Page 1 of 3 [ 43 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3  Next

Kiley
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Apr 2010
Age: 60
Gender: Female
Posts: 879

03 May 2010, 5:59 am

My dad and I are both NTs and are very interested in Asperger's. For me I do have a general interest in Psychiatry and especially cognitive development. I did well in those subjects in college and have been considering going back to school to get a master's degree in something along those lines. That interest predates my becoming the mother of three kids with ASDs, though since their birth my focus has shifted more to ASDs. My Dad is a lawyer and likes to read a lot. Since my eldest was diagnosed (a couple years before the other two were) he's been reading everything he can get his hands on about it. Right now it's a hot topic. It's even a little chic.



CockneyRebel
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 17 Jul 2004
Age: 49
Gender: Male
Posts: 113,285
Location: Stalag 13

03 May 2010, 6:17 am

Why do I like what I like?

Because I'm a unique and wonderful individual, and so are you. 8)


_________________
Who wants to adopt a Sweet Pea?


Sarafina7
Pileated woodpecker
Pileated woodpecker

User avatar

Joined: 6 Aug 2008
Age: 38
Gender: Female
Posts: 196
Location: Israel

03 May 2010, 6:57 am

It's not too weird. I've had an on and off interest in ASD since I discovered I was an Aspie.

They're probably not adding you as a friend because they don't know you. Being a subscriber is not equal to knowing someone, and many people only add people that they know as friends.



Agnieszka
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Age: 40
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,563

03 May 2010, 11:27 am

MathGirl wrote:
So, my special interest is Asperger's/autism. It's been going strong for more than a year now. I was hoping that it would branch out into general psychology, but it hasn't. And I feel increasingly ashamed of it. I think I often get ignored when I request to be someone's friend on Youtube because they look through my favourites, see that most of them are videos about ASD, and think, why did this weirdo add them and why is she so interested in pervasive developmental disorders.

Do you think this is a strange interest for me to have? To what extent do you think it's appropriate for me to be open about it?


My special interest is Asperger's too, but only my husband knows about it. I didn't tell about it anyone in my family or friends, because I'd automaticaly confess about my AS and I know they wouldn't understand me and make jokes :(
For me this special interest is not weird but I know many people won't understand.


_________________
Love,
A


MathGirl
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 11 Apr 2009
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,522
Location: Ontario, Canada

03 May 2010, 11:32 am

Thanks. :)
I just thought this interest is weird because it has to do with my own diagnosis. Because I want to talk about my interest a lot, and it's kind of odd when someone talks about their own condition all the time, isn't it? I at least wish it was some other condition which I don't have.

MONKEY wrote:
A weird special interest would be something like serial killers and torture chambers, not ASDs.
To be honest, I'd rather have an interest like that. Why? Because it's different and I think it's even cool in a way. I've met somebody with an ASD who's special interest is school shootings. I think it's sort of acceptable for someone with an ASD to have strange interests. But talking about your own condition all the time is just awkward, I think. Am I wrong?

I used to be very open about my interest. But now, I'm starting to hold myself back about it more and more, only discussing it with a limited group of people. A couple of things have happened that made me question whether I was giving out too much information about myself.


_________________
Leading a double life and loving it (but exhausted).

Likely ADHD instead of what I've been diagnosed with before.


happymusic
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 10 Feb 2010
Age: 49
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,165
Location: still in ninja land

03 May 2010, 12:10 pm

I don't think it's a weird interest. If you think about it, people become experts in certain fields because they were very interested in the topic at some point. We need experts. :)

I don't tell many people about my interest in AS - partly because I'm uninterested in their input, but not because I think they'd think it was weird.



sartresue
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Age: 69
Gender: Female
Posts: 6,313
Location: The Castle of Shock and Awe-tism

03 May 2010, 12:26 pm

Weird and Wired topic

In public forums I visit I tell others of an interest in Neurodiversity. I find this is more easily understood and accepted by the non-neurodiverse. I find you have to be gentle with the uninitiated. :lol:


_________________
Radiant Aspergian
Awe-Tistic Whirlwind

Phuture Phounder of the Philosophy Phactory

NOT a believer of Mystic Woo-Woo


Dilbert
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 29 Mar 2009
Age: 50
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,728
Location: 47°36'N 122°20'W

03 May 2010, 1:11 pm

pumibel wrote:
No I don't think that is weird at all, and I don't think it is the reason your requests are denied. Are you requesting to be friends with total strangers? If so they may suspect you are a spammer. They might not even look at your account and just deny the request. I would not get upset about this because there is nothing wring with your interest. It is what it is and you are not hurting anyone.


