My goal is the exact opposite of Autism Speaks

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Hello, everyone, My name is Matt and I am a 21-year-old college student from California who like most people on this site has Asperger's Syndrome. I was officially diagnosed when I was seven-years-old, only two years after Asperger's was introduced into the Diagnostic Statistical Manual. For years I hated myself and actually agreed with the sick and twisted message of Autism Speaks given that everyone around me except my parents told me that I was "suffering" from a "mental illness" as if I had multiple personality disorder, schizophrenia, post traumatic stress disorder, or severe depression. Conditions in which the person is actually suffering from one's self. i wasn't suffering from myself at all, I was suffering from other people's ignorance and cruelty directed towards me! But I didn't know this at the time since I was only a kid, and when you are that age; you are more influenced and affected by how adults percieve you. So for years without question, I always viewed A.S./H.F.A. as something that needed to be eradicated and "cured". It wasn't until I saw this little indie film entitled "Adam" that my entire view on life changed. It was like watching myself in everyday life on the silver screen! Adam gave me an overwhelming sense of optimism about life which no "expert" had ever managed to provide me with in the past! I know it sounds rediculous, but I literally changed overnight after seeing that movie, it was truly a miracle. I no longer hated myself and now take pride for who I am, I changed my major from Environmental Science to Psychology with a focus on Autism Spectrum Conditions, I now have hope in regards to finding a girlfriend one day, and I even changed my view on having children in the future. There was a point in time that I hated myself so much that I seriously intended on undergoing a vasectomy as to ensure I would never produce a child with Asperger's Syndrome in the future. I was so intent on having myself sterilized that I was already researching local physicians who performed vasectomies. However, after seeing this movie, I changed my mind and no longer worry about the "risk" of any possible future offspring inheriting my "disease". In fact, it would be awsome that I could possibly have a little clone to relate to one day. My goal now is to recieve a B.A. in psychology and recieve an M.A. in Special Education with an Emphasis on Autism Spectrum "Disorders" from the University of British Columbia. I hope to become a counselor for people with Asperger's Syndrome and High Functioning Autism. Unlike most mental health professionals, my philosophy would not be about curing but rather providing social skills training and confidence building via healthy eating and vigorous physical activity. I hope to open up a lodge for people with A.S./H.F.A. and their families in Whistler, BC; a beautiful mountain resort community with an abundance of outdoor recreational activities and stunning natural beauty!

Welcome to WrongPlanet, Matt55. And, don't worry, you aren't alone in not liking Autism Speaks' message.

Welcome to WriongPlanet, Matt55.

Autism Speaks has no use for me, so I have no use for it.
Long live WrongPlanet!

By the way, here are my best wishes for your quest to
qualify for UBC (as Western Canadians call the University
of British Columbia) and pursue an education there.
Good luck, and Happy New Year 2010.

Greed is always paid but rarely ever in money or gold, heres to originations like Autism Speaks paying paid in a big heaping pile of misery and woe

Matt,
Welcome to WP! I am a newcomer myself and happy you are here.
Congratulations to accepting/relishing who you are. One good thing about being older with AS is that I didn't hear the propaganda about AS when I was growing up. I just thought I was VERY weird. That or a really pale, redheaded Vulcan with bobbed ears
I too CANNOT stand Autism Speaks and their message. There is nothing WRONG with me, nor my AS son. I don't want a cure, I demand acceptance.
The Engineering degree helps, people seem more accepting of how 'geeky' people act. If it works, fine with me. If it don't, screw them.

mjm

I'm glad that things have worked out for you I also believed that I was "diseased" or that something was "wrong" with me because my parents were always trying to find help for me and my teachers always punnished me for making mistakes which were caused by my Asperger's. I don't blame my parents for trying to help because they were never presented with the viewpoint that AS/HFA is not a horrible disease. (Thanks a lot Autism Speaks!) At one point I wanted to adopt rather than have kids "the old fashioned way" because I was also afraid of passing the "disease" onto them. But once I found this site I immediately felt accepted and I realized that having AS is what makes me unique. I know that having AS comes with its challenges but it also comes with several advantages like above average intelligence, unique interests, and I can think for myself instead of trying to be cool or popular. Before I found this site I actually thought that Austism Speaks was trying to help and I believed all of their lies and propoganda. I now believe that things can work out for me even though I am "disabled" and I do want to have children some day. If any of them end up having AS, I'll be able to relate to them and make them feel proud of who they are. I believe that having AS would be easier for them because they would have a mother who doesn't always try to "fix" them.

Thanks for your compassion and support. I love being among like minded people, and wrongplanet serves as the perfect outlet for me!

Wow... I love how this place has so many people who look at this "condition" as I do. Autism Seaks Ofeended me as well. I spent a long part of my life in despair because I believed myself "disabled" that i would not be able to effectively learn many skills or have meaningful relationships. Luckily I never had a negative experience in school with teachers because of my habits "other than having to repeat kindergarten" the policy on people like me in the Transylvania county school system in west NC where i went was to accommodate me for the most part. However, as i was the only AS student in the relatively small student population of my county, i always had to take my exams and end of grade tests separate from my class in a little room with two guys who were dyslexic which always made me feel singled out and inadequate like they seperated me and those two others because we were messed up in the head somehow. So the only person who ever thought of me as ill was myself. My Mother always tried to tell me their was nothing wrong with me but i always felt like she could never understand because she is NT. Then i met someone that taught me a valuable lesson about loving oneself. Who like me knew what it was like to be thought of as not "normal" He was my cousin who came out as a homosexual in the worst possible environment to do it in, High School, and immediately became the target of discrimination. His own sister and mother at one point would not accept him but he never began to hate himself as I had. We became good friends because of the common ground we had as non- "normal" poeple. No matter what all the Bible thumping homophobes in our family told him he always refused to think of himself as having something wrong with him, which inspired me to look at my own eccentric mind in the same way. When i learned of autism speaks they seemed to be trying to support the opposite attitude toward my way of processing information.

Don't worry Matt. I think Autism Speaks does not speak for all Aspies, especially those who are self-aware that they can overcome their limits and challenges, and then contribute for the world.

Having autism is not wrong, and I don't think it's a disability. It's just a series of challenges that we overcome and conquer so that we can be ourselves.

All the best for your degree.