Autism Stereotypes about Intelligence...

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People assume I am real smart when they find out I have Aspergers. If there is an area in which I am "real smart," it is that I have an exceptional vocabulary. I wish my ability was technical so I would be more employable and accepted by NTs more easily. For some reason, people seem to think you are smarter if you are good at technical things as well as math and science than if you have a high verbal aptitude like I have.

The thing I hate most about having Aspergers is that people try to take advantage of me, including family. I am in between jobs since the one I held for almost five years was eliminated because of changes in state Medicaid. Until I can get another job like the one I had before (case management in a medicaid waiver service like home and community-based services), I am taking care of mom. My oldest sister insists that I get really low pay for caring for mom because of my disability. What I get from family for caring for mom (who is a handful) is the equivalent of $2 to $3 an hour-sheltered workshop type of pay. I have a college degree but my oldest sister said that when I was diagnosed as having Aspergers, my college degree essentially "no longer existed." (Oh yes it does, sis, and I earned a better GPA than you did). She says I must be kept "poor" so it is easier to control me.

I am trying to get a similar job to the Medicaid waiver job that I had before, and am determined to live in a town several hours from where my sister and mom live so they have to quit taking advantage of me. My sister says that I will fail at any job because the psychologist who diagnosed me said so. He was a jerk who said stuff that ramped up my anxiety about losing the job I acquired just before he diagnosed me. I think he did not have a very high opinion of people with Aspergers. I think he sees us the way my sister sees us-impaired and less than a full person. That is why she says I no longer have a college degree since I was diagnosed. I told her I earned it and no one can take it from me. She disagreed with me saying that my disability puts me on the level of a high school dropout. Bigoted, close-minded people really have me concerned about the way other NTS will see me and treat me. I have been treated like crap all my life, and was finally diagnosed at age 55. Yes, I would have preferred to have been born "normal," but I think I would treat people on the spectrum a lot better than I have seen NTs treat me or other people on the spectrum.

Okay, it's the weekend and my brain is not being stabbed from all sides so now I can think straight. [reads through post] Hmm... [3 hours later] Could you just explain how you think that they say I should try harder when all the time I'm trying my hardest?

And Jaden, should you deign to grace us with your wisdom in response - let's have no more of the condescending aggression.
You would do well to heed your own advice about handling responses.

You might be trying your hardest, but that doesn't mean other people aren't encouraging you to try harder, they don't know what you go through on a daily basis so they probably offer support by what they feel is encouragement because they can't understand what your limits are.

What a surprise (not). Sarcasm will get you nowhere, it's honestly insulting, and frankly I haven't reached "condescending aggression", I'm telling it like it is, there's a huge difference there. If people readily step on my toes with their commands to leave a topic because of their problem with my post, I'm not going to sit by and let people step all over me, I'm going to defend myself and tell them that their commands are unacceptable. If that's going to be a problem then maybe you and the other mods should get together and add the following to the rules: "Must ignore all offensive posts directed at you, people who defend themselves will be warned promptly. Offensive posters will not be warned unless the post was made by the defender. Any attempts to complain about said warning will be promptly deleted." because so far, that's what's happened every time, just as I'm sure this one will. It speaks volumes to how this place is moderated.

That's your defense? You do realize there's a difference between what I was talking about and someone defending themselves, right? Right? Right? The other user's post is what set the wheels into motion that caused this whole issue to begin with, and you're content to not speak to them about their approach, but rather to chastise me for my very human response to defend my rights to be here posting and not be walked all over by other people and their remarks.

So you're advocating a position then, that if someone is insulting the first time, they don't get a word, but when the person being insulted snaps back, they're told to "stuff it" basically. And you honestly see absolutely no problem with a system that tells people not to defend themselves from such remarks? Oh you don't have to answer, I'm sure people can see for themselves what's going on here and then not act in anyone's best interests because well, that would be breaking a rule it seems, wouldn't it? After all, here we can't speak out for ourselves in any way, because those mods just don't allow that kind of behavior. Why no, allowing that kind of thinking would let us believe we have a say in whether or not people can walk all over us. So, should I start asking people here what it's like to sit on their high horses, or am I actually an equal who deserves to defend myself from people's insults and remarks?
No point in answering that, it's quite clear to me what the answer is. According to the mods here, I don't have the right to defend myself or my rights as an individual on this forum.

Well, since that's the case, I'll resign myself to the role that the mods would have me play: resident punching bag. Have fun everyone, I'm used to it.