THIS.

People's actions often have nothing to do with you.

They don't shun you.

They just don't care to read through what you sent and bother adding you to their friends.

Try not to over-analyze what you percieve are slights or rejections. I know spectrum people tend to do that because, let's face it, a lot of us are self-centered and lack the TOM. The two combined make us think that every action of those around us has in some way been shaped by our presence or our actions, and that gets translated into the sense of rejection.

THAT IS NOT SO.

We don't know what goes on in someone else's mind., Everyone is different.

Your "friends" on youtube most likely reject everyone except close friends, or perhaps they have spam filters and your request hasn't even made it to them.

YOU JUST DON'T KNOW so stop filling the unknown with the most negative of thoughts. :)



Nephesh
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 27 Dec 2008
Age: 65
Gender: Male
Posts: 163

03 May 2010, 1:12 pm

For any of us diagnosed with Asperger's later in life, I think it would be more unusual if we *didn't* suddenly find ourselves with a special interest in Asperger's. It is just part of our way of coping with our new "label". My wife has accused me of being obsessed with the topic.

For those who were diagnosed as a child, the label is just something they grew up with, so they would be less likely to have this as a special interest.

Maybe we should do a poll and see if there is a correlation between age of diagnosis and a special interest in the topic of Asperger's. My guess is that those with the special interest will be clustered towards the post-teenage age of diagnosis.



jc6chan
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Oct 2009
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Posts: 11,257
Location: Waterloo, ON, Canada

03 May 2010, 2:45 pm

MathGirl wrote:
So, my special interest is Asperger's/autism. It's been going strong for more than a year now. I was hoping that it would branch out into general psychology, but it hasn't. And I feel increasingly ashamed of it. I think I often get ignored when I request to be someone's friend on Youtube because they look through my favourites, see that most of them are videos about ASD, and think, why did this weirdo add them and why is she so interested in pervasive developmental disorders.

Do you think this is a strange interest for me to have? To what extent do you think it's appropriate for me to be open about it?

You should set your account on "private" (if there even is such a thing on youtube) so that people can't see your things before they add you and then they are less likely to "remove" you from the list once you are added.



Asp-Z
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 Dec 2009
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Posts: 11,018

03 May 2010, 2:49 pm

Edit your YouTube channel so your favourites box is hidden.

I used to be obsessed with Asperger's, nothing wrong with it at all.



lyricalillusions
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 11 Jan 2009
Age: 42
Gender: Female
Posts: 651
Location: United States

03 May 2010, 5:15 pm

I don't think it's weird at all, mine is far weirder lol. You have nothing to worry about :)


_________________
?Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.? _Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss)


Dots
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 22 Apr 2010
Age: 40
Gender: Male
Posts: 972
Location: Ontario

03 May 2010, 5:27 pm

I don't think it's weird. I've been reading everything I can get my hands on about Asperger's/Autism as well since I found out about it. Seems pretty natural.


_________________
Transgender. Call me 'he' please. I'm a guy.
Diagnosed Bipolar and Aspergers (questioning the ASD diagnosis).

Free speech means the right to shout 'theatre' in a crowded fire.
--Abbie Hoffman


Mudboy
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 19 May 2007
Age: 62
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,441
Location: Hiding in plain sight

03 May 2010, 5:47 pm

Go for the degree in psychology and specialize in Asperger's/autism. It is wonderful to get paid to do stuff you would do for free anyway.


_________________
When I lose an obsession, I feel lost until I find another.
Aspie score: 155 of 200
NT score: 49 of 200


MathGirl
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 11 Apr 2009
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,522
Location: Ontario, Canada

03 May 2010, 5:53 pm

Mudboy wrote:
Go for the degree in psychology and specialize in Asperger's/autism. It is wonderful to get paid to do stuff you would do for free anyway.
That's exactly what I'm doing. :D

Dots wrote:
I don't think it's weird. I've been reading everything I can get my hands on about Asperger's/Autism as well since I found out about it. Seems pretty natural.
But it's not like you talk about it all the time. And all I ever want to do is to talk about it, or to read about it, or to do research on it.


_________________
Leading a double life and loving it (but exhausted).

Likely ADHD instead of what I've been diagnosed with before.


astaut
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Sep 2009
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,777
Location: Southeast US

03 May 2010, 8:42 pm

I don't think that's 'too' weird of a special interest at all. I'm also pretty interested in it, though my interest does branch out into some other psychology/neuroscience areas. When I clicked on this thread I thought it was going to be something creepy weird, when I saw it was AS I thought "oh, that's not weird at all" :lol: