disabilty or extra ability??

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Just wondering why many people look down on us aspies. it is amazing what we can do.
a few famous people have it. Sir issac newton ect. correct me if i am wrong. But the reason we are so different. apart from the inabilty to socialize ect. Sometimes we prefer to be alone. We concentrate on the same interest for so long (sometimes it's just a fad for me anyway.) But what makes up for it is we concentrate on that single topic for so long we Learn So Much eventually master it and make a career out of it i hope i am explaining myself clearly. But if the world was ran by aspies It would Probably be a better place to live (Maybe).

IMO we should focus on peoples strenghts - all kinds of people - not their weaknesses. If society would use aspergers in jobs/tasks were we are strong, society would benefit and so would we.

That also goes for other groups whose resourses are not being used in a proper way.

That's the way I see it.

I have AS and I can't concentrate on things for that long, even on things I really enjoy. And I think that the only reason we prefer to be alone is because theres so much anxiety, failure and lack of skill when it comes to other people and most social situations. It's just easier to be in a place where nobody can see you fail.

I agree that we shouldn't focus on the weaknesses of others. After all, 'disability' isn't a personal shortcoming, but rather a societal construct.

yeah i see your point.

I thoroughly agree. I ahve to say when I first read about the concept of using 'Aspie' as a term in the same way as one would day 'he's an artists' or 'he's a dancer' it rang very true. Yes Aspies have social deficits, generally, but then don't we all have deficits?!

I think that if you have AS, you have an extra ability.

No doubt we are given extra abilities, but there is also the cost of other abilities that have been decreased (all tied in some way to socialness if I'm not mistaken). Sometimes the trade-off is worth it, but when I'm in a club at 2am in the morning with drunks all around me I wonder what bet I lost to get stuck with such a crummy deficiency.

when i go into voc rehab they have this huge poster on the wall of this ret*d dude doing tellemarketing or something and it says in big letters above his head "the word ability is in disability" i can't stop laughing at it everytime i go in there. its so rediculous they need to take it down

You'd think that would be the worst job for a Mentally Handicapped Person.

So are the words "is" and "it", but you don't see anyone making a big deal about that, do you?

I wouldn't feel bad if I were you because I have been discriminated by my grandparents when I was little. They sat and had fights with my mother, but I am already through that. I don't feel bad because everyone is different. Anytime anyone picks on me, I'd ignore them. Nothing bothers me anymore.

I would say it is a disability because it does not seem to be beneficial on the average. If AS people were consistently outperforming NTs I would revise my position on this. However, all that said, everyone has flaws so it is not so much as what you have but what you do with what you have. I think that an AS world, despite having some advantages would likely become stagnant due to our rigidity which might tend itself towards high levels of bureacracy, of course, that is just my view on this.

Well most people diagnosed with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder also have Retardation (if I remember correctly, I did alot of research a few years ago). So that might have something to do with the fact that it's not beneficial on average (Disclaimer: I'm sorry if I insulted anybody, I have nothing against people with Retardation).

And anyway the word "disabled" pisses me off, I have different abilities than a NT and thus am "Differently Abled". NTs might be more social, but I pick up abstract engineering concepts faster than anyone else I've ever met (not counting my friend Dan who is a fellow Aspie). The reason Aspies have trouble in society is because we're outnumbered by NTs. If most of the worlds population was Aspie, NT's would have as hard of a time dealing with the world as we do now.



Now there's a concept, a world where Aspies are the majority...

Personally I kinda hate having AS. It has benefits, yes, but I haven't had friends since fifth grade, don't understand people, accidentally piss everyone else off without meaning to or realizing I'm about to, get confused easily, am always stressed out because my senses are overwhelmed ALL the TIME, have trouble controlling my emotions, and can't relate to most people because there are so few things I have any interest in talking about, and am ridiculously obsessed with those things. I dunno about you guys, but for me it definately is a disability in many ways.

There are many times I would trade the few things I am extremely good at to be able to do some simple things that would make life easier.

I was thinking mostly of high functioning aspies. It is true that AS people do have some edge in terms of engineering concepts, however, being able to function in the given social structure is a bonus as well as the adaptability that NTs tend to have.