It is not Asperger's that makes me who I am

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I do not think my aspie-ness is everything. but it is a considerable part of my being and has informed who i am in both novel/wonderful and difficult ways. it is also an explanation as opposed to an excuse.

It may be that in saying 'I am ONLY my Aspiness', they're denying that anything that might be non-Aspie (read : NT) doesn't constitute a part of them.

It's a very oppositional stance - and like most stances, is about appearances rather than substance.
IOW, everybody knows that it's 99% spin and 1% substance.

i agree with you yet again Member Six. I also perceive it as quite oppositional and i've been around long enough on planet earth to know i like to keep a check on my own tendency for black and white thinking and i am wary when i see it in others - whether they are AS or not. Sweeping statements about AS or any other topic do nothing to enrich discussion. Rather, they can lead to polarity, which in my view, in turn leads to a paucity of discussion and ideas exchange. BLack and WHIte thinking about AS or anything else often lead to a kind of all or nothing extremism that is, in my view, just a little problematic as a tendency in human beings whether on the spectrum or not! It is almost a blueprint for disaster and can lead to all kinds of simplicities that gloss over the complexity of life. I am a woman with AS. i am also a woman with my own personality and individual traits. I am the total of everything that makes me who i am - experience, history, genetics, neurology, etc.etc. If we miss this, surely we miss the point of life. I've been through a lot in my life. I know the most dangerous characters for me are always the ones with blinkered vision who cannot grasp alternative arguments or alternative types of people. Subcultures are great. but when they degenerate into exclusionism....we have extremism.

MemebrSix: I like your willingness to think beyond the square and to extend discussion in complex ways. i think this is good in the world and good for WP.

have a good day.

And that is nearly 50 per cent of people here (((.
I am glad, though, to find people who share my point of view and who are open-minded.
Ironically a lot of people say: I am proud of my being Aspie, and at the same time they say: You are what others think who you are. That means, that even though they are so damn proud of themselves, others may just think of them as of selfish, boring and clumzy individuals (which is actually others very often do). And following this logic ("you are what others think of you") - this is who they are. Boring, clumzy, wierd and self-centered individuals, and nothing else. this is not my conclusion. This is their own conclusion.

Hah! How about this:
I can watch YOU for a few minutes and then tell you : I know what type of person you are.
Are you going it like it?

He is sharp, this guy ))). How did you vote MemberSix?

I don't think I could have said it better! I am a LITTLE younger but, otherwise, that is ME!

Thankyou for your kind words.

Option 1.

I am begining to suspect now that the 52 per cent who responded "I agree" ... are those who actually do not have any asperger's at all . Lol!

May be I am very beligerent person )). In the sence that I hate to know that something inside me defines me and such... which I cannot control.
Once I had an experience with smoking some dope. (years ago)... So I felt that something, some chemical process inside me DEFINES how I feel, makes me elevated, makes me laugh. I HATED that something, some chemical reaction defines my emotions. I felt stupid. I did not let myself enjoy any of it. May be I am so self-critical.. or so self-sincere.. or whatever.
That is why I hate to think that some syndrom defines me. I like to think that I myself define me. ))

well, naturella...it is a good thread. a great thread actually. I think as people with AS, we have so much richness to offer IF we are wary of the simplisitic notions that come with black and white thinking. Not everyone with AS has that tendency. But certainly, it is an issue for all humans to watch. (can one of you americans get that message through to the outgoing president please?? )

I know when i was younger i had an extreme tendency to think in black and white. with age , it has changed as it does with so many human beings on life's journey. This thread is important because it actually encompasses MORE than the cliched subcultural notions that can breed on any forum site devoted to a particular subgroup. it offers good alternative views and healthy discussion. I always like to run my own race and against the pack. i also belong to 12 step programs and i see the same sweeping tendencies there and it just irks me. Let's use our magnificent AS brains to get into the details and the variations and the complexities. that for me, is when it gets really interesting....whether i agree with an argument or not.

Last edited by millie on 19 Dec 2008, 6:36 pm, edited 2 times in total.

What an interesting and silly thing to say. Frankly... My actions are about 30% because of my abilities, and inabilities. They are about 30% because of my preferences/desires/logic. They are about 30% because of the effect of that. Since the first part is because of, or comorbid with, as, and the rest is controlled because of that, it is logical that AS plays a big part. If it doesn't, are YOU really AS?

It was a joke. Because so many people here are "pro syndrom" I actually joked, that may be those 50 % who said "it is not aspergers who defines what I am" just said that becuase they did not have any aspergers (for instant, they are some aspie parents). Got it?

Yes, it is the human spirit that matters most and we should never lose sight of this. But we all have this human spirit inside and, IMO, it is the same spirit in each of us. We each have a part of this, as you called it, "human spirit" within. That is our similarity. However, our differences and uniqueness is what defines us and sets us apart.

Although it is true that when people see your dirty shoes they are not seeing your human spirit, nevertheless, they are seeing something relatively unique about you and they can use it to make accurate inferences regarding your persona and character. AND, significantly, in lieu of other information, in many instances, it will be used to determine how you will be treated.

Last edited by TJ44 on 19 Dec 2008, 6:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

1. Dirty shoes is a metaphor. It means that "whatever u think of me at this particular moment may be wrong. It takes a little more to know me then just looking at my shoes. Besides, my shoes do not define my behavior". It means: beware of stereotypes. got it?
2. it is not AS that makes me unique. Whoever feels unique only because of his AS only makes me feel pity for him. He is denigrating his own individuality and ascribes it totally to some chemical processes in his brain. He denigrates his own spirits, he denounces his power over his own life.
Every individual on this planet is unique, regardless of his neuro type, regardless his race, regardless the shape of his sculp.