Aspie Syndrome in Asia/China

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I was pondering about the ethnic factor in Aspie population when coming across a thread named "Caucasians and autism/aspergers"...
Here's the link http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt177203.html

This is a very interesting topic. So I decided to start a new thread.

I do not know much about the statistics or situations in countries where the majority is caucasians, as I was born and grew up in China. But I think in regard to why ASD seems to be more related to white people than Asians, I want to offer some observations and explanations about what ASD means here in eastern Asia (not familiar with Korea or Japan, though). They are really just personal opinions, and I don't know if it will be interesting or useful for people on this forum, but I think to aspies (like me), knowing more about more is never a bad thing.

1. Above all, we folks in China are just not that familiar with the whole concept of "Psychology"... Really, I think most of us here know ASD from movies (and that's a very very limited number) . What the field of psychology does is regarded mostly as theoretical, and many people do not think it has much practical value; although many academics and professions are trying to change this perception nowadays. It has a lot to do with our traditional philosophy and religion.

(I also notice that some of the people in this forum quoted Chinese sage's words in their signatures (cuz I find it quite entertaining to guess what the original text is), and I want to add that I do think some of these eastern values and religious are good for people are the spectrum, because many of them are related to introspection and tolerance.--but I'll stop there as this isn't a cultural or religion thread...

2. Put it in a simple way, in Chinese culture (I do not speak for all, this is just my observation) we like to "mix things up"--we don't put the same weight in classification & labels as in western culture. That's why, I believe, the concept of Asperger is very difficult to be accepted here. Chinese people regard vagueness and uncertainty as a normal state of life--things are constantly changing, so why bother labeling anything.

3. Are there many Aspies? This is quite interesting. my observation is, many people who are considered normal in where I live ,would be considered Apie-ish if put in some of the environment described by people on this forum.

4. Attitudes towards ASD.
My father's attitude is a very typical "Chinese" one.
When I told him about my ASD (it is self-diagnosed, as I didn't search whether there is a place for diagnose here), he did not believe it at all at first. Later I translated all the traits for him, and he agreed they explained many things.

His words when we last talked about it were much like this: Yes, it does sound like you have this thing. (And I myself & mom also share some these traits too) But then, what use to give it a name? It is good that now you know more about yourself. But you will always be you, and we can all accept that. So, instead of trying to know more about ASD, we should start to try improving (and no need to frustrate if not).

But in the end, to this day, it is like I have never mentioned to him about a thing called ASD. I think he, like many other people here, really doesn't care much for these exotic terms and psychology methods...

I'm always in favor of learning from different cultures. And I think this looser use of labels sounds like a positive.

My TCM practitioner said singing was the recommended treatment for autism

I've had excellent results with Chinese medicine, my initial experience curing me of Chronic Fatigue Syn, over 20 years ago

The doctor then made a list of what foods I should eat less of, or avoid altogether. This is relative to comorbid conditions, rather than autism

I walk downdown regularly in Auckland NZ, and see a lot of Chinese with aspergers, a lot of women....

But then, I'm not always looking at the guys

I can understand why the Chinese feel labeling is a waste of time. Our culture's job market is more biased around psychological and social skills. While in china I can only imagine that it's more labor and specialty hands on skills. I don't even know where to start as far as our huge cultural differences. The mindset is so different than in western culture. I could imagine a lot of Chinese have Aspie traits or enough for a DX, but it might not effect them as much due to the different in lifestyle. So really there could be no point in a DX there.

Psychology is considered to be a young science. Sometimes I wish it didn't exist. It's another way to classify people. With its entry into the mainstream and popular culture, we have too many psychologists, armchair psychologists, garbage books/programs, and people who like to assess others and themselves in nearly every moment. There's so much focus on what is wrong or lacking and how it might be fixed, you could choke on it.

I only know a little of your traditional philosophy and religion, but I prefer the wisdom within it.

Im chinese too, but I grew up in the US. Since my parents are asian, they was never a huge emphasis on socializing, its like get done with your work and your good. However when I was 16,17 and I had no friends, my mom did start to recognize that, that was unusual. My parents mostly viewed socializing as frivolous. Its like you should do it for the sake of being part of the community but this western concept of having tons of friends, going to social events, parties, etc was considered frivolous. Its only now, the tide has changed once my parents accepted my Aspergers diagnosis and they knew that me needing friends and being socially accepted was essential.

