Wait a Minute, I'm the One with a Disorder?

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So everyone is bashing liberal arts degrees these days. It's a shame to see our universities turn into STEM vocational schools rather than learning institutions for producing enlightened and broad-minded citizens.

Last edited by Private Idaho on 10 Feb 2017, 7:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Not everyone. I think the OP maybe has some issues.



And if autistics want to bash others, it's fair game for NT's to describe us in any way they wish, given the generalising that's going on here.


Don't take offence to being called a spastic head-basher if you're going to describe others as drunken philistines. Fair is fair.

Sonically, I agree with you. I've seen some NT bashing on this website. Not all NT's are the same. Calling billions of people the same is just wrong. I know plenty of people who I at least assume are NT's who are quiet and have high grades.

Yes, it's still a disorder. I'm glad you found a niche in academia, but not everyone has that refuge.

+1

For the record, my roommate, who is also a graduate student, didn't come home last night because it was his birthday and he drank until he passed out. I didn't see him until I came home to my apartment for lunch, where he and his female casual sex buddy were sitting on the couch, and he was eating Cheetos and drinking coconut water in hopes of curing his hangover. He said that he felt better after he threw up and after eating the Cheetos and drinking the coconut water. So no, the partying college student is not just a stereotype. My roommate is "Exhibit A" of this behavior.

Again, you're telling me that his behavior is perfectly normal, and I'm the one with the disorder?

At this point I'd say that "normal" is a socio-political construct based largely on the frequency of occurrence. The only reason my roommate's behavior is considered normal is that it's common. If reckless partying behavior occurred in 1.5% of the population, and autistic traits occurred in 20% of the population, then partying would be considered a disorder and autism would be considered normal.

I would agree, except that college is marketed to young people as a financial investment, not as a way to become an enlightened citizen. You pay or borrow a bunch of money now so that you can get a better-paying job after you graduate. It's all about getting a "good job," not about becoming a better citizen. I'm guessing that the banks who offer student loans had a lot to do with creating this marketing plan.

Exactly.

Why are graduates living in an apartment-unit instead of owning an abode of their own ?

Wait, let me give everyone a hint, and it's that the answers are only known by Conspiracy Theorists...

Last edited by Ban-Dodger on 11 Feb 2017, 3:13 am, edited 1 time in total.

How else is "normal" ever determined? Partying may even be reasonably functional, because success in business depends upon alliances far more than on ability.

If that's what he likes doing on special occasions, and it's not getting in the way of life, who the f**k are you to criticise him?


This isn't a disorder, I forgot to mention before. Everyone misinterprets ambiguous statements.


Your roommate does not sound reckless to me. Disorders are things that get in the way of functioning, such as alcoholics missing deadlines, not someone who enjoys something you don't. His functioning isn't impaired by occasional partying, he does not have a disorder. Autism impairs functioning, hence is a disorder.

If I were an evolutionary psychologist, I would agree with you, because there must be some survival or reproductive advantage to it. Before birth control, sexually irresponsible people would have had lots of children, and thus would have been reproductively successful. That's one reproductive strategy.

Autism is common enough that is also must have some reproductive or survival value, or it wouldn't exist. In this view, autism would be a reproductive strategy. For some reason, an equilibrium is reached where about 20% of the population are successful as party-ers and 1.5% are successful as autistics. According to this model, neither partying nor autism are disorders; instead, they are different reproductive strategies.

I'm not criticizing his behavior. I'm criticizing society's assertion that is behavior is "normal."

Yeah, I sure have had similar thoughts myself, OP. Ever since learning about my Asperger 8 + years ago, I keep thinking about things past and present and seeing and hearing things that make me think "and I'm the one they think is disordered? yeah right!" Lots of different things that are considered normal are things that should be disordered for a variety of reasons depending on the issue in question.
My head is killing me today so no stamina for details.

I also see plenty of things that makes me think that if that is normal I thank my lucky stars that I am not normal. Normal doesn't usually appeal to me, at best it tends to be boring and/or annoying.

Speaking for myself, I don't think that's a strange response when two types are pretty incompatible

I'm seriously unimpressed by people in general, society at large, and how the system works (if you can call it that).

It is, though - he can live life normally, so the behaviour is normal since it doesn't get in the way of functioning in life.

Sounds like he had a good time.

You sound partly jealous.



No. The person who diagnosed you is telling you you're the one with the disorder.

Being aware of the effects of excessive alcohol then choosing to drink doesn't make one abnormal.



If 'normal' bothers you so much, don't use the word.

And if 'normal' was a socio-political construct, does it being so demerit it in some way?



'The only' is a little strong, and lacking credibility. 'A' reason rather than 'the only' - maybe.



No.

By that logic, we could compare autism to anything else and judge its normalcy accordingly.

Shall we compare autism to, say, rape, and say we are normal as autism is more common than rape?


Autism is defined by the difficulties/deficits associated with certain modes of communication, not just the modes of communication themselves.


It could be argued that your roommate is, in many ways, more sensible than you. He had (and, by the sounds of it, has) meaningful social interaction with others, which, depending on viewpoint, could be seen as preferable to your own position. I could argue that he is less likely to have depression/is less likely to commit suicide than you, as oftentimes depression/suicide is linked to isolation.

PS if I got drunk at a party, am I no longer autistic? Can't autistics get drunk at parties then have casual sex?



And ultimately, why can't you just be happy for your roommate? He had what was, for him, a good time.


It is a sign of immaturity to want others to fit your own mold of right/wrong/normal. And the problem with doing so is... your views may change - at which point everyone else also has to change to fit to your new conception of right/wrong.

Personally, I think you'd grow as a person more if you tried doing something as simple as challenging your own mind by, for example, making a list of all the potential good points of going to a party and getting drunk.