What is the final fate of people with Asperger syndrome
Sweetleaf
Veteran
Joined: 6 Jan 2011
Age: 36
Gender: Female
Posts: 35,278
Location: Somewhere in Colorado
Its a terrible road anyway for kids DXed now (and I was only 7 or 8 years behind them) They have the exact same "life skills" curriculum as the other "problem children" have in the "resource" wing. There lessons are things like "functional math," "consumer math," "life development," etc. Its a hard way and a terrible road. There's nothing mentally stimulating, and I would have gone ape-sh** in there if I was so isolated.
They are also thrown in with the worst of the young juvie thugs and criminals who no doubt overlord over them, and they are in there with most of the "slow" children or dropout-potentials who are all chucked in that pot. In my district, the kids with Aspergers rarely get the opportunity to take advanced lessons in their areas of skill, since most are now DXed and pulled out at age 6 or 7 or so, and have basically no chance to even grow or find out what they are good at. (they wouldn't get a chance anyway since their "wing" is totally isolated from the rest of the student body)
Its a crap situation......... I suggested to my mom that she raise hell and ask about improving the lot of these kids....... my idea is mabye hopefully they would be allowed to make exceptions for AS kids and let them in AP classes in their subjects of skill. She doesn't really understand it though and thinks its all "severe autism."
Well that does not sound very good for any of those kids.......even the ones that don't have AS, but it certainly does reflect the education system. I mean I never got seperated like that as a child because I was not diagnosed or anything but in first grade I already knew how to read and at a higher level than was expected in first grade so I brought it up to the teacher because I did not feel I was benifiting from the reading lessons since I was already reading and comprehending encyclopedias, national geographic magazines and books in general. So I was going to ask if I could maybe just read on my own during those lessons......and I kinda thought she would be proud of me for being so good at reading(I was 7 so that is how I thought) but instead she had nothing nice to say about it and would not let me get out of those lessons.
And that's how it was a lot of times at school with different things.......creativity, skills and such were looked down upon its like they were more focused on making us all perfect little slaves to society rather than encouraging us to actually learn things and put knowledge to use. So of course they want to segragate the people who are different, tell them they have a 'defect' and refuse to teach them anything of value in an attempt to keep them down. Because as all fourth graders know all the 'ret*ds' go to the special classes....I mean if I was segregated that way I would be worse off than I am now because then the teachers would have confirmed it for everyone that I was in fact a 'ret*d' when that was not the case
And to be clear I am not insulting people who do have mental retardation......but trying to describe how the other kids react when its made obvious that you're different and that is what I observed.
_________________
Tis the time to melt the Ice.
This is my life: no one has ever made any accommodation or adjustment for me so I've figured things out for myself. I've done fairly well - even by NT standards - I've lived all over the world, own a house, have multiple university degrees and a job I enjoy.
That's not to say it hasn't been without its low moments or that there haven't been setbacks or disappointments but these happen to everyone; I've just had to pick myself up and dust myself off because no one else is going to fight my battles for me.
I was never even diagnosed with anything but I was in classes like that in seventh and eighth grade and then got sent away to various special schools, some I had to live in, some I didn't, until I quit at 16. Those classes didn't help me at all. I think they just have them to keep the "problem" students out of sight and away from the "normal" kids.
The first one I went to took 2 hours to get to on the school bus. I still can't imagine why they would send me to a school so far away. I get carsick a lot. Also in every special class or school I went to the school bus picked me up and dropped me off two blocks from my house. Everyone else got picked up in front of their house. That's messed up and I'm still bitter and angry about it. Imagine this, a 12 year old girl who hates school having to be up and waiting for the school bus two blocks from their home at or before 6 AM in the winter in the dark and cold. Then a 2 hour ride during which they feel nauseous from being carsick and sometimes get picked on by other kids riding the bus. No wonder I ended up skipping over 100 days that year.
And then they changed my school every year which is not good because I don't deal with change well.
When I was growing up in the 1990's, not one educator or counselor I ever crossed knew about AS. I don't think anybody even had any perception that some people would have irreparably bad social-skills. (how would NTs comprehend such a thing.) They would only barely even understand a disorder, since most of them had fantastic innate social skills.
As a boy, I could speak, and I tested gifted, so I did not have "autism." I was a gifted underachiever who needed prodding. The idea that someone like me would have such a disorder never occurred to them.
(I'm not sure what else to say really.)
In my district, I know there are kids on the spectrum, but I'm not sure how high-functioning any of them are. My mom knows one, and she says she thinks he's about of "average-intelligence." I can't speak as to what good classes they should be in, and my mom is not the easiest person to really relate to on this issue. She still has all of her old experiences dealing with me in her head, biasing her present judgement.
It seems to me this thread is all over the place. There's been talk about death, which is the final fate for everybody and school which isn't final, although it may feel like it.
Is the OP asking about how are people with Asperger's going to survive old age after a lifetime of social isolation and poor income prospects? It's a concern of mine. I don't know if I have AS, but my old age prospects look pretty gloomy.
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Detach ed
I went to school back in the fifties and sixties, and like others who've responded here, I could read, I knew how to take tests and nothing else really mattered. At sixteen they let me into a university and I rapidly learned that I didn't know enough.
What bugs me to distraction, as an adult autistic, is the shut out response of nearly everyone else in the world - kids have autism not adults. The standard response is something like "my theory of mind says you're not to be trusted and I'm not going to disagree with it"
That was my initial question was about surviving old age with Aspergers....... I can't speak to any of that dilemma though, from my own experience (frowns)
Honestly, it terrifies me, since I know financially, and skill-wise, I am nowhere near "on-pace" to be able to live at that age. I worry I'll run out of money at age 74 or something........ Would I just become homeless and die in 3 or 4 days a most horrible death?
Sorry, I haven't read all the posts, but I can tell I identify with most of what Pengu1n wrote. When I grew up in the 70s and 80s in a totally different country and era (socialism) people hadn't even heard of autism, let alone higher functioning autistics. Difference was naturally frown upon in those years, and a hyperactive, impulsive, basically shy but behaviorally unreliable, otherwise gifted kid had to do the exact same things what other kids did, only the severely disabled (ret*d or otherwise severely affected) kids were separated and sent into special education classes. I was sat in the first row and somewhat tolerated to space out or play with objects at my hands during the classes.
Now I think the same as some (incl. Pengu1n), that all in all probably it was better that I was in the mainstream education, and people (my parents, teachers) expected much from me. There was no excuse in any form. If, by chance, I had been diagnosed as a kid (with AS or ADHD), I probably wouldn't have been where I am now.
I also find it important to be able to live on little. It's not only a virtue, it's the only way of survival sometimes. I know how to cook, I practice it sometimes just to be able to do it when it will be necessary. Cooking for yourself is always cheaper and healthier. Besides, I always try to keep my monthly bills and current expenses low. I can imagine a minimum amount of money that I could live on when the tables turn. I try to participate in (postgrad and other) education as much as I can, it's an investment in knowledge and forms the basis of future success.
I spare money for my retirement because I know the current systems are cracking down and anybody at my age expecting anything more than pittance from them is quite simply a fool.
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Another non-English speaking - DX'd at age 38
"Aut viam inveniam aut faciam." (Hannibal) - Latin for "I'll either find a way or make one."
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