I want my autism!

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[quote="foxfield"]OP, your complaint about the growing number of wannabe-aspies is rather like a cancer patient complaining about how terrible the side-effects are of the drug that is curing him.

Huh? I so cannot begin to fathom this analogy. I actually know very few cancer patients who do NOT complain about the side effects of chemotherapy. I also have yet to meet a cancer patient who KNOWS [based on nothing but denial] that their cancer will be cured by chemotherapy or if it will definitely extend their life. NOT ONE! And I know [or knew] hundreds of them. The meds I am currently on, more than 50% of people [if they do not die first] will quit the drug because the side effects are so terrible. I am one of the few with comparitively fewer side effects than most. And it still sucks. And I still complain. And I still do not know for sure that these meds will give me even one more hour of life than if I were not on them at all. I'm really blown away by your comment, and I do not even begin to see the comparison.

I would tend to agree with your post. I'm very lucky in that an official diagnosis is a possibility for me. But for many people, especially in the States where there's no realistic healthcare system, it's simply not possible.



PS: First post of the new year (For me, anyways). Happy new years, everyone! May 2014 be more happy for you than 2013!

Off Topic:
Happy New Years to you and a belated welcome to the board. I got diagnosed last year also and found the The AnMish's videos Informative. The video where she rants about acting taught me about what it is to be an aspie, and how I have been relating to the NT world all these decades more than any other material.

Back on Topic:
We picked a weird year to get diagnosed didn't we? I had little knowledge of why I am the way I am until last year. It was euphoric at first, I have an identity, a community, suddenly everything makes sense, the bad things I did in life were still bad but not as much as I thought, the accomplishments were far greater accomplishments then I realized at the time.

Then immediately I find out it has been officially taken away. It was mystifying at first but now I know it is in part because of this perception of a Aspie wannabee phenomenon . So the topic is relevant for discussion.

My take on where this mispeception is coming from?
1. Internet trolls, Expected I have been on the net 16 years. Besides wasting time no big deal.
2. People in the general population who just think anybody who is not as successful as they are is lazy, excuse making and looking for a handout from the government. This is a big deal but I am used to it as I have dealing with that for decades.
3. Parents of and some of the the more severely affected. While in a time of limited resources some clashes are to be expected some of this is pure hate of my "mildness". http://www.sheknows.com/parenting/artic ... eek-a-cure. I talked with an Aspie person who attended a meeting of parents of the severely affected who left because he felt if he was "found out" as high functioning has safety would be jeopardized. Rhetoric has consequences.
4. Internalized ableism you see in various forms here. I still suspect the widespread perception of a wanabee phenomenon and the suspicion is one of these forms.

Whether it is a few people like I think or a full phenomenon as has been described Aspie wanabees do us harm by validating our enemy's beliefs. But the beliefs were there before the wanabees and would still exist if there were no wannabees and our real enemy's would still be enemy's and where all our focus should be on.

And the point is proven… Just like that. Easy as shoveling the s**t… Every counterargument proves that you are right and the opponents what you accuse them to be.

as long as they arent self apointing themselves as role models/speakers on behalf for the overal autistic community there isnt anything bad about self diagnosis, it does make more sense to say they have x, y or z issue rather than say they have a label-no one can argue whether a person experiences those exact issues but they can argue against someone labeling themselves with a diagnostic label as they are manmade,not even pyschologists diagnose themselves as they know they need anothers profesional opinion incase theyre biased,seeing something thats not there or dont have enough self awareness.

What is this thread about? I'm confused.

Non confundar in aeternum

Yes you are right, I've been thinking afterwards and I am now very sure that I started this thread in a very simplistic one sided manner. Unfortunately, I have enough experience writing on forum's and this is one of the best ways to get conversation going. So, in a way I am sorry that I came of as bashing bully, on the other hand, I am not sorry for starting this thread because so many comments gave me real insights that I never thought of before.
For example - WizardofCalculus pointed out difficulties that those mild have, which is not something I thought about much.
Than, whole diagnosis problem, it seems there are problems here - sometimes it's to hard to get, sometimes maybe to easy. One of my relatives was diagnosed with adhd/impulsive type. But, I never really thought he had it. Yes he has the symptoms, he's been to mental institutions more than once, he goes to ''special'' school. However, the doctor, seemed to me not to care, he just had to write something. What I do not that this relative comes from a broken home, that he is growing up in home with constant yelling, he and his brother are mostly home alone during whole day. There are so many problems but non of it seems to count because ''he is not normal''. And he gets drugs and medications, he is labeled for life, and I believe it could've been different if relationships in the family were taken care of. Yes, ok, maybe he really has ADHD, but now, nobody expects much from him despite him being very bright.
So, getting a diagnosis may be a burden and a relief.

That leads me to other thing that I didn't think about before. Maybe that is the reason why many people self diagnose, they don't want to be labeled. Dunno, different people different motives.

p.s. I am glad you noticed what you quoted. I was wondering if anyone would

Anyway, it's not that I want to be mean or anything. I write without thinking, and that is why I am often not talking much person to person. I learned it's best to keep quiet sometimes.