I wish Bill Gates supports "I'm an Aspie" ad

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First I want to disclaim that I do not know nor claim Bill Gates is an Aspie, and second, how he chooses to spend his charity money is his business.

But if he is, or at least if he is willing to donate to a good cause (including malaria and minority college funds)

it'd be nice if there was an ad campaign which says "Hi, I'm x, I'm an Aspie", along with the usual donations to foundations that help Aspies and increase profile. Print ads, commericials, internet, etc. along with solicitations of others with asperger's (i.e Vernon Smith, etc)

To tell you the truth, I don't think Bill Gates is an Apsie. I think it's based off of wishful thinking.

so much of this 'famous Aspie' stuff is.

Merle

I agree. People need to realize that just because someone is a genius doesn't mean he/she has Aperger's, or if somone has Aperger's, he/she is a genius.

I've noticed, especially on this site, that there's always one of these "is *name* and aspie???" threads and it's always because they're smart/creative or just a bit geeky. People even say the cartoon/game characters are! wtf?
My mum's just the same, she "diagnoses" loads of poeple on TV just because they "smart"

Careful you're borderline for the 'aspie elitist's" hurling the your a "self loathing NT lover" insult at you

There was one thread a while back where the contention was that without 'aspies' the wheel would still be a far away dream

As a support site WP trys to give a little leaway for our members to vent, hopefully to exhaust themselves and at best, gain a bit of balance about it all. Obviously the members of which you speak are only in the venting phase of the transformation.

Merle

I'm imagining Barbarian Bill Gates, the stone age aspie, megalomaniac warlord chief of the Microsoft Tribe.

He heard about something called the wheel, so he decided to build one. It was square, with a balsa wood axle. Every time an axle broke, he'd put a patch on it, until pretty soon the mass of patches was bigger than the oxcart.

People still used Microsoft Tribe square wheels, because every time somebody tried making a round wheel, Barbarian Bill the aspie hit him over the head with a stone axe, enslaved his tribe, and threw all the round wheels in the river.

Under Barbarian Bill's direction, the Microsoft Tribe also had a team of defense specialists. They built village walls with ramps all over the place leading over the top, and every time a village got invaded by people walking in over the ramps, they built a fence across the ramp.

That kinda worked for a week, until somebody invented the ladder, then the Microsoft Tribe designed a fence to block that particular ladder, which worked until somebody modified the ladder. Now, countless centuries later, the process is still going on.

Yes, human history would be far different if it wasn't for the contribution of aspies like Bill Gates.

I understand this, but I do wonder how helpful all the 'aspie elitism' that thrives in parts of WP is to newly DX'ed. I originally came to this site to find answers and coping techniques, whilst there is support for this, there seems to be a growing perception that the issue lies not with our behaviour but instead lies with the vast majority of the population, I for one do not think this is helpful for a young 'aspie' to get the best out of their life, kids going around thinking that they are superior to the majority because they have aspergers is not only delusional but also it is hardly going to make their interaction in non aspergers society any easier.

I also wonder how many 'aspie elitists' have spent time living and interacting with other 'aspies' apart from on this forum.

@ canyonwind So true, what a disservice to the planet Xerox did when they GAVE their photocopying software to Bill.

Malaria is treatable, and it happens to ordinary folk.

Why would anyone want to help an aspie?

Fund for self centered rude people with odd interests and a total lack of social behavior, or even trying?

Following up on the Autism Speaks success, perhaps a program of deportation to Devil's Island?

Through history Aspies have survived by not being noticed.

I am of the sort that would rather allow them to figure all of that out for themselves, and make their own peace with it. Attwood has a riff he does in his seminars, saying he has an instant 'cure' for Asperger's Syndrome, and that is to let the kid go to their own room and close the door. The way I see it, WP is in that room.

Its not getting any more or less prevelent on WP, the 'delusional' and 'eliteist' attitudes always has a large contingent on WP, but the individuals in the contingent change over the years.
I know trying to show someone the 'error of their thinking' for their 'own good' usually backfires.

Anyway, WP is home.

Merle

Sounds reasonable.

Like a good 'apsie' I am very opinionated

If not Bill Gates, then how about Theodore Kaczynski?

I don't know about "Apsie", but he's definitely autistic. I do disagree when people say Spielberg or keanu reeves but then again we don't have an official definition of what "aspie" and "autistic" mean, so we can all be right at the same time until we merge our definitions. I don't think anyone's definition would match mine for now

I hope not, it would be kinda embarrassing if Bill Gates became a "face of Asperger's", sure he's successful but his software sucks and worse, it seems he's ok with that.

More likely than not he is one. You are just wishfully looking for an excuse for your own failures. Along with everyone else who likes to doubt that successful people can be on the spectrum.