Aspergers just a difference, not disorder?

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Was not the first time my timing sucked, won’t be the last.

Interesting read. However, I have strong feeling that psychologists put at least 2 very different groups under the "Autism" umbrella.
PS where do you get all these articles from?

Of all the many many links to studies you have provided, AOPM, this study moved me the most because it goes to the heart and cause of the loneliness (and exclusion and isolation) that hurts all parts of the AS population.

We can probably all identify times, as the study describes, that we felt the NT exclusion process kick in, in mere seconds, like the flick of a switch. That fast.

Very few social psychologists have ever not blamed the victims for this. This study illuminates the source of this kind of social aggression, (deliberately ignoring strangers in social groups and deliberating excluding them) which is rarely looked at in any experimental context.

Thanks.

Is it a disorder or a difference? I would love to think of it as a difference, rather than a disorder. I have always wondered if we as Aspies were the common personality type on this planet, would we have so many problems? Society would be adapted for us, so, less noisy, more structured, more organized, less violent and, dare I say, probably better? Many of our problems are caused by dealing with NT's. It has already been mentioned that dealing with NT's in the workplace can feel your brain it's frazzled. I'm exhausted at the end of the day and not from the work, because of my colleagues. Work is not a problem, without people everywhere (I love working from home). The Office is continuous sensory overload for 8 hours.

The best explanation I've seen so far was in the Lorenz's "On Aggression"
viewtopic.php?t=359106

I google “Autism” then filter it to news articles in the past 24 hours.

I do the same for “Aspergers” but on a weekly basis.

Seen a lot of threads over the years pontificating on this specific point...

It's easy to project what we would desire for an ideal society, but just look at the variety of views and opinions on WP and its easy to see a world run by aspies would likely have it's own issues, many similar and some quite different to our current NT dominated society.

For one thing many aspies seem to be very very inflexible...in a world that requires working in teams to meet an ever changing environment I don't think such a scenario would actually work

I wonder if this is an intrinsic trait or rather a result of living in a very hostile environment.

probably both...remember repetitious/ behavior and/or fixations are a diagnostic criteria and as with OCD its a form of maladaptive coping to relieve anxiety. Not all anxiety is derived from a hostile social (NT dominated) environment.

One researcher has named this - the blocking of AS people from interacting with NTs, where the blockers are the NTs, as they usually are, as "the double empathy problem". I think that is accurate. As my special AS field of interest is Barriers to Healthcare for Aspergers Syndrome women, I wonder how the shunning of AS people by NTs in one to one encounters affects people not only in "ordinary" social encounters (which are not ordinary for us) but in medical settings with NT doctors and in ED situations. The link APOM provided within this thread was very very thought provoking in this respect. It is another barrier, I surmise, and quite a potentially significant one.

There you go failing to fact check and spreading a non-truth. He is NOT confirmed autistic, only family members have claimed he is and the claim has what I call 'truthiness' which means it's not a confirmed truth but people think it sounds like it should be true so it's accepted as true without question. The more people who spread truthiness claims, the harder they becomes to refute. I think we should stick to facts and until an official diagnosis is given, we should refrain from referring to Nilolaz Cruz as autistic. Critical thinking my dear boy, critical thinking!

Very cute. Thanks for the entertainment!

... While finding the case emotionally difficult, the defense says Cruz suffers from autism, depression and has significant psychological problems, ...

Clue: google for Melissa McNeill. You may want to contact a TV reporter so you can lecture the defense lawyer publicly about fact checking. And then, you can tell her: "Critical thinking, my dear lady, critical thinking!"

A defense lawyer says he has autism, hmmm lets see, must be true then, lawyers are noted for being truthful. They wouldn't use whatever suits their case. Note she did not say diagnosed with autism. He will of course soon have an official diagnosis. It will be top of the defense lawyers to do list.

I think you need to stop all that conspiracy theory. This came out yesterday.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/parkland/florida-school-shooting/fl-school-shooting-nikolas-cruz-cutting-snapchat-20180216-story.html

His mother, Lynda Cruz, told investigators that her son had been diagnosed with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. He was being treated for depression, had a behavioral disorder and had been taking medication for the ADHD, the report said. Investigators wrote that they did not know whether he was still taking the medication.

Lynda Cruz was the adoptive mother that died recently. She made her statement back around September 2016, and all that was written into an investigation report.

I was not suggesting a conspiracy, I was simply questioning the veracity of the statement rather than believing it because a whole bunch of people said it as truth.

I agree with Cyberdad,
Also, would it really be less noisy? Don't forget that autistics also have hypo-sensitivities. You might find that your next door neighbour is hypo-sensitive to noise and that his/her special interest and/or way of self-regulating is playing the drums... Maybe some of your techniques for self-regulating would equally have a dis-regulating effect on your neighbour.

I was very interested in MBTI for a while. I tend to think that Aspies are like extreme versions of their personality type. In my family there are two Aspies - my dad is INTJ and I am INTP - and there was a lot of conflict between us when I was growing up. (The J and P difference is huge.) We seem to have more specific needs than a lot of people but often our needs clash.