im starting to want a cure..

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I do not think NTs are superior, they simply don't have a neurological condition...I don't think people with conditions or disabilities are inferior people. Also 'special needs' is too simplified, can't really think of any real needs out of the ordinary I have but there are certainly disabling aspects of autism just to name a couple:

-The sensory issues have always been fairly problematic and it was even worse before I understood anything about them...I'd find what people took as normal volume or a normal amount of light to be painful and then get accused of whining about nothing if I complained, having no knowledge it was a real sensitivity I took that to heart.

-I cannot approach people IRL unless I know them or its like the context of going up to the cashier at the store. You can imagine that has always made it significantly hard to make friends or even just interact with someone. I mean its pretty embarrassing when you're in a college classroom and forgot your pencil and you can't even ask the student next to you to borrow one.

-Whilst I can obsess over special interests or topics, likewise if something more negative gets on my mind it can be really hard to stop obsessing over that because my brain always has to analyize and re-analize the crap out of everything.

A little more than getting upset and needing help, and yes I see those things certainly make me feel rather disabled..not as disabled as if I got paralyzed or lost a limb or something but still enough to cause me significant trouble. There is more than what I listed but those are the easiest ones to try and explain. Also I don't think we are necessarily more driven or calculating than neurotypicals across the board. Doesn't driven mean like higher motivation?....if there is one thing I've struggled with all my life its getting motivated or being able to get started with things and sticking to them can be hard as well. As for calculating I feel more scatterbrained than anything, sure I can absorb factual information and recite knowledge but I wouldn't call it calculating.

I think there are pros and cons, but it seemed like you were trying to say that we don't have any extra difficulties neurotypicals don't and in fact if anything are full of talents and abilities they lack which is what I disagree with. And I don't know about you but there are things NTs are capable of that I am not due to autism...so why wouldn't it be ok to say that? It doesn't mean we're inferior just recognizes we have difficulties neurotypicals don't really have to face.

But we can hear, see and feel things others can't. I can hear people talking from rooms away, and it's really helped in situations. NTs cannot do that. Nor can they see minute details.



That's anxiety. AS is just not being good at socialising. And not being good at socialising is just as much a disability as not being able to focus intensely on something and think things through at a fast rate.



And that's a flaw? NTs can't analyse and focus on a subject like we can. Our intense obsessions are just as much a disability as not being able to intensely obsess and analyse. It's a difference. Pros and cons to both, just like every other aspect of AS.



Nobody is motivated when being forced to do something they don't want to. Like school; nobody's motivated. But we're calculating. Analysing things and people at a fast and intense rate is calculating. NTs just focus on the bigger things, which is a good thing as well, but being able to analyse the small things is a pro too. And everyone gets really upset and needs help a lot. My mother has depression and has to look after the whole family, stressing out all of the time, and she has no 'disabilities'.



No, I was saying that we have pros too. People are quicker to get at someone for saying that we're just different than at someone who says we're worse off. NTs define what's a disability and what's 'normal'. They like to make us feel bad about it, but there a pros too. See how you've been conditioned to be defensive when someone says that we're not disabled and have pros that NTs don't. It's like some people willingly ignore the pros just to feel bad, when they're so clearly there.

Autism can be serious disability and to pretend like it is not is a real disservice to all of that actually do struggle every day to get by. Socializing, society, relationships, communicating, that's what makes us human so in all honesty I believe to be more of disability than even quite a few physical conditions because those can be treated/accommodated and live a normal life when that is never ever going to happen to me. I always hated the super duper special aspie supremacist, either you have a serious case of cognitive dissonance or you're one of those folks that like to collect DXs to feel special. The proof is in the pudding, I shouldn't need to explain how AS is a disability, look around. Accept it and deal with it, I know I need help and it's not just a difference, I need assistance to be even a semi-functioning person. It's a spectrum, we're all of varying levels and degrees and obviously we've all been born into difference situations some more favorable than others. For me, it's a disability but maybe if I was younger and my parents were rich they could of gotten me more help during childhood but I was poor and there were no opportunities. There are no pros as far as I am concerned about my condition, I don't have some fanciful special interest that makes my life complete and contented If that's how you are good for you I guess, I don't have much of anything.

i like this post!

Wow, you're probably one of the few people I can relate to here.. I feel living with Aspergers is a burden and always has to make things at least twice as hard as they should be.. Even for simple things like meeting new people is a nightmare and stresses me out so much because I know eventually they'll know I'm different and hate me.

I can't imagine if I was put on the spot of a social event and was told just go socialize and make new friends, it ain't gonna happen with us aspies..

But yeah, I could go on all day but are you trying any therapies for Autism like sulforaphane? I have been discussing a cure rhetoric forever but most Aspies just turn it down.. I think if they really saw themselves on camera or how others view them they'll instantly be surprised.

Living with Aspergers is a burden. But why is that? Part of it is the autism, a lot of it is bieng a minority. It is going to vary a lot by person and situation. If you are more severe it is presumably going more of a burden. If you have to deal with people that constantly torment and berate and try and correct you it is going to be a much worse burden then if you are accepted for the way you are.

The idea that not bieng social or wanting to communicate via computer about your special interest instead of networking and endless social chit chat is not an inherent impairment. It is just that most people have decided doing that is wrong so if you do not network and engage in social chit chats you are going to pay a significent consequence. If your Autism causes your special interest to take up so much of your time that you mess up your health that is your autisms fault not society's fault.

