Does your autism define you?

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Yupa
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28 Oct 2009, 2:10 pm

I just define myself as a human being.
The whole AS/Autism thing is something I don't talk about and keep my fingers crossed no one asks about.

MONKEY
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28 Oct 2009, 2:26 pm

No AS doesn't define me, it's just a small part of many things that make me who I am. My hair colour, personality, show size, music taste, height, AS etc

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ruveyn
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28 Oct 2009, 3:05 pm

My literal-mindedness is very much a part of who I am. I am sometimes thought to be "obtuse" because I sometimes don't "get it".

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Jrsy_Mike
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28 Oct 2009, 3:35 pm

I'm not known by anything at my school. I'm just the lonely, quiet type when not around my friends.

Cowbird
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28 Oct 2009, 3:41 pm

Sati wrote:

Are you a person who happens to be autistic, or are are you 100% an autistic individual? How much of you life is an autistic/AS identity? Do people know you as "suchandsuch, the Aspie girl"? Do your aspie characteristics dominate your personalty and/or your life? Or are they more subtle, and come out only occasionally? Are you a person first, and an aspie second - or is the reverse true for you?

I never heard this term until a few years ago, and it sure explains a lot, but it's definitely not first and foremost who I am.

JetLag
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28 Oct 2009, 8:24 pm

I think that because autism affects just about every aspect of my life; for instance, from the way I relate to people, react to climate change, even digest food, it seems to be an essential part of my nature. I think that the way that my brain processes life is probably the thing that defines my autism; and, in that sense, I think it defines me.

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Callista
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28 Oct 2009, 8:29 pm

Partly. It's not like I'm a walking blob of autism or anything; it's more like it's one of the elements that happens to make up the person that is me, like a color of paint on a canvas or some of the little particles in a clay sculpture. A person is a lot more than his elements; but that doesn't make it possible to remove those elements without changing the person.

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Eggman
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31 Oct 2009, 1:51 am

I define me

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ruennsheng
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07 Dec 2009, 9:21 am

No matter what, I just want to live my own authentic self. If anyone wants to influence me to do the way that I don't like, I would politely ask him to get away from me. If he or she doesn't comply, I really cannot stand him or her and...

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Asp-Z
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07 Dec 2009, 11:07 am

Autistic traits are part of our personalities so it's part of who we are.

Would I say it defines me, though? No, because I'm me, not a stereotype attached to my autism.

marshall
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07 Dec 2009, 11:51 am

Definitely not. I differ a bit from the autistic stereotype. I identify as an extreme introvert as much as I identify as autistic.

Meadow
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07 Dec 2009, 1:16 pm

Autism is at the root of who I am and in that sense defines me quite a bit as a person, but environmental factors have had a much greater impact on who I have become.

ruveyn
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07 Dec 2009, 1:28 pm

Sati wrote:

I am what i am and what I am consists of all of my characteristics including being an Aspie.

ruveyn

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07 Dec 2009, 1:49 pm

WritersBlock wrote:

Being on the spectrum is merely one of dozens and dozens of facets to what makes me "me". It doesn't "define" me so much as it is simply a small part of me.

Well said.

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CockneyRebel
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07 Dec 2009, 5:02 pm

It defines me in a positive way, because it's a part of my personality. I'd also like to say that I live a full and productive life, as well.

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MudandStars
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09 Dec 2009, 10:17 am

No. I wouldn't say it defines me. However, it does shed some light on my non-socially-acceptable idiosyncracies.

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