dealing with the "rain man" slur

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question for fellow aspies...

has anyone got the "rain man" slur before? and if so how did you deal with it?

I got it on two occasions, both at past jobs. one was through behind-the-back gossip - which in part prompted me to get properly diagnosed, b/c the comment didn't make much sense - the other was direct when I made a pedantic comment during a more facetious discussion among peers.

either time, I didn't express my disgust or say that it was inappropriate just like a racial remark. trouble is, I'd presume that most of the people making such slurs have never heard of Aspergers so they'd probably be confounded if you told them it was a slur.

I actually got called it a few days ago, but not in a mean way. To get a price check on something I memorized the upc (a heavy bag had holes in it and I didn't have a pen and paper). my coworker was just saying the remark as- nice memory

Last edited by Delphiki on 30 Apr 2012, 1:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I did. Just shrugged. Better than be called brainless. Some of us ARE different, so...

I got called "Forrest Gump" once ... I didn't know what it meant at the time. I just carried on walking, thinking "WTF is a forest gump?"
When I got home I googled it and it suddenly made sense. I actually thought it was kind of funny that I ended up having to research an insult in order for me to realise it was an insult. Kudos to the people who said it to me - it's much more creative than "spaz" or "ret*d".

I've gotten that Rainman stuff from my peers. It bothered me at first, but now I go along with it. Now when someone tells me I'm acting like Rainman, I proceed to act more autistic than I really am. Gets some laughs out of everyone (including myself). At least people don't use "ret*d" and "Rainman" in the same sentence. Then I might really be offended.

I got called that a couple weeks ago when someone said they couldn't remember pi past 3 digits.
I said it out loud real fast to 29 digits. I just got blank stares and someone said "Okay, we know who the rainman in the shop is now." I didn't get it at first because I haven't seen that movie since I was a kid.

(Anytime someone mentions pi or (even pie) I at least say it in my head, if not out loud. It's just automatic.)

Rain Man is cool though.

I get the Rainman reference every now and then. I still haven't watched the film. I should sometime. I can't be sure, but I don't think it's really an insult, so I say, unless it's said so it's meant to offend, then ignore it.

I got this a couple of months ago. I had to ask what he meant He said something about the movie... which made NO sense to me as I haven't seen the movie. I'd heard of it when it came out but didn't see it because I've always assumed it was about a guy who makes it rain (like the Rain Queen, or rain dancing )
I googled it and discovered that it was actually about a guy called Raymond (?) who someone called Rainman for some reason. I also read that the character had Savant Syndrome or possibly Fragile X... which I don't have so I was just confused until a friend explained it a few days later
Next time it happens I'll be informed enough to know that they might be trying to be funny or rude or whatever

LOL I was out to dinner with family recently and my niece told everyone that she had learned pi to 5 digits in school that day. I rattled off pi to 25 digits and everyone just stared at me. Ha ha, they all know I'm different. Didn't get called rain man, though.

I don't think of it as a slur. I call my daughter that sometimes, in fun, because she's been almost obsessed with a certain tv game show for about the last year. If we're not home to watch it, she'll always remember what time it is and that the show is on.

I am one of those people who uses it as a term and I use it on anyone. I once said in high school that lot of people have turned into Rain Man after 9/11 and I was referring to people who don't want to fly due to the terrorism incident. I was only talking about the movie character, not autism and I was only referring to him. But everyone in class just laughed because they all thought it was funny.


I have been compared to him however in high school and I told them "I don't have that good of memory."


I have called my first ex Rain Man once because he was being so stubborn about his trench coat and color of thread to fix it.

I have been compared to Forrest Gump once and it was by my last ex. I didn't let it bother me. I don't think he meant it as an insult.

Now, "Forest Gump" though I'd take as an insult... but only because Tom Hanks's head
looks to me like a jellybean

Forest Gump is awesome too.

I love the boot camp scenes (I like when he assembles the M-16 first, and the instructor calls him a genius or similar).

OMG, my drill instructor said the same thing to me when we were practicing m16 assembly! We did the whole dialog too!

I was by far the fastest one in my whole flight in m16 assembly

Seemingly out of the blue, I got compared to the girl, Sally, from House of Cards and Zack from Bones. Interesting combination.

Connecting the film Rain Man with the topic of autism isn't so big in Germany.

Forest Gump joined the war and helped some folks and he had a girlfriend and had a son and buried her under her favorite tree when she died and he took care of him and taught him how to play pong. Must be great being compared to this wonderful fellow and someone who can tell a story in so much detail about his past. How can I take this as an insult?