Is your community accepting of AS?

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As I read a variety of threads relating to disclosure of AS, it intrigues me that there are so many opposing opinions. Some are really positive about disclosing, yet others literally beg people not to tell because of their bad experiences.

With such diverse opinion, this got me thinking . . . are there areas of the world that are "AS-phobic" and other areas that are really accepting of AS? Do the people who say "don't disclose" just happen to come from "AS-phobic" areas?

So, I thought I would start a thread asking where you come from and how accepting you think your community is of AS. I'll kick it off by saying I'm from New Zealand, and I think the population here is still reasonably ignorant of AS, but, since the mainstreaming of special needs students in classes (over 20 years ago), there seems to be a real acceptance of disabilities in general, and when people have AS explained to them they are pretty ok and supportive of people.

I'm from Melbourne, Australia and people seem to be dismissive at first, then gradually warm up to me. It's sort of interesting how it works. At school, there is a lot of intolerance (eg. racism, homophobia) and people often make fun of people with mental disabilities/atypical neurology. I'm from a small school, so I may have just got the wrong end of the stick in that regard. However, people just think I'm weird, and that I'm even more wierd for not caring that I'm wierd. But after a while people find my wierdness oddly freeing. I'm also lucky in the way of bullying, as the people who care about me at school outnumber the people who try to put me down, and so they don't usually try anything. Most people don't know I have asperger's, since I've never really brought it up. I have adapted well into society, and can be part of it while still being myself.

Don't know.

I'm not really fussed about being accepted enough to actually check and see if I am or not.
On the whole though, I haven't been in any situation where I've received a lot of criticism for my ways though, so I'd imagine at least the people at my workplace don't seem too bothered about it.

I did a really stupid thing, or maybe not. I kind of had it informally confirmed that I had AS and then immediately told everyone I knew without thinking about the consequences. Like I do. Anyway, this was a couple of weeks ago. I'm in the UK, and I belong to a quite close-knit community, but one which doesn't always deal with mental health issues very well.

I'd say most people try and understand, but don't really manage.

Quite a few people think I've got something like a broken leg. Or that I should pull myself together. The biggest problem I've come across is the endless number of people who say stuff like - "well, everyone has problems with that kind of stuff, you know." Yeah, but they don't get panic attacks and seizures when they short circuit.

For me that seems to be the biggest problem - getting people to understand the scale of the difficulties I face, in spite of the fact that I seem to have been just a fairly normal, if a little uncomfortable, 32 year old. They just can't get that. I've been screaming inside my whole life, but just putting on this vacant expression, and they can't get that. And most of all, they can't get why I feel devastated now, when I'm the same person as I was a month ago. It's just not something your average NT can really empathize with very well. Mind you, some aspies don't seem to get that part either.

I think if I was to try and hit the nail on the head, I think that because they can't see anything visibly, some NTs think that AS is some kind of new-age politically-correct excuse for being a "loser". Even my GP described it in terms of providing "excuses", and of assigning a "label" to relationship problems... though at least he referred me for a diagnosis, so I actually came out of the consultation thinking he was a great guy, as I didn't even expect him to do that. Isn't that twisted?

This is a very stiff-upper-lip British attitude to mental issues generally. "Pull your socks up, laddy, and get on with it." I resent that, but I refuse to add it to the list of things I need to be dealing with. For the moment, anyway.

Not really.

Most New Zealanders like to think it doesn't exsist and everyone with it is an attention whore.

My work is though. Probably because I have authority over half of them so they can't verbally abuse me for my idiotic silly behaviour.

i have finished high school and it was pretty good with AS. There was also an aspergers kid on todaytonight (australian news show) this looked like they were trying to spread the word.

To be honest, I don't really need to tell everyone about AS.

I wouldn't exactly hide the fact I'm an Aspie. But I have no desire to be the militant angry in-your-face "You HAVE to accept me" Aspie.

But here in Columbia Tennessee, I'm sure everyone would be very accepting of AS. It is a very understanding town where everyone seems to accept what you are.

Most people where I live don't know even know what AS is and have never heard of the term before.

They cannot believe that a person that has a type of autism can talk, be intelligent, can go to school/work, live without a constant 24/7 aid. But they also have no idea what an autistic person who has trouble talking and needs a 24/7 aid can be like either. They have no idea of the autistic spectrum.

I think most people here think of autism along the lines of a living vegetable that 'lives in their own world'.

Therefore, even if they're willing to learn, it's hard to make them understand the variety and the reality of what the spectrum can look like. They'll either assume you're 'not a person that's present in the mind' or that you're 'barely affected if the psych didn't misdiagnose you'. The willingness to inspect and learn about all the middle ground is lacking very much as is the information spread of what ASDs are.

wait a realy cool fact that always gets people is when you tell them that Einstine was aspergers., or suposidly Bill Gates.

many of us watch from the sideline, we see things from the outside. we watch them and they can only wonder as we circle them.

Some people know (my bosses at work) that I might be AS, but they seem to be avoiding the matter now. It's like we never talked about it....
So even talking about AS is taboo let alone accepting it.