At the risk of being offensive...

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I never claimed to know more than the medical professionals about AS. Please don't twist my words.

Because I'm out to prove that it isn't, and discuss my thoughts with people who agree with me. (And debate them with people who disagree.)

Why else would my mother and father bothered to claim Disability Living Allowance for me if I'm not disabled by law, Yupa?

For the simple reason is that I would be disabled in society without it.

Yeah, I get that much, but you might want to explain how exactly you'd be disabled in society?

Wow, you certainly got some nerve for stating that.

I'm not even going to bother with this anymore.

OK. Sorry about that.

Look, I don't enjoy being on £65 a week -- one of the main reasons why I'm so frequently depressed. I feel as though as if I'm robbing the taxpayers' money for not trying hard enough in life. But my parents have reassured me time and time again that it's not my fault that I'm autistic and cannot cope within a job environment, which I have subjected myself to because I'm afraid of people who might preceive me to be some sort of scrounger over a condition that they do not understand because it's not visible. I don't want both stigma from people who are like me and people who don't understand me.

If people are against me being on benefits, I'm more than happy to stop claiming them if I feel that I've done wrong on society. I mean that.

However, even though I'm currently not working, that does not mean that I won't plan to in future. At home, I'm currently learning French and German, as well as other skills to help me find a job when I'm ready and confident.

I have read the books by the above mentioned authors and they are all different. I adore reading and will read anything on a subject I am interested in.

However, this site in itself has some really good material worth reading. It has it all really. I only found this site after I had read those books, and it was quite a relief, as the input is continuous, unlike a book.

Is this about the fact that Donna Williams came in, posted to promote her new website, then left? Cos that seems rather unfair in my opinion.

For those of us who haven't read her best seller 'Nobody Nowhere', let me set the record straight. It is a book written by her, about her. Like every other authour, she has a right to write about herself. She mentions in her book what a difficult time she had allowing her book to be published. I don't blame her: she put herself into that book and exposed herself and her sacred haven to the world. Why? Possibly among other reasons, because she wished to be a voice for other people who couldn't do what she did. Me personally, I'm incredibly grateful that someone who had so much difficulty managed to make the effort to express herself. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who struggles. As for people like Donna charging for speaking in public, damn straight! People without a disability charge money to give presentations, so why shouldn't people WITH a disability? (Bearing in mind that a person with a disability invariably needs to spread their budget further to cover costs of medication, special diets, therapists, the works). If Donna didn't have Autism but had studied and learnt about it, she would be expected to charge money. And yet, when this knowledge comes from within her, and is personal and I'm sure at times very difficult to share with the public, we expect her to do this for free, as a favour?

Donna is just one example. What I say of her stands for all people. I have been immensly encouraged to read things written by Wendy Lawson, and I in no way begrudge her for charging to have her book published, and even less because of the amount of emotional effort involved in getting their lives down on paper.