What AS is and is not

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AS is..
A simple genetic variation, seeing as how it is a less severe variant of Autism. It can't be considered a full-blown condition.

AS is not..
A disease
A ''condition'' (a PC code word for disease)
A state of being (that's just pussy-footing around disease)
A disorder (A disorder implies harm)
A way of life (Nonsense, if I can keep myself from living like a lot of people on here, than I don't have it)

You're incorrect. It's a disorder as it's defined in psychiatric manuals, and it is also referred to as a syndrome.

It's a full-blown condition, just as OCD is, or any other disorder that is diagnosed; it's usually less severe than Autism based on superficial ideas, but those affected can be just as severe as some with Autism.

Its not a disability. Its an ability to see what others cant.
Well, I like to think so anyway

You have to look at what "windscar15" is REALLY saying. I'm SURE he KNOWS it is in the DSM, etc... He means that it is not LEGITIMATELY a disorder. It is merely DEFINED as such by the majority. If everyone in the world, or even the majority, were AS, would the world have changed much? NOPE! Would the human race have survived? SURE! It isn't like problems where you aren't aware of what is going on around you, or are incapacitated in some way, etc.... Who knows WHAT the world would be like if the majority had AS....

They would protect their vision and hearing like some tribes do even TODAY!
They would have arranged marriages or differences in culture that some have even today!
They would recognize personal space and have manners as some had until recently.
They would have better education that was communal, as it USED to be in the US.

Gee, no real new ideas even!

I think it can be a disorder and disability. No matter if the world would be all AS or not. Autistic people are too diverse, they'd still disable each other like non-autistic people do now without knowing.

My AS is probably nothing like that of another person. Or it is very similar and we live with it differently, because of very different likes and dreams.

This whole stuff is too subjective for anyone to give a general definition of how AS affects people's lives.

Most with AS seem to prefer silence - which makes me meltdown. Anyway, I'd be disabled in an all autistic world too, just differently. I wonder what people would name it then? Noise disorder? Don't-want-to-keep-to-routines delinquent, haha and ADHD would likely remain to be a disorder (most with AS say they can focus so much?)... as does Down's or Turner's or MR.

So true Sora. Very good perspective.

What's he really saying other than what he said?

You listed many presumptions based upon a personal view; it's impossible to speculate on what humanity would be like if so many had this or that.

As it is now, and as it's reality, ASDs are in the medical field, for good reason.

Yes so true too Danielismyname

Wait I think I know something that is AS .... ME.

I don't believe science has proven that all persons with AS have a variant of Autism. Nor have they found a simple genetic variation (otherwise they'd be testing for autism and aborting us already).

I also disagree with disorder implying harm. I find parts of the universe to be in disorder. Maybe it's a lack of understanding some greater order, but I don't consider the universe to be substandard or damaged by its disorder.

I do believe that some people with AS or Autism are impaired or disabled. I leave that up to the individual to determine their own status. But I believe them when they give themselves such labels.

What excludes it from being a way of life (not your own example, that ain't "scientific")
Or state of mind? Being happy is a state of mind. State of mind is a good term, and I really cannot see your logic. Just because some try it to replace "disease" for that term doesn't mean it doesn't fit.

Be more logical please.

I would also say AS is not a way of life in the sense this term is understood by the majority out there. A way of life is mainly used to describe a willing or accepted choice, something not necessary to have been like, possible to change. That's the popular cultural meaning.

I know that some with AS say in public that their AS is their lifestyle. I don't understand that. How can one make one's brain pick routines as a necessity and make one's brain unable to read non-verbal cues? That's the message that is conveyed, if not explained further.

I imagine they rather want to express they like routines and like the social freedom or the symptoms and how they affect their lives.

I suppose some AS crowd may even tend to define AS as something that has little or nothing to do with the medical label.
And more with likes, personality etc. And I totally do not agree with this part, because I say AS is not a personality disorder as people make it to be by saying that AS is a personality type.

This is confusing, I think.

It's not that one is picking and choosing things about AS, it's about accepting things the brain does, accepting and celebrating them. Instead of fighting the urge to do things the way I do them, I'll accept them, and feel tremendously happy in doing them-cos it's normal for me. I now choose NOT to fit into the mold I've tried so hard to fit in, cos I know myself, and I know I'm dang good enough for myself. Before, I unwillingly lived the way I lived, and tried to change myself. Now the opposite is true. I'm quite "proud," tho, that might not be the correct word.



I tend to agree with you. It's in the way the brain is "wired" that determines the personalities tho, isn't it? Pardon my "unscientific" terms here.

So true JR

I'm confused...

Yes I agree with this too.
Its not personality it neurological.
Personality Disorders are learnt and shaped by experiences.
Neurological is physical.