A Survey on Asperger's To Help An NT I Know

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If you could please take the time to answer these ten questions, I would be quite thankful. The writer seems to have done very little reasearch, so I'm hoping the non-NT community can help him out.

1. How do you feel about the point we are at with the research on Asperger’s Syndrome and exactly what needs to be looked into?

2. How would you feel if the people of the world had absolutely no idea that your condition existed?

3. How does/did having AS add to the normal stress of being in high school?

4. What are some of the pros and cons of having Asperger’s?

5. Do people seem to single you out just because you may think or act differently from them?

6. Explain to me how different you believe your life is from another person’s because of the condition you have always lived with?

7. Do you believe there is some kind of a difference at the genetic level between a person with AS and a person without it? For example; two regular genes (RR) make a regularly functioning person. Two mutated genes (MM) cause autism. Do you believe it is some combination of regular and mutated genes (RM) that causes Asperger’s?

8. How does/did Asperger’s affect your performance in school?

9. Do you sometimes just wonder what it’s like to be “normal”, like many “abnormal” people do?

10. I found that Asperger’s Syndrome is not the advance of human civilization like some believe, but actually just another branch of the human mind’s development. What is your take on this?

I don't know much about the point we are at with this research, however I believe there is a contributory metaphysical element which will not lend itself well to scientific research. The thing I have in mind is to do with the hyper-sensitive/insensitive paradox.



If people had no idea that Asperger's existed, I wouldn't either. In fact, I spent a significant portion of my life not knowing about it. I just felt like a square peg.



I had (have) trouble doing anything that I wasn't particularly interested in. I got in trouble a lot, and I got berated for not living up to my potential. I dropped out of high school.



Pros: Seeing the world in a different way, not caring what other people think of me.
Cons: Seeming arrogant, aversion to discomfort, aversion to touch, hyper-sensitivity.



I get excluded from activities in my peer group because people only seem to be able to handle small doses.



Trying to fit-in to society requires extra effort and is exhausting. I seem to have natural abilities that other people need to work harder at though.



I'm sure there's a genetic component as it seems to run in families. I will not speculate as to the specifics of the genes involved however, as I have done no research on the matter.



I did really well in subjects that fascinated me, I did nothing in ones that didn't. See above.



Not particularly. I believe 'normal' people are mostly pretending to be the same anyway, and I have no interest in doing so.



I'm sure it's been around for millennia. Look at shamen, prominent philosophers, inventors, and various eccentrics throughout history.

1. How do you feel about the point we are at with the research on Asperger’s Syndrome and exactly what needs to be looked into?

Its extremely lacking and seems to be funded by people who dont care about their kids and autistics on the spectrum in general, but rather how to make them "normal", whatever that is...
what needs to be looked into is how autism causes other disorders and personality maladjustments. The comorbidity of it with others and the consequences/problems suffered.

2. How would you feel if the people of the world had absolutely no idea that your condition existed?

What in the world are you talking about???? NO ONE KNOWS, who are you talking to? Go walk up to joe public(any citizen of any country). if they dont have it in their family, they dont know. Sure, People hear about autism a little here and there, but they see the extreme cases and believe "THATS IT". Thats all autism can be, even though its a spectrum.

3. How does/did having AS add to the normal stress of being in high school?

Sounds are louder, let alone any sense you have is hyper or hypo(TOO STRONG OR WEAK). You never feel comfortable in your own skin cause you cant figure out who you are, or why you're here. why you're different, even if its explained. People put a bullseye on your back cause they know you'll react, you cant control it, but they can....

4. What are some of the pros and cons of having Asperger’s?

Cons are what I said a question before and just a standard lack of motivation, self esteem, self awareness, compulsive worrying anxiety when in unusual or unfamiliar situations, the list goes on and differs per person. We still have other things that arent apregers if we had a rough enough life, like ptsd(me).

Pros- extremely creative, as few friends i keep nowadays, I can usually get through a day without using a phone or texting anyone. I can entertain myself with my hobbies and dreams. Sense of justice or being a good a person is usual, we were all taught in kindergarten the golden rule but it seems as though aspies usually are the one who remember it...

