Does the average person know what Asperger’s syndrome is?

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Almost nobody I disclosed to were familiar with asperger's

Many had a stereotyped answer. "My neighbors son is autistic. He goes to a special school. I don't think you are autistic"

They don't even know that autism is a diagnosis



With the exception of my parents, nobody was willing to look it up

They don't have to look it up. Neither bribery nor extortion is involved.


Everyone has a right to be rude

Not everyone is having sex with the boss

If people have relatives with Asperger's they have a better understanding.
Sadly, despite the condition being in the mainstream for over 20 years there are still those who don't.
Some people will bear with you on the phone if you tell them you are autistic and need more time, then there are others who claim to understand it but get a bit shirty with you.

I would expect that if an "Average Person" had heard of Asperger's Syndrome they would more likely than not have an incorrect impression of it. The "Average Person" might have developed an incompletely-educated opinion based upon the Aspies they are aware of--missing some Aspies who were better at hiding in plain sight, passing as merely being a bit odd.

Whenever I talk about autism with people they are alarmed like it's terrible if it's about a child, or they think it's mental retardation.
No one knows, my uncle said it would be unfair for a person with autism be in a class with his son because he would pull back the lesson and not learn as fast. Keep asking questions. So it's really a lot of misinformation here in Romania.

Asperger's was an alien word to me until I got a gf on the spectrum from USA. All people I've known are on spectrum are from USA, so im guessing they're doing pretty well diagnosing and awareness. And it probably is very broadly unknown here. A very small amount of people believe in Psychologists here. Only insane people go to psychologists and aunt is freaked out to go for this reason. She wants an energy fixer. Right, science is to wipe butt with but superstition is at home here.

Some people I meet have, others have not.

With regards to having a good understanding, well this would take a fair amount of study. So unless the people you meet have a close relative with ASD or work in a specialist area, then for the most part people including doctors are fairly clueless.

This is why when i meet some people, i explain to them that i suffer from Asperger Syndrome.
Sometimes I need to when i explain in conversation that I am hypersensitive to sound.
As that doesn't make much sense to people.

I figure that if you explain to people that you have Asperger Syndrome / ASD, then the curious or considerate types,
will read up a little about it and through this, we may help society educate themselves on the subject.

If they don't know by now what it is, they're uninformed and oblivious to the world, in other words; ignorant, or if they do have an idea, it's from 1 dimensional media portrayals, the geek, the nerd, the scientist, the awkward, into some obscure niche interest ( trekkies e.g.) no social skills having monotone clutz.

Personally i have an uncanny detection of autistic traits and personalities. But most people, i suppose... it's not on their radar.

Yes
them too.

After awhile of considering the knowledge/experiences of average people regarding High Functioning Autism (HFA), it's not surprising to get the feeling of "spinning our wheels!"

Personally, I prefer to become acquainted with NTs (or NT-like people with HFA) whose experiences with HFA adult clientele are largely professional.

The best bets here may be with staff who serve university / grad-school level students with HFA -that is people who are also open to acquainting with people informally - unrelated to university / grad-school level clientele.

Anybody have experiences with becoming acquainted with thoughtful people experienced with HFA? If yes, consider yourself lucky - that is, quality people are hard to find, and almost as hard to retain!

Personally, I feel that such acquaintances would "break the ice" so to speak!

Where I come from even the so-called experts think of autism as a less severe form of mental retardation. When I was tested I was told that I communicated too well verbally & seemed too inteligent to have autism. I was then told that I had Aspergers but it was due to Schizoid Personality Disorder instead of anthing on the autism spectrum

Lots of laymen who know the words Autism or Aspergers know about em from online & they have a very negative opionion of em. There's sites where people b!tch & rant about how horribly abusive an "Aspie" or "autistic"in their life was. I wonder if the complainers are self-diagnosing their abuser or if the complainers are the 1s who really have issues & are projecting. On some sites the word Autism is slang for trolling. Mods & admins say things like "Post was deleted for autism" or "User was banned for autism".

I sure will NOT mention autism or Aspergers offline to people who are not family, not medical or mental professionals, or not people who who seem to have an understanding about autism is(like mentining it might be OK if someone mentions having it or having a relative who does).

Even if people know about Asperger's/autism they don't usually get what it actually is. If you aren't the stereotype of Asperger's/autism most people wont believe that you have it. A lot of people don't think I have autism because their preconceptions about it are children that have intense, unmissable struggles with verbal communication and who hate being around people, being touched, etc. and make absolutely no eye contact. I don't always seem off in my "own world" as an adult and I don't seem mentally ret*d so they just think I'm messing with them if I have to mention it for any reason.

In my experience it is the so-called experts who don't believe that I have autism or Aspergers. The psychiatrist I saw when I was 20 & the one I started seeing last year both mentioned that they thought I was autistic during my 1st appointment with em. However the experts who test for autism & the organizations who provide supports & services for people with autism did not believe that I was on the spectrum & it prevented me from qualifying for various supports & services. However the average person on the street who has heard of autism or Aspergers before very likely would believe that I am on the spectrum if I would tell them but then they would want nothing to do with me. The average person thinks autism & Aspergers are like the guy in the movie Rain Man or someone who is a Narcissistic psychopath. Basically me telling a random person that I have autism or Aspergers would cause them to think I am too ret*d to function or they would think I'm some dangerous abuser. Either way me telling somebody on the street that I'm autistic would have the same affect as me approaching somebody on the street & getting rite in their face & telling them that I have Covid, they'd freak out & want to get as far away from me as possible.

Well, to me, you're just a little bunny.

People who are not average know what it is...

It does often seem like other people are able to pick up that there is something "up" with me (whether they believe it's autism or not), but professionals are quick to doubt that I have autism/some other issue. Maybe professionals who deal with autism just see so many cases of "severe" autism that their standard for thinking someone is autistic is a lot higher than other peoples would be. I have noticed though that professionals who believe I may have autism are a lot more respectful to me than regular people because they know more about it. They don't always act like I'm stupid or treat me like a child.

ADDENDUM: As discussed in above post, let's not spend too much time (from HFA perspectives) asking how much (or how little) the average person understands Aspergers. After all, "it is what it is!"

It might be best to "break the ice" by becoming acquainted with NTