To have or to be ?

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Hard time trying to express it in english, but what i mean is: saying we HAVE it (i.e. the profile) is a subtle way of thinking of it as a disease, even if we deny this conception on conscious level. I think it's much better for us (and more realistic !) to Think and Say (T & S affect each other) we ARE it. It's not something we got along the way, it was there from the very beginning. Small details can make a big difference. Quoting an article I found on internet : "It is more than what we have. It is a big part of who we are".
Not being able to express myself as i would like to makes me angry (hey, I am an Aspie, i should be used to this !), but i hope you got the point.

There has been a discussion about terminolgy before. The problem is, what do you say you are. Unfortunately, as I recalled, there was no term that everyone liked. So, do you say

"I am an Aspie" (many people found it "too cute" or "belittling" or "patronising"
"I am Aspergian" (Some said it was too much odf a mouthful, others said it could be confusing
"I am an Asperger's person" invites more questions than it answers, and invites the comments "I am not my condition, I am so much more.)
"I am an Asper" (my personal hate-it makes you sound like something nasty or part of a religious sect to my mind)

Unless you have alternative suggestons/ideas? Unfortunately, you'll never find anyone completely disagreeing.

I see your point -"having asperger's" can be seen as "having cancer", but maybe it can be seen in an optimistic light E.G like javing artistic ability or having keen eyes. Even some "afflictions" can be drescrioved as "being". For example. I; am short sighted and epileptic. "Being" something isn't always marking you out as not being percieved as having a "disease"

JulieArticuno

Yeah, I thought the SAME thing! I don't know how common it is, but here, in the us, some talk about a "race memory". It is almost like we all have the same race memories, and are tweaked in some way. I don't really "have" it, it is like I AM it.

Steve