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vickygleitz
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16 Sep 2017, 9:24 pm

I am a very proud Autistic woman. I guess if I were to base that statement on an anal semantically correct definition, I would probably not feel comfortable stating this. But if you look at how the meaning has evolved when used by different disenfranchised groups in the recent past claiming it i.e Gay Pride, Black Pride, etc., and you google what these particular groups meant by pride, without a doubt, I am filled with overflowing Autistic Pride.

You see, I not only accept my neurology, I embrace it. I KNOW that I am not "less than" and I wear my Autistic Pride jewelry as an opening to shout it out to the world. And if there are no comments on my jewelry [or t-shirt] I will still find a way to bring it up. And do a little educating.

I am just a little old lady. I have endured great suffering because of being Autistic. I have met hundreds of young people who have lived a nightmare because of the treatment they were put through. I want to be, and take action to be, a part of the solution. So, Autistic pride? Yeah, by whatever definition.



K_Kelly
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16 Sep 2017, 9:38 pm

vickygleitz wrote:
I am a very proud Autistic woman. I guess if I were to base that statement on an anal semantically correct definition, I would probably not feel comfortable stating this. But if you look at how the meaning has evolved when used by different disenfranchised groups in the recent past claiming it i.e Gay Pride, Black Pride, etc., and you google what these particular groups meant by pride, without a doubt, I am filled with overflowing Autistic Pride.

You see, I not only accept my neurology, I embrace it. I KNOW that I am not "less than" and I wear my Autistic Pride jewelry as an opening to shout it out to the world. And if there are no comments on my jewelry [or t-shirt] I will still find a way to bring it up. And do a little educating.

I am just a little old lady. I have endured great suffering because of being Autistic. I have met hundreds of young people who have lived a nightmare because of the treatment they were put through. I want to be, and take action to be, a part of the solution. So, Autistic pride? Yeah, by whatever definition.


Here's the thing I don't like. It's the "disenfranchised" mentality that bothers me. It even is getting tired with the groups you mentioned above. I don't want it to come down to the law or governments deciding that I'm a "historically disenfranchised minority", I really don't want the government to favor/disfavor us in any way as an identity group. The more I see a few people on here saying how wrong or evil NT's are or about "privilege", the more I'm seeing an analogy between the mainstream autism community and other "disenfranchised" identities.



vickygleitz
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16 Sep 2017, 10:02 pm

If your definition of disenfranchised is being stripped of power, then hell yeah, I have been disenfranchised in a myriad of ways. Take stimming for example. I stim. A lot. To think clearly. To relax. To allow the creative juices to flow. To figure out answers to questions and anything to do with math skills. I stim. When I stim I am never cruel, terribly loud or in any way dangerous. But I come across as weird. And I have paid dearly for it. And stripped of my power.

The vast majority of Autistic people have been sexually abused. That is something else that is common when a persons' power has been taken from them.

This has made me too sad. I will continue later.

P.S. I am sad but I am proud!



BuyerBeware
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17 Sep 2017, 9:31 pm

Holy crap!! Vicky!! Glad to "see" you!!


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Butterfly88
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18 Sep 2017, 2:31 pm

Some autistics go to college, I did. Everyone on the spectrum is unique. I'm proud to be autistic because I have inspired some NTs.



BettaPonic
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18 Sep 2017, 3:55 pm

I don't care about my autism. I have much more crippling mental health problems to worry about.



CageNietzsche
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20 Sep 2017, 12:41 pm

My reasoning.

When humans get into a group their overall IQ drops to marginally above the lowest person in the group.

Stress lowers thought processing and immune system response.

Groups of people and being close them increases chance of physical, emotional, and psychological trauma.

Loose conclusion, the spectrum defends us from our own species so we can continue the growth as the rest devolve.

I'm proud because I have lived in 6 states, travelled through the entire lower 48, and in that time I have never met a single person that has said they even know someone like myself. Most people are one in million. We are now one in a billion.



vickygleitz
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20 Sep 2017, 7:39 pm

BuyerBeware wrote:
Holy crap!! Vicky!! Glad to "see" you!!


Hey beautiful! How are you?



B19
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20 Sep 2017, 8:38 pm

Welcome back :)



Robert312
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21 Sep 2017, 9:38 pm

In my life I made the best of the retail jobs I was stuck in. A store where I worked had a picture frame that said, "If you aren't doing what you like then like what you do." It was nice to have a job that I left at the workplace and didn't take home with me. I also worked among people of different social classes, different races, different religions, different sexual preferences. I became much more accepting and tolerant than 99% of my friends. That's something I'm proud of. And after being diagnosed I have a new purpose in life being an advocate and activist.


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NightEclipse
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22 Sep 2017, 12:31 am

"A good majority of us are losers."

Sorry, but I don't consider myself to be a loser just because I have Asperger's. You can keep your cure. I like myself the way I am, thanks.