5. Do people seem to single you out just because you may think or act differently from them?

People single everyone out, but its to a different degree with autism and more importantly asperger's syndrome. If you talk to people today and ask them what asperger's syndrome is, they wont know, or they will ONLY know what others BELIEVE(its fake, doesnt exist, you're just a loser, "kids disease"). They dont understand why you're different so they fear you and people try to destroy what they fear... especially differences

6. Explain to me how different you believe your life is from another person’s because of the condition you have always lived with?

I wake up and go to the bathroom, look in the mirror and i dont know why my face looks the way it does. I get ready for the day and by that I mean i prepare for anything someone may cause me to do, or do to me. I dont look for a fight or try to start things, but its inevitable if Im around people, someones gonna get pissed or think Im "creepy"/"annoying", or worse, someones gonna aggravate me, usually on purpose(as in overstimulate my senses). My voice and rate of speech makes it so If I tell a joke someone said to me a day ago(even a comedian), Im an a**hole, but they were funny.

7. Do you believe there is some kind of a difference at the genetic level between a person with AS and a person without it? For example; two regular genes (RR) make a regularly functioning person. Two mutated genes (MM) cause autism. Do you believe it is some combination of regular and mutated genes (RM) that causes Asperger’s?

OF COURSE THERES A DIFFERENCE, what makes you believe there wouldnt be? That rest just just sounds ignorant as well. Science, especially nuerobiology/nuerology, isnt that simple. Its just unbelievable someone would want to know the answer to that question or ask it, or that anyone would believe the answer given by someone else.

8. How does/did Asperger’s affect your performance in school?

If you're not interested, there is no way to "pay attention". If you're too interested, theres no way to break your focus(without consequences/reaction)So any class that wasnt up my alley, I should have failed. Luckily, I have a very powerful memory that reacts to questions. I cant just talk about something or memorize it to recite, but give me a written quiz(especially multiple choice) and i'll hear the teachers lesson in my head...
Socially tho, it made it impossible... I finished but it wasnt worth it. I dont feel any smarter than someone who dropped out knowing school wasnt for them. I wish I had the guts to make that decision myself, or that I wasnt pushed by my mom to finish.

9. Do you sometimes just wonder what it’s like to be “normal”, like many “abnormal” people do?

Do you ever wonder what it would be like to be intelligent? no, because you think you're intelligent. The only difference between our questions is one word, but the offense is still there... And besides, thats a personal decision based on a psychological question, not nuerological(which is what autism is). It relates more to depression and anxiety, more than aspergers. Did da vinci think about being normal? NO, He thought about what he was gonna create next. And I dont wonder what its like, I see it on tv and in real life, I only wish it could be that way, it just cant be so says society. But anyone with cable knows what its like. Besides society is ret*d anyway, EVERYONE IN THE WORLD, just a different way. EVERYONE HAS A DEFICIENCY, therefore, we're normal too by definition, just not "your" normal.

10. I found that Asperger’s Syndrome is not the advance of human civilization like some believe, but actually just another branch of the human mind’s development. What is your take on this?

You found? BY WHAT EVIDENCE OR RESEARCH(which you show clearly none), What caused you to BELIEVE, OR THINK this(NOT FIND DUMBASS), or the rest of your "THEORIES"(DO YOU NOT OWN A DICTIONARY AS TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS YOU'RE USING, or which ones you should?) Who thouht of these dumb questions and how to ask them in the most insulting and insinuating ways(you're not normal to me! SO you probably wonder about it so Ill ask, whats wrong with you and do you wonder about being "normal"). YOUR ASSUMPTIONS ARENT FACTS. GET SOME FACTS, THEN I'll ANSWER some REASONABLE QUESTION. You're asking for opinions about something that should be based on research and evidence. EXPERIMENTATION< THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD. HOPE YOU "FIND" A F*^%$G CLUE cause i just "found" out you're a dumbass

But no, autism will not be "the new norm" soon. It wont take over the population, its always been there, always will be. Its not a virus to cure. Its not an evolution of the mind, its just how some people have always been, since they were born...

ok. i am tired and have nothing better to do because i am not wakeful enoiugh to attend to my core interests.



i do not really care at all. i feel that my condition is genetically hardwired, and no matter what anyone discovers about it, it will not change the fact that i am AS, and i can not be rebuilt from the ground up.


very few people have heard about AS, and in my life, no one really knows about it, so i guess it is like saying "if you had 2 cents, and lost it all, how would you feel"

other people knowing about my situation would not change my situation at all.


i only lasted at each school i went to for about 2 months. i was resident in an adolescent unit for my whole school life (after year 4), and every year, they would enroll me in a mainstream school hoping i would be able to fit in, and every year, i returned to them after a couple of months having failed.

it was always a nuisance to me that they considered that "this year we will try mark out at this school". i knew i was going to fail to fit in, and i had to weather the time away from the adolescent unit where i felt happy.




well i will start with the "pro's"
i am very much happy with the way i think, and i will never get bored because i am entertained by the thoughts my brain thinks.

there maybe nothing at all happening in my environment, but i am always an enthusiastic spectator to what my neurons produce.

i make myself laugh to extreme levels because i did not expect that my mind would think about an issue in the way it did.

if i want to pursue an idea, then i can lay back and take a ride in the stream of my thoughts and, like a tourist, say "wow" at the things i perceive.

i am very happy living in my brain and i am always extremely interested in what my concepts show me.

i do not have many emotions, and i am not dragged down by "feelings". because i do not have any real gutteral feelings about anything, then the otherwise "agony" of life passes me by like clouds past the window of a jetliner that i am a sleepy passenger in.

the cons are that people always see me as very eccentric, and they tend to wonder if they can rip me off. when i take my car to get serviced, it always costs more than $2000, and if i get repairs done to my place, it always costs much money because the tradesmen must think "here is an idiot with no idea, so i will feather my nest and he will never know"

if i go into a shop to get food at lunchtime, then if normal acting tradesmen come in after me, my order will be placed last in the queue, and they will get served first because they are "real men". if i become disgruntled at the fact that i already ordered, and yet these greasy fools are getting their lunches first, then i am usually asked to leave the shop, and if i refuse, then the tradesmen step in and try to be heroes and threaten me like "mate...i think you've been given your marching orders....see ya later". i wonder why they are more deserved than me, and sometimes a major scene erupts and damage is done.






no. they ignore me as if i am not worth their attention



well i have no involvement with social realities. other people are always dressing up and going out. other people are always checking their phones. other people are always adjusting their hairdo's and making sure they look good.

i could not care less about all that. my life is lived at home by myself, and no one knows about what i do or think or feel. i am not burdened by having to step on the stage of integration with others every night.


yes i believe that it is a genetic malappropriation. i am adopted and my parents were normal and my sisters are all normal. nurture for me should have facilitated healthy social adjustment, but it did not.


i did well academically because i did my schooling via correspondence in the adolescent unit i was resident in.



not much. i sometimes wonder what it is like to be another type of animal like a bird. i think of how by back muscles must flex in order to operate my wings. i think of the fact that heights would not bother me if i could glide back to the ground if need be.

i sometimes wonder how kangaroos feel in their achilles tendons that are so stretchy that they can just hit the ground and tilt their foot easily and be lifted back into the air to lope along effortlessly.

i sometimes wonder how people can be so involved with other people in a way that magically matches the other persons feelings and spiritual assertions.

but i do not spend long wondering about these things, because i know that i am not like them and i will never understand to the point where i can try it for myself.






i do not have any "take" on that. anyone else than me is outside me and i have limited ability or interest to speculate upon it, so i just retreat and return to my cosy and entertaining and private world.
no harm done.

I find that a lot of what I've read is quite insulting and shows no understanding of why "we" are the way we are. There needs to be far more/better communication between researchers and autistic people, without the assumption that we are lesser people or some kind of idiots.



Since I ignore most people of the world, I imagine I'd feel the same as I do now. The people that I bother with accept and like me no matter what labels have been placed upon me.




I used to go home every day exhausted and with no idea what was making me so tired. I also had constant feelings of inadequacy because I saw my age-peers handling part time work and being able to save up for expensive items and plan a long way into the future, and I couldn't do any of that.
I didn't worry too much about not fitting in, but it would have been nice if the bullies had left me alone.



For me, the pros are:
The interests, and the ability to go into a kind of hyper-focused mode.
My excellent memory.
I'm sure my musical ability is related to it.
The fact that I seldom get lonely, and can go for long periods of time without socialising and be fine.
Being "apart" from people makes me a very independent thinker and not prone to fads or groupthink, which I get a lot of respect for.

The cons are well documented. My worst problems are with executibe dysfunction, inflexibility and sensory issues. The people problems are also an issue, as a modicum of social skills is highly useful for success in life.



They notice, but I haven't had any real nastiness about it since high school.



Less social.

More devoted to academic pursuits.

More trouble with finding and keeping work.

More pain from overload when I leave the house.

More joyful afternoons spent researching a particular topic.





I do not know enough about genetics to give an informed opinion.



The memory enhancement really helped in primary school. In high school, I gave up trying in the subjects that I wasn't interested in, so my performance was very uneven.
It helps a lot in university, since I am studying my obsession and I can spend hours on end working on assignments and such.



Of course. I also wonder what it's like to be male, a resident of a Third World country, and a tree. In other words, I've always been curious about how it would be to experience life from a different perspective.




It's kind of hard to advance human civilisation when you aren't organised enough to tidy your own room...
It's another type of brain. It's not a type that is inherently bad, but like anything that is classified as a disability, it makes it more difficult to function in life.

It needs major improvement, both for professionals, and NT's. I know a lot more about Autism (son diagnosed) than most professionals I've run across. NT's need to pick up a book once in a while. Even my family members don't research. Knowledge is imperative in properly dealing with a 4 year old autistic child. Although I know everyone has different levels of empathy, etc, I still take it personally.


I would feel like I do now... like nobody understands and frustrated mostly with myself. Always wondering why I'm different. Worried about my son's progression compared to other children, and perhaps not embracing his quirks and realizing that he can go far with his special interests one day. I also wouldn't know there were other people out there like me (Asperger's), as well as other mothers of Autistic children.


High school is hard. Every person is growing and going through that awkward stage. AS kids are trying, on top of that, to learn how to act "normal" around their friends. it's exhausting. The educational factor can be incredibly trying. I, for example, had/have to use my hands to count 4+6, but was in the 98th percentile of the entire country with reading comprehension and literary skills. Luckily, my parents weren't hard on me. Although, they weren't aware of my AS, they always said "Even if you fail, as long as you earned it and tried, we're proud". I feel bad for the AS kids who have pressuring parents. I can't imagine that added stress. There are some things we just can't get. Distractions are everywhere in high school, which can make learning difficult. That one person whispering in the back row and cause you to miss an entire lecture; taking notes is another example. The teacher has a slide up; reading the slide, writing, keeping up, AND having to listen to the lecture with distractions of other students on top of it isn't easy. Homework: For one, the social aspect of high school among other things is incredibly draining. Then we have to go home and do homework..... if we remember we have any! hahaha


Cons: Being misunderstood. I get lost a lot. I won't drive (there's just something that isn't connected in my brain to safely do so), I get lonely sometimes, Paranoid that my closet friends will get fed up, my mind is so complex that it's always on over-drive. I always have a million things going on at once and at the end of the day I feel like I got hit by a train, my interests don't match those of NT's, I avoid social interaction, places like Disneyland and crowded stores can make me panic, it's hard to start something and stick to it.

Pros: Autism is something associated with great intelligence. I take pride in that for myself, and my son. I have an incredible ability to read people and animals. Anger toward my loved ones is something I don't possess (I've had to learn how to ACT mad when my son has done something bad. lol ...and I really don't argue with past boyfriends and my husband), I save a lot of money by constructing things from items I already have instead of spending a fortune on pre-made things, my special interests keep my busy, my compulsive researching has left me knowledgeable, personally, having Asperger's has allowed me to better understand my Autistic son, I feel this has opened the door and allowed me to embrace the fact that everyone is different and that's ok, i don't take anything for granted, Autism has opened many doors leading to my future and I now see why I'm here and what I'm supposed to do with my life.



Yes. I get dirty looks and rude comments from a "friend" who is always trying to one-up everyone. I'm the quirky one with the weird sense of humor, so I get targeted.



It's different in every way. I guess the other questions can help answer this...


I don't know. We're seeing a genetic counselor next month. I'll get back to you then. lol Fact is fact, I just haven't read into the genetic factors yet.


