I am an adult with AS and also a recovering alcoholic. I have attended hundreds of AA meetings over the years, in very different places, different ages, lifestyles, length of sobriety, etc etc. The meat of AA (the 12 Steps, Sponsorship, meditation, Higher Power) have worked great in keeping me sober over the years, but it's the COMMUNITY aspect of AA that is the main factor for me now. I am not alone. I can go online in any city in the world and find AA and a link to daily meetings. I think this is hugely a factor of normalization for me. I am not weird, weak-willed, a loser, deadbeat.......AA has people of low, high and middle social standings. The very existence of AA makes it difficult for me to BLAME myself for my addiction to alcohol. Anyway, I sure wish there was someplace I could go similarly for my Aspergers. I crave normalization. As it stands now, I go to work believing that I have to hide my AS characteristics. Imagine a deaf person (God forbid) for a moment.........the pain of not being able to hear is bad enough. Now imagine that you had to hide your deafness at work (I'm not sure why I keep using work as an example, just that my AS plays a big role in my work challenges daily).....that you were afraid someone might find out!! The reality is, of course, that if a person is "hearing challenged", he or she can learn to use an alternate language (signing). He or she is pretty much accepted into society. Sure people get kind of freaked out, but there is little negative stigma associated. I just wish there was a place (yes this forum is "a place" but I am essentially doing isolated typing here - I will never meet any of you, we cannot face-to-face discuss HOW IT FEELS to be who we are on a daily basis like AA does) where we could go and "hang out." To see other AS folks in the flesh. That hurts. As it is, I have the challenges of having AS and I also lack the freedom to "be me".
03 Jan 2015, 2:36 pm
for supporting trump. Because doing so is deplorable.
