Is there anyone here who is African American or Jamican?

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And do you any of you experience racism as well as prejudice against your aspergers as well?

My wife is from Trinidad.

She doesn't believe too much in Asperger's.

She's experienced racism, yet has successfully transcended it.

Is she black? How dark is her skin?

She doesn't believe in Asperger's? Do you mean she doesn't believe it's a "thing," or doesn't believe that you're an Aspie? Either way, that must make for some tense moments at home.

Her skin is medium brown. She's primarily of African descent (though with some Europeans in her ancestry). She considers herself "black." People in the street would consider her "black," too.

She doesn't believe in the concept of Asperger's. She has some belief in the concept of autism. She believes people who have social difficulties could overcome them through willpower.

^Meh. Trinidadians can be so closed-minded. I should know because I'm one.

Well I'm neither African American or Carribean but I am of African descent - I have experienced racism and prejudice for my skin colour, on top of that my odd behaviour does not help my case. In terms of prejudice in regards to my autism, I feel that the black community unfortunately deems autism (or any kind of cognitive disorder for that matter) to be a "white people's problem" and it is something that cannot exist amongst black people, thus is especially prevelant within the African community. If my parents chose to stay in Zimbabwe I am adamant that they would have tried to pretend that me and my brother never had autism and out of ignorance they'd probably hope we got better... I still encounter ignorance on a daily basis with individuals who believe autism doesn't exist.

im african american and also autistic. im always being told that "black people cant have autism -- thats a white person thing" it makes me angry how quick people are willing to dismiss how my brain functions becuse im black! its hell

I'm Jamaican and African American (Jamaican on my dad's side and Jamaican grandfather on my mom's side).

Oh man I thought no one on this forum would ask. A lot of Autistic/Aspie places seem to be filled with middle to upper middle class suburban White people, they say I would remind them of an Aspie they know until I reveal I'm Black.

Since Elementary school other Black kids would call me an oreo because of the way I spoke and even made fun of my Aspie quirks.

I learned at a Autism research center that African Americans get diagnosed at much lower rates and much more later into their lives in other words I wouldn't have been diagnosed at 16 if I was White I would of had a higher chance at being diagnosed at around age 10. Blacks tend to stigmatize mental health, so it is not just autism but a lot of other neurological conditions go unnoticed in the Black community because they're either just "crazy" or church will somehow fix it.

People usually assume I'm a hyper masculine aggressive Black male that speaks in ebonics with a deep loud voice, listen to rap music and spend my time playing ball. Because of this I usually have people trying to "test" me because I act atypical to what they expect. So yes I experience racism blatantly thanks to being Autistic. It made me realize how racist everyone is even in the 21st century. I wore my dad's Jamaican flag shirt one time and some Dominicans I worked with on a summer job immediately treated me different as in they were very suspicious of me I was about 15 at the time. I learned that some people try to make the race/ethnicity they were born into their whole identity and become stereotypes and unfortunatel negative stereotypes are taken in as well.

No matter how obvious my traits are to other people they think I'm just trying to be annoying or a smart ass. I was stimming one time (bouncing my left leg) and someone asked me if I was on drugs. Others accused me of being arrogant because I used words that they didn't understand, I didn't have conversations with them (I simply didn't care for what they talked about), and I would try to "show off" how much I know on a subject in class (in other words talk a lot about my special interests just happen to be educational).

Other times people would try to make me their personal clown when I did something they considered weird they would ask me to do it again for their friends. Some people just ask me to talk so they could laugh at my monotone.

I bet you're from the NYC area, SnailHail!

I've been fortunate to have enough experience to know that people of African heritage come in all shapes and sizes, just like people of European heritage.

The exact same experience plus some SnailHail.... and to no surprise Kraftiekortie, I am from the NYC area. I guess it's just the way New Yorkers are.

I believe the black INTJ community understands this struggle as well.

You could only find a small amount of black asipes about 3-4 years on the web, nice to see how many are coming out from almost everywhere.

There are actually a decent amount of black people on this Site.