My issues with the greater autism community.

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By no means am I attacking anyone personally, and if anyone sees it this way, I would hope that a moderator locks this topic and fast.

Lately, I've found myself more and more repulsed by other auties and Aspies. In general, I know several, on here and on Facebook who drown their lives in autism. There's more to life than our conditions. Let me paraphrase a (semi-celebrity) crush: Autism doesn't define me, yes, it's part of who I am. But there's more to me than my autism/Asperger's. Yes, I do understand that there are some, even on Facebook, who have it a LOT worse than I have it.

From a Facebook post this morning:

When did "creepy" become another "r" type word? I didn't know what "creepy" was offensive! My challenge to my fellow WPers: find words in the English lexicon that are synonymous for "creepy".

Third: I still don't get how you can have been a member here for a year and have 30,000 posts. Just don't get it.

And lastly: the Âû Facebook Fad: As almost all of you know, Âû is short for the invisible Autism Union (or is it Autism United), which I see as no more than a FAD. I'm all for autism solidarity, but I'm not going to have it tattooed. There is more to my life than having an autism diagnosis: my friends and family, my interests, my passions.

I'm sorry for this rant, but I do need to question the autism community on these things. This (and I STATE THIS CLEARLY) is not an attack on anyone, but more questioning the mentality of our community. Or am I just being totally unfair?

There is nothing wrong with that. When you have something like Autism, it affects your entire way of being. But it doesn't define you entirely. If it did, we would all act the exact same way. And we do just the opposite, if you meet one Autistic, you've met only one.

SOme people get deeper and deeper involved in the Autistic Community for many reasons, I talk here alot because people are more likely to understand what I am saying, it's easier to get my point across.

I am Aspergers. Aspergers isn't me.

(Oh my gosh that was an awesome quote)

"Creepy" is an r-word for some people. I've gotten harassed by law enforcement and whatnot for being "creepy". "Creepy" may not affect you but it doesn't mean it doesn't affect other people.

What is r-word?

ret*d or ret*d?

Well, I'm a bit unclear on just what you're having such an issue with, but then I don't spend much time on FaceBook because I find the crowd there to be tedious, so perhaps I've missed something.

However, I think it's a form of denial to minimize the influence that autism has on an autistic person's life and personality. It is a neurological dysfunction - a portion of the brain is wired differently than the average - not completely randomly, though there is a randomness to the severity of the dysfunction, thus the "spectrum," but essentially the 'alternate wiring schematic' is basically the same for anyone with this particular dysfunction, that's why it has a diagnostic designation.

That said, every experience that you have, from moment-to-moment throughout your entire life is colored by that alternate wiring. It affects the way you "see" the world, the way you "see" other people, the way you interpret each and every sensation that passes your way. It may not BE your entire personality, certainly those individual experiences themselves, environmental influences and other genetic factors contribute as they do with anyone, to the complex whole that makes up an individual. But all those things pass through that same filter - making it a HUGE influence on just WHO you become. It may not DEFINE you utterly, but it's a very big piece of the puzzle, because that neuro-filter is working away 24/7, whether you're consciously thinking about it or not.

The neurological filter of autism gives the autistic person a specific set of 'goggles' through which to view their entire lives and those 'goggles' are virtually identical for anyone whose brain has autistic wiring. So, while we do not all look and behave like clones or mass-produced robots, we do all have very similar experiences due to the sameness of our handicaps.

And the rest of the world has absolutely NO CLUE what those alternate experiences are like, much less how difficult they can be. Nor do they care. So some degree of 'solidarity' in supporting each other is very important. For me personally, WP is enough. I've never heard of Autism United, but I've never been a cheerleader, so joining Rah-Rah clubs doesn't appeal to me. OTOH, I do feel it's important to advocate for Autism Awareness in the real world, until the general public finally begins to get a glimmer of understanding of just what Autism is and WHY it's a real disability. Right now they only know the word, but it's meaning is still a mystery. Problem is, it's kind of a complicated set of handicaps and long explanations bore people. So advocacy needs to be subtle, yet compelling - even entertaining.

I'm happy to see more and more High Functioning Autistic characters in fictional television, but it annoys me that the writers and producers often won't admit that they're depicting an autistic person, out of fear of offending anyone. I'm more offended that they treat it like something to be shamefully hidden from open discussion.

I hadn't noticed 'creepy' becoming anything other than the mild insult it always was, but it certainly doesn't help that a lot of ignorant news journalists are using autism and Asperger Syndrome in particular as a catchall scapegoat for every otherwise motiveless violent crime that comes down the pike.

Well said. No two autistics are alike. For instance, although I am mediocre at it, I am quite outgoing and on occasion the life of the party! It affects me in numerous ways and has been a source of difficulty, but it doesn't stop me from living a fulfilling life.



It's kind of an r-word for me, but it's the best term I can think of. Disturbing is no less offensive.

That's what I was getting at.

Furthermore, I can't be the only one who sees it as deeply ironic that an Autistic guy is questioning the rhetoric of an Autistic group on a social network built for everyone else - you know, the very same people who tweet all day about the latest deranged violence. I'm HFA, I got rid of my Facebook and when I had it I absolutely never would've alluded to my condition there; too much sensationalism. All we're really discussing here is high-pressure environments and dumb reactions therein.

What does "drown their lives in autism" mean? When I read that, I'm imagining people who like to discuss, research, or think about autism. And someone who likes to discuss, research, or think about autism doesn't necessarily think of autism as defining them. It can simply be a very strong interest, like any other subject.

My father has always had a dislike for people who make dwelling on their problems in an unproductive way into their hobby (ie not researching to manage better or to become a good advocate, but simply ruminating on as many negatives as can be found and giving those negative aspects more attention than is perhaps healthy). I think we, with our tendency towards special interests and sometimes depression, are potentially vulnerable to that type of behaviour. I wondered if the OP was referring to something along those lines.

The thing is that autistic people are likely to become obsessive about specific topics and perseverate on things. Therefore it makes sense that at-least some of us become obsessed with our condition and it becomes our whole lives when we set out to learn about it or meet others with the same disorder ect. It's a very autistic thing to do.

The most recent member on WP with more than 30,000 posts is Cornflake, who signed on Oct 31, 2010. That's almost 3 years ago.

First off all I don't know how you can not know that creepy is insulting (Unless I'm Uncle Fester).

Second, if you don't want to come off sounding creepy yourself, you might not want to start a thread claiming you are repulsed by Autistic people because they aren't like you and OMG NO! they take a different view of the Autism than you take of yours. I see you're just 22, so I'm just passing that hint along to you.

I don't think that math accuracy was his point.
I think his point was something about an amazingly high posting output.

Precisely. I've spoken to people publicly about being on the spectrum, showing parents that having a child on the spectrum is not a black mark for life. For instance, I'm a college graduate, have some (I wish it were more) dating experience, that I try to live a fulfilling life. Things make that challenging, but I try not to give up.