"Aspie" t-shirts, opinions?

Post Reply New Topic

I'm very interested!
But you all ready know that....

Wow! psychegots has sent me one of the most beautiful cookies I've ever seen in my life! What a guy! btw, is that you in your avatar? ...very striking.

Ok. Just SOME of it. Besides the ideas of pens, pencils, bumper stickers, 'label' stickers (like for mailing envelopes), art that could be sent to check-makers (for 'custom' personal checks), stationery, quote cards, laminated posterings, and preprinted phone/'business' cards, I've also had ideas for t-shirts.

My t-shirt visualizations usually involved 'text' of some sort front AND back -- front 'sayings' will be distinguished by back 'sayings' below by a slash: '/'. I also, typically, visualized most t-shirts as being black...possibly because printing seems to stand out best on a dark color (plus, I like black really well ). The back sayings could be interchanged (or left off altogether) as desired by the purchaser and could include such as:
'Team Asperger', 'Asperger's', 'Another Aspie', 'Another in Support of Asperger's', 'Another in Support of Aspies', 'Team Aspie', 'Team Asperger's', 'Asperger's Team', 'Asperger's...Look It Up', 'Awesome Aspie', 'Asperger's & Awesome', 'Why Not An Aspie?', 'Analytical Aspie At Work', 'Asperger's At Large', 'Aspie at Large', 'Asperger's Attitude', 'Aspie Attitude', 'Asperger's Autism', and so on.

'Front & backs' may include:

