Are you ILL with Asperger's?

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When I asked for a social worker for counseling or help at the municipality (I was referred by the Autism dept.) they asked me if I was ill. When I said no, they said they couldn't help. I can only get help from them if I say, she told me, that "I'm ill with Asperger's".

When I said I'm not ILL, she said that I do suffer from AS, then I'm ill. I said "no, I suffer from people's ignorance, not from the AS."

If you've been anywhere for help/counseling/advice for your life, did you refer to yourself as ILL with Asperger's?

I'm affected with autistic "disorder," but I'm not ill.

What's the difference between disorder and illness?

being ill, for me means being sick. And the term mentally ill means mentally sick. I.E a bit crazy/not thinking clearly. Nerological difference is not being mentally ill in the same way, that being pysically disabled is not being ill. If you are dyslexic, you are not ill, if you have ADHD you are not ill. You just dont work the same way as the majority and its that which makes you disabled because everything is geared towards the majority. If you cant do something that most other people can do, you have a disability, or a disorder you are are not ill. IMO this person you speak of needs educating.

You explained it wonderfully, thank you Quinster!

I don't think "ill" is the right word on purely technical terms, but as to suffering, most definately.

I mean, calling it "people's ignorance" seems a little strange to me when they're essentially just following their human social nature.

I do largely blame myself, or rather the AS I suffer from, for difficulties with people because I don't expect the human race to adapt to me. Yet I find myself unable to adapt to them.

Dean, unlike you, I don't suffer from AS at all.

I suffer from people's reactions to it.

Without the AS there would be nothing to react to.

How do people react that makes you suffer? To be fair, how do you expect them to reasonably react?

I think they meant that they can only help you if you have problems that have to do with Aspergers/Autism.

Last edited by Sarafina7 on 31 Aug 2009, 8:29 am, edited 1 time in total.

Ill isn't the word I'd use either, because then I'd have been ill my whole life and that sort of implies a lower state of functioning then how I am (I function fine, I just don't have friends). I would say that I have a disorder though and it's the disorder that causes problems, not other ppl. At the same time it feels sort of weird because I can't even clearly say where I end and the AS symptoms begin. I mean, ppl can be clumsy and socially awkward without any disorder, too. Honestly, I can't even imagine HOW someone with AS could be helped by therapy either way. I've been to shrinks several times who knew I had AS and they never helped me any.

Oh, I understand now.

I suffer from Jewishness, then. And my friend Sam suffers from blackness, and my neighbor Sheila suffers from homosexuality, because these things make ignorant people hurt us and outcast us lots of times.

Anything that is genuinely you, part of the wonderful person you are, if it makes ignorants react negatively to you as a person, then you have to say that you suffer from your wonderful you.

That's why Hitler set out to exterminate us - to erradicate antisemitism.

Last edited by Greentea on 31 Aug 2009, 8:19 am, edited 1 time in total.

That's opposite to what she said when she called to apologize for her ignorance after I sent a formal complaint to iriat-ta.

That's not even remotely comparable to this. To be honest, after a Godwin I believe the poster tends to lose much of their credibility.

It's wrong to say they're ignorant. Humans are social creatures, but we suffer from something that negatively affects our social skills. It's no more the NT's fault than it is our fault.

What did she say? (You can PM it if you don't want to write it here)

I think that no one suffers from Asperger syndrome. What aspies suffer from is living in an institutionally aspiphobic neurotypical society. A cold is an illness so is the flu, cancer,AIDS,etc these make one sick and therefore are illnesses that is plain and simple enough. Autistic spectrum conditions, learning disability (such as Down syndrome) physical disability are not illnesses and no one sees them as such. Neurotypical people do about autistic people including Asperger syndrome people.

They make opinions about things which they do not know anything about. Someone thought I was ill which I am not and I thought the person was an idiot.What disables Asperger syndrome people are neurotypicals and their bigotry/discrimination which can exist even in the families of Asperger syndrome people ourselves. If Asperger syndrome people were given fully inclusive civil rights and of course antidiscriminatory legislation along side the understanding that we need not for just the young ones and treating the older aspies like second class citizens but all equally. People should not call Autistic spectrum conditions illnesses as these are not and it is illogical to assume they are.

It is a sign of a lack of intelligence and/or aspiphobia to assume that AS is an illness as that does not leave you feeling sick and needing to be in bed for a couple of days or so. I find thaat attitude very condescending towards aspies and most neurotypical people even if they are well meaning are very patronising.

"Ill" with Asperger's? Hm, that was new, never heard that before, but I admit it made me laugh.

But I do have heard AS mentioned as a sickness. Which I won't call it either.

A disorder, maybe - with certain aspects of unusual order?