Semantics and their effect on the perception of AS

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Well, a number of people spoke of their imagination. I wanted to poke a little fun at some people that imagined THEMSELVES as other things. I knew that autistics, and specifically AS people, aren't supposed to have imaginations. That didn't jive with other things, etc... and I have a good imagination, so I knew it wasn't true. Anyway, I mentioned how their statements blew a hole in that theory.

I decided to look for an example of such belief, The first one was an autistic speaking about how he and one of his brothers pretended to be manatees! SUPPOSEDLY, autistics CAN pretend to be something else, and many obviously DO! They can ALSO imagine things mentally, but NOT ascribe any imagination to physical objects???? And THAT means we lack imagination?

I haven't physically acted like anything else, though I have imagined being something else. I have certainly had the kind of internallized imagination.

Anyway, I just thought this was interesting. People ascribe a new meaning to a word and then say it doesn't fit us!

Steve

As I have browsed data on AS and Aspies I have found that much of what THEY (and you know how they are. . .) say of us is entirely wrong. They say we memorize rote and do not understand: I know that I cannot memorize rote. Tis akin to memorizing an eye cahrt unless the specific data points are logically connected. They say a lot.

I think we Aspies ought set our own bloody standards - and of identification - not bloody diagnosis as that word is perjorative. There is nuttin wrong with me, there is a lot different about me.

They also say that girl Aspies go undetected because no one thinks it's that odd if girls have fantasy worlds until later than boys and that many Aspie women continue to live in a fantasy type state.

Ahem. So, which is it? We live in fantasy worlds or we have no imagination.


Zanne: "Tell me how you feel about that dichotomy in the AU/AS theory."

Shrink: "Well, there are dichotomies in every theory. It doesn't mean that both aren't true."

<eyebrow shoots up> Zanne: "And when did you first begin to make these delusional kinds of self-aggrandizing statements?"

Shrink <confused look>

Zanne: "I think we should consider testing you for Schizophrenia. I'm a little concerned about these delusional statements. I think they may be an indication of an even deeper problem."

Well, I CAN memorize by rote. I was always told that was THE way to learn.(I was considered a shy/gifted NT. I guess I supposedly had ADHD also, due to being perscribed ridalin.(ca. 1969)) My best way has always been doing it myself though. IMAGINING doing it myself is in between.

Steve

I've always had a rich, fantasy life. I would retreat into it whenever I could, as a child. It was what got my parents, teachers, and peers nuts, because I didn't find them interesting.

I have always as well; people are dumb...my mind can make them more interesting than they are usually...lol.

I believe that those who choose to define what we can and cannot do should seriously consider engaging in a conversation with those on whom they presume to be experts. Not have imagination are they insane- I created such an elaborate fantasy world in my youth that it had it's time scale, the only problem with it was that it failed to include the rest of the world (which was not my problem- they had their world and I had mine!)

I think the historical references to 'imagination' have been misinterpreted by many
professionals. I'm sure autistic people have imaginations that are as rich as everyone else's,the only area where we possibly have issues is in 'imagining' how a conversation
or relationship might be going to develop. It's more in connection with the level of ability to see the big picture forming as opposed to details,rather than the ability to fantasize.

We lack imagination? Wow, then what was I doing working as a writer/editor for a manga (that was never published, and our company tanked almost a year ago). I also had my own world to escape to. Now I don't need it for an escape, but since I'm in college and have no money, I call it vacation.

Yes, absolutely. I'd say I have an imagination that's bigger than the average person when it comes to fantasizing, as you put it, but admittedly it's difficult for me to imagine causes and effects of social behaviors, or predict things in a similar manner.

OH, I imagine how conversations or relationships will develop, etc... I USED to think anyone could do it, and I did it only to gain some comfort about how things will turn out, etc... BESIDES, sometimes I go through permutations to prevent some garbage some people try to give me. If they think you need to be able to RELIABLY predict it in order to have an imagination, I have 3 things to say:

1. NOBODY can do that!
2. That is CLAIRVOYANCE, not an imagination.
3. If they can do that, I will pay then $10,000 to answer a couple questions every month for a year.

BTW I think autistics may have BETTER imaginations.

Steve

It's the same for me. It takes some time to look at a situation and think how everyone will react to different body language and speech, but no time at all to delve into my own little world.

When I was a child, my town held a treasure hunt for kids. The groups of kids were sorted by a lottery, I don't even remember who I was with but I think it was noone I knew before. I was very good at finding what each clue meant, but there was one point where to proceed you had to improvise a play that would make you recognizable as a fictional character. It was just a matter of few lines, but it took me a lot of time to do it (at least a quarter of hour), and I don't even remember if I had invented the scene or another member of the group did. That prevented me from achieving victory. Unluckily the other members of the group didn't have the skill to compensate me, I even had to choose the name of the group ("Seamen". At the time I was reading all books of Salgari I found in my library, I had no fondness for the sea but it sounded cool said by pirates).

Aside from that, I do have an imagination.

Another point: From reading another thread, where people talked about paranoia, it became obvious to me that in order to be paranoid, you need a vivid imagination!

I think that maybe what psychiatrists have written is misunderstood. I think their type of imagination involves skill used in lying and non-literal language. The DSM says:

lack of varied, spontaneous make-believe play or social imitative play appropriate to developmental level

I found it explained also as:

Play: May prefer to play alone or parallel play. May lack spontaneous or imaginative play, may not initiate pretend games, may prefer to use toys in odd ways i.e. lining them up or spinning the wheels on toy cars.

Wikipedia adds:

Many children with autism experience social alienation during their school-age years. As a response to this, or perhaps because their social surroundings simply do not "fit" them, many report inventing imaginary friends, worlds, or scenarios.