See high school question


All the time. I still wonder, for example, how kids could just go trick or treating and not get nervous at the door, or how kids can get some cash from dad and go buy a coke at the counter. I wonder how people can enjoy talking on the phone. I wonder how their stress level differs from mine. I wonder if they're even capable of understanding my Autistic son if they tried. I also wonder about empathy a lot; if my dealings with death differ, and if my connection and empathy toward sick children and animals is deeper than NT's. There are sooo many things that run through my head.


Having Autistic people around is a good thing. They can do great things. But, it's like cats: having a couple is okay, but having a massive population of them would be a big bleepin problem! LMAO

To more specifically answer the question, I don't know. The population increase obviously raises eyebrows. I, personally feel I'm here for a reason. I'm here to embrace my quirks and special interests and do something with it to better the world and lend understanding to special needs people. (Special interest: Helping children in need and horses. Only fitting that I'm getting involved with a therapeutic horse organization that takes miniature horses to visit hospitals, wounded soldiers, and disabled children) I would like to think ALL of us are here for a reason.

... sorry for the typos and run-on sentences

1. How do you feel about the point we are at with the research on Asperger’s Syndrome and exactly what needs to be looked into?
A: I completely disagree with the idea of a "cure". Asperger's makes us different, but it doesn't make us "diseased" and as such in need of a cure. It would be like if someone said we needed a "cure" for black people, Jews, gays, etc. (statements which all have been made at some point or another). Anyway, what we do need to look into is how to help AS individuals learn, since we do learn differently. Not worse, just differently. And also, I think we need to educate people to be more understanding, though this isn't exactly research.

2. How would you feel if the people of the world had absolutely no idea that your condition existed?
A: I would wonder what was different and strange about me. And probably go crazy since I wouldn't have the help I need.

3. How does/did having AS add to the normal stress of being in high school?
A: How would I know what the "normal" stress is? I found I was (and still am in college) less stressed than most individuals, since the issues didn't phase me. I just thought "I have a history test tomorrow. I should study". Not "OMIGOD I HAVE A HISTORY TEST TOMORROW I NEED TO STUDY OR I'M GOING TO FAIL AND BE SCREWED OMIGOD!! !! !" (which I have heard). Whether this is due to my AS or my personality, I can't say.

4. What are some of the pros and cons of having Asperger’s?
A: I find this question slightly offensive. If someone were to ask me the pros and cons of being Jewish, I'd probably get a bit angry too. There are good things and bad things but when I think of "pros and cons" I think of making a choice. It's not like deciding which car to buy, pros and cons of the Honda vs. the Toyota. It's part of my personality, I don't generally think of it as a pro-con kind of thing. Not to mention I really don't have anything to compare it to (I've never lived as a neurotypical). So I'm really not sure how to answer this question.

5. Do people seem to single you out just because you may think or act differently from them?
A: Yes. But it's less so in college than high school where the people are more mature and understanding.

6. Explain to me how different you believe your life is from another person’s because of the condition you have always lived with?
A: Once again, I don't know how to answer this question. I've never lived as a NT, and due to this, and compounded by my AS, it's hard to imagine living as one. So once again, I'm not sure how to answer this.

7. Do you believe there is some kind of a difference at the genetic level between a person with AS and a person without it? For example; two regular genes (RR) make a regularly functioning person. Two mutated genes (MM) cause autism. Do you believe it is some combination of regular and mutated genes (RM) that causes Asperger’s?
A: No. It is genetic, but I wouldn't call it "mutated" any more than I'd call the gene for brown eyes or dark skin "mutated". Granted, the original gene was probably NT, and therefore in the biological sense it's probably "mutated" it's no more so than the gene for whichever eye color is not the "original". (Since most apes have brown eyes, and we evolved from them, that would make anyone who does not have brown eyes "mutated". And in fact, it would make any human "mutated" since at some point the chimpanzee gene got mutated. But I digress, which I tend to do a lot. Bottom line - I believe it's genetic, and in the biological sense of the word the gene is "mutated", in the generally used sense of the word (ie "messed up") it's not so.

8. How does/did Asperger’s affect your performance in school?
A: I had good accomodations, so I got most of the help I needed. I did have a couple teachers in high school who didn't seem to understand my disability, but a lot of students had issues with these teachers. So it wasn't that they didn't get my disability, it was in one teacher's case that she was lazy and in the other's case that she was an obnoxious b**** (and note that I censored that- the forum didn't.)