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Robert312
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22 Sep 2017, 11:31 am

I recently had a friendship with a girl end. This was not because I am on the spectrum. It was because she had issues. I was the well adjusted one in the relationship who knew when there was trouble. I tried to have a dialogue with her but she responded with aggression. She was the one who thought that everything revolved around her. I was the one with enough confidence in myself to know that she was toxic and couldn't change.


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theladyautist
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05 Oct 2017, 5:36 pm

I use to feel that way, years and years ago. And the truth is, I use to wear the Be Proud attitude like it was a shield that could keep me safe from the world. It didn't, and I grew up.

It is true that every hurtle and obstacle in the world gets thrown in our general direction. It is true that people do not treat us the same as everyone else. These days its not the Autism that makes me proud, its my own tenancity that does. Because no matter what happens, I always am able to find a way to come out ok. I might never be a millionare, but due to the unique way I see the world, I am able to find solutions to my issues that often nuerotypicals in the same situation do not. I'll give an example.

A couple years back I was in a bad situation with an ex and his sister. I had made the terrible mistake of moving in with them and their mother and when the mother died from cancer, things went down hill, and FAST!! ! I won't get into any details but long story short, I ended back up at my mom's. Now I could have got upset, gave up, gotten mad that my only options were WalMart and McDonalds. But I didn't. Instead I helped around the house every day, a way for me to feel like I was contributing to the household. I applied everyday for jobs and was unafraid to ask for help.

When I got a job at a local Call Center, I worked hard and put in lots of overtime, and built a solid history of doing well, building my resume. I got a better job at another Call Center, where I met a roommate and my fiance! Now I am saving money to enter into a college program to get my Pharmacy Tech license. Because I was willing to be calm, turn off the depression long enough to think through possible solutions, and apply them. Use that ability that we all have to focus on details, focus on the issue instead of being depressed about it.

Now my brother is 2 years older than me, in a similar situation. He has been at my moms home now for 7 years, and due to having so much trouble with saving money, has fallen to heavy drinking and self loathing. He is neurotypical. Perhaps the real issue is that to often many of us, like I did when I was young just view ourselves as Autistic, and forget to identify ourselves as human. I am proud of what I have accomplished, what I will continue to accomplish, and even if I fall again, I just look at it as another lesson. It's all in your point of view.



xatrix26
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17 Oct 2017, 5:11 am

I'm certainly not proud to be an Aspie but I am eager be more honest with people that I am Autistic because I've spent most of my life hiding that fact as well as the many stimming sessions that I've had.

I can do most things myself although I have a great deal of difficulty with workplace social situations. Actually, all social situations are a tremendous challenge for me. I'm incontinent due to medical and psychological reasons, toileting is another tremendous problem I've had since I was a kid. Public bathrooms used to give me severe anxiety but I no longer have to worry about them anymore now that I have been using adult diapers for several years now. I'm 42 now and I still feel like a child but with an IQ of 160ish.

I've been kicked out of preschool due to frustration, aggression and over-stimulation. I've also been kicked out of a private high school twice, for both grade 10 and grade 11. In adult life I've been fired 9 times from my jobs, been suspended twice, and I've quit my jobs (usually before I thought I would get fired) more then 30 times. Recently, I physically attacked a co-worker because he was making fun of me and I was fired. I react quite violently to bullying. Due to all of those socially challenging situations, I had a heart attack when I was 34.

I am looking at getting an Autism support dog to help me manage unpredictable social situations but I'm unsure of how to handle this in a workplace situation. I may have to kibosh that whole idea because of my job. I have also thought about committing myself to a mental health hospital because I feel that I can no longer support myself reliably. My anxiety and depression have catapulted over the past year and I feel like I can barely hang on to my sanity. I have struggled with self-harm, severe aggression and suicidal thoughts for more than 30 years.

A very late diagnosis is most likely the culprit for the severity of my situation. But at least I'm not hiding any of this anymore and that's a load of stress off me. I'm sure I've reduced my meltdowns quite a bit since I chose not to hide being Autistic anymore.


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blast335
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17 Oct 2017, 11:22 am

I think "Proud" isn't the right word to use. I think that most of aren't proud to be autistic or an aspie, we're just not ashamed of it.

We don't let it dictate our lives, we just live our lives as we see fit, and it just happens that that way fits the diagnosis of autism.

But then again, maybe that's only how I feel.

I can't speak on behalf of such a large, diverse group.


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alex
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17 Oct 2017, 11:48 am

I'm proud of who I am. Sure, I'd probably have a 9-5 job and live a more "normal" life if I were not on the spectrum. Things would probably be easier in the sense that my life would be more predictable. But I have had incredible experiences and made amazing friends because of who I am. If I hadn't ever been diagnosed, I wouldn't have made Wrong Planet and wouldn't be writing this right now.


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