Wouldn't trade my special interest or hyperfocus ability for a cure. Not in a million years. I'm also not a particularly positive person. I'm not actively trying to find the best parts of my autism. I just really like indulging my special interests.

I do hope that those who want a cure find it.

Thank you, but I don't know where.you got that idea from. I don't understand much of anything about computers.

I'm not really sure what type of person I would be without it so I don't want to be cured. I think I have a unique personality because of it. I just want to figure out how to live and enjoy my life. I want to accomplish as many of the things I've always wanted to do before it's too late.

I don't think people with ASD are superior. It is a disability for most people. Some people have less difficulties than others. My teenage years were absolute misery. My life has been mostly miserable. And I have much better functioning than a lot of people on WP, it seems.

I do consider myself lucky because I have some abilities that most NTs don't have. It somewhat makes up for my difficulties, I guess. Or at least it makes me feel better. Being able to think differently from most people is an advantage in many cases.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to be cured, in my opinion. And there's nothing wrong with not wanting to be cured, either.

I shouldn't need to explain how AS is a difference, look around. Accept it and deal with it, I know I'm a fully functional human being who doesn't have needs and it's not a disability.

I made many, many points that you chose to ignore in this argument. Honestly, it's so, so, so clear that there are pros and cons. Just saying that it's a disability does not cut it. I'm not going to make the same arguments as before; just look up and actually address the points I made rather than ignoring them to suit your needs. People who accept what NTs say, that we're normal and subtly suggesting that they know better, are worse than AS supremacists as they're just ignoring the good things to feel bad about themselves. It really annoys me because it's so incredibly obvious. In a world where the vast majority of the population had Aspergers, NTs would be considered to have a disability, because they have cons that we don't, just as we have cons that they don't. Being told we're disabled by the majority just because we're different to them is ridiculous. We can just as easily say they are disabled for the reasons they say we are. It's a lable put on us by people who have no idea what we're like and are scared of difference, thinking it inferior.

Why am I still arguing? if you can't address the points I make and just copy other points I've already disproven, you're not worth debating with.

Hmm. Regarding my statement of being special needs, let me expound on that. Unless coaxed and encouraged to do otherwise, I will just sit in front of my pc all day in my pj's, without eating and end up wetting myself somewhere along the line. I have to have someone make out an itinerary for me to follow. Take me to the table, pour cereal and milk in a bowl for me. Wipe my face for me. Help me get dressed. Help me with this that and the other all day like an invalid in a nursing home. If the itinerary gets messed up I have a meltdown. If everything goes the way it is supposed to, I still have shutdowns and meltdowns. I can't leave the house by myself because I will get completely lost in a matter of minutes. What's more is I will likely step out into traffic. This is how autism effects my life and makes me a special needs person.
For me personally, it has absolutely nothing to do with me vs "NT's".

Lucky you. Seems like a lot of people's version of autism would be my version of being 90% cured of it.

Last edited by EzraS on 21 Jan 2016, 6:10 am, edited 1 time in total.

But what do you need? Because I don't need anyone or anything to survive. I can fully function. In fact I'm more driven than the average person. My only downfalls are socially and sensory overloads, but I don't need anything because of them. I can deal with them on my own.

Like I said, lucky you. Your version of autism is what I would hope for if they cured me. To me what you are describing sound more like quasi-autism or maybe even pseudo-autism, compared to how it effects me.

I've seen you troubleshoot computer problems here on WP, Ezra.

You also write amazingly well. Most 15-year-olds cannot write like you write.

And you have good insight into human nature.

You're not a total loss, Sir.

Just continue to work on yourself....and you will get better at the things which you describe.

I know you have lots in your head that's good.

It annoys me when people think disability is only when nothing good about a person exists. It's an incredibly ignorant statement.

There are people who are severely disabled with individual personalities who have good qualities and bring joy to other people's lives.

Stephan Hawking is very disabled and yet he also contributed impressive amount to the scientific community.

Having a disability doesn't preclude being able in other areas.

My AS disables me. It's cool that yours doesn't, but you're probably in the minority: D. Symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning.

I have very mild ASD, but my executive function difficulties make it hard for me to deal with daily living activities. I need prompting to eat, I need someone to squeeze me when I get overloaded. Some of the time I get stuck on activities and don't move onto the next one in a timely manner. Sensory overload means I can't shop in supermarkets. I can't sit still for very long and get a horrible burning feeling if I do. Honestly, I think I would still need extra help even if the world was adapted to me (which, of course, would by nature make it unsuitable for someone else).

In truth, though I do have good skills and qualities I wouldn't say I'm exceptional in a way an NT cannot be. I've seen NTs just as good at things I am. The idea that NTs are all vapid socialising monsters with no ability to be detail originated is a load of tosh. NTs are a very diverse group, and even if there are some skills ASDers have a greater propensity towards, there are no skills we have that NTs cannot.

I'm not saying NTs are 'superior'. I don't believe in superiority nonsense. But I also believe it does the autistic community a huge disservice to pretend the defining characteristics of autism do not cause many people disabling effects.

Last edited by ConceptuallyCurious on 21 Jan 2016, 7:33 am, edited 1 time in total.

Luckily nobody said that.

A disability is a lack of ability. Not having something others do. But the abilities AS people have cancel out the disabilities. If anyone who has a disability is disabled, then literally everyone who has ever lived has had a disability.