Rant: Ignorant NTs...

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This is really getting on my nerves. Lately, I've decided to write a paper against curing autism. Well, this means talking to a LOT of people (not by my choice) about it. Most of them seem to think: A. Autism=ret*d B. Autism=crazy or C. I'm lying. Even worse, I get tongue-tied when they ask me if autism isn't that then what is it! Arrrrrrrrrrggggggggg........I need to come up with a short acceptable answer, because if it's too long their attention drifts. And some of them aren't listening! I feel like grabbing them and shaking them. Not that I do...Just ranting.

I don't tell most people and they just think I'm a total wierdo.

That's why I don't tell people that I'm an Aspie unless I really get to know and trust them.

If it becomes an issue, I just explain that I am very shy, and have a hard time expressing myself when speaking to someone face to face. I usually do this via email, and only to my teachers.

Catffienated wrote:

I applaud you Catffienated for your fantastic idea. Writing a paper against curing autism is a very good example of a Random Act of Advocacy. Anything that educates the masses before someone steps in and gives them the wrong information is a worthy cause.

I am so very much like you. I do not like standing in front of people, trying to explain aspergers/autism to them. That is why I write down the things I wish to explain or, if I absolutely have to speak in person, I study what I am going to say and how I will present the information. This helps me. Good Luck on the paper, Catffienated.

I had no idea people would react to autism this way. The way I see it, we simply perceive the world in a different way and interpret this information differently b/c of differences in our brain structure. That's all. I wonder why some people would have difficulty grasping this. I think (hope!) there are a lot of people out there who understand this, and those that don't are just being small-minded and ignorant. Good luck on everything!

Can you beleive i had the same reaction from my .... Doctor ! When i asked him to recommend me for a pshychiatrist because i think i had AS, first he said "What is AS ?". I said it was a form of autism..... he didn't let me finish and said that autistics are in their own world and do not communicate at all and cannot take care of themselves so they are in institution, so i'm certainly not that !

I replied that autism is one thing and that intellectual intelligence is another and that one does not necessarily had both.... again he cut me to say that "they had passed IQ test to autistics and they have a perfectly normal IQ...." I cut him to say "how do they passed IQ tests if they don't communicate at all ?" That's when he began to listen to me more seriously. Remember, he is a Doctor !

I finally had my recommendation after i gave him that explanation: Autism is a neurological condition that can strike some zone of the brain. Depending on what zone is affected, you show certain symptom. Some are affected in a lot of zone and are what like you said, in institution. But there is some poeple who are not completly affected so they have problem in only some area. Asperger is those who are aware of the external world and can comprehend it and interact with it, so they looked normal from the outside. They just have some difficulties with subtil aspect of communication so they are often only seen as "ret*d" and rejected. They are able to function well though.

I know that is not precisly it, but for the average NT, it is comprehensive enough to give them the hint they needs...... well it worked with my doctor.

Thank you for all your support and suggestions everybody! I've found I can explain it a lot easier to adults (teachers, relatives) than to peers. My teacher decided the paper should be peer-reviewed and we have to present it. The funny (I think) thing is; I highly suspect at least one of my classmates to be Aspie in that class. (it's a college class of tech. academy students in a high school) Anyways, I'm working on getting my defintion together so I can be prepared.

I do not usually tell people I have AS unless it is on a "need to know" basis. Parents and Teachers of course know it so the teachers can mend the cirriculum. I am not ashamed or embarrased that I have it. Everybody is different. If we were not different this world would be so boring. My motto is Appreciate Life, Live Life, and Die.

This is ususally how I explain it to someone:
Asperger Syndrome is a form of I high-functioning autism. People with AS have average, often above average, IQs. AS affects a person's ability to reciprocate socially and involves the lack of empathy.

Other things I sometimes add:
AS causes people to become obsessive, and sometimes causes certain sensory issues.

I've had a person tell me that I couldn't be autistic. Just explain that they are thinking of classic autism, and high-functioning autism is different. The most common misconception I've noticed about AS is that people think we are just shy. Obviously not the case. Oh well, we have to tell people about it, or else they will never know about AS.

Somewhat off topic:
I think it is sort of ironic when people say having autism means you're 'ret*d'. I hate that term. Anyways, in my psychology class last year, we studied different forms of 'mental retardation'. 'ret*d' people are below average intellectually, but tend to be very empathetic. Quite the opposite to autism, actually. Just thought that was interesting.

Hey, Bec, that *is* interesting. I know several mentally ret*d individuals, and it is true. I never thought of that.

I was at McDonald's the other day and there was a kid (maybe 12 yrs old)wearing a sweatshirt that said "I'm not weird, I'm GIFTED."
I love it!
I don't tell anyone I'm Aspie (undiagnosed). They just think I'm normally weird, or would that be weirdly normal? People do often tend to write off weirdness as something to be expected with a higher IQ, too. So let them think what they will. I know the difference.

I want t-shirt like that ...I was thinking something about "Don't try to talk with me" too.

P.S. My social support person actually prints this forum thread out and says that it seems great!

I've dealt with a lot of Ignorant NTs in my life. Most of the students who went to my High School were Ignorant. they would walk past the Resource Center and the other Special Ed. Class and make rude noises, making themselves sound Mentally Challenged, and saying "ret*ds".

What's even worse is when that type of discrimination takes place in your own home. When I was Fifteen, my younger Sister who was Twelve at the time was Babysitting. I kept on pestering my parents to let me Babysit as well. One day, my Father pulled me aside and told me a whole whack of stuff that pissed me off. He told me that there aere a lot of things that I won't be able to do that a lot of so-called Normal people can do and part of it was because I have a Learning Disability. I got so angery with him, that I broke down and started crying. He told my to forget what he told me and just go back to listening to my music. I packed away my British tapes for a sunny day, and I started listening to Protest Music. I still remember those words and the exact emotions that I was feeling when I was forced to deal with that Discrimination under my very Roof.

I've been through some Job Search Programmes. The people who run those places are all exactley the same. I was forced into going into a Job Preperation Programme for adults who are more Disabled than I ever was in my life. Thaere were only two other people in my class who were High-Functioning. The other Students talked to themselves, looked down, or prances around the room as though they were God's Gift to the Human Race. Some of them didn't wash or brush their teeth. And I know that I shouldn't judge. After a crap Work Experience, I was told that I was 'Slow' by one of teachers who ran that Programme, and the majority of the Students in that Programme were much more Disabled than I am. I was told that I was 'Slow', once again by a woman who worked for another Agency. When It happened at a third Agency, I put my foot down, and I told them that the next time they set up a Work Experience, to tell them the truth about me, to tell them that I'm a good learner, but I have Social Issues.

There was a woman who used to be a Staff Member at the Clubhouse that I go to. I decided to tell her about my Asperger's, because I thought that I could trust her enough to keep the imformation that I told her in context. It turned out that she was one of those people who confuses having a Learning Disability and being Mentally ret*d. She told me about how sucessful Christopher Burke was. I kept on telling her that I was not Mentally ret*d, and not to get the two mixed up. I told her a bit about my history, and she had the nerve to tell me that my Younger Sister is marter than I am. That really pissed me off. I was angery for a few weeks, and than I decided to take action. I typed out an article for the Grapevine, about what it's like to have a Learning Disability. I stressed that my Intelligence is Average or Above. That I'm not Mentally ret*d. That I don't consider myself to be Handicapped and that yes, I can read and write, and that I'm not a confused Mental Case who didn't know what she wanted out of life, and that I wished that people would stop telling me things that I already knew. That seemed to work, and the two of us patched things up before she moved on to another job.