Thread devoted to autism/aspergers myths

Post Reply New Topic

I think that there should be a thread devoted to autism/asperger myths and how they are not true(or at least from my point of view). If there is another thread devoted to this(sorry, but I don't immediately see one), could you post the thread link here or revive that thread?
Myth: All aspies are nerds/All nerds have aspergers. I know plenty of nerds who aren't autistic/aspergers. Sometimes I am a nerd, but I am not always a nerd. But i always have aspergers Therefore, aspergers isn't dependent on me being nerdy imho.
Just thought i would try to get other people to contribute what they find. I started this thread hoping that others would join, and i could post everything i find, but i think i should ask your opinion. What are other aspergers/austism myths? and what are your opinions on any autism/aspergers myths?

One myth I see fairly often is that all autistics will throw a tantrum and/or go into a frothing rage when plans change. I can't speak for everyone with ASD, but I am more than capable of handling change in a much calmer manner.

One annoying myth I see thrown around on WP a lot is we look weird even those of us who make an effort with our hair, clothes, weight and other forms of appearence. I think this is really not true, and just seems true because a lot of Autistics don't really care what people think of them and like to flap their hands about and feel comfortable with it, which is great. But there are others, like myself, who prefer to go out unnoticed, and I am capable of going out looking presentable by wearing trendy clothes and making sure my hair is washed and looks neat.

I once knew a fat girl, and she didn't quite know what to wear, and sometimes she used to go out looking awful and she stated getting upset about it. So my cousin (who is very good with fashion) helped her to buy some clothes what really looked nice on her, despite being fat, and even I have to admit she looked really nice in them, and they even covered up her overweight build, even though you still knew she was fat just by glancing, but it emotionally covered up her big build, if you know what I mean. So same goes with me - if I know I look nice and fashionable, it can cover up my weird impression because people will just think, ''well she looks really nice, she can't be that weird.'' I know people can argue that ''just because someone looks nice doesn't mean they're not weird'', but what I'm saying is it's more about how most NTs take fashion and appearence a long way.

I agree with both of those, and even more so with Astraea's post. I can handle change maturely enough, and I can't speak for everyone with aspergers. There is the famous savant myth. I am intelligent and gifted, but i am not anything close to a savant. but one infuriating myth is the myth that labels us as ret*ds. I trust that everybody who looks at this thread already knows how untrue this is. so instead, i will just leave that one off with the media should represent us better. I think I will look for any previous threads there might be on the same subject.

Any myth that arises out of that Rainman movie tends to cheese me off, but not half as much as those myths that are derived from the DSM for psychopaths, such as when my GP said, "You can't have AS because you don't wet the bed, you don't play with fire, and you don't torture helpless animals!"

(Apparently, these are some of the early warning signs of a psychopathic personality.)

I agree with you on the Rainman movie myths, and the misplaced diagnosis from the GP.

Autistics and Psychopaths are NOT the same thing.
We are not all robots, and we are humans with emotions.
We can feel empathy. We just express it differently from a NT.

One myth that annoys me, and I have seen it in the newspaper, is that people with AS have no imagination. That is a stupid idea from NT's who think that because we cannot lie as well as they can, that means our imagination is lacking.

I have plenty of imagination, I just don't use it to think about other people.

Recently I was pondering about the AS/HFA stereotypes. I used to refer to one of my friends as being a HFA, while myself being an AS. I guess I'm just beginning to realize how stupid I was (and am ), since we all have a particular mixture of traits of both stereotypes, language delay is only one that he has while I haven't. So, AS/HFA doesn't make much difference.

The worst myth is that ASD people don't have empathy and are therefore cold-blooded and heartless.

''Lack of empathy''. That is the biggest myth in the world.

I want to explain this very quickly, so descriptions may sound a bit vaige, otherwise I would just be writing an essay what nobody will bother to read. So get this: Everywhere about AS says that one of the most common trait is not understanding other people, so it's practically accusing us for being completely selfish and turning it into a unique ''fault'' in us - but hasn't anyone seen a pattern here? NTs are just as bad. If lack of understanding for others is a unique problem in ASD people, (not bringing all the other NL disabilities into this at the moment), then why do we get misunderstood all the time? Why do we get bullied and teased and criticised and called ''weird'' and all of that sort of thing? It's because all humans alike have the same problem with understanding anyone different from them. So it's not a unique trait. It's a human trait. It shouldn't be under the AS diagnostic criteria because it is a trait shared around all humans, just like walking. You don't see ''walking'' under the AS criteria, because it is normal in humans to walk, the same as what I'm talking about here. So Aspies and NTs are typically just as bad as eachother on this one - an Aspie may see a group of NTs socialising and joking and everything and some of most Aspies might think it's all confusing and even ''weird'' to us. But an NT might see an Aspie flapping their hands anxiously when at a loud crowded concert place. and might think that it's confusing and ''weird''. See? Humans can't accept people different from them.

See? So NTs misunderstand Aspies and Aspies misunderstand us. It's because NTs are different to Aspies and Aspies are different to NTs. (I didn't mean that we're 100 percent different - it's just a quick way of saying the common differences causing misinterpretations between the average NT and the average Aspie).

I am not selfish and I care about others, I just don't show it well. People think I am cold and aloof, but a co-worker was ill, I was genuinely concerned for their welfare. This seemed to surprise others. There was nothing selfish about it.

I have two aspie friends and both are overly sensitive about others pain and suffering.

Maybe this is sympathy and not empathy, I don't know, but I am clearly not in the same category as people with anti-social personality disorder who also lack empathy.