AS as a Crutch?

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All of my life I have used the excuse, "I'm just shy."
I don't feel the need to tell everyone about AS. I told my closest friend once and he said it was just soial anxiety, "Everyone Has It."
Do you feel as if you would/ever do use Asperger's Syndrome as a Crutch?

In very select, rare situations I might.


I have never felt right using social anxiety as a crutch, so I didn't...

I'm sorry- isn't a crutch something a person uses only when he or she needs it? This expression has never made sense to me.

Never done it.

It's more like glasses; you don't have to have 'em, but it makes things clearer....wait, I have glasses too...oops.

"A crutch" is also a term. It means to use as an excuse. Someone might use their AS as an excuse for their bad behavior and refuse to try to change just because they have AS. That is a crutch.

Someone with a learning disability might think they don't need to finish all their school work or don't have to do all of it and think they shouldn't have to do it just because they are learning disabled. That is a crutch.


But I think it's typical of kids to use their condition as a crutch because they think they shouldn't have to follow the same rules as everyone else. I was the same way as a kid and thought things should be easier for me like the time when I was 16 I thought just because I have AS it gave me the right to be mean and abuse my family and I should get my way and at school I thought I didn't have to go in the classrooms quietly when I was collecting recycling just because I have AS. Some person I was.
But when grown ups do it, it disgusts me, kids, no, I just think they have some learning to do.

Oh, I think I understand now. Maybe it is a good thing that I grew up in the pre-diagnosis era.
I thought we actually had higher standards to live up to though- so many of us are geniuses or savants.

I've done it without realizing it. You see, the teachers know I have AS, so I seem to be able to get away with more.

Sometimes I want to, but don't. Like you know when you're getting that look, when someone else has figured out that you are "not quite right?" I want to explain, I'm mildly autistic, I find it hard to communicate. But I don't because I think most people would not understand and just think it means I'm crazy or ret*d.

There is a fine line between using AS as a crutch/excuse and using AS as a reason.

I never use it as a crutch. I do however use it as a reason. This happens when something happens that someone calls "stupid" or some such other word - and I educate them in Aspergers as an explanation/reason. I very quickly find out who my enemies are at that point - because I've been accused instantly of using it as a crutch. In that context - I reject that outright.

Bad behaviour? If I do behave badly it is usually for a good reason. I don't see that as using AS as a crutch - because the provocation means AS had nothing to do with it. It's the fault of the other person.

If it's not for a good reason, then I seek to correct it - as I should.

I would never use my AS as a crutch. My parents made it quite clear when I was younger that they expected me to be successful without any special accommodations. I've been able to hold my own, and I feel a lot better about myself because I know that I didn't need any "special" help. Barry Bonds on the other hand...

AS has clearly defined areas of impairment; one can use these areas as an excuse/crutch in situations that are governed by the aforementioned impairments. If you don't need to use an excuse in the areas of impairment, I ask, how can you have AS?

Social interaction is impaired; one can be given allowances in formal education systems that require group work, one can be given allowances in institutions that grade on interaction within class as well as academic performance.

I only ever tell people who I know aren't going to discriminate against me, either my closest friends or someone who knows what AS is.