That's not autism! -_-

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So I was reading one article about Daryl Hannah coming out with having autism, and in it she describes rocking to soothe herself from social anxiety. Of course, the top comment said that society anxiety is not autism, and thus she isn't autistic. Well, while it is true that social anxiety isn't autism, social anxiety doesn't include autism, in fact it's rather common with autism, and another interview with her clarify she was defining autistic with all the classical symptoms, not just shy, and she was actually nearly institutionalized for it. Thus the person was just being judgement and ignorant and while fighting one myth about autism, spreading another. Anyone have any similar moments to share, where someone assumes that just because something isn't autism in itself, it mean the person doesn't have autism?

I don't really know whether she's autistic, but I would tend to avoid negative attention, in the real world.

The idea of showing vulnerability, by saying I have special needs, then having ignorant people decide whether I sincerely have a specific condition, does not at all appeal to me.

Do you have the link?

My therapist did this to me. I told her I thought I might have ASD, and I had written out a whole long email about it and also attached a letter from my mom that described (briefly) what I was like as a child. My mom said I was clumsy and awkward as a kid in the letter, and the therapist said, "Being clumsy is not all that uncommon, it doesn't mean you are autistic." There were other things like this too, like my hypersensitivity to motion, refusing to wear jeans and hating clothes with tags, poor social skills, fascination with parts of toys etc. These were all things my mom wrote about, and the therapist took them all separately and said that each one doesn't equal autism, therefore there is no way I have autism.

I was extremely frustrated, because obviously the individual traits themselves never mean someone is definitely autistic, they are just indicators. I tried to explain that, but it was very difficult because I didn't realize she was going to react this way, so I didn't get the point across very well.

She is not my therapist anymore.

still I wonder how she does what she does while aspie? she HAS to socially function for extended periods of time. she HAS to act which requires above-average TOM.

Some Aspies, even some people in this forum, when the Elliot Rodger / Adam Lanza scandals came out.

She has to look pretty, not to act convincingly, per se.

Yeah, but Hannah hasn't made that many movies. Perhaps she has to take time off between them to recover.

doesn't she act convincingly? I wasn't saying anything other than the fact that she is ultra-high-functioning, and that I was marveling at that.

I did this for years because I was sick of my life and wanted "more" and I wore my NT face and personality suit for more than a decade and it basically took 100% of my energy at all times. Had jobs, got married, had a child, and all along the way stress was increasing. Then a lot of stress got dumped on me and it was too much, my whole fake persona collapsed into bits, and years later I have not been able to rebuild it. Even now I seem to be getting even more autistic, last few days I started having sensory issues with clothes and sheets I have never had before, it is like I am still regressing. My wife doesn't really understand it but she is trying her best to remove small sources of stress where she can, bless her she understands I'm not being a prissy ass if I must have a certain brand of thing to eat or I meltdown.

So to answer your question, properly motivated someone with ASD can "fake it" for quite a long time as long as stress is low.

I think she's a good actress. She was so sweet in Splash!



and scary in Bladerunner

IMHO you did good! you got married and had children and the whole nine yards.

I like her, personally, but it doesn't occur to me that she had to get caught up in a wide range of emotions, for those roles.

For instance, I see all kinds of smileys, to the left of this field, as I type this. But, she's making pretty-plain faces, in these two pics -- a fish and a robot.

I think she has natural beauty and is low key, which I appreciate. I don't mean to express any disrespect.

I think that's fair. Her roles don't usually have a lot of dialogue either. Her voice is very soft and scratchy.

She was diagnosed in the 1960s. To get a diagnosis was rare and for a female almost unheard of at that time.

She clearly has a hard time keeping eye contact(visible in interwiews), and her facial expressions are limited, so complicated, deep under-the-skin psychological portraial is probably not her line, - and she plunges into political/grassroot fights without much thought about herself being in any danger.