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Jamesy
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15 Apr 2014, 10:56 am

I found an article once about adults with autism and I remember it said something roughly along the lines "some high functioning adults to the untrained eye can appear normal sparing them the assumptions and prejudices in other adults were it is more obvious."

So can you tell me what assumptions and prejudices might other autistic adults get compared to the population of adults with aspergers were its less obvious?



Daydreamer86
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15 Apr 2014, 11:03 am

I think the main one, from which all the other prejudices and assumptions stem, is assuming that they lack intelligence. I have met so many people who think that people with severe autism are incapable of knowing what they want or need. A lot of people also mistakenly think that, if someone cannot communicate verbally, they don't have anything to say when there are a lot of people with severe autism out there (including some on this site) who can communicate excellently through typing and VOCAs. There are lots of ways to communicate-speech is just one of them yet the way people are treated solely because they lack speech is often appalling.


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Jamesy
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15 Apr 2014, 11:28 am

Daydreamer86 wrote:
I think the main one, from which all the other prejudices and assumptions stem, is assuming that they lack intelligence. I have met so many people who think that people with severe autism are incapable of knowing what they want or need. A lot of people also mistakenly think that, if someone cannot communicate verbally, they don't have anything to say when there are a lot of people with severe autism out there (including some on this site) who can communicate excellently through typing and VOCAs. There are lots of ways to communicate-speech is just one of them yet the way people are treated solely because they lack speech is often appalling.


Any other assumptions people make?

For instance if someone lacks eye contact and empathy what assumption people make?



GiantHockeyFan
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15 Apr 2014, 12:26 pm

Jamesy wrote:
Any other assumptions people make?

For instance if someone lacks eye contact and empathy what assumption people make?

That they are dishonest and unreliable. That's why I couldn't pass a one on one interview! What's ironic is that's precisely the two qualities I have the most of! There's also the feeling that someone lacking empathy doesn't care. I once had a Paramedic treating my mother and she complained how he 'didn't seem to care'. I asked her if he did he job well and she said yes but that's all she could remember.



Joe90
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15 Apr 2014, 12:47 pm

As a high-functioning adult who can hide most of my symptoms, some people (who know I have it) seem to think I can't make decisions for myself for some reason. It happened to me at work once, when I felt ill with a bad cold (the cold got worse as the day wore on). Although I sounded blocked up and looked tired, the supervisor didn't seem to believe me when I asked to go home. He said I can't (which I thought was wrong), and a bit later I found out he had told one of my closest colleagues off because he assumed it was her telling me to go home - even though I knew and she knew that it was my own decision I made. Luckily she is a nice friend and so didn't blame anything on me. She was just annoyed at him, and so was I.

Just because I have this condition what I don't even want, doesn't mean I cannot make decisions for myself.


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