Are you an "out of the closet" aspie?

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I'm self-diagnosed, but when I read about AS I told my sister and mom I was sure I had AS. And one day my friend ask me about my shyness and coldness, this question made me telling her about my AS.

Now, if people ask, I can tell them, but if they don't ask, no problem

Everyone assumes I'm an airhead who is too stupid to realize what you're saying, as most of what anyone says doesn't exactly compute, and I let them think that.

Before coming here it never occured to me that Asperger's could something to hide. It is part of me, a very important part, which affects my life. If it affects my work, I'll find different work. If people's reaction to it affects my work, I will do my utmost to get them to see reason, and, if that fails, I will to everything in my power tostop them from affecting my work. Their views cannot influence me on a personal level, because people who hold to illogical prejudices in the face of evidence cease to be people in my eyes. They cease to exist.

I don't think I've phrased that right, but it's the best I can do right now.

Anyway, back to the topic, I'm out. I couldn't concieve of being any other way.

In the closet. In the 3 and a bit years since my diagnosis, of the people I knew before I got diagnosed I have told my partner (who knew about it during my evaluation) and one friend back home, who has something of an interest in psychology and psychiatry.

I have talked about my experiences with autism to a new friend who works in the field of autism, plus to a few people at a local support group.

I dont talk to my parents about it (I discuss some of my autism-related problems with them, and have gotten my childhood history from them) and don't talk to anyone at work about it. Mind you I don't really talk to anyone at work anyway.

I am tempted to tell the student who is temping with us though, because she catches the bus with me and we chat every morning. And she asks me all the time about why I don't socialise at work.

I had expectations of people being understanding. Most people either don't believe it exists, don't believe I have it and tell me so, have quietly gone away from me, or, the worst, took advantage of it and used it against me.

The worst is telling my family, and not a single one of them, including my mother, has ever said a word about it. They keep on writing and talking as if I never brought it up. Perhaps my expectations of NT's are too high.

I am out of the closet about my ADD...but so many people frown upon the notion of ADD that I don't bring it up...They can just look at all the ADD books on my shelf and get the picture.

..And I don't talk about aspergers because I am not diagnosed as having it..I just think I have a whole lot of symptoms.....and when average people think of Autism, they think of someone completly unable to function.
People can just gather from the way that I am that I am "different"..but nobody talks to me about it...well there are not a whole lot of people that I talk to anyway....

well my family knows, and i dont have any friends so its impossible for me to be in any closet

You don't need friends to be in a closet - more room on your own!

I have really enjoyed reading these replies as they have taught me things I hadn't considered. Thank you! I am also thankful to have this forum!

Yet, I do wish to clarify one difficulty I am having. When I made this pole I added only two options "in" or "out". I know some others wished for "other" because of a difference in past tense "in" versus a present tense "out" (or viceversa) or because only some other people were notified and others not. I appreciate your position. However, when I wrote the pole I wrote the question concerning only the present tense (are you "out" or "in" now?) and selective notification was assumed as I wouldn't expect people to be "out" in the sense of broadcasting the fact to everyone they meet, rather I was considering an "out" response as indicative of an open attitude of disclosure when the subject arose when conversation called for it (from being asked outright to when people wonder out loud as to "why" aspie behaviors are expressing themselves etc).

Surprisingly to me, someone other than me has added "other" as a third option to my pole without notifying me first. I feel strange about this because my name is attached to something altered without consideration of my input, in my view, completely changing the intended result of my post. I suppose the rules of this site allow other parties to alter member posts and poles without notification so I am not crying foul against my rights or something. But, I do feel a sense of violation from it happening this way. I don't wish to reprimand, I just needed to speak up for myself and let readers know about my feelings concerning this issue. That said, I won't be taking this issue further. However, this member will be thinking twice before posting another pole on this forum.

So easy, this one! Let's start simplistically; homosexuals are indoctrinated "by decree of ancient Iraquian prophets" to consider themselves "evil" because non-productive sexual activity does not increase the power base of our "superiors", and, by extension, we, another minority (as yet, legally unrecognised) though we didn't start any wars, never precipitated a famine for profit, nor ever launched an arms race to promote sales...are defective or dysfunctional???
I invite you think your own thoughts.

As far as "the community" are concerned, I do sometimes wonder what the other regulars on the bus think about me, because they do always seem to let me get on first (regardless of when I get to our stop) and I have had a few "hairy" moments where I got rather too anxious about the bus running a little late.

I think they are glad about me being on there though, since I am often the only one who gets up and complains when a new driver takes the wrong route (although I must admit I only do so if we're already running late, as I preter not having to wait for my connecting bus too long - which I do if we get there on time), plus since I remember where everyone gets on I have occasionally managed to get the driver to stop when one of the regulars wasn't at the stop yet.

There is one man in particular who always gets dropped off at Denby Dale railway station by his other half and she waits with the car to wave him goodbye. One day we were running a bit late, and it was raining, so the man was waiting in the car and was just getting out and running to the stop when the bus went into the station, so I got up and asked the driver to stop because he wasn't even going to stop.

In...I'm a single mother in a small town...ignorance is rampant and judgments are passed over the fence in the backyard along with home-grown tomatoes in the summer.

85% of the people around me don't even know what Asperger's is...they just think of me as a bit "odd"...but then oddity around here is actually pretty common and I have a few neighbors with alot of aspie traits themselves...maybe something in the water around here.

People accept "odd" as you get older...when "odd" has a label they don't or can't understand they aren't as quick to accept it sometimes.

I tell most people, if they don't like it they can bite my shiny metal ass.

all of the people I know very well and people that need to know about it (like teachers etc) know about it. I'm not going to just go up to someone and tell them that I have AS and then have to explain it and possibly deal with the stereotypes associated with it though

I voted 'out' since my family knows, though they don't beleve me.

I was excited to be understood by the friends who have been confused by me for so long. But they don't believe the diagnosis. I don't take it personally...I think it's their desire for me to be "well." Some people at work know, either because we've become friendly or because they work very closely with me and things go more smoothly if they know. Co-workers seem much more accepting than my oldest friends and family.