Why do ASPIES TAKE PRIDE in being Aspie

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Do you really believe that? I mean, I was roughed up pretty well most of my life and have spent years on WP working it out, but I just want to know if you are blowing off some steam or are really thinking we feel like that towards you?

Merle

...and for the record, we don't feel that way about you, KoS! Sometimes when people are treated badly, they tend to blame a group rather than the individuals as a whole. Especially when all the bullies are members of the same group. This is what you're seeing when the anti-NT postings come up on this site. It's the same mechanism that is (probably subconsciously) making you deflect blame from your father to your brothers. It's a human trait, but one our "higher selves" can overcome. The ones posting these sentiments aren't evil people, just a bit off in where they are placing their anger.

It's one of our traits that it is difficult to put ourselves in another's shoes. This makes it difficult to realize that by posting anti-NT sentiments, we are hurting and causing pain to the NTs that visit this great site. You are valuable here and your unique position of being directly between both worlds will eventually give you the opportunity to do a lot of good for a large number of people. I hope you take it!

I think she was being sarcastic.

I used to be anti NT myself but I never hated all NTs because I knew some good ones in my life. I used to do the bashing. Then I realized in late 2007 being a jerk, being a bully and all isn't a NT thing, it's a human thing. In the past I would think that aspie had that horrible NT trait. I wouldn't realize that aspie was just a jerk it it had nothing to do with being AS or NT. So I quit the bashing.
I notice NTs do this too (not all but some), they bash us if they have had a bad experience with an aspie or more. So I think we should educate them by treating them nice and showing them not all aspies are this way just by being nice to them. Not attack them for their opinions on us or for bashing us or else it proves their point. So me trolling AS partners probably wasn't good because I probably showed them they are right about us. My posts came off harsh and then I was caught being an aspie. I assume that because they approved my posts and then they decide to take away my posting privileges. All someone has to do is google my name and this place pops up and bam they see my profile. This was back in January.
This goes for people who have other conditions too. Some of them can also bash us because they also had a bad experience with an aspie or more.

I enjoy being interesting xD Id rather be a raving mad aspie (well I am a bit crazy xD) than be an everyday NT

I think it's weird when people say they're "proud" of being something that's just inherently a part of them. I can't imagine ever saying that I'm "proud" to be gay because it's just a part of me, not an accomplishment. Having Asperger's or another ASD is also not something a person accomplishes or achieves, but something that naturally exists. Because of that, I can't say I'm proud of that either. If I ever do something, like get a degree, or get a drivers license, then I'll be proud, because that will be an accomplishment. I didn't "achieve" my sexuality or my condition, they're just there. So being proud of either makes no sense to me at all.

I think you need to recognize the limitations of your own experience. Even if you have been surrounded by autism your entire life and have witnessed the handicaps and suffered the stigma firsthand, you are still limited to your own experience of these things and other people have experienced them in very different ways. Instead of coming here to tell people how things are, you could try appreciating the opportunity to learn from people who have had different experiences from you.

I don't like it when people talk about the 'mystery' of autism, even when they are in awe of it, but I do think there is much more to it than HF and LF. And I think a person always has to make a deliberate decision how to view things, because nothing just 'is' one way or another, it is always a matter of what one decides to see.

Then you are incorrect, Beth.. Please don't assume you know me, or what I am thinking or you'll embarass yourself.

Merle

Asperger's in mild form is a gift, not a disability. Since it is genetic, there is no basis for taking pride in having the gift. Perhaps there is some basis for pride in overcoming the social difficulties associated with having the gift.

If someone were to offer me a cure, I would reject the offer. I have no desire, whatever to be a Neuro Typical.

ruveyn

The thing with the word "pride" (and proud) is, it has a range of meanings. Those meanings interrelate, yes, but they are different. Yes, pride can refer to a sense of accomplishment at one's achievements. But it can also refer to self-respect. So, saying one is proud of being an aspie isn't claiming it as an accomplishment. It's saying, "I'm an aspie, and that's okay, and I'm good as I am". In that, it parallel's gay pride, which isn't about being proud of one's sexual choices and actions, but rather, about accepting oneself as one is, even while others reject you.

Um, she wasn't talking about you, but talking to you about KoS. (No, I don't know what she was thinking. But I can follow a written conversation.)

My brother was made the scapegoat of an entire town which hated him. And by conventional classifications he is the one who is AS while I am classified as autistic. I have had a lot of bad things happen to me, some of them worse than he has, but I never had a whole town hate me for who I was (of course we moved out of there or probably I would have). You can't generalize from one family's experience.

Dick Sobsey has reported in people with developmental disabilities in general, that sometimes the ones deemed higher functioning are targeted more for abuse because they are more capable of doing things that abusive caregivers can target them for. So a lot fewer assumptions on your part would be really useful.

I think this is very well expressed, and was what I meant.

Oh, well put! Well put.

I'm almost scared to respond to this topic. It seems that everybody here is either proud of it or doesn't care.

I, on the other hand, see it as a curse. I hate not being able to understand how people feel, or not being able to understand most idioms and sarcasm. I hate not being able to express how I feel to others, even when I try so hard. I may be able to focus on one topic and remember things really well (I am still the only person in my school to score 100% on every single semester test so far, even though the grades in the classes themselves were barely passing), but it doesn't seem to outweigh the social issues. In the end, I simply could never be proud of being an 'aspie.' I just hope I don't get looked down upon everybody here for my opinion. After all, I joined WP because I was hoping to meet someone who understood how I felt about this.

Well, I guess I just drew the short straw and ended up with the co-morbids that make life suck. I can't really be proud of that, can I?

Personally I don't care if someone hates being autistic even though I prefer being autistic. What I don't like is when people who hate it:

1. Say that the ones who like it are milder or higher functioning or generally have fewer problems than them.

2. Say that the ones who like it think we are better than nonautistic people or are otherwise stuck up.

3. Say that the ones who like it can't be autistic at all.

4. Say that the ones who like it must have all the gifts.

5. Say that those who like it have never suffered or been mistreated or abused.

or... anything like that really.

Of course I like it just as little when people who like being autistic make the same sorts of assertions. But as far as I'm concerned everyone has to work out for themselves how to feel. It's when people assume that everyone's desires in the matter are dictated entirely by certain neurology or experiences that I get irritated. Or also when people make clear that their own desires really are for reasons like "because I'm better than NTs" or some other snobbish attitude, because it does happen, it's just not all of us, and when it happens it's bad.