I thought asian culture was huge about being part of a community and not standing out? Understandable thats why Chinese maybe reluctant to label something. But if your standing out as a weirdo in society equals not good. Some aspies may standout significantly and others may not. I didnt really because shy asian girls are common. So I was branded as shy which only makes up like 5% of my identity.



My mom dislikes giving it a name as well. Well I tell my mom that giving it a name is what allows me access to services and helps me to understand myself better. If you don't have good social skills, its pretty hard to get a job plus I need school accommodations as well. Plus after getting rejected so many times, it was making me depressed. At least knowing I have Aspergers, and identifying with other aspies(even if its mostly online) has helped me to know I'm not alone. I dont know what would of happened if I didnt get the diagnosis at 18, I got into a lot of trouble my first yr of college. I think the biggest reason why I didn't get kicked out or wasnt committed to a psych ward longer was cause of the Asperger's diagnosis.

Its like breeding pig

big strong healthy pig for big money

Probably you'll find more aspies if you look at the guys =)

Agreed.

Shyness is very common, both in boys & girls. I used to think it is the reason for many of my social problems. Growing up, adults also liked to attribute many of these problems to simpley "she is shy", ALL THE TIME. Now I just get a little bit angry when I hear people describe me as shy. In my mind, the one who really bothers to know me will know that I am more than that (that shyness is really not the problem here...).





I hope I can get a diagnosis like you do. Finding out about this forum has helped me a lot too.

I spent some time studying the history of psychology some of it's pretty disturbing especially around WW2. Now a days it's so impersonal I do feel like I'm being chocked. It's hard to fit into society when it can be so wrong at times. People think I'm an idiot for not owning/using a fancy cell phone. I also don't tweet or text. I blame some of my mood swings and depression on our lifestyle as well. Right now I'm very lucky to be working for a man who is much older and doesn't agree with today's society either. We both think the world is being pussyfied. If I didn't have a very humanistic/understanding boss I wouldn't have a job right now I'd just be on disability because I find it very hard to function in certain settings. My boss also likes Asian cultures and I myself am mildly Buddhist.

Same thing, people always thought, "shes just shy, she'll outgrow it". But guess what, I never did outgrow it. Yeah I do get angry when my mom still likes to attribute my social problems to shyness. And the worse question I get sometimes is: What is the difference between social anxiety and Aspergers. And I'm thinking, "mom you should know the difference, I've been diagnosed for almost 5 yrs". Cause frankly, if it was just shyness, I would have overcome it already. I would have overcome it by the time entered college. I feel the aspergers is why I'm hesitant to interact. Its like "uhh I dont know how to", and funny thing...I actually do lack the skills. Most shy people, have the skills. There just hesitant to interact.

China stigmatizes mental illnesses. But I'm not sure if they actually consider Aspergers a mental illness esp after how your father described it; plenty of kids who get top scores on their college entrance exams exhibit these traits and the country idolizes these people.

Also, take a look at this video..



I'm hypothesizing that ASD might even be more common in China than the west.

There is a free pdf booklet describing Aspergers (An Intentional Life - http://christianpioneer.com/blogarchiev ... e_2017.pdf ). In the beginning of the book it describes a little of the history of psychological labeling that was done to ease the processing of children through the educational system. Such processing relies on conformity and in the US, this was lacking.

Because China may start with a greater emphasis on conformity, psychological labeling might not be as needed to achieve the collectivization of a population.

However, it seems that China might be advancing its method of social control with such things as the social credit system. If this continues, those with Aspergers in China might discover that they represent in some way a hindrance to governmental plans. For this reason, it might be beneficial to avoid being identified with some psychological label.

China isn't dumb. They're hungry for economic growth, and if empowering Aspies turns out to be fruitful in the West, you bet China will exploit their ubiquitous surveillance to find and empower Aspies living there.. of course to further their own state.

Im not Chinese....but I am Korean.

One thing I can point out (not sure if it applies to all SEA countries) is that in South Korea they tend to be very ignorant of mental health. Despite their relatively high numbers, they ignore the problem and many Koreans will not seek any professional help. Theres a pretty big cultural fear of being different.
ASD is perhaps not very prevalent therefor because 1) its not being diagnosed and 2) its not treated as real. Most citizens probably wouldnt know what it is, and the very few that are diagnosed most likely would never say anything or do anything about it. Its not just that the 'symptoms' would be ignored- they would be desperately and frantically covered up by paranoid citizens under the immense pressure to be perfect.