Wow, I feel so stupid. I was lied to by the media

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ok, the reason i thought i originally thought i didn't have asperger's originally was because i looked at media adaptations of "asperger's" people, like the rain man, or the book house rules and thought that it was an accurate depiction of someone with asperger's, and since i have really mild traits, (i can almost pass as "normal") i don't have extreme conditions like they do. but now i realize that they are exaggerations by the people who have no idea about the difference between asperger's and classic autism. so, i am here to say that i have asperger's

I used to think like that. You are not stupid, one of the disadvantages of AS is that we don't understand NT people and they don't understand us! What I learned to keep in mind is that it is just the goddamn media, they have people who learn about one person who has a certain condition or whatever and think they now know what everyone with their condition is like. And certain ignorant NTs buy into all the media hype too and either can't act like themselves around someone for fear of offending them (basically sheltering them) or just laugh at them ( or be nice to theire face and laugh behind their backs). But I wouldn't let the media get to you, and keep in mind that the media is not real life. What helps me is taking a break from the TV and movies once in a while and do something fun with a person or 2, or if you are a loner, by yourself, like a nature hike, away from media or everyday drama so that you can clear your head. I also like to do something creative (like artwork) or productive (like house cleaning).

The funny thing is that the media depiction of classic autism can be inaccurate as heck. I happen to fall in the category of classic autism, and I'm not like Rainman either. In fact, the person on whom Rainman is based, Kim Peek, does NOT have any form of autism but rather a malformed corpus callosum.

Wow! So just out of curiousity, what is corpus callosum?

The corpus callosum is the bundle of nerves that connect the left and right sides of the brain.

No! It can't be! Say it ain't so!

Never in all of history has the Media ever broadcast or published a lie!









(This post brought to you by Sarcastics Anonymous ...)

Rainman is not about someone with Asperger's.

And House Rules is about one person with Asperger's. That it doesn't reflect what's true for you doesn't mean it's an exaggeration. Jodi Picoult wasn't writing about you.

And... furthermore, both of those are FICTION. Even if they are inaccurate, it's not lying. It's not supposed to be true. It's, in those cases, simply failing to reflect the real world.

But, just because those characters aren't like you doesn't mean they aren't realistic.

The problem, it seems to me, isn't in those media portrayals of autism and Asperger's. The problem is in what you took from them.

he may not have kanners syndrome but im pretty sure he has a form of autism.i dont think there is a absolute way to identify autism.like say downs syndrome which is scientificly traced to the trisomy 21 gene.no such gene exists with autism.if someone has a brain injury and a idiot savant personality there autistic,but no scientist can even prove autism technicaly even exists

The media is extremely one-sided. At least here in the United States, they are. CNN are too leftist, FOX is overly conservative. Who can you trust?

Dont you mean MSNBC.

MSNBC and NPR.

I think the media does NOT have the full picture of what Asperger's and autism really is! I watched a show on Oprah last year about a man having Asperger's Syndrome and I do NOT have the same traits as him. So I really think that Oprah and other t.v. shows that talk about Asperger's/autism don't give the full picture of what Asperger's and autism is. I was diagnosed with Asperger's when I was 12.

Personally, I don't think the media has an obligation, everytime it does a story on someone with autism or Asperger's (real or fiction), to also talk about the whole range of what autism can be. If we insist on that, then autism won't be in the media at all, because it's not practical to do that. It's not wrong to tell one person's story just because someone else's story is different.