bye and have fun in middle of NTs

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I have known at least three people with Cerebral Palsy during my lifetime.

One was wheelchair-bound from birth and never spoke. He could barely give any indication he could even hear. He had one of those ultra-tech wheelchairs, since when I met him he was an adult and his parents were in their late 50s/early 60s. He needed care 24/7.

One had severe mobility problems. When I knew him, he was in college and got around with a walker, very slowly and with great difficulty. He was determined to stay out of wheelchair for as long as possible. His legs were weak and difficult to move, but his arms and upper body were immense due to his compensation. I attended his wedding.

The other was one I knew in elementary school. She wore a brace on her leg, but otherwise got around fine. She even did Irish step-dancing.

Is one of these people going to say to another, "You can't possibly have CP because you're not as bad off as me?" That's ridiculous. It would also be ridiculous to expect the ones that are more severely affected to achieve the same things as those less severely affected. The man in the wheelchair will never Irish step-dance. But that doesn't mean the one that can Irish step-dance doesn't have CP!

The same is true for autism. It is a SPECTRUM. Those who are less severely affected can do more. Should we have to apologize for it? Neither should we say to those more severely affected that achieving things is just a matter of "trying harder." No, not necessarily. Everyone has a limit to their capacity, but where that is cannot be known - it is an *individual* thing.

We should not judge those who can achieve - we should celebrate their achievements. We should not judge those who cannot achieve - we should have compassion when they are upset and frustrated.

BUT STOP THE SHAMING!! ! EVERYONE!! !

Not that people on *this* thread are jumping on anyone - I am just tired of these types of threads.

By the same token, you still have members of the general public who would that the OP cannot POSSIBLY be autistic because she was able to start this thread

Ok I have have a confession. I have been faking having autism all this time. I have had my family and experts completely fooled since I was two.

I knew it!

Now quit that whining and stop making all those excuses!

Have seen folks post this sort of thing before.But I don't get it.

One person got livid at the little videos that Alex makes, and posts here, because the poster was convinced that Alex's friends who take part in the videos "can't be real aspies".

Someone else years ago screamed at all us "posers pretending to be autistics here on WP!"

I guess if some folks see that you have one molecule more social skills than they have then that makes them envious, and convinced that you are a "poser".

Redrobin62 hit the proverbial nail right on the head.