That girl from America's next top model.
I had to STRUGGLE to see the show. I had trouble even finding out how to get to the channel. (When I was a kid, it was a numerical channel in the TV guide. Today, you have to look up the nework, and try associated ones. Sometimes they MOVE!) I did all tat only to see heather. I LOOKED for AS behaviour/symptoms, and heather DID have a lot.
sinsboldly
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I finally saw Heather K on a rerun on MTV today. Unfortunately, I only saw the last few minutes during her elimination and the first few minutes of the next episode. I can wholeheartedly, and painfully empathize with the comments by the judges and other contestants. Disconnected, emotionally uninvolved, problem with eye contact, and poor body language. After one of the models read her farewell note, another model said Heather not being there now didn't make a difference because when she was physically there, she was in her own world, so she wouldn't notice she was absent. At first I thought that was a cruel comment, but on second thought, she was correct. I can identify with being socially and emotionally absent. I wish I had seen the rest of the season so that I could see her progress.
Did the producers of the show know she was an Aspie in advance? or did they just think she needed to get her confidence boosted?
She doesn't have the confidence the others seem to have... as in regular life, our Aspie problems so often undermine confidence. To be a model, they must exude confidence even more than the average NT... I can't see where she could be a successful runway model, although she has brought to the public info. about Asperger's and hopefully more understanding.. I really appreciate that myself and hope she doesn't have to suffer too much at something that she probably won't be able to excel at.. just my humble opinion here.. maybe she'll surprise everybody though, you never know...
I think just as long as she can evoke confidence when she needs to, i.e. on the runway itself, she would probably be alright. Though as a model, I imagine you basically are at the complete whims of the designer and have to be willing to be pushed this way and that.
That'd be tough for me, I have issues with people exerting authority over me. Of course the dangers of me becoming a model are roughly the same as a proverbial snowball...
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sinsboldly
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they were quite descriptive of her condition, NLDer as Heather identified with 'the underdog' and that was her goal in the competition was to bring other girls 'out of the corners' They openly discussed her issues with eye contact and natural charm. Heather tells her own story in the first episode of being diagnosed at 13 and a lot about her relationship with her mother. Even in her elimination people were reminded that her awkwardness did have it's roots in her AS, and they did give her a lot of space. When she wandered around looking for her car on the streets talking to the other girls, but not asking for their help to get back to the modeling agency, it was all over as far as I could see.
But yes, they did mention AS from the beginning.
sinsboldly
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For some interesting comments on Heather from the "outside world" (NT's, presumably) you may wish to check out the ANTM MySpace page.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu ... =103922067
So many disappointed fans out there, Tyra- you may have made a mistake. Heather generated by far the most comments (on cursory examination- not scientific by any means) - mostly good ones.
OK, MAKE UP YOUR MIND! You say "I believe I'm on the autism spectrum, but that I'm not severe enough to be AS."! So WHICH IS IT!?!? If you are "Not severe enough to be AS", then you AREN'T on the autistic spectrum! HECK, many never let on I am different. I DON'T stim badly, and can stop any moment. My socialization is decent. If I REALLY tried, maybe I could do better.
BUT, NEWS FOR YOU! Se has shown about every little symptom of AS. Se is physically "clumbsy", shy, has the same motions, obsessed, etc...
And YEAH, I will freely admit I am not officially diagnosed, but MAN, I am seeing it ALL THROUGH my life. And I guess it shows. Just a few hours ago, I was speaking with a woman. She said I reminded her of her father! When I asked "HOW?", she said I was timid and shy like her father. I didn't think I came off as shy at that time. I couldn't tell you what color her eyes were if she was caucasion. I never looked! I never sat next to anyone.
Even this morning, I was admonished by my boss for being too blunt! It was because he remembered of something that happened 4 years ago(At the time, I didn't even HEAR of AS) where I was accused of being racist because of "body language". He said I am clearly NOT racist, but sometimes SOUND so because I am so blunt. HEY, I have spoken about groups of WHITES also! BTW Interestingly, te IDIOT that accused me of being racist IS considered white, and I would NEVER have known what his CULTURE was if he didn't TELL me!! !! I hate his guts ONLY because of the filthy lie he said!
Wait...what? I'm confused. You can be on the autism spectrum without having Asperger's Syndrome. I don't think my symptoms are severe enough to be considered AS, but I definitely have significant autistic traits. I'm not accusing you of not having AS - I was wondering if she had said she had an AS diagnosis or just that she had autistic traits and diagnosed herself. I'm sorry you're having a rough time, but I don't see how it applies to my comments. I'm not saying you don't struggle - I do, and I'm sure the girl on ANTM does. I'm just saying maybe the reason she doesn't appear severely impaired is because she's not severely austistic. I'm just giving an excuse as to why she might not appear autistic, as some people are accusing.
Heather stated in one of her early interviews on the show that she has both AS and ADHD. I believe someone posted the video earlier in this thread; you should also be able to find it on the CW web site, if you are interested. But yes, she stated that she is officially dx'd.
Last edited by riverotter on 11 Dec 2007, 4:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I can relate to Heather.
I was officially diagnosed with NLD and ADHD by one clinic and was told by another clinic that since they don't give out a diagnosis of NLD, it would have been "Mild Asperger's" instead.
It's all considered on "the spectrum" though...
I was pretty when I was a young woman, and people often got really hateful toward me, or pulled pranks on me because they thought I was "arrogant"... My spaciness and aloofness because of the disability, as well as my beauty that I never really believed I had, caused them to misunderstand me. Seeing the video of Heather made me remember that and I imagine that people have probably made the same mistake with her. Sometimes being pretty truly can be a curse, especially if the person inside the beautiful outside is somewhat autistic. It can be a nightmare.
Last edited by MusicMaker1 on 12 Dec 2007, 6:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I was officially diagnosed with NLD and ADHD by one clinic and was told by another clinic that since they don't give out a diagnosis of NLD, it would have been "Mild Asperger's" instead.
It's all considered on "the spectrum" though...
I was pretty when I was a young woman, and people often got really hateful toward me, or pulled pranks on me because they thought I was "arrogant"... My spaciness and aloofness because of the disability, as well as my beauty that I never really believed I had, caused them to misunderstand me. Seeing the video of Heather made me remember that and I imagine that people have probably made the same mistake with her. Sometimes being pretty truly can be a curse, especially if the person inside the beautiful outside is somewhat autistic. It can be a nightmare.
~L
The same could be said about doing well academically. They notice your spaciness and your aloofness, and hate you because they think you think you are more intelligent than they are.
If you look at the average AS person, and the AS criteria, you'll find they are generally milder than the other types of autism. So HOW could you be on the autistic spectrum but "not severe enough to be AS"!?!? And hey, I was giving a reason to believe she IS AS.