9. Do you sometimes just wonder what it’s like to be “normal”, like many “abnormal” people do?
A: I wonder, but I really don't care. Just like I wonder what it would be like if I were Christian, or born in North Korea under the authoritarian regime, etc. Does that mean I desire to be "normal", Christian, or North Korean? No. I don't. (Nothing against NT's, Christians, or propagandized and starved North Koreans).

10. I found that Asperger’s Syndrome is not the advance of human civilization like some believe, but actually just another branch of the human mind’s development. What is your take on this?

A: I never said it was the next stage in evolution. It's a difference. A different way of thinking and behaving. Nothing more.

Oh, YES! I've quite forgotten something!
I apologize if I'm being overly paranoid, but it is legal for my NT pal to quote or paraphrase the responses to the survey in his report, right?

I should say it's alright. I wouldn't use usernames without permission though.

1. I think some fascinating things are being discovered, but far more research needs to be done into the whys of things (maybe the idiot shrinks should ask WHY so many of us have PTSD, depression, anxiety, whatever). And more research should be done into what our strengths are and HOW TO USE THEM. No one seems to know that last one, not even us. When we figure that out, it'll mean a quantum leap for the human race. I'd like to know if it manifests in physical appearance. I'd like better diagnostic criteria, which means we need to learn just what the essential aspects of this syndrome are. I'd like our nonverbal cues to be studied as NT cues are. I'd like some more studies into the effect of diet; we're pretty sure GFCF doesn't cure autism, but what effect DOES it have? I'd like to know if our physical and mental health is DIRECTLY affected (indirectly, GFCF means increased incidence of osteoporosis; bullying and social isolation means PTSD and depression; wasting time and effort trying to learn to communicate with NTs and look normal has predictable results... but directly?) by autism.

2. Much the same as now? Well, no. Actually, I'd have no word for it, no support system. I'd probably think I was just utterly bizarre. Left to my own devices, I'd probably assume I was definitely very different, but I wouldn't know how or what to do about it. I'd have issues because my family wouldn't understand.

3. It alleviates it. Who cares how people think of me?

4. Cons: people hate me and think I'm being rude. All. The. TIME. It gets annoying after the first, oh, fifty people write you off. So, in other words, I passed that point when I was about eight. Or maybe seven. Also, executive dysfunction which presents similarly to Inattentive ADHD. And all sorts of sounds are much more annoying to me, My choices of clothing are limited. Pros: I rarely get lonely. I never feel grief. I can get REALLY into something and become an expert on it and it's really, really wonderful. Even if it's something others would consider stupid (though just as often it's useful). I can be very precise about using the words that convey EXACTLY what I mean, not just an approximation. (That doesn't apply where there isn't a word. I wish we would study what this actually feels like so we could make words for my experience.)

5. It's not like that. It's more like, I say something reasonable, but there was a social taboo against saying it. (Like, "of course, you're just going to get dragged into a dark alley and raped and killed" or "of course racism is quite normal; people are made that way." I'm right, but you think I'm wrong and you MUST do something about it because I'm not supposed to say those things... which I found out after saying them. Oddly, people don't react as badly to my saying that I expect that I will suffer some terrible fate, which is why I expected to be met with agreement or polite dissent.) They all react with this... not precisely anger, but kind of like it. Maybe anger. I don't know. And then, sometimes, when you can't look them in the eye and you keep fidgeting, they draw the wrong conclusion. People are annoyingly imprecise but don't want to be around you when you correct them (like, "of course you won't love her forever; you'll die").

6. Indirectly, as well as directly, it's caused me to know very few people in person and a normal number online. I listen to the same song over and over again for several days straight. I see beauty in little things, like the way a little trickle of water travels along a driveway. It's probably caused so many changes I wouldn't even be me otherwise. Partly because I'd be a different person if I were NT, of course, but partly because that would have caused huge changes that would have in turn caused so many changes that... I don't know if anything would be the same.

