Reminded once again what the general public thinks about us.

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There's this website called I hate commercials.com, where people can freely rant and rave about the ads they love to hate, obviously. Sadly I can't register on the site solely because I am not a US resident, although I have the (mis)fortune of seeing plenty of commercials imported over the Canadian border. Anyhow, last night I was reading comments about that Help Whatshername ad for I dontknowwhat, and lots of people are enraged just by the sight of it. One person went so far to say that the girl has "autistic qualities" because of her obsession with flying and all this other negative garbage.

I wanted to log on and tell the person "I have Asperger's and your comment about "autistic qualities" was the equivalent of having my eye poked with a sharp pointed stick.

But I couldn't say anything, because I'm CANADIAN. I could only go to bed and cry until after 2 AM because once again I am reminded of how the NT public feels about us, that our obsessions are stupid, pointless and too bizarre, that we are are an emotional and financial burden on our families, that we are somehow at fault for our difference and desperately need to be "cured".

We need to build a gigantic middle finger with and put it on the face of moon so the rest of the world can see it.

I don't really care what nt thinks about me. I am very proud person and don't let rude people get to me.
Don't worry about them folks. to best of your ability live your life as best as you can

I sympathise. I've read some absolutely disgusting things on the internet. What frustrates me most of all isn't society's negative view of us, but the fact that there really isn't a lot we can do to change it with powerful curebie organisations such as Autism Speaks holding such a strong influence upon both the media and the general public.

For the sake of context for all those of you who are wondering what commercial this is, here it is:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjJ-F8SoGQo[/youtube]

A smart Google search will also lead you to the forum that lostonearth is talking about, although I would advise any WP member living in the US to not go to that site simply to comment on the post in question.

It is one post by one member out of fifteen. The others did not perceive the girl in the commercial as autistic, nor did they reply to that particular observation post of that member.
That post itself seems innocent enough in my eyes, though it is based on a misconception. It boils down to "The girl in the commercial doesn't understand that she can't fly using that equipment [obsessive thinking, disconnect with reality], BUT she is smart enough to make a quality video of her flying". It's a fallacy, because it's based on the assumption that the two (tunnel-vision thinking and practical smarts) don't go together. It also displays some ignorance on the subject of autism.

If you are looking for an example of mass hostility from the general populace toward people who have autism or any disorder, this is not it.

Yes, autism has negative connotations in the minds of people who aren't familiar with it, and will be used accordingly in colloquial speech. Similarly, people will refer to some behaviours as 'psychotic', 'bipolar', 'ret*d', not necessarily to imply that the person they're talking about has that particular psychological condition, but rather to illustrate how far removed from normally functioning behaviour they are.

Finally, the entire site is built around the concept of poking fun at commercials. I will assume that the tone of the forum and most posts it contains, will be facetious.
I think you have yourself a tempest in a teapot here. This is not to disparage you, for I know what it's like to cry over little things, but rather to reassure you that it isn't as bad as it seems.