Are you an "out of the closet" aspie?

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When it comes to asperger's, do you let your community know you are an aspie or do you hide that fact from other people you live and work with?

Last edited by aspiebegood on 28 Mar 2007, 8:39 am, edited 1 time in total.

In. For one thing, if I tried to explain it to anyone, they wouldn't understand. For two, if they *did* understand, it would be a superficial understanding. They'd assume I was defective, and my career would be destroyed.

Being an Aspie is not something to be proud of.

Don't get me wrong, it's not something to be ashamed of either, obviously. But why do you want everyone to know all about your autism? It's sort of like... hanging a sign on your car window that says "I'm autistic, watch me drive! ", or "I have a thing for feet!" It's interesting maybe, but why does everyone need to know that personal information about you?

Why is there a closet that you "need" to come out of in the first place?

Well, we're all wierd already and everybody around us knows it. Telling them we're aspie is merely the "why".

Outta the closet, into the room, through the door and into the streets is where I'm at. I WANT people to know that I'm weird. AS is just a short-hand way of explaining why.

I have mentioned that I have Asperger's on my myspace, not to get pity or attention, but because the way I see it, if someone adds me despite my Asperger's, they really want to be my friend, and the people who don't like the fact that I have it can get lost.

Mostly in, I only tell people after I get to know them better and sometimes not even then. It all depends on what kind of a person it is.

It's because of all the youngsters out there need pioneers to smooth the way for them. I remember when even the suggestion being "a queer" would get you hounded and ostracized and, yes, even today, killed. Now it is called 'gay' and far more accepted. When I grew up, black people had their own drinking fountians and it was against the law to sell houses in anyother part of the town but 'niggertown' or even let blacks in hotels, motels or (gasp) swim in the public pools.

When I got diagnosed, I was fearful, because I knew how people really felt about people with autism. I asked how I could hide it and was told "oh, honey, they already KNOW!" Even with being out I still have to put up with being made fun of by co-workers, being feared by my supervisor's boss, and just generally subjected to rolling eyes and knowing looks.
you think I want the next generation to suffer THAT sort of stuff?
hell no.
So I am 'out' and will strive to represent a decent hardworking person with Aspererger Syndrome so the next generation (that YOU might be in) won't have such a difficult time.

Merle

Everyone at school assumes I'm completely normal. So I just let them think that.

To quote and modify Henry Rawlin's response to a question of his sexual orientation: "I wouldn't feel shame, and I wouldn't come out of the closet. I'd blow the whole f*cking house apart!" Which is what I did with my AS.

Out, though I wish I was still in.

I would have to say that I let some people know about my Aspergers but not everyone. Basically only the people that I feel have a reason to know about it otherwise I don't say anything to them about it. Most of the time you wouldn't even be able to tell them I'm different from everyone else.

I like being an Aspie most of them time but not always. It would be best if I could just pick and choose which characteristics of it I had and din't have but that's not the way the world works obviously. I like how I am really smart and can think in depth about things and understand complicated things especially if I'm really interested in them. I feel that if I find the right interests and stick with them that I might be able to do something big. Maybe invent something that would help everyone and make a lot of money from doing so. I don't know but that's what I want to do with my life but I won't spend all my time doing that because I have to have a career also but I can do that in my free time for fun.

I don't like the not having very many friends part of it though but if I work at it I get better at that along with the other Aspie traits.

Do not talk about me in real life.

I know this thread isn't for me but I don't tell anyone about my PDD-NOS. If they ask what my disability is, I'll answer but i don't go around saying "I'm on the autism spectrum, I was diagnosed with Aspergers and it should have been PDD instead because I'm am sometimes higher on the spectrum and I have cognitive problems." I don't hear my Dad saying he has diabetes and I don't hear anyone else announcing what their disability is. I only hear it when a situation comes up like a topic someone is on like about problems learning in school and then a person talks about how hard reading was for him and all and says he was diagnosed with dyslexia finally so he got the help finally.


I still don't mention my condition regardless what situation I'm in. I don't say things like "How was I supposed to know you were being sarcastic, I have an autism spectrum disorder, I don't know that stuff as other people." Instead I say "I don't know scarasm well as other people. I'm literal."

I am in the closet, because I don't think everyone I meet would know what AS is.

I think you are absolutely correct. Imagine if everyone wore signs about their various diagnoses. Would you be attracted to someone who proclaims "High Blood Pressure and Heart Disease." No. No one can imagine autism except in a very negative way. They can't experience it. They have no empahty. The best you can hope for is people to feel sorry for you. They're not going to perceive you in a positive way. Certainly not as a unique autistic individual celebrating his/her differences. That only happens at conferences and to people who write books. The more likely perception will be social misfit, dork, mentally defective, perhaps even ret*d. Ugh. You give them a lot of power to make you feel bad about yourself. People are people you can't change them. The recent phenomenon of "social awareness" is really a veneer like social conversation. People go along with it to make others more comfortable, but it is a rare person who accepts differences on anything but a superficial level.