7. You misunderstand both genetics and autism. It may be genetic, but it would almost certainly not be a single gene! Second, you use a capital for the dominant gene and a lowercase for the recessive. So it would be RR, rr and Rr. No, I do not believe that Asperger's is the incomplete dominance or codominance of a single "autism allele" because Asperger's is not being half-autistic (it's being fully autistic, with few/no serious comorbids, no speech delay or retardation and a shrink who thinks you're a crazy genius (inaccurate stereotype) rather than a ret*d (inaccurate stereotype)) and there IS NO SINGLE ALLELE THAT MAKES YOU AUTISTIC. That said, there may be a genetic component. I'm not a scientist. I haven't studied the subject.

8. Drastically, but neither up nor down. (I'd like to think, anyway, that it's not just the Asperger's getting straight As.) At least, not directly. It's tough to keep focused. Indirectly because of Asperger's, I was kept out of any school for several years. On the other hand, that gap in schooling was in some ways beneficial, even academically. And I have no social life to get in the way (except online). And I'd say I'm just naturally more interested in what others consider boring or hard. (Then again, math is very difficult.) Of course, the WAY I learn is different... but not that different. After all, I'm on here procrastinating instead of doing my homework. Seems pretty normal to me.

9. Yes, but NOT wistfully. I also wonder what it's like to be male (I'm female) and what it's like to be abnormal in other ways (schizophrenic, blind, a genius-- actually, I really ought to get tested to be sure I'm not). I want you to be clear that I wonder about this out of curiosity, NOT in a self-pitying way.

10. An Aspie is inherently no better or worse than an NT. Then again, they say people are valuable in proportion to their scarcity, and we are far more scarce than NTs, so... Actually, I take the position that we are necessary, but we are no more necessary than NTs. But any given Aspie means more than any given NT because he's a greater percentage of the Aspie population.

Permission granted to use what I have written in this thread (awareness is a GOOD thing)... but NOT my screen name. Thats irrelevant.

1. How do you feel about the point we are at with the research on Asperger’s Syndrome and exactly what needs to be looked into?

Better diagnosis would be nice.

2. How would you feel if the people of the world had absolutely no idea that your condition existed?

Very annoyed.

3. How does/did having AS add to the normal stress of being in high school?

Apart from when I was 10, I had no friends and some people bullied me.

4. What are some of the pros and cons of having Asperger’s?

Cons-Very little chance of getting a job. Pros-For me, personally, my imaginary worlds, plus I can justify to myself what I think/do.

5. Do people seem to single you out just because you may think or act differently from them?

Not so much nowdays.

6. Explain to me how different you believe your life is from another person’s because of the condition you have always lived with?

Well...I have had very few jobs, only two girlfriends (both that I met online) was a virgin until about two years ago, and only moved to a flat a couple of weeks ago.

7. Do you believe there is some kind of a difference at the genetic level between a person with AS and a person without it? For example; two regular genes (RR) make a regularly functioning person. Two mutated genes (MM) cause autism. Do you believe it is some combination of regular and mutated genes (RM) that causes Asperger’s?

Possibly.

8. How does/did Asperger’s affect your performance in school?

I still got a 2.2, but it was in History, not exactly a useful degree to have.

9. Do you sometimes just wonder what it’s like to be “normal”, like many “abnormal” people do?

Not really.

10. I found that Asperger’s Syndrome is not the advance of human civilization like some believe, but actually just another branch of the human mind’s development. What is your take on this?

I never said it was an advance.

1. How do you feel about the point we are at with the research on Asperger’s Syndrome and exactly what needs to be looked into?

This is not specific enough. I really don't understand what this question is looking for.

2. How would you feel if the people of the world had absolutely no idea that your condition existed?

most people dont. or if they have heard of it they know so little about it, to make their technical level of awareness of negligible influence

3. How does/did having AS add to the normal stress of being in high school?


Immensely. Though my experience was in this period not having a diagnosis (technically that my parents didn't take it seriously and never spoke with me about it). It was upon my entrance to high school that i suddenly realized my gaping social inadequacy. I observed people fluently interacting with each other, I attempted to participate, but for some reason my efforts got me no where. I retreated to selective mutism, and my frustration in having no understanding that their was a medical reason for my social issues, eventually lead me to self injury, and a lot of time thinking a lot of negative thoughts.

I wish someone could explain to my NT girlfriend that she will never win an argument with my... I'm tired of arguing but I don't know how to lose and she won't give up.

She's a pistol.