A Question: Is this a stereotype?

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Are there any particular stereotypes regarding Aspergian/HFA people? Like, for example, it seems to me that when people are trying to describe autistic obsession/perseverations, they often default to 'trains'. It's to the point where I even become offended when people end up saying something about autism and trains, almost as if they were perpetuating a racist stereotype or something.

Has anyone ever noticed this stereotype of portraying autistic people with 'train' obsessions? If so, does anyone find it offensive?

You know what they say about stereotypes, right?

More often than not, they're true.

And for me, when I was younger, I did have an obsession with trains.

I've never had an obsession with trains or any type of transportation. I think that stereotype is there because the perseverations that autistics have can be very varied, and transportation is one of the most common ones.

I have short hair, dislike my mum and love art. Does that fit the female aspie stereotype?

I would have thought aspies would commonly connect with maths, not trains

then again, that could just be because I do, so I could have fabricated a reality where everyone does...

I know many artistic folks with AS who are way beyond the steriotype......thats Why i dont like using the word NT to discribe folks who are not in the spectrum.

I know dancers, models, therapists, startrack haters, empaths........the lost cd go on and on.

I think it possible the more right brained a person is in the spectrum, the more lilely they will not fit the steriotype, as the more creatively one can adapt, the less lilely their difference be revealed....who knows.

Oh, by the way I find trains a bore

Well, I can't say about trains, but the whole "stereotypes have a basis in truth" type of thing is mostly a self-serving excuse people often use to justify relying on such stereotypes. A lot of stereotypes are simply not true, or very rarely true, or a misinterpretation of something entirely different.

And of course a lot of people believe that stereotypes always have a core of truth to them.

There seems to be a lot of stereotypes who are also perpetrated by autistic people. There was a thread on here about all the ridiculous stereotypes perpetrated by autistics themselves.

I don't know other diagnosed aspies aside from myself, but here in Taiwan there is a wide spread belief that autistic people do not connect with humans and draw circles on the ground facing the wall...

I've read that a lot. So I think it is. Personally I never studied trains or anything but thought that they would be fun to ride. Then I went on them for short sightseeing trips a few times as a teen and felt like they weren't a big deal.

I agree, I think people tend to see only that which confirms what they already believe.

In relation to trains, I more often heard about awed reports about children and adults on the spectrum who are interested in time tables of public transportation or even know large time tables by rote.

I'm not too bothered by it myself. I'm not particularly interested in time tables of any sort, but admittedly they do stick with me easily.

I hear this stereotype a lot from parents. About how autistic kids in general supposedly know more about times tables of buses, underground, trains so on than their parents.

I thought an obsession with electricity was a common stereotype for Autistics.

It depends on the subject that's being stereotyped.

the train stereotype is usually incorrect (going by statistics) but it's understandable that someone would stereotype you with it.

Whoa, I didn't at ALL expect this thread to get so many replies. xDDD

But yeah, that whole time-tables thing is also a frustrating stereotype to me. It especially drives me crazy when people come up to an autistic person and are like "Hey, you're good at this" and proceed to ask a question we know nothing about.

I myself am a right-brained person, so I think I have a larger diversity of obsessions than just a small selection of things (however, I do have one, very intense and long-standing obsession with the stomach...which can be annoying at times, especially when I have to make the differentiation between the anatomical region and the actual organ with which I'm obsessed ._. )

BUT I DIGRESS

I was simply curious because my friend showed me this random video about trains, and I think someone made a comment about "Aspergians would LOVE this!! !" or something, prompting me to make this thread. ^^;;

I was interested in trains as a child. That interest faded away as I got older. I'm now interested in black cabs, Routemasters, and other vintage street vehicles and scooters.