"This person has autism" cards. What do you think?

Post Reply New Topic

At a support group recently, somebody handed me a stack of these:



I am still waiting for my official assessment, and wouldn't dream of using one of these cards until I have my diagnosis on paper, because I'd feel like a fraud. But even when I have my diagnosis, I'm not sure how I'd feel about handing these out to people. On the one hand, it's short, factual, and to-the-point; on the other, I think I'd find it more humiliating having to stand there whilst a person reads it than just fumbling through the situation like I normally do. In fact, I can't think of a single situation where I'd be comfortable giving this card to somebody. It's almost like I don't "deserve" to use them because I don't feel disabled enough ... if that makes sense.

Anybody ever used them before? Have they ever come in handy?

Last edited by Guineapigged on 07 Dec 2011, 4:37 pm, edited 2 times in total.

If a person likes to walk and is periodically stopped by the police who thinks the person is on drugs or whatever, that would be a case in which a card like this in your wallet could be helpful.

Last edited by AardvarkGoodSwimmer on 07 Dec 2011, 4:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I wouldn't mind one, I once read a positive article on a man who used them and he said it helped a little bit, because he wasn't very verbal. I can't remember much of it though I read it a few years ago.

Give it to the Jehovah's Witnesses when they come to your door.

Frances

I swear at them then hand them my Tourettes alert card as I shut the door...

But I digress...

Obviously it is EXTREMELY important for me to be carrying a Tourettes ID at all times because sometimes my involuntary behaviour can look quite deliberate. That ID has got me out of trouble a few times. The autism one I carry around comes out less. The times when I have needed it, I have been in such a bad meltdown I forgot to get it out. I'm not sure what benefit it holds for me. I suppose it would be useful if the police wanted to speak to you about your 'suspicious' behaviour. Apparently people with autism show all the body language of a guilty person to the police!

NO!! ! It might make them stupidly want to help you more
I fend them off by answering the door wearing a satanic pentagram while blasting KORN Twisted Transistor in the background. I dress goth all the time and usually have metal/alternative playing so it's pretty easy for me to screw with them a little. Not to mention I have a beautiful collection of skull bracelets and necklaces I often wear.
I'm wearing this one right now it's my fave because the random colors remind me of neurodiversity. Wish I had a Tourettes card though.

I just tell Jehovahs Witnesses the truth.

Do you know Jesus?
Yes.
Would you like a pamphlet/ Bible.
Sure. Thanks. See you.

Be nice to them and they actually go a lot quicker. Also, make sure you look like a child forever so they keep asking if a parent is home. Buts seriously, there's no need to be mean. They have their beliefs, you have yours (or don't have any).
Even my Christian mother chases them away rudely.

I made my own autism awareness card, not as professional as those ones.
I think the card has a lot of valid information on it.

Times I would give a card is when I would be in a health crisis, or overloaded and unable to speak.
The only people I've said 'I'm autistic' to have been road managers who really needed to know why I was freaking out so much.
And this one singer who directly asked me if I was epileptic. When you're that far gone you have no problem telling people.

It depends on the context. In some circumstances it could be a bit too much like having a yellow star. In other circumstances it could be helpful.

Personally, though, I'm very against the idea - but then I was also anti-ID cards too.

I think those cards are a good idea. I wouldn't mind having one.

On the Jehovahs Witnesses thing I've heard if you tell them that you a worshipper of satan it actually reinforces their views of outsiders aka not Jehovahs Witnesses as godless people.

I wouldn't want one because lots of people in my area would assume the carrier has something like mental retardation or they would treat him/her like he/she does; like talking down to em or assuming they cant do basic things that they can.

I have these cards. I got them from the NAS website. I try to use them sparingly and positively but I have made mistakes.

A good way of using them:

I keep one blu-tacked to the inside of the front door, because despite my best efforts at polite assertiveness, sometimes an insistant sales person can become too much. (We've had a couple of minor 'incidents' with this situation!)

A bad way of using them:

I once handed one to a charity signer-upper in the high-street, without making any other conversation, then walked on. He seemed offended. I walked 'round the entire block, vocalising and flapping my arms before I managed to carry on with the tasks I was in town to do! Now I realise it was rude to not speak and now I say, 'I'm happy with my giving as it is thank you' and walk on.

I keep a couple in my bag in case of a meltdown. I don't count on them as 'exemptions' from rules or anything like that, but sometimes a situation can arise when you do need to quickly and simply explain Aspergers to people around you who otherwise would interpret behaviour according to non-autistic expectations. These cards are useful for that.

A couple years ago my husband and me went to an Eastern European country by car and at the national border we stopped for a break. He went to sleep in the car and I saw a little hill and went there and I sat down in the grass and watched the little insects in there. Then a policeman came to me and asked what I was doing there and I muted completely and so had to follow to the policecar and my husband saw it and asked what was going on and they thought I was a minor and was "kidnapped" from Eastern Europe and forced to work in Western Europe.
Yes, I would like this card!

Last edited by Eloa on 07 Dec 2011, 7:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I think these cards would be handy to have during meltdowns, if I am functional enough at the time to retrieve one.

When those bible thumping folks come to my door, I follow the example of a friend of mine and tell them that I am a pagan. Another method I have used is to say that I am Jewish.

As to the cards, I carry a few with me, but so far I have not had to use them. Just fortunate I guess.

I remember attwood saying something about having a card like that in case you get into sticky situations and I think its a good idea to carry something like that. I could spare you a lot of unnecessary trouble. 4 years ago, I was taken to the hospital ward and a card like that would have been very helpful because I felt I was being mistreated the whole time.