AS a Gift?

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It just is.

i think this is a really important distinction that you make and one i agree with.

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Last edited by Inventor on 03 Jun 2009, 2:17 am, edited 1 time in total.

Matt, I'd say it's a gift like an exquisitely sculpted, beautiful, huge, gold granade. However much one may enjoy it, it can ruin your life when each time you show it in public people run for the woods.

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Last edited by Inventor on 03 Jun 2009, 2:21 am, edited 1 time in total.

One of my great surprises coming to WP, "I was supposed to socialize?"

I spent fifty years trying to avoid them, and thought everyone did the same.

I saw groups, clubs, parties, as being for those poor people who could not make it on their own.

It was the same for work, they need a playpen in a daycare where the adults do the thinking.

I fixed the machines for the adults, management, and we both thought of them as livestock.

We were the task oriented people, and saw workers as milk cows.

It was a different time, everyone just did what they were best at, and for most, it was life at the near bottom of the pay scale.

They were healthy, educated, and could have kept learning, read books, taken corrispondence courses, gone for a few college credits, read up on the field they worked in, but they stayed in the same job, were out the door at 5 sharp, and went home to watch TV.

I often worked after hours, coming in at five, for the managers stayed a few more hours, and there were no distractions. We got it ready to run the next day, and went home to read up on what we were going to do next.

Since I was not part of their group, some of the workers tried to supervise me, I told them I worked for their bosses boss, and they should ask him.

Whenever I was in a job where some desk cow could make trouble for me, they did, and thinking they have any power over what they see as different, they will try to trample you every time. I would report it to my manager and offer to resign, for their manager did not think well of me, so I should leave.

The desk cow was informed I did not work for them, they did not sign my pay check, and they could shut up, or I found another job.

There was no AS, the world of work is a structure imposed on livestock, with a clear chain of command, and when that breaks down, I have no respect for the management.

I see the gifts of AS, but I also a breakdown in herd management.

One day it is Equality, making the most unequal equal, by Act of Congress, then they demand universal cud chewing.

Modern AS is no different than what went well for thousands of years, what is suddenly wrong is herd views are being expressed as universal truths.

The purpose of education is now making them feel good about being themselves, and this era of Entitlement annoys our Socialist Democratic President.

The herd has already turned to witch hunts, The Christian Right who are neither, but are now the enforcers for god of herd values and greed.

These are the people who demanded and got 120% nothing down home loans, with no income.

They are entitled to have everything anyone else does, because of equality.

Those who maintain common sense during such times are denounced as the enemy. It is the logic of AS that conflicts with living a lie.

Everyone deserves a big house, two SUVs, and god will find a way for his chosen people.

We have reached 1,000,000 foreclosurers, there are 8,000,000 more coming through 2012.

7,000,000 official unemployed, and at least twice that, with no income, home, and it grows at 20,000 a day.

I would rather be broke than have $400,000 in debt I could never pay, I am never unemployed, for I work at being me every day, and that adds up over time.

I see a world of fearful cows who have a house, and owe twice what it is worth, and have a job, which if they are lucky they will keep, living with the knowledge that they are a few paychecks away from being homeless. and it will not change for the rest of their lives.

It is like the good old days, when worker cows knew their place, and did not think they ran the world.

Fear will keep them from trying to enforce conformity, for they are one medical bill away from living under a bridge.

I see AS as somthing that has always been, but the problems come from this recent Social Moovement.

Psychology, a recent storefront religion, was based on herd conformity are being the highest truth, it turns out they were teaching the Lemming view.

Diversity of thinking is the dynamic that runs the world, conformity, equality, has failed big time.

Now who will survive, the AS who always live like cockroaches on the edges of life, or the bloated cow fed for years on entitlements?

AS is here, that means it has survived wars, they move away from noise, famines, they will eat the same boring food every day, and ice ages.

Social people died during the Black Death, I have hopes for this Flu.

The pastures are over grazed, the water is in short supply and fouled, the herd must be reduced!

This shows a complete and utter lack of understanding of the theory of evolution. There is NOTHING evolutionary advantageous about ASD, in fact the opposite is true

I find it increasingly annoying the amount of delusional talk on this forum about how great it is to have an ASD. There was even one thread where people lined up to CONGRATULATE someone on their recent diagnosis. Don't get me wrong I was relieved to finally find an answer to the trauma of my life but CONGRATULATIONS please!! !! !!

I am so pleased to see so many posting their feelings in this thread without the 'aspie elitists' breathing fire at them

At the Op no I do not see it as a gift. I may have a relatively high IQ but what good is this if I cannot hold onto the jobs it gets me

Dent, ditto to every word. I'm glad some Aspies have finally found the courage to speak up on this thread against the contempt shown by the elitists and their ridiculous "thank God I have Wonderful AS" threads.

If AS has been a blessing to you, and I know many for whom it is, then by all means thank God for your luck. Leave alone those to whom Autism has been a tragedy. At the very least don't demean them by calling them "negative".

However, Dent - re Congratulations threads: it's very tough to survive in the work market, and if we're able to convince the Social Security cops (the shrinks that hand out the diagnoses or not), it's a personal achievement and a blessing in many cases, that's why many of us congratulate the lucky+skillful winners.

*sigh* Greentea, I'm going to keep calling you out on this until either you engage me in dialog or stop accusing "positive" people of demeaning "negative" people. You have misrepresented and misunderstood the threads, yet you are not willing to talk about it.

My situation exactly. Last month, when my upteenth boss fired me for the upteenth time, "in spite of all the great dedication and work", I should've sang to Autism, in soprano voice, like the woman raped by Young Frankenstein in the forest: "Oh sweet mystery of life, at last I've found youuuu!"

Its both good and bad.


**** Good: ****

- Very analytical and thinks in systems (very helpful for IT jobs)

- Can spend hours tinkering with things (i am interested in)

- My spatial abilities are off the NT-charts, way above normal.

- Because of the above thing, i have a "built in GPS" in my head and "always" know where i am.

- My intuition is fairly high and i "just know" how things work because i have tinkered with so many things in my life (Though i do not know if this is an ASD trait or not)


**** Bad: ****

- Have been looking for a girlfriend for years now, i never take anyone "by storm" and i still miss some social queues.

- Also have a hard time making friends because i am very choosy and i have small social needs.

- Have a hard time finding a job because i do not know how to market myself (i have gotten some help with this the last 6 months).

- Have a hard time keeping a job because of all the social issues at work, i.e. i totally lost the respect for my last boss because he was using racist lingo to describe immigrants and foreigners.

Greentea and Dent, whilst I refer to it as a gift in some ways...i do not even want to be appear as elitist or lacking in an empirical understanding of what it is like to struggle with an ASD. I hope you both know I have great respect for your positions and experiences and I relate to the hardship of having an ASD. You know enough about my journey to know it has been an ugly and painful one. Moreso than many could even begin to imagine - because of my autism and its mismatch with the world. Some of the instances of bullying and persecution - including being raped, beaten up on the streets many times, having my hair set alight by a gang - these are experiences of mine that occurred because of my absolute inability to 'read people and situations" as others without an ASD might do.

I always like to acknowledge others in this debate around how we each, individually view our autism. Gift or curse?
I think the key is to realise so much depends on severity, presentation, extraneous factors...(whether one has private income support,employment prospects, family to support them in various ways, the ability to find a niche in the world that fits, the random luck of one's special interest - is it drying leaves en masse that others view as baseless and futile, or is it something that can be turned into a career?....So many factors affecting how we see it....When that does not happen,or we cannot find a way to make these come about, or there is no helping hand, or the presentation of an ASD is just too debilitating and severe... the pain is great for a lot of us. )

Basically, what I am reiterating is what i said earlier - that it can be viewed as a gift and good thing, but this will depend on so much, and if we do view it as such, we need to acknowledge so, hand in hand with an acknowledgment of luck and gratitude.
I am not a fan of "one creates one's own existence" mentality. it is more complex than that.

It does not have to be an "either/or" position. I want to make sure my stance is clear on this one:

"Gift but with disclaimer. And no elitism in this person."

Well said. I couldn't agree more.

Well, millie, I myself already knew that, I'm the one who interviewed you.

One of the most crucial factors affecting whether it's a gift or a tragedy is the country where the person has citizenship. If it's a third-world country (rather than, say, an Anglo-Saxon one), where usually there are no social benefits even for critical handicaps, then the Autistic, unless "light", will have a horrendous destiny once the parents are gone (or if the parents are not supportive or are, as is common, unable to provide a roof and food). Countries where even the most brilliant are making a few tens of dollars a month (like my country of origin), if they're lucky to have a job, and all the rest, especially the "damaged goods" are dying in the streets. The third world is most of the world. Autism is therefore a curse - for the majority of Autistics in the world. And right here, a couple hours drive from my house, south, just below the border, women do not have a right to a clitoris. It's removed at age 7. How do you think they're faring as Autistics? What kind of rights or Social Security do you think they have? Sometimes Anglo-Saxons forget there's a world out there, and go all "anything is possible" on others. This does not mean you should be miserable for others, but do respect their misery and don't call it "negative, ungrateful mentality", for God's sake!

WE are in absolute agreement, here.

Recently in another thread, I spoke of exactly this tendency promulgated by the west - --that one is the maker of one's own destiny, and we can just adopt a "fresh" approach, be positive and then put a bit of action in, and all will be well.
I actually find such a glib take on people's complex lives to be erroneous and not even applicable to the vast majority of people traversing the globe.
i'm one of the lucky ones - for a start i have a computer.

There was a segment on Australian television the other night. It was a segment on mental health care or the lack thereof in Bali.
A mental health care professional traveled from village to village, seeking out the families where there was a member chained to the ground and/or caged - often for years at a stretch. I think it illustrates the point. Some had mental health issues, and some were autistic. all were human beings.

I don't think anyone is calling it a "negative, ungrateful mentality," at least not here. Since that is in quotes, could you provide a reference?