Support your local Aspie/Team Asperger
Being an Aspie has its advantages/Team Asperger
Having Asperger's has its advantages/Team Asperger
Aspies do it logically/Asperger's
Got Logic?/Asperger's
I march to a different drum [can't do it here, but 'drum' has a strikethrough] BRAINWAVE/Asperger's
Why are you ignoring my social overtures?/Asperger's
Why blame me for your social inflexibilities?/Asperger's
When were you planning to stop talking at ['talking at' is underlined] me and begin communicating with ['communicating with' is underlined] me?/Team Asperger
Would you notice if I tried to make friends with you?/Asperger's
So, I didn't fulfill your (social) expectation. What now?/Asperger's...Look It Up.
Aspie Advisory: Shallow Intentions are Dangerous to my Well-Being/
Aspie Advisory: Shallow Conversations are Detrimental to my Health/
Are you capable of reaching conclusions only through verbal means?/Asperger's
You want my attention? Try a different approach./Team Aspie
You want my attention? Try a different approach: [following words in 'scattered' formation] write sketch email smoke signals rock art letter point ASL action Makaton mime color pictographs /Team Asperger
I drive a mean computer/Asperger's
I'm not going to talk to you just to explain that I dislike talking/Asperger's
Verbal speech is one of the least effective ways of communication/Asperger's
Verbal speech is only one of many ways of communication/Team Aspie
I'm not here to fulfill your expectations/Asperger's
I've got my own expectations to live up to/Asperger's
I've got my own dreams to live up to/Asperger's
[List of names...]All had something in common/Asperger's
I don't need to stare into your eyes to see you ['see you' is underlined]/Team Asperger
Aspie Advisory: Long-term commitments only, please/Asperger's
Aspie Advisory: Stable friendships only, please/Team Aspie
Aspie Advisory: Sustainable relations only, please/Another Aspie
My compassion to your pity/Another Aspie Supporter
My enlightenment to your subterfuge/Aspie Amigo
My integrity to your moods/Aspie Amiga
My strengthening to your charity/Asperger Supporter
My holism to your fragmentation/Asperger's
Being non-verbal does NOT equal being hard of hearing./Quiet Aspie
Being non-verbal does NOT equal being hard of hearing. Stop yelling./Asperger's
My Aspie brain trumps your calculator/Asperger's
My Aspie brain can beat up your calculator/Asperger's
My Aspie friend can beat up your calculator/Asperger's
Who's in the White House now?/Why not an Aspie?
9 out of 10 non-verbal Aspies are smarter than 9 out of 10 chatterers/Asperger's!
Have you equated non-verbal behavior with lower intelligence?/Asperger's
Only amateurs equate non-verbalness with lower intelligence/Team Aspie
What have you done today for somebody with Asperger's?/Aspie
There's much more to being 'sociable' than just being verbal [or, just talking, yapping, chatting, etc]/Asperger's
I know you don't understand. That doesn't mean you're excused./Asperger's
Do things seem less real to you if they're not verbalized?/Asperger's
Do things seem less real to you if they're not articulated?/Aspie
Are things less real to you if they're not spoken aloud - and with very small words?/Asperger's
Yes, I know you're there. You can stop making noise now/Team Asperger
Yes, I know you're here. You can stop making noise now/Team Asperger
Aspie intelligence is not an oxymoron/Team Asperger
Having Asperger's does NOT mean being ret*d/Aspie Here, There, Everywhere
Asperger's and Retardation: There IS a difference/Asperger's
Educate yourself about Asperger's/Aspie for All, All for Aspie
Asperger's: It's beyond Wikipedia/Aspie [...don't really care to 'slam' Wiki, though...]
My behavior is NOT a personal attack on you/Team Asperger's
If I request accommodation, will you get defensive?/Asperger's
If I request humane treatment, will you get defensive?/Asperger's
Multipy my words to the power of 10 to get closer to intent accuracy/Asperger's
Instructions: Multiply my words to the power of 100 to get closer to my level of emphasis/Team Asperger
Aspie Advisory: Paying attention would decrease your margin of error/Asperger's
Your treatment of me impacts me more than I can say. Literally./Asperger's
Your treatment of those with Asperger's impacts me, too/Aspie Supporter
Should I ask you to excuse my (perceived) rudeness or shoud I excuse you for insisting on being offended by it?/Aspie at Large
Our standard of behavior are very different from each other. ...And that's ok./Asperger's
My standard of behavior is very different from yours -- And that's just fine./Team Aspie
Making 'accommodations' for others begins with attitude/Asperger's Attitude
Do you really want to be 'right' or do you really want to interact?/Asperger's
Do you truly want to be 'right' or do you truly want to interact?/Asperger's Autism
'Asperger's is not for dummies/Aspie at Large
Start questioning your version of reality/Asperger's
Try questioning your version of sociability/Asperger's
Does my Asperger's cause you to question reality?/Another Aspie
Does my Asperger's cause you to question society? ...Shouldn't it?/Another Aspie
Are you allowing my behavior to dictate your own?/Asperger's

Ok. That's more than enough for now, right? I've earned that cookie, psychegots!

First of all, I just wanted to say that I love your avatar. I feel like house is a great asperger's character (remember the episode where Wilson tried to convince Cuddy that he had it? ) and I relate to him in a lot of ways.

I really like this list of pros/cons about making a fashion statement out of asperger's. I'm going to try to make comments based on your list.

# 2 - I agree with your opinion of using "Asperger's" over "Aspie". While I'm not offended by the word at all, the word "Aspie" sounds like one of those words that's only okay to say if you have it. Kind of like some people think it's okay to call each other a certain word, but it's not okay for another to do so. It just has that vibe to it.

# 3 - It may seem like you're trying to "show off" your diagnosis in a negative way, but as you stated in your first point, it's almost like putting up a flag in hopes of making some new allies.

# 4 - I don't feel like making asperger's a part of your identity is a bad thing. In fact, I've learned that having asperger's gives you a really cool skill set that some NT's don't have as intuitively. If I can get passed some of my negative traits, I feel like I'll have this really nifty, useful brain!

# 5 I'm not sure if NT's would be offended, per say, but you're right in saying that some people just don't want to know that kind of thing about you. They also might see this as an attention seeking device, but so is following any fashion statement, right?

