"Could <name of person> have AS?" threads

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Are you sick of those threads that speculate on whether or not someone has Asperger's Syndrome? I am. It does not seem to matter if the person is living or dead, famous or unknown, real or fictional, or just an actor acting badly in a movie or TV series - eventually, someone will submit a post that lists a series of "symptoms", and declare them as "evidence" that the subject of the speculation has AS.

So, if you could prohibit such posts, would you?

I think it is different to speculate on public figures than on private individuals on any number of matters. There is a tax to be paid for fame. Fame has its advantages and disadvantages. If someone speculates Albert Einstein may have had A.S. that is categorically different than naming a private individual and speculate on them having AS or being gay or any other potentially marginalizing characteristic. However, for any real person - I do think a person should show a little discretion and admit that this a speculation unless it has been confirmed by the individual themselves.

As far as fictional characters - they are wide open to interpretation on all matters. That is the nature of fictional writing.

I am sick of it, but I wouldn't prohibit it. Silly and harmful aren't the same thing.

I wish there was a separate board for it but then the problem is Alex will have to do that with other topics as well such as cure vs anti cure threads, self diagnoses vs the diagnoses, any topics people are sick of hearing about.

I don't really understand the interest people have in it, but I don't think they should be banned. I just generally ignore them.

I would argue that it is harmful (or at least potentially). It reinforces the (wrong) idea that you can tell whether or not someone is on the spectrum based solely on how they present outwardly in a limited set of scenarios. In my mind trying to "diagnose" someone without their input and denying someone's diagnosis are two sides of the same coin, and neither is beneficial to the community.

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Abso-freaking lutely.

why would you prohibit that kind of speculation? aren't you for free speech? it's not like it's harmful in any way.
i don't even get what your problem with it is to be honest.

Nah, even if these posts drove me batshit crazy, I still wouldn't support full on censorship of said posts.

Yeah, I guess you're right ...

... grumble ... mutter ... mutter ... Free Speech ... grumble ... grumble ...

Last edited by Fnord on 26 Jan 2015, 5:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I see where you're going with this. I don't feel that banning the threads will ban the theorizing or teach people to think about it more deeply, though, so it's limited in how much it would help in the end. They'll still do it in private, and while it's harder for a bunch of people to come together and reinforce each other's assumptions there's also no opportunity to learn or discuss which is part of the point of a community.

If people are getting too pushy about who does or doesn't have AS based on these threads, a little respect would go a lot farther than barring discussion altogether.

hmmm, the prohibition of asking certain questions.
I've seen this before.

I'll just give my usual advice for if something annoys you on the internet: scroll down and it will go away.

Don't have a problem with such threads.

Though if I participate I will preface my post with the mantra about how "you cant really dx someone who hasnt had the face-to-face exhaustive test conducted by a mental health professional" before I go on to say that "having said that- I think that your full of it. So-and-so could not have been an aspie", or "yeah, you cant help but think that so-and-so could be an aspie".

They do get a bit annoying after a while, but I don't necessarily see anything "wrong" with them. As long as they don't devolve into mudslinging, I don't see why those threads should be banned.

Like every topic posted I can't contribute to or don't care about, I simply pass by and ignore it. I do get sick of hearing "DOES SPONGEBOB HAVE Asperger's???" as much as the next guy, but the person who posted it probably doesn't care because they aren't exposed to the same repetitive questions we are and probably feel it's creative. Why judge them for it? I guess it's in the same category as having that job that gets the same question, you know, the guy who hauls portable toilets and pumps them, gee man i bet ur havin a sh***y day!! !!1 The person saying it probably thinks they're so clever.. heh.