How can aspergers be a real disease if........

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It isnt a disease its a different way of viewing the world. People claim that it is a "disease" because it is something that they cant understand. Hopefully that is changing.

I think that there is the opposite - if there are a changing occuring, is in the sense of people that were only considered "eccentric" (or "geeks") now being considered as having a disease/disability ("Aspeger's Syndrome").

I don't think Asperger's is a disease (you can't catch it) nor do I think of it as a disability. I think for those of us who have Asperger's, our minds and bodies don't work quite the same way as the majority, which makes things more difficult.

I can see the point about crossing over cultural boundaries might be seen similarly as how Asperger's are seen in their "own culture" (isn't that why this is called WrongPlanet? Because we feel like we're from somewhere else?). However, the difference is in the ability to learn and adapt to whatever is "normal" in that culture. And I don't think it's just about learning the social guidelines either, I think there are physically differences in how we process thought (based on talking to both Aspies on here and NTs in real life about it) and for many of us, sensory issues. It's not just a "mental condition".
Although someone with Asperger's would have different challenges depending on what culture they grew up in, I think they would still stand out in their own culture as different. For instance, I know a lot of people from other cultures who are a lot more "touchy/feely" than my family and my culture is. Here when I am introduced to people, I'm not expected to hug and kiss them, which tends to make me uncomfortable, and we don't have to stand too close. I can often even get out of shaking hands. However when I've met people from certain other cultures, this is expected (and I attempt to adapt, etc, but I know I would be less comfortable having to do that all the time).

As an item of note, I tend to get along much better with people from other cultures than from my "own" culture, I believe because of the Asperger's cultural crossover thing. I started noticing this in college (before I knew about Asperger's). That is, people from other cultures (especially if they grew up in a different country so they don't know the US mannerisms as well) tend to be much more accpepting of me and we get along much better. I think this is because they don't place the same expectations on my behavior... they expect me to act "weird" as they see it. However, if I'd grown up in their own culture and didn't conform, I don't think they would accept it... it's not becuase I "fit" in their culture any better than in mine, it's because they mentally make allowances for different and unexpected behavior and don't hold me to the same standard they grew up with (unless they've assimilated here). After they've been here long enough they would tend to notice that I seem to act differently than many other Americans, but usually it's not an issue because they don't know how "not normal" I am, and because I also seem to be more accepting of their own culturally odd behavior than many of my fellow countryfolk.