Is Asperger's syndrome a

Post Reply New Topic

Is Asperger's syndrome a

No way its a diseas

Disorder or a Difference.

It's a difference. It's only a disorder or disability in relation to whatever is considered normal. Cure society of it's pathological aversion to difference and suddenly the "dis" is also cured.

I voted for difference, but if I should explain it with my own words, I would say (as I use to when I explain it to others):

It is a condition that includes both handicaps, advantages and things that are none of these, but just oddities.

E.g. for my own part:
- a handicap could be inertia or awkwardness in smalltalk situations
- an advantage could be my ability to go deep into things and come to know a lot about them, or my more than average memory on certain areas
- a mere oddity could be my stimming like handflapping or making short hums that resound in my own ears.

So, that would be my description.

It's a sin! The bible says so!

...

Sorry. Don't know what happened there.

It's a difference or an alterantive. Most every disadvantage I've suffered related to AS has been entirely a result of other's opinions and prejudices. Differences are good! If we all looked at something and everyone saw it the exact same way, then we might miss an important aspect of that something. And if we are all adapted to the environment in the exact same way, and that environment changes...

I'm full of disabilities - can't do violence, stealing from poor people, taking delight in the suffering of the innocent, I can't even enjoy trash television

Less sarcastically, difference is the only objective description in the list - all the others assume value judgements about what we should be able to do. There is no "should be," there is only what is. You either like something, or you don't.

Try this:

ANOMALY

Deviation or departure from the normal or common order, form, or rule.
One that is peculiar, irregular, abnormal, or difficult to classify:

this choice of wording is important in alegal, ethical descriptive and moral context and it is accurate and most AS are happy to identify with it.

Anomaly works for me, and I wouldn't object to being called atypical

It qualifies as a disorder, a disability, and a difference for a majority of Aspies. Not every Aspie is disabled, though; a great number aren't, either for having learned enough not to be, or having had a mild case to begin with. (I guess I should define "mild" as "AS traits that cause fewer problems than in most cases".)

I've always said that Asperger's is a disability if you let it be such. Other than that, it's just a difference.

I'd say it's a difference that becomes a handicap when faced with society.

Hi,

I was thinking of AS is a deviation.

A deviation of the social compass. A deviation of or in the 'theory of mind'. A deviation of sensibility in general and of the senses in particular. A deviation of the sense of trust. A deviation from 'the' NT-norm. And so on.

But anomaly is maybe even better.

A disease, they say, is cureable and I'm not sure AS is. Probably not.
A disorder? In my mind it sounds a bit harsh. Shrinky tagging like.
A handicap/ disability? Sometimes it feels that way but not all the time, not for me. It has features I am quite fond of....

The Asperger Anomaly, I have to let it sink down a bit....

C.

Deviant does have a very negative connotation. Anomaly isn't bad.