The Aspie Poseur

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I dont have a group of peers,am far past teen angst and was wondering if this is true.I dont recall being a social outcast ever being "trendy".Though there was some glamour in the lonewolf image,that hardly fits AS,as many with AS want to have friends.
What indication do you see to back up your theory?Are you in high school and surrounded by rampant groups of AS teens?sulking in the corners of the cafeteria or under the stairwells(that was my hideout during breaks.)

When I first learned that cutting was trendy and a "cry for help" it was in 1993.I started cutting in 1980 and had never heard of another person doing this,other then in a book called "The Slipping Down Life",which I did sort of relate to.I hid my cutting from everyone except one "freak" friend who didnt seem to judge me badly for it.I didnt know what a trend setter I had been,imagine my surprise when I found out that I had not only not been invisible in high school,but a trend setter(<---all that is sarcasm to prove my point.)My point is....who are you to judge someone elses reality?There have been a few people on here who I thought might have other mental health issues co-morbid with AS,because their writing indicated a thought process which was unintelligible to me.I have seen a lot of unDXed here,whose OP could have been written by me and I have been DXed(though I reserve the right to say,the DXer may have been wrong).

I have spent most of my life being told I did not feel what I felt.....did not hear,see,smell,taste,what I said I was.I am personally fed up with people trying to decide for me that my reality is not "real".Anyone who comes here and relates to the experiences of other posters will stick around,those that dont will leave.I dont see anyone on here being invited to great parties or hot dates because they "claim" to be AS.Maybe they are not AS but enjoy our company(who would not be swayed by our charm and wit?)

So before you write off someone else's experience as less AS then yours,maybe you can think back to your own experiences with people telling you your reality was "not real" and give them the benefit of the doubt.I think the spectrum is wider then the "experts" who have been so wrong about so much of AS(dont have a sense of humor,dont understand metephors,dont care about others)maybe,I dont to the same degree as some NTs,but I have learned some things,AS is not stagnant.Anyone who jumps on the wagon but isnt AS,will eventually leave....they dont have the perseverance for it.

I spent much of my life attempting to be an NT poseur — they never bought it.

This remark makes me feel cathartic...I can relate to this...

I'm not diagnosed either. It could go either way. Time will tell.

One funny thing the comment about cutting class made me think about: my friends were all nerds, moreso than I. However, they wouldnt skip class with me. So I'd go alone. To the public library!

*giggle*

I'll admit I laughed a bit.

I think that it's possible that there are a lot of aspies who don't have a clue what is wrong. I don't have a DX (and I'm not sure that I'd want one). I do have a lot of problems, some of which may be completely unrelated to AS. I certainly find that I have enough in common with many of the members here, that it seems likely that I am AS. Is there any advantage to it? I don't really know, except in whatever small comfort and advice that I might take at my late age.

I agree with the first post, but there's not exactly anything that anyone can do about it. That's one reason that I really can't wait until we get a real medically based test for ASDs. Then you know who is and who isn't. No more doctors who could be wrong or don't know what they're doing.

You have that problem even with OFFICIALLY diagnosed Aspies! Some act like EVERY difference is autism, and some act like some autistic failings are common, or even universal! SOME even act like all the strengths are! Wouldn't THAT be great! You could just ask what 678963*58291 was, and say they were AS if they came up with 39577432233! Frankly, I am looking at my problems, etc... and weighing them against the DSM, etc... ALSO, I have learned that many things aren't that universal. Sensory skewing, for example, I guess isn't universal, and isn't always in the same direction.

Steve

I fall into this trap. I'm hoping that as I understand more, I won't, but it does seem to define me so well in so many ways, that it's seductive to project my (possibly unrelated) problems on AS.

Of course there are some people who aren't AS but would rather hide behind the self-diagnosis on that they didn't have to deal with life and to feel special. There will be at least a few on here that this covers - not that I know of anyone specifically but it still feels strange to me that an AS community even exists (it's certainly something that if I didn't have a specific interest in I'd not want anything to do with).

Why anyone would want to pretend to be AS baffles me. We're broken. Oh, aye we are. There's too many problems with AS to want to be in the Groovy Gang.


Not that I'd change, but let's face it, it's not easy.

Last edited by Astilius on 20 Mar 2007, 12:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I agree with the original poster, but i would not restrict it to a "portion of the self-diagnosed."
I know you cannot tell by reading posts, but some of the posts i read from so-called 'officially diagnosed' members makes me wonder.

I know of someone (not on this site) who has the official DX. He seems to have none of the symptoms at all. Doctors make mistakes sometimes.

Well, as someone smarter than me once said -

"you meet one Aspie, you've met one Aspie"

Merle

I agree, some people don't respond or share their experience with my experience.
I ask a question relating to my aspie traits yet I don't get a reply to somebody who might relate to it.
It's as though people are afraid to post something that might reveal their NT traits

Thats why I say on my profile unsure. The criteria for diagnosis is too subjective and dependent on very old data. I'm 37 and doubt there is anyone living who remembers me when I was young and can objectively provided details to a doctor.

Plus maybe 1% of the population has aspergers but I would be shocked if even 1% know what aspergers is. So noway is there some emo like movement of people joining some aspie bandwagon.

There maybe those that completely do not fit the aspergers criteria here but that has to be quite small I think. Aspergers and autism is the core audience of WP but the first page clearly states other developmental disorders such as ADHD are included. I'm
99% certain I have inattentive ADHD (self diagnosed). And people with inattentive ADHD often have major social skills problems.