What did you think about adults with autism?

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I never saw people with Autism as stereotypically mentally ret*d; rather, I saw them as of a different form of intelligence, i.e., great memories, good at finding patterns, good at drawing, etcetera, but I saw that they were totally disinterested in others.

Of note, most people with Autism aren't stereotypically mentally ret*d, even if they score in such a range in overall IQ; their skills are uneven, rather than of a same level like in mental retardation.

Rain Man is a good depiction of an adult with Autism (not Asperger's); O, and Simon from Mercury Rising is an even better depiction IMO (this is where I got most of my view above from; funnily enough, I was watching myself for the most part).

I wouldn't have been able to pick out someone with Autism before I got diagnosed.

In fact I saw a guy in the supermarket today who I'm sure has aspergers. I had a nice chat to him and hope he is doing well.

never heard of autism until diagnosis

I didn't have a concept of autism until I was diagnosed (though I'm sure I heard the word at some point, just didn't catch my notice). I only saw Rain Man a couple years after being diagnosed.

My parents, however, had had no idea that a child could be autistic and still speak (though Rain Man came out the year I was born, and they'd seen it, so they must've guessed that autistic people who talk all must learn to do so in adulthood, or that he was a very very high functioning exception to the rule).

I did see a program on TV once about the parents of developmentally disabled children (I don't know if it was autism or MR or Downs or something else), but I remember a scene where one of the kids was banging their head, and saying "That's like me!" pointing at the screen, and my mom said something like "no, no, those kids aren't at all like you".

I was somewhere between the ages of 6 and 8, a few years before diagnosis, so at that point I did seriously consider there was "something" different about me, than being just "quirky".

First grade I remember after spending most of my time staring at the ceiling or sorting beads, not getting work done, not talking to anybody or responding to my name, and that I was the only one out of all the kindergarteners and first graders to not learn my home address despite practicing a lot, not being nervous or a fear of public speaking, and the school talked to my parents (I was switched from a first grade class to a kindergarten class with a handful of first grade students), about my difficulties with concentration. My parents got a vitamin supplement thing that was supposed to help with concentration but my parents figured probably wouldn't be any better than a placebo effect, and three years later I got a diagnosis!

However, I did fear about getting institutionalized, particularly as self-injury was a big problem for me then (still is, just not as bad as it used to be). As the years have increased, that fear has risen and fallen, fallen recently because of the fact that I'm starting college and hoping that this means I'll be more likely to get a job I can handle (most low-skill jobs are not things I could handle well, but making a living as a teacher and writing on the side would work much better).

However, as I grow older I get expected to do more daily living stuff, and I am trying my hardest to make sure that skills like preparing meals and paying bills and such materialize in the next four years, but can't really think of that yet because I need to focus on getting by in my first year in college, living in a dorm by myself. Hopefully by sophomore year I will be ready to gain new daily skills (during summer at least).

[quote="Irulan"]If there was a time in your life you didn't know anything about autism, what did you use to think that happened to adults with autism?

I saw a move made for tv film on it when i was a little kid, circa 1980.. sis and i imitated the autistic kid by staring into space and rocking.. mother told us 'dont do that', so shows we were more in touch with the 'world'? Mine worsened as i grew to adulthood and i dont know why! (the asperger symptoms).

I never made a distinction between high functioning autism and autism. The only time i started thinking about it was recently at a job someone had severe autism and I figured they live with their parents their wholes lives. That is only true for the very severe cases and some moderate cases.

I read about autism many years ago so I had some vague idea what it was. But I could not really imagine what it was because I was around neurotypical people all my life even though I knew I was different than most. When I went to an Asperger adult meeting back in June, this was the first time in my life that I had ever been in a group of Aspies so they were the ones who seemed like the "oddballs" from my perspective. Just my two cents worth.

Which is wrong.

The majority of those with diagnosed AS live with their parents, in residential housing or institutions. I can provide the statistics if one wants. Nearly all with "high-functioning Autism" live in one of the three above.

Let yourself live by statistics. that level of thinking is complete BS

Did you know that 100% of humans die? Accepting the inevitable seems far more rational than burying one's head in the sand.

lmao. your complete lack of logic blows my mind away. Did you know there is such thing as self improvement? try it some time.

One can only improve upon things that can be improved upon; a person lacking arms can only do so much to improve upon his or her predicament compared to someone who lacks muscle mass [but who can improve such with exercise], and to adapt to [human] life that's suited to people with arms. The same transposes over PDDs.

I don't see how I factor into it, as the original statement pertained to those with an ASD; I'm not talking about myself.

Didn't used to think anything particular, because I didn't know anything about autism (had heard the word twice, that's about all) before I was diagnosed with it.

I have heard of professional psychologists who thought autism was a terminal disease of childhood. Literally.

As for "what made me different," I at first assumed it would go away by adulthood (in fact long before), and later thought I would be "crazy" in adulthood (if I lived until then) because that's the only analogue I knew to my experience. But I was not aware what did make me different at that time.

I used to live near a home for people with various special needs including autism, Down syndrome and learning difficulties. It wasn't an institution and was very well looked after. The residents ran a cafe and garden centre and so I was quite used to seeing autistic people although I didn't know that was what it was called back then.

Funny, but before I ever heard about Asperger Syndrome I never thought much at all about autism and like some have confessed here, I used to think people with Autism were mentally ret*d. I owe that misconception to the media, who would show a child or adult on TV with profound autism and to a layman it can look like mental retardation. The only movie I'd ever seen about it was 'Rain Man' with Dustin Hoffman. Even then I noticed that I did have some traits similar to the ones Hoffman displayed (as part of his character) in the movie, but I never made the connection until AS and high-functioning autism was explained to me years later. Thankfully I know differently now. But I can see why the general public might see autism as retardation. There's just not a lot of information out there readily available to see unless they google it, and most won't unless they find out a family member, friend or child has it. In other words, autism has to happen to them in some personal kind of way or otherwise they won't bother to check it out.