Do you think Asperger's is something to be proud of?

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Hmm...maybe that's why some people say they're "afraid" of me. My bf told me it was the way I dressed. That may have been part of it, but....

I'm not proud of it, but I don't wish for a cure for ASDs. I'm proud of the fact that I'm living by myself and I'm financially independent, and I'm proud of myself, for dealing with that Nightmare called High School, long enough to graduate on the A-Honour Roll. Those are things to be proud of, because I've worked at them. I enjoy being an aspie, because that's the life that God gave me, but enjoying something like that, and being proud of it, are two different things, in that case.

Here's some examples:

I'm proud to be blond.
I'm proud to have a beard.
I'm proud that I love cartoons.
I'm proud to be skinny.
I'm proud to be a Kinks Fan.

Sorry...those are examples things that a people don't acheive. Those are examples of things that just are. You can't be proud of something that just is, but you can enjoy it.

at the moment it feels like it has ruined ten years of my life since I got the diagnosis so I guess the answer is a no...

This thread has gotten very strange. As for being proud of having Asperger's, that is the first step away from being ashamed of it. Yes it's just a neurological formation but so is love, if I'm to believe the scientists on TV with their lit-up x-rays.

Yes, I would say take pride in what is good about Asperger's, especially if you've been hanging your head about it. Being diagnosed can be tough - you're not the person you thought you were. If you feel ashamed, then I would most seriously suggest hanging out here at WP and see for yourself that these are people, just people, with the same likelihood of good and bad. You're not a freak, you just need to explore your talents and burdens.

It's obviously isn't but it's something that should be accepted because it's not like you can get medication or some kind of operation and make it all go away. Aspergers is forever.

I think people should neither be ashamed or proud of AS or any other innate trait they are born with.

Pride is more appropriate for achievements. Nobody can help how they are born, that's just a gift. What you've done with what you've got, now that's something to be proud or ashamed of.

You might as well go up to a guy on crutches that it's really not that hard to walk, and he should try to hide his broken leg and fit in with everyone else.

This thread makes me sad. It seems as though the OP is trying to do what we are all trying so hard to get away from...that is putting us in a box. One of the very reasons the public has a stigmatized view of AS is because they assume that we are all Rain Man. Some of us are, and that is fine, but that is only a very small part of a very vast and hugely diverse spectrum in which no two people are exactly alike.

Autism is NOT a mental disorder, it is a neurodevelopmental abnormality. The physical makeup of someone with AS will visibly appear different from someone who is NT.

Being satisfied with who you are and having a sense of identification with the community to which you belong, especially in the context of an online forum as you say you don't agree with, is NOT the same as putting it on your CV or blurting it out as one of the first things you inform someone you have just met. Those are the only ways it could possibly affect any aspect of your professional life, and even then, in my experience the adversity is nowhere NEAR as great as you fear.

I don't want to sound angry or start an argument. But I do find this statement extremely offensive. I have just now discovered that Asperger's is a part of who I am, though others have known it all along, and looking back one of the most damaging things I could have ever done to myself was try so hard to be "normal," even when I thought I was. Not only was it damaging, it was literally impossible. I can say this with complete confidence because I have spent every minute of 22 years trying. I have never in my life been told that trying to be something one is not is a healthy way for anyone to live.

At any rate, I am further offended that you feel it is something we should have to hide to begin with. I understand the viewpoint that "you cannot be proud of something you have not achieved," and I do agree, depending on the understanding of the word "pride." However there is an applicable definition, and in the sense of Black, Irish, Gay/Lesbian, and Aspie pride, to name a few, the specific word pride is also defined as "an affirmation of one's self and the community as a whole." This has nothing to do with accomplishments, but is still a legitimate use of the word pride. So yes, it is okay to have pride in the community to which one belongs, even if that which makes it a community is something as easily changed as eye color or blood type.

