Aspie book!

Post Reply New Topic

Calling all Aspies and Auties for assistance!

I'm in the very early stages of writing a book that will be called "Not All Aspies Are Computer Geeks" because I am completely fed up of people assuming I can fix their computers just because I'm Aspie (my degree is English Lit; I am NOT a computer whiz by any stretch of the imagination). The premise of the book is to take various myths/perceptions/stereotypes about Aspies, look at how and why they came to be, and then evaluate how true/appropriate they are.

What do I want from you guys? Any myths/perceptions/stereotypes you've ever heard, however bizarre or common they are! If you've come across one, I would like to know.

For example:
- Aspies are more reliable/punctual
- Aspies are harder workers
- Only males can have Asperger's
- Aspies are asexual/aromantic

Well... I'm a computer geek, I'm very punctual, I'm a hard worker, I'm a male and I'm not that sexual... damn, I don't miss one single stereotype!

That's OK, there's nothing wrong with fitting the stereotype, means I've got more to write/talk about!

I'm:
- NOT a computer geek
- female
- try to be punctual but am often hopelessly disorganised so I end up being late (thank you, dyslexia!)
- to be fair I AM a hard worker
- I have a long-term boyfriend who is basically (just not yet officially) my fiance and although I'm still a virgin (I'm Catholic) I'm definitely a sexual being!

- Aspies aren't LGBT (I'm trans)
- Aspies aren't creative (I'm a poet and writer)
- Aspies aren't emotional (I can be very emotional especially about people/places/things I am attached to)
- Aspies are good at/obsessed with math (I hate math and I'm terrible at it; actually have a bit of dyscalcula according to my DX papers)

- Aspies don't have much of an imagination
- Aspies lack empathy
- Aspies prefer to keep to themselves because they're stuck up, don't like you, and think they're better than you
- All people with Asperger's have a savant skill
- Asperger's and neurology are fake
- Asperger's is a personality disorder or a psychotic disorder
- All Aspies are just like [insert tv or movie character with alleged Asperger's traits here]
- Aspies are a minority so it's okay to monger hate against them, treat them like crap, and assume that they're worse than you in every way possible (only applies to certain regions)
- It's okay to be an a**hole to an Aspie (or anyone for that matter) based on the unfounded assumption that they're an a**hole too
- Asperger's is caused by substance abuse during pregnancy

Great idea! I would add these:

Not all Aspies don't like to be touched ever
Not all Aspies are single
Not all Aspies have zero friends
Not all Aspies aren't parents

You can tell if a person has AS by looking at them
Aspies can't complete a university degree
Aspies can't have friends
Aspies can't hold a job (I do struggle with finding and keeping employment, but I am capable of working)
All Aspies hate touch
All Aspies have cognitive delays
Aspies can never be taught how to fake eye contact even if given explicit instructions and lots of practice
Sensory issues have nothing to do with Autism
Very few girls have ASDs
ASDs are almost always caught in childhood unless the child has an overall lack of medical care because all GPs and primary school social workers are competent and actually give a s**t

(The above are reasons given by an "expert" in autism spectrum disorders as to why I couldn't be an Aspie after a single assessment in which she asked me questions about social anxiety and did no other testing. I was later diagnosed with Aspergers.)

Equally annoying are:
Aspies lack imagination
Aspies lack empathy
Special interests never change and only count if they are math, trains, computers or engineering related
All Aspies are asexual
Aspergers primarily effects middle and upper class white people and therefore must be caused by [insert random social or environmental factor that may or may not have a logical connection to anything here]
Aspergers is caused by vaccines
Meltdowns are bad behaviour and a sign that the child is spoiled or that the adult is immature and/or has a personality disorder
There is only one way to struggle with language, and it is always apparent when someone is struggling
Aspergers is an excuse for bad behaviour/laziness and not a real disability
All Aspies are loud and annoying
Aspies are anti-social and violent

Last edited by greyjay on 26 Jul 2013, 7:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Aspies will not get married.
Aspies will not be parents.

Yep those two annoy the hell out of me - I'm happily married with two beautiful children!

The only one I can think of to add to this list, is a bizarre one that someone on this site quoted as a reason why they couldn't possibly have Aspergers:

Aspies can't sing !

All aspies are geniuses/savants who are only capable of giving lectures on their favourite subjects
All aspies prefer fact to fiction
Aspies don't have a sense of humour
All aspies hate being touched
All aspies have meltdowns
All aspies have special interests revolving around electronics and/or things with wheels

Aspies could not survive in a regular education setting. (When I first talked to someone at the mental health clinic here in town, to say that I wanted to seek diagnosis, she asked me, "Well, were you in special education?" When I replied that I had not been, and that I actually did very well with my school work, she gave me this strange little smile, and said that it wouldn't be autism then, that it isn't really "something for adults," and that it would have been caught in school, as I wouldn't have done well.)
So, that is another, I guess. That Autism is a condition for children, not adults.

Let see, I'm male, I'm a computer geek, I like to be punctual however that never happens, I hate to be touched however I'm love sensual touch at the same time. I am married to a NT (who is the greatest woman on the planet for putting up with me) and a 4 y/o son

well here's my ASC family (I'm looking at 4 generations of Aspies here!):

2 highly sexually orientated males who haven't really learned to focus on anything else (fortunately, they are married to each other and both very correct in their behaviour towards others so it's just a bit of a hassle), 1 adult male who hasn't discovered sex yet but will in his own time, 2 asexual females, 2 gay, one bi, one trans and one pan and at least 4 androgenous not really sures. Several computer geeks including the main virus cracker for a well known antivirus utility in the 90s, 2 artists, a librarian, a builder, a physicist, a stock broker, 3 teachers, 3 linguists an architect, an oxford don (English Lit.) 2 diplomats and a musician.
3 with savant skills (Maths and colour), 3 synaesthetes, 3 with hyperacusis, 2 with perfect pitch, 4 with prosopagnosia (2 severe) one of whom recognises people by smell....
Several very painfully shy including a selective mute and a virtual hermit, most just not too good at the social side of things, and more than a couple who are highly social but really not good at getting it right...

Oh...and quite a few successful marriages and relationships which have clearly produced successive generations!

There are also a handful of NTs dotted about here and there.

When you've met one of us you have met an individual!! !

"Amazingly...Alphie Understanding and Accepting Different Ways Of Being." Not really on topic, but there has got to be better resources than this for children with Aspergers. Is this the kind of stuff they give children with Aspergers to better understand themselves? ....I dunno....I have never seen anything so stereotypical in regards to Aspergers.

http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/1931282536

Sorry, just had to post this. My girlfriend is a social worker and she pulled out what Asperger resources she had and this was one of them. I was like "seriously....they make the kids relate to a computer....seriously....and the only other human they have to relate to is a computer tech that the other computer techs think is weird.....you gotta be sh*****g me."

The concept of the different operating system is a good one but this book doesn't look like it does a good job of putting it across - way too childish for the older kids the concept might be relevant to and younger kids would miss it completely as it's too abstract. I also don't like the tone of the writing.

I am really confused about the imagination thing or lack thereof. From my understanding some aspies have a very involved fantasy life and are capable of quite a bit of imagination.

Is imagination something that separates aspies from other forms of autism? The more acute the autism, the less imagination or vice versa? What's the general trend if there is one? Doing the aspie tests I was kind off thrown of by all the imagination questions. Just looking for some clarity.