowns. It's not purposeful, but it does happen. There is a reason that people need to act differently when around a meltdown than not.

Thirdly, you've completely overlooked people self-harming in meltdowns. That's also a rather common thing for people to do.

Fourthly, meltdowns are not at all almost always caused by sensory overload. Sensory overload is one thing that can cause a meltdown, along with emotional overload, routine being changed, and other things of that sort. It's not even true that all spectrumites or all aspies have sensory overload.

Fifthly, not only do not all aspies have sensory overload issues. Not all aspies have hypersensitivities. The sensory abnormalities include both hyper and hypo-sensitivities and not everyone on the spectrum even has traits in one direction or the other.

Also, in me at least, sensory overload is nothing like a panic attack.




False. Not all aspies have special interests. It's abnormal for one not to have one, but it happens. There are also actually aspies who are polymaths, some of which do have special interests and others of which are just at that level of interest about absolutely everything.



This one you've made it very clear that you're only talking about your version of Asperger's. All of the other things above that are true for some aspies but not you, you call a myth while this one you call a fact, and then specify that its not true about everyone. Yes, some people have issues with hearing, it even can be associated with their ASD that they have issues hearing. Similarly most of the things above are true about some aspies. (The only one that isn't is mental retardation because mental retardation makes it such that someone cannot be diagnosed with Asperger's).



The way you wrote this up is incredibly biased.

This one makes little sense - just because you teach someone to fear punishment, that doesn't mean they have an actual moral compass. Of course, Aspies generally do have their own moral systems, but sometimes those are different from society's. Personally I think morals are stupid.

The rest of that list is fairly accurate though.

I wear the same looking black clothing every day. And I prefer men's casual shirts to female clothes because:

1 - they're usually less expensive
2 - they're usually more durable
3 - I prefer a loose casual fit
4 - they usually have pockets and normal size buttons

Lots of females like men's or boy's clothing for these reasons. I don't think that this is overly weird.


PS: I'm hetero

I have no trouble hearing. However do not give me verbal instructions! I just zone off. And its not like I can pause and go back and doublecheck what you just said.
Written instructions work better.
And about morals. I have a pretty strong adherence to moral code and law. I might think the moral of others are stupid. You should be able to motivate your morals. Im not going to do something just because you tell me too? Explain to me.

Is it true or false that Asperger's Syndrome is over diagnosed?

Yes. Some people have more than just Asperger's.

Or less even.

Which one? True or false?