Do you always have to deal with stereotypes?

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roygerdodger
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01 Aug 2008, 9:38 pm

I do, a lot. Whenever I tell someone I have autism, most people think I'm either mentally ret*d or using it as an excuse to get out of everything.



DJRnold
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01 Aug 2008, 10:09 pm

If you have Asperger's Syndrome, don't tell people that you have autism. Tell them you have Asperger's Syndrome, and tell them what it is/does without using the word "autism". Then, they might want to look it up and they'll accidentally discover that not all people with auism are nonverbal and/or mentally ret*d.



Malsane
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01 Aug 2008, 10:15 pm

No one where I live knows what Asperger's or Autism are. I have to explain from scratch every time.



01 Aug 2008, 10:20 pm

I don't tell anyone I have AS or being on the spectrum. Why do you need to tell?

Thanks to so many people using their disability as an excuse, now everyone thinks the innocent ones are using theirs as an excuse when they tell.



roygerdodger
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01 Aug 2008, 11:20 pm

Spokane_Girl wrote:
I don't tell anyone I have AS or being on the spectrum. Why do you need to tell?

Thanks to so many people using their disability as an excuse, now everyone thinks the innocent ones are using theirs as an excuse when they tell.


Dealing with NT problems I have trouble with lately is making me tell that I have autism, nowadays.



Malsane
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02 Aug 2008, 12:09 am

So that they can understand your difficulties better? That's why I share. That and I have trouble differentiating between keeping things private and lying by omission. It gets me into a lot of trouble, and I end up sharing more than I want to in order to be honest.



SpiceWolf
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02 Aug 2008, 12:43 am

I suppose I'd tell on a need to know basis.

If your friends wont accept you because you're "weird" then telling them you have AS isn't going to fix things.

AS diagnosis is useful in that you understand why you are different. But you're not a condition, you're a person.

Here is an example of what I mean :-
Say a person has sickle cell, it's good to know why you are like this, what will and wont make it worse.
But you don't have to tell everyone, "Hey I have sickle cell"

Those who sneered at you for being "Weak" or "Lazy" before you knew you had SCA, will snear at you for being "Defective" or a "Cripple" after you tell them.
At least that's my experience of these types.

I hope I'm doing a decent job of explaining this,
I'm pretty tired right now.

L.



Ishmael
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02 Aug 2008, 3:20 am

Yes. Yes I have. In Adelaide, many people know that Autism exists - though, of course, they believe it to be simply a definition of mental retardation. Many people now know, too, that Aspergers exists - unfortunately, they learned of it from sham legal defenses where the defendant made-up a history of Aspergers as an excuse for rape or murder...
Needless to say; either term used as an explanation for my differences is awkward. So, instead, if someone wonders why I talk in a monotone and don't make eye contact - I typically say I have brain damage. It's a lie, I know, but it shuts 'em up quicker.



Droopy
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03 Aug 2008, 3:55 am

What about someone you know who has aspie traits? Do they stereotype? Or are they just as bad as everyone else? I know someone who has AS characteristic but not sure if they have it or not. I've thought about mentioning it to them that I have it to see how they respond. I wonder even though this person is different, if they would take it with a little more understanding than most.



Amik
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03 Aug 2008, 5:00 pm

I hate stereotypes, but I have to deal with them all the time, on all fronts. I'm tired of being treated according to other people's stereotypes of what I should be like and judged unfairly when I don't fit into their silly stereotypes.



KingdomOfRats
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03 Aug 2008, 5:46 pm

yes,am deal with it on a daily basis due to having a large staff team made up of mostly non autism and complex needs educated ignorants.

those sort of humans will always stereotype other humans because they have little knowledge of them,or of what they have,they are quick to judge-choose to educate them or walk away from what they are saying,because it won't change.
they need to get to know self so they see past what they can see and the behavior.
even after that,there are some who are just so nasty that they choose to believe what they want to believe,
even with all the educating from specialists in the subject-that is their problem and not selfs.
if they cannot be bothered to treat self with respect dont give it to them by letting it affect self.


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Hodor
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03 Aug 2008, 5:51 pm

I just don't tell people in real life that I have AS, unless they ask specifically. I mean, apart from letting a prospective employer know that I have AS, nobody really needs to know. My friends at school knew that I was slightly 'off the wall' and unusual, and I didn't feel there was any point in complicating matters by telling them that I have a condition that they'd probably never heard of.

The only exception to that is when one of my friends told me one day that he had AS, so I told him that I did too. If any of my friends ever suspect that I might be on the Spectrum, I'd tell them that I am diagnosed with AS, but other than that, I don't think they need to know.


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