Beyond The Stereotype of Autism

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I know ballerina's, artists, musicians, psychotherapists, life-coaches, writers, models, all who have formal dx with AS/HFA and defy the stereotype of being autistic because it seems their right-brain is as dominant as their left-brain.

I have a theory that in the same way that it is fast becoming a myth that there are more men than women in the spectrum, the same could equally be said of those in the spectrum who make sense of the world through through other means than just pure logic.

So where as AS/HFA women can easily be missed by autie radar because of the early socialisation theory, conventionally artistic, people with AS/HFA with right brain hypo-functionality (alongside left brain hypo-functionality) can be so far off the autie radar that they miss the boat (Dx) completely.

I have known personally many artistic/autistic types and their ability to read social signals and communicate beyond logic makes them appear very NT........and yet they share the same neurology with subsequent sensory issues and emotional difficulties as most of us in the spectrum.

At this moment in time there is such a small narrowly defined image of what it means to be autistic.........

How would you think people see you?
Do you fit the stereotypical aspergic image?

People see me as a bright and articulate person. They see me as an author, an artist and a budding drummer. I don't fit the narrow definition of what it means to be autistic.

good to hear from you CR......
i often think of you when I cross over
Waterloo bridge.

Perhaps the artisitic aspies with better social skills but poorer sensory problems would qualify for a diagnosis of atypical autism or PDA. PDA people have worse sensory probs and better imagination than asperger people, previously they were given the diagnosis of atypical autism as they did not quite fit aspergers and other cases without all the criteria can be given 'atypical autism' label too. (PDD-NOS is an american diagnosis and atypical autism the english version).

Hi Lotus this is Chris from london...
I had to get a new email and hense
new username.

I went to my psycholigist about this pdd
and she said that I was more in the
AS camp than pdd.....and after meeting
Donna Williams I think the AS spectrum
it'self has so many subsets.

Lovely to hear you

Chris

I was really into art when I was growing up. If I hadn't lost my interest during the 10th grade, I might have stuck with it and continued my goal of being a Graphic Designer. However, I did lose my interest, but my artistic inclination went towards music, so pretty soon after I picked up music and really went into that. I have a guitar in my lap at the moment...

I don't think I fit the stereotype, but I really feel more AS than NT. I like your explanation - I was kind of under the radar, it wasn't until I looked into AS, then brought it up, and obsessed over it, trying to get my point across, it wasn't until then that others (parents, doctors) actually considered it. Even now, my current doctors insist that while it's pretty likely I have AS, it's just mild.

I can be logical, but I definitely have some emotive reasoning/thinking. I miss social cues pretty often, but I adapt and in time, catch them. But facial cues, telling how someone is feeling based on their face, hasn't really been much of an issue to me. I'm a pretty visual thinker. I blend in easily with NTs apparently, though I do come across as a wallflower in party-type events.

hi Chris

perhaps it will be better when aspergers reverts to being HFA under the new DSM. I think it would not be helpful to have more subsets as I think they are secterian and think it would be better to just have a more diverse 'autism' category. Though ideally I would like autism renamed to 'social communication disorder' as i think autism and aspergers are not very descriptive names and carry lots of myth which leads people to undiagnose others.

Though saying that the ideal thing would be a society where one did not need any lables and could just be allowed to not use the phone or not have loud noises or be given a break if one misunderstands a situation.

Maybe one day society will be more tolelrant and less critical.

I like what you say LB.

Accepting difference within difference
issuch a challenge for many in the
spectrum......getting rid of AS and
just having the spectrum is a good
move i think.

Much love to you from a trafic jam
in central London.

Lots of non-logic-bound autistic people look anything but nonautistic. Including me, lots of people I know. There's just this assumption that we're all stuck inside logic, because the most word-bound autistic people have more of a tendency to be that way, and because of conventional and rather messed up theories of autism. But it's not true.

So much for that stereotype.

Hi Chris. I used to feel left out when I first joined the UK forum Village, that they all liked technology and mechanical things wheras i liked novels and movies and more arty things. Also, I found myself a lot more of a chatty and "interested in others" person than them despite my problems. However meeting lots of other aspies online over the years has helped me see we have such a wide variety, so it just took time.

I have this weird feeling, like, when I meet up with aspies I am often the most social and confident one, because I enjoy meetups and feel happy at them, I introduce myself to everyone, make good conversation asking them about themselves, and make everyone laugh. I sometimes feel conspicous that other aspies there are jealous of me when I am doing this and see me as above them, and i sometimes feel like i am lording around and being superior. (i only feel like this at meets when people i know are in the majority and i feel very comfortable). But then in normal NT life, I often feel very inferior and out of the loop and not social at all. So its sometimes like "the one eyed man in the kingdom of the blind". Caught between superior and inferior.

Hi mutate....nice to be in touch with you....i loved what you said that sometimes you feel like "the one eyed man in the kingdom of the blind". Caught between superior and inferior. I feel exactly the same.

The subtle inter-play of social interaction takes more time for me to process, when with non-autistic people I am very slow in my processing and thus become overwhelmed and often camouflage myself by just being the observer.

In contrast when with a group of aspies my brain feels like it transforms itself from a Robin Reliant to a Ferrarie (one of them fast cars) This often gives me a feeling of being more skilled.

The feeling of being alienated and not quite a part of a group is I am sure part of the experience of being in the spectrum.

I spend much of my life trying to figure things out to such an obsesssive degree, but when I am able to accept my difference and give up trying to tie everything together I find I am happier.......still a work in progress

I don't fit into the aspie stereotype.

Exactly!

Really? I have much stronger sensory hypersensitivities (not problems, though) and a better imagination than most aspies.
(i can't fit the PDA criteria, though, because I don't obsessively resist ordinary demands).

It's good to hear from you, too.