Aspergers and the genius/nerd stereotype

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Autism can be a distraction from being able learn particular subjects that require explanation. Some people are born with a natural ability to figure SOME things out, but there also has to be a quiet environment in which to learn from someone else or a textbook. Knowledge doesn't just appear in someone's brain at birth, there has to be a process of learning & focus -- either in school or at home with textbooks & adults able to teach or guide the student in the subjects. You could have the potential to learn math, science, technology, but just didn't have the right learning environment or good teachers/caregivers that could guide your learning.

I used to believe higher math was very difficult for me >> dropped out of a AP physics my senior year of high school, because didn't have the confidence in my ability to do well. I struggled in Trig, but managed a B+ average only because I worked very hard at it. If I had better adults to guide me in the subject I wouldn't have struggled. I know this because of my college experience with math -- got lucky with 2 grad students who were willing to tutor me when I took Calculus 1 & 2 & Physics 1 & 2. I did very well all because they did a good job guiding me. I firmly believe any person can learn anything they want to learn, with a good teacher, the right environment, awareness of your best learning style, & a willing mind.

I was never a straight A student until middle school when I started getting help, and I was never into math or science and was never good with math. I am not tech or computer smart and I have never invented anything or taken things apart to and make something new. I also certainly am not gifted and I am not a genius nor above average. My parents certainly exaggerated my intelligence and calling me a gift and that was the hard truth I had to find out I was not as smart as they made it out to be. Lot of parents exaggerate their kids intelligence and strengths. I was also academically delayed. I also had behavior and I was easily distracted and had meltdowns in class but when I was young I didn't until puberty. I wasn't too disruptive and just as long as things were going smoothly and I was calm, I was fine. It was mostly other kids who would cause them because of their chaotic behavior and not following the rules and then the teacher can't teach or it makes it harder for me to learn because of the other kids acting up. And this was a normal school, not a special needs school. Plus it would be hard for me to keep up in class because everything seemed to go too quickly like when we would correct papers and I had a slower processing speed. I could also never go geometry and autists are supposedly good at it because of their visual thinking. I can also never do spatual things in my head where you fold images to make a shape. I have to psychically do it, not in my head. I also had a hard time understanding literature because I couldn't make out what was going on in the story and learning stuff I have no interest in was also very hard. It's so boring I can't get myself to focus and concentrate on it. But I did better with facts like in History or in Spanish because it was all concrete and I did better in drama because all I had to do was memorize line and that was it. It was only the social part and group projects I found hard so that affected my grade. The reason why I found groups so boring was because I had a hard time in them so of course I would find them boring. As a child I would try and avoid group projects and would just sit there or act goofy because I was bored. Then when I got older I just sat and did nothing and only did what I was told to do. It's a common stereotype that aspies are the ring leaders and take over projects and want everything to go their way but I am the opposite. I am passive and don't like to be the leader or in the center of attention or have people hating me. I also read late. I was also never a little professor. In fact I was seen as slow and ret*d by my peers and scored low on IQ tests in the mildly ret*d range.

Saying someone isn't a good candidate for ASD is almost saying they don't have an ASD. That's how it sounds to me when someone says it like they are telling them they don't have it. But the OP was asking if anyone else here doesn't fit the ASD stereotype.

Sorry, my bad, I got the OP mixed up with someone else who posted something else on a completely different thread

I think the stereotype now is that we're all rude, creepy, unpleasant, selfish, cold-blooded murderers that will commit the next mass murder or school shooting. I liked it a whole lot better when people thought we were just geeks and nerds.

I don't fit the nerd stereotype. I'm more of a Schultz. I have an IQ that low average to average and I can be easily duped sometimes. I also do other cute Sid things that I don't realize until people tell me. Things like making facial expressions while others talk or struggling with my eye-contact. I also cry easily when I have a meltdown.

Sheldon Cooper is pretty much an "Aspie Stereotype."

He's no cold-blooded murderer---he's just rather unpleasant (and nerdy/geeky).

I truly hope people don't believe Aspies are all like Sheldon.