# 6 - This could be problematic, especially since a lot of people have preconceived notions about autism (I hate when people think every person with autism suffers mental retardation). It's even harder if you're in school where kids are so judgmental. The work-around for this problem is to not let the uneducated get to you by having a "So I have asperger's, what of it?" attitude towards their hate.

I'm glad you made this topic because I was thinking about this the other day. Is it wrong to take pride in who we are? Do the pros outweigh the cons enough so that we could be prideful of our diagnosis? I think that pride can be found in not only asperger's, but any form of autism. People are proud to be from a certain heritage, have certain interests, and to be who they are. Why should we be any different?

One of my ideas for a shirt is for it to say "Ask me about my asperger's/autism". It may seem like an attention seeking device (because it is), but it's also a conversation starter, and we might be able to inform people who have these negative beliefs as to what autism really is. I'm going to track this topic, so I can read what others have to say about this. I was too excited about replying to read what everyone wrote lol.

Dae:
Oh, you earned it all right! Lots of cool ideas.

I especially like:
Aspies do it logically/Asperger's
I'm not going to talk to you just to explain that I dislike talking/Asperger's
I don't need to stare into your eyes to see you ['see you' is underlined]/Team Asperger

This one I didn't understand:
Multipy my words to the power of 10 to get closer to intent accuracy/Asperger's

And no btw, it's not me on my avatar. It's the awesome Dr. House!

Shadewraith:

Thanks for recognizing Dr. House! And I'm glad you like the topic, I agree with you on you're extra comments regarding the list.
As to your "ask me about autism" shirt I have to say that wearing anything that makes strangers come and talk to me isn't something I would do. But if you have it in you to educate some people about it it's great!

@Dae

Those were awesome!

I updated the original post with your input!

(I also answered you in the post before this one, I'm not sure if you noticed since I edited an old one. Don't know why I did that)

So...it's 'Dr. House'...I guess it really shows that I don't watch television. LOL ah well...

The 'Multiply my words by 100...' was a clumsy attempt at addressing the habitual reactions of others who'd downplay anything I'd verbalized. That tendency of diminishing whatever I may have said was an especially negative experience at the job I had during the time I 'drafted' my t-shirt ideas. I had been really ill and they refused to allow me to leave - just like a different day where I'd been extremely hungry and they kicked up a fuss, delaying my lunch break. ...Maybe you could come up with a better saying that expresses the need to not be diminished or ignored.

Aha! So the meaning is kind of that if you're going to translate something an aspie said to an NT you have to exaggerate it a lot for them to perceive it correctly?
Like Aspie says: "I have to eat now", and means "I have to eat now"
But for an NT to understand that it means "I have to eat now" you have to say "OMG I am so hungry I think Im going to die Wooooo OMG EAK, DO YOU WANT TO JOIN ME FOR LUNCH NOW?"

If thats the meaning I'm not sure how to express it clearer at a t-shirt. Guess I'm not much help Or maybe I was the only who didn't get it anyways.

Personally, I'm not fully comfortable with socializing with strangers either, but my doctor has been encouraging me to do so and I'm getting better at it. If someone did approach me, I'd at least know what to talk about (something I'm horrible with).

Maybe we could get some of these t-shirts made and put into the WP store. We've gotta have some amazing artists/designers on this board!!

Shadewraith wrote: Maybe we could get some of these t-shirts made and put into the WP store. We've gotta have some amazing artists/designers on this board!!

I says: I'd like my royalties to be paid in REAL cookies, please!

psychegots: yeah, you got it. When I say something (as opposed to my [probably NT] counterpart) - and ESPECIALLY when I say it out loud -, it often needs to be PERCEIVED much more forcefully than my presentation suggests. ...Maybe a t-shirt phrase will come to us some time or another.

Gotta go now - have another room-for-rent to look at.

For adults though, it could be cool.

Aspies...
Real Life X-Men!

This one is mine, Mine, MINE!! !!

I really like "Got Logic?" but I'm not sure any of the backs go quite right with it