With that said, I can completely understand those of you who have had your life negatively impacted by the presence of autism, either in you yourself or a loved one. But this is where our diversity comes into play. I personally have experienced meaning and freedom in knowing why I am the way I am, and have always been even before I knew about my autism. I also understand that not everybody has had my experiences, and what is a blessing for me may be a curse for others. So I will offer encouragement and prayers that those lives that are negatively impacted by this will become easier and more positive, but I will also continue to enjoy my own meaning and freedom. And I expect those of you in a more negative place (that I cannot assume I won't be in should my life turn around as life tends to do) to not judge me for where I am at. I certainly don't judge you.

Dernhelm, what you say is also true of me - every word. I used to describe my life as pure, unmitigated hell.

Then came the Dx and I added inherent shame to my repertoire. That's not necessary or even true, but I was still running on the values of my family. *That* is the point where AS Pride could be a remedy. The shame is one end and pride is the other - let the pendulum swing, eventually it will balance. I'm not thinking of spending my life looking down my nose at NTs. Just enough pride (self-respect) to allow me to accept myself.

Someone with very little social awareness can do this, too. I did it in the past, until I've read further about disclosure and why it's not always good to disclose to every single person you meet.

Am I proud of having this specific label? No, I'm not, because it's an arbitrary label. What I'm extremely proud of, though, is my high self-esteem and my ability to walk to a different drummer without caring what everyone else thinks/feels about it.

+1

Ok, yeah, that's a good point, I'll give you that. I would even go so far as to say that I'm NOT at the point yet where I have learned what exactly is too much information and what is okay to disclose and when. I just meant that appropriate disclosure doesn't necessarily equal a social death sentence.



Yeah, I'll give you that too. After all, it's not really about the label at all, is it? If your intentions are in the right place, the labels only serve to help you understand yourself and how to adjust your life to make it easier, and to identify you with a community of like-minded potential kindred spirits in a world you never really felt at home in. That's my source of pride anyway.

I'm not ashamed of my AS, but I'm not stupid enough to share it with everyone I meet.

Not proud, but in some ways happy with some of my symptoms, like getting an interest and learning all I can about it. Just the feeling of spending hours with it and learning more and more from it, then telling people who may not necessarily care about it everything I can remember about it. The ideas I come up with and my detailed imagination could be a part of it too. And I really don't mind being alone. I feel lonely very rarely.
I like not being like most people I know. I get annoyed when people all use the same slang, or dress the same or have the same ignorant viewpoints. I know not all are like that but I'm yet to find someone who doesn't get on my nerves.
I like that I can teach myself things too. I'm teaching myself physics and people around me are either laughing at me or rolling their eyes at me. I've even been told to go out and get drunk by my mother, haha. But people don't think that I can do this but I do and I'm actually getting really knowledgeable about it.

There are negative parts to it too - my biggest obstacle is my aversion to change and my disinterest in people. I can't really do things on my own, like cook and cleaning is a chore too. Luckily I have meds to help with that. I wish I was more independent but I'm not. It's something I've got to work on. I guess the worst would be my explosive meltdowns.

LOL, I'm sure someone who creates an account to troll people with devlopmental disabilities knows a lot about acting normal.

You either have an ASD and are not accepting it or you are POS. Either way, nobody should be ashamed of who they are. I'll tell anybody whatever I feel like within reason, I know when to keep my mouth shut but it's not my problem if people don't understand AS, that doesn't change who I am. I know who I am , I;m not sick or crazy, and people who know me well would definitely agree.

I play with society's rules to an extent but I really DGAF what people think about AS, in 10 years it could be all the rage. People just go with the herd, I don't care what they think.

I wouldn't say I wear it as a badge of pride. As many have already said, it's not an accomplishment it's something your born with. I'm not ashamed of it either. I usually don't tell people out in the real world I have Asperger's except girls I've had relationships with and very close friends. Nobody has thought of me as mentally sick as far as I know but i could be wrong.


I haven't had much trouble landing jobs. I usually do very well during interviews. I have had a difficult time performing my job because I work in retail and I am required to sell to strangers which i find extremely difficult because I am unable to communicate effectively. Luckily I haven't been fired yet from any job but I've noticed that I don't sell as well as my manager would like. Then again I do well from time to time.

Acting normal is easier said than done. Yes it can work from time to time. But you can't act all the time. You are who you are.