Would you agree with that?

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I'm writing a couple of words for my company's diversity team. I wonder how many of you see Asperger from the same perspective I do? That's it:

It is said autism spectrum disorder is very rare, that only 1 in 100 people has it. I'm sure that is not the case at all. I know now that there are plenty of people like me, who make enormous effort every day to fit in with others but the results are only good enough to cover up for their Asperger traits and prevent them from being diagnosed.

Asperger syndrome is a profound social and emotional disability that limits people chances to live happy and fulfilling life. It's hard enough if they're not given the support they need, but it may get life wrecking when they are told they would be fine as long as they behave the same way everyone else does.

Yes, the old saying "Fake it till you make it" does not really work for us. We fake it till we burnout. All those small mistakes add up until we can't take it anymore and walk away.

I like the older term "social dyslexia." It is a bit more descriptive. Lately, I have been working on my facial expressions, eye contact and voice. The results are all over the place, some good others not.

Everyone needs to find their own path to success and happiness. I am still looking.

I see it as being a gift as opposed to a burden. I have several intellectual abilities that most people could only dream of having. I'm high functioning, and am virtually indistinguishable from a NT most of the time. The only real thing that gives me away is as I have described above, and my very eccentric attitude.

I believe the current rate is now actually 1 in 68.

Autism is a spectrum that everyone is on whether diagnosable with autism or not. I don't know how you describe the spectrum exactly but it's not an on / off thing like having an illness.

All the reports I've seen tend to say Autism is present in 1 - 1.1% of the population. I saw one recent study that suggested it was double that but that seemed to contradict all other evidence. The presence of Autism is not thought to change, only the dianosis level / awareness of the condition.

(Quick tip, try to create a more descriptive title next time such as Diagnosis level or autism population. That way people will know what the topic is about before reading it.)