Board index › General Discussion › General Autism Discussion

Re: Functional?

Page 3 of 3 [ 37 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3

Previous topic | Next topic

Maggiedoll
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 4 Jun 2009
Age: 42
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,126
Location: Maryland

15 Nov 2009, 4:51 pm

marshall wrote:
Maggiedoll wrote:
Edit: there's this feeling of pointlessness at trying to go about getting more of a life together, when the things I have problems doing won't be taken into account.

I also think that there's a problem with how society views disabilities, especially mental disabilities. I've run into this feeling when I disclosed my disability in graduate school. People seemed to have this attitude that because I've made it into graduate school I can't be that disabled. People just don't seem to get it. Everything is seen on a one dimensional scale when there are really multiple dimensions. According to this thinking if you are truly disabled then you can only be working a low wage job or subsisting on government welfare. If you try to manage more less account is taken for the things you struggle with, especially in competitive environments. It's almost like society is set up to keep us at the bottom of the social pole.


I know exactly what you mean.. Also, most people have this concept that academics is the hard part of taking a class. They assume that if you do well on a test, you're fine, and that if you're struggling, that means you need a study partner. I recently tried to take a class, and it was so overwhelming.. it's hard to explain, by the end of each class felt like I was a total wreak. I could barely hold a thought, I'd be staring off into space and stuff, unable to react to much.. I can't imagine that driving home like that was much safer than driving drunk would have been. And I had no idea how to explain that I just couldn't handle it, especially because I did extremely well on the tests. It was the class itself that was killing me, not the academics or the information. It probably would have been easier for me if the class were actually harder, because then I could get lost in the academic side of it, and deal with it that way. Getting together with somebody to study would have been the exact opposite of what I needed. :? There's no setup on how to deal with non-academic problems with a class, though. I mean, what can you DO about that?



Jetfox
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 12 Nov 2005
Age: 39
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,620
Location: the black hole

15 Nov 2009, 5:01 pm

i'm basicly the same, i basicly have no life beyond my compy and the world in my head, and i actually try to keep it that way, i even pushed away some guy on wow who liked me just to cling to my solitude and freedom.


_________________
"It's the song of destruction a requiem of the end" jr in xenosaga III


Nightsun
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 23 Sep 2009
Age: 44
Gender: Male
Posts: 567
Location: Rome - Italy

15 Nov 2009, 5:13 pm

I don't know how common people see it. For me you can label yourself functional if you can do what you want. For istance, I've problem with big crow of people but actually I dislike them so it's not a problem for me to avoid them. Obviously if I was a shop seller I'll not function well, but I'm not. Seems too much relativistic? Well I'm pretty sure that if you take Obama and put it doing my work you'll think that he's dumb and not functional. Functional is a word that has a meaning only if you contextualize it. And the best context is the right context. You must seek happyness, if your "problem" don't interfere in that, well you function well.


_________________
Planes are tested by how well they fly, not by comparing them to birds.


Nightsun
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 23 Sep 2009
Age: 44
Gender: Male
Posts: 567
Location: Rome - Italy

15 Nov 2009, 5:15 pm

marshall wrote:
Maggiedoll wrote:
Edit: there's this feeling of pointlessness at trying to go about getting more of a life together, when the things I have problems doing won't be taken into account.

I also think that there's a problem with how society views disabilities, especially mental disabilities. I've run into this feeling when I disclosed my disability in graduate school. People seemed to have this attitude that because I've made it into graduate school I can't be that disabled. People just don't seem to get it. Everything is seen on a one dimensional scale when there are really multiple dimensions. According to this thinking if you are truly disabled then you can only be working a low wage job or subsisting on government welfare. If you try to manage more less account is taken for the things you struggle with, especially in competitive environments. It's almost like society is set up to keep us at the bottom of the social pole.


Nah, they simply lack theory of mind *giggle*


_________________
Planes are tested by how well they fly, not by comparing them to birds.


Aimless
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 1 Apr 2009
Age: 69
Gender: Female
Posts: 8,187

15 Nov 2009, 7:17 pm

Nightsun wrote:
I don't know how common people see it. For me you can label yourself functional if you can do what you want. For istance, I've problem with big crow of people but actually I dislike them so it's not a problem for me to avoid them. Obviously if I was a shop seller I'll not function well, but I'm not. Seems too much relativistic? Well I'm pretty sure that if you take Obama and put it doing my work you'll think that he's dumb and not functional. Functional is a word that has a meaning only if you contextualize it. And the best context is the right context. You must seek happyness, if your "problem" don't interfere in that, well you function well.


We're talking about a professional doing a diagnostic opinion on functionality not a personal one.


_________________
Detach ed