In what countries are aspies more likely to pass as normal?

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Not England that's for damn sure - I've seen people in the past abuse the f*** out of people who are mentally different, especially in school.

England is not a nice Country for acceptance - it's tainted with a lot of evil... that's my feel of it.

You raise a point... feels like a double-edged sword indeed. And I know that not all Germans will be like that either, but if many are, maybe Germany wouldn't be great for aspies that aren't like what you raise in your point.

I'm under the impression that average Canadians are a lot more laid back than average US citizens. But I'm not sure if them being more laid back translates into them being more tolerant of those who are different.

Naw - Us Canucks are just as messed up as everyone else.

I think the bottom line here is that AS folk are more able to function/thrive in societies that have a more formal structure --- we can cope with life when the rules are clearly laid out. Want to start a friendship? Do it "this way". Want to tell the girl on the other side of the room that you think she's cute? There's a procedure you need to follow.

It's often said that one of the reasons that high-functioning AS was invisible in previous generations is because the social rules were much more stringent and, therefore, easier to understand.

I think we all crave "arranged" social interaction - the pressure is off, and someone else acts as a mediator (don't mind X --- he may seem a bit different, but he's really quite brilliant). Until recently, formal "introductions" were commonplace in Japan, and it was often the case that a man and woman barely knew each other before marriage (the entire affair being arranged by a "go-between). This is no longer the case, apparently.

Germany is just, well, different in my experience. I only lived there a few months, but there is a palpable perceptive-change socially - they just don't seem to give a damn if someone is "different". In many ways, it's a more tolerant society than the US/Canada --- If you're weird, that's OK, there are other weird folk you'll get along with, and if you're not weird in a way that I get than that's OK, too. I found it much easier to be social in Germany than in North America.

So on the one hand you have Japan, with its rigid and comprehensible social structure, and on the other you have Germany with its "we don't give a s**t if you're weird" attitude.

I think I'd prefer living in Japan, but I like the Germans more

Nick

I can't help but wonder whether that high degree of tolerance by Germans towards those who are different stems directly from the lessons they learned from the holocaust.

"the nail that sticks out gets hammered back in" - Japanese saying

Is that the one?

actually, it's about poppies that grow taller than the rest...

I couldn't live in a society that had rigid rules for how to relate socially. I'd die from anxiety. I need openness to the different, not uniformity.

It seems like Germany is the best choice for aspies

It seems like a number of early Aspies came from Germany and Austria. In fact I firmly believe Aspergers is genetic in origin and came from the Volgas. That said I think Germany probably has so many Aspies that to live there one might not stand out so much as a weirdo.

I have 3 Korean penpals. While though are very friendly I get the impression that culture itself is somewhat Aspie-ish. Like one of the gals tells me in college they just work work work and never have parties or socialize. But in America college is 4 years of partying. So the fact they don't socialize much despite living in a very heavily populated area suggests the whole Korean culture could be Aspieish.

I can't force myself to leave the States. But if I moved to Germany or France I would probably have instant friends just because my greatgreatgrandfather is so famous there and worshiped and since I have his last name well they probably wouldn't leave me alone. (until they discovered I didn't inherit his talent)

What's the name of your greatgreatgrandfather?

Part of all the descriptions I've read of AS say that it is equally present in all levels of society in all cultures across the globe. I'm not sure how they tested this or how exhaustive their studies were, but it seems that whilst genetic, AS might be related to something deeper than just racial or cultural groups.

Sorry I won't give that out. The name is super rare. Everywhere I have lived there is only one listing for my surname in the phone book. Since people on here know where I live so if I give the name it could cause me trouble.

Yeah you read that online...Though I don't think there has ever been a formal study on the subject. But look at WP and the vast majority are white. There's hardly any black or Asians on here. At out local group every freakin person in the group has German ancestory! Yeah me and one other guy in the group are part Native American (different tribes) but we also have...guess what... German blood! I know 3 doctors in town who are Aspie... yep they are also German. I even mentioned it one time in a group of parents of Aspies and the parents were like "yeah my grandfather was German". Its down right freaky! In truth I can't trace these people I know all the way to the Volgas but that's because these people couldn't tell me if they are descended from Volga because few Americans understand what that is.

ZanneMarie should post on this because she knows a lot about the Volgas.

The only way to prove this would be incredibly interesting, but I don't know anyone that would be willing to foot the bill. First you'd have to find at least 1000 diagnosed Aspies and unfortunately we can only test the men because of chromosome Y. But my bet is on most of us being in Haplogroup Ilc with my 2nd and 3rd bets on Haplogroup J2 or J1.

We could get the testing done for about $250 a person. But first each Aspie would have to get a valid diagnosis by a skilled neuropsychologist which would cost several thou$and. Then we'd also have to get DNA samples from each guy's dad and grand dad. We might have to exhume bodies also for DNA analysis. Mine you it could be done and the link proven!

I did, but my psychologist also told me the same thing.

But hey, I haven't seen the research and a lot of "science" now-a-days comes from what seem to me to be jumping to conclusions and interpretation of the evidence that I wouldn't agree with.

So you may be right.

With your own encounters with many German descendant Aspies, how many of the general community around you are of German heritage? Maybe you just live in an area with a lot of Germans, and because you look into Aspies in this area, you find a high proportion of them are descended from Germans. If you find that your area has no higher number of people with German heritage, or better yet, are less representative of German ancestry than other places, then you'd have a very hot lead in this case.

For the record, I'm English/Dutch/Sri Lankan/Nordic... Maybe the Dutch in my mother and the Norse in my father combined into the Germanic bloodline. And as I said a few posts up, the Dutch seem a bit... funny... anyway. Maybe they share the Aspie gene with ze Germans.

Well most of the people in town are Mexican or Latino, Navajo, Hopi or Apache. The white people are mostly Scots, Irish or Mormons. I know Mormons are a religion but its like a race of people because they tend to interbreed only among their own kind. And even greater many of those labeled white in town are in fact Caucasian/Mexican. So in other words this is not a German dominated town, but I certainly see your point in asking.