"Everyone has some talents, except those who are autist

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Hey everyone,

I had some sort of job interview last week (I hoped to get a promotion) and this was the first time I really saw how prejudiced some people are when it comes to autism. I did not disclose my Aspergers at work, because I am afraid I would not be considered for some projects or even promotions. Seems that was a wise decision. During the interview the boss (who did not know me before) tried to point out how superior his HR management is and he actually told me that: "Every employee has some talents, except for people who are autistic" I know he did not want to hurt my feelings, because he has no idea that I am part of the second group, but I still feel hurt. Why do people who probably never knew any autistic person believe that we are less accomplished than they are?

little black sheep

He's right and he's wrong. Everybody does have a talent, NT does not mean ''incredibly stupid social person''. But he is wrong about the Autistic part, saying that Autistics are an exception with talents. Autistics are more likely to have more talents, or perhaps express them brilliantly, or can show they have a talent right from an early age. I know a severely Autistic person who is in a care home, but he is excellent with drawing and painting. His work looks so real, just like you're looking at a real photograph.

Many HFA are extremely talented, in fact, a minor ASD is almost a prerequisite for being talented...

What he knows about Autism is bull-crap. It will bite him in the butt one of these days.

If I were in this situation things would have gone much differently. I would start by talking him down about what autism really was, let him know I had it, flip the desk and storm out, and then file employee harassment later on. Too much? Ah well, the point is your boss knows so little about autism that he just assumes you don't have it. You'd be surprised how many people assume that having autism is the equivalent of something like downs syndrome. Or that high functioning autism is exactly what they picture in movies like "Adam" and "Temple Grandin". The reality is, autistics are not only talented, but they are the ones who drive society forward with their talents. I don't want to sound narcissistic, but it's true. Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg. Wulfgang Mozart, Albert Einstein, to name a few. In fact, every time somebody achieves something great, psychologists rush to find out if they fall within the category of autistic.

This is the stupidest crap I've seen yet, I thought autistic people were stereotypied as having nothing except a few talents.

I dare say most of Germany is still fairly oblivious as to what "autism". A contractible illness? A congenital physical anomaly?

Most people just don't know and lots think it is a) mental retardation although even more people seem to think worse and that b) autism is caused by bad parenting, specifically that autism is caused by a "refrigerator mother" (though hardly anyone seems to know the exact term but they know the concept).

I'd like for us to have an organisation like autism speaks, they do seem to be somewhat known because of their activities. Large ASD organisations in Germany do exist but they're just not subject to the public's interest and hardly well-known to the overall population because you basically never hear of them in newspapers or on TV or so.

Hey everyone,

thanks for your kind replies. They made me feel better

You will never ever guess what happened next. I got the project and the promotion. Not one of the very accomplished NTs applying did, but me and that although the unknowing boss told me that autistic people are useless. I will never understand NTs. It seemed so clear to me that they hated me.

confused little black sheep

Autistics can't be good at anything. If they are, it's called a splinter skill.

(For those who have trouble with these things, yes, that was sarcasm.)

You should have said my brother is autistic and he has a lot of talents or something like that

To me it just sounds like something really random to say. Unless he thought you had it and was testing you.

Someone in HR said this? That individual is very bad at their job and will get the company sued.

I would have told him to do some research in to autistic savants.

That'd shut the ignorant prick up right the quick.

If that happened to me..........I would end up refusing the job, unless I really, really, really needed it.

Most people have no idea that asperger's is related to autism in any way at all. When most people think of autism, they think of SEVERE cases where someone cannot even form a complete sentence.