Why anyone who says "you can't be autistic" is jus

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Anyone who says "You can't be autistic" (or have Asperger's, but I'm assuming most of these people have a very limited understanding of it) is just plain ignorant. Case in point: the Georgia Tech-Wake Forest game. It's an entire stadium full of people, all in close proximity, and I have no control over who touches me or not. This doesn't bother me in the slightest (in fact, I struck up a game-long conversation with the girl next to me, who I had never even seen before).

Also, Tech had apparently changed their pregame routine (again, didn't bother me) to include this:

Skip to 0:40 if the band bores you.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvlX2Fb0kZM[/youtube]

I was in the north side of the stands (they approached from the north), so I couldn't even see them coming. It went from "I think I hear something" to the LOUDEST noise I have ever heard in my whole life. I had no idea it was coming, and I LOVED it.

Definitely not "autistic" of me, right?

It's your interest (football team), so of course you're going to be fine with it.

Very true, even though it isn't Georgia Tech football in particular (I am a rabid fan, and have been for 19 years, though). That's actually the reason why I was able to have the conversation with the girl the whole time; I can spit out mountains of stats, facts, and events and look knowledgeable instead of odd.

That team is the cure to your autism

Very good point Danielismyname. I have sensory issues---no denying that. But yet I love the roar of the roller coaster---that's beautiful. And I love the sounds of the Hammond organ and synthesizers---again, that's beautiful. I should say beautiful to me that is. But, if someone starts singing as loudly as I love to hear the roller coaster or the keyboards, I might be extremely bothered by the noise and have to leave or say, "shut up!"

When it comes to our interests, I think we can tolerate more. Maybe because we that are autistic are often engaged in our interests, people might not see us as challenged by certain things.

There was a book I was reading once that said it was possible to eliminate our autistic challenges and make us "normal" (normal by the world's standards). It said you would enclose us in a room alone with no contact with anyone---and our issues are gone. Even though I liked the book that appeared in, I think it might just be more of the world's uneducated knowledge of autism.

I used to go to professional basketball games here when I was interested in it in high school, and I was just as "autistic" then as I am now. You're right of course in your original point, and "we" can go to crowded places (when it's an interest, it's not hard at all I've found).

Now, going into the crowded city for a reason that's not of interest, and I'll tend to avoid that unless I have to go.

I'm a Spurs fan (soccer) and have a mind full of obscure facts and statistics on the subject. I look both knowledgeable and odd!

I only have a limited knowledge of American football. I saw the 2008 Superbowl between the New York Giants and (I think) the New England Patriots -- Eli Manning and Tom Brady were the two quarterbacks. I also enjoy the John Madden video games.

You ever heard of a player called Pat Fischer? He is noted for his exceptionally small build (5.9" 180lbs). It's quite funny watching him charge through 6.7" 250lb giants .

glider18, I believe you are referring to 'The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome' by Tony Attwood. I could be wrong, though.

I don't know about anyone else but there are days when my aspie traits are nill and days when they are off the scale. Large crowds like that don't bother me at all because I'm so totally anonymous, just go with the flow unnoticed, but have just me and one other person walking in a hallway and I often just stop so that we don't collide like in some three stooges skit.

Yes, I believe you are right. I highly respect Tony Attwood, and I wonder if he was playing a little bit with that segment by saying the world would see us as normal if we were enclosed in that room alone. But in the chapter he said that our autistic traits would disappear if we were alone. But I don't know if that is true. I mean I would surely keep engaged obsessively in my interests, I would still stim, etc.

Not to get too smart on the topic, but if an autist was put in a room alone, then our issues would be gone since no one would be observing them. Might have been a misinterpretation, he might have said, "If you isolated a 'normal/neurotypical' in a room alone, that person would be driven mad. If the same was done to an autist, he/she would likely show no signs of madness." Honestly, i would find that statement true since i like confined/isolated spaces so long as im in a comfortable position. Course, if you think about, with as isolationist as humanity is becoming, autists would be the better adapted mentality . . . to a degree.

PlatedDrake---good point there. That makes sense. Tomorrow morning I will get the book and see how it is phrased. It's on my teacher's desk. I used to have large classes when I taught English, but now I have the gifted and have one student at a time. I'm getting closer to that room by myself . I will read that passage closer, but you will probably interpret it better than me. Thanks for your post.

Tony's basic point with that passage is that most of our issues are not so much inherent in us (as is the case with most forms of mental illness), but rather are emergent from our interactions with "normals".

Put a depressive in a room alone, he'll still be depressed. Put a paranoid schizophrenic in a room alone, and she'll probably believe you're secretly observing her through the implant in her skull.

Put an autistic in a room alone, and we're just fine, thanks.

Yeah! I go to the two reptile expos in releigh that they have every year, and there's tons of people and noises there. I still try to go more toward the less crowded areas when i can, but if there's a really cool snake or something i totally forget about the people. I also can tolerate crowds very well in amusement parks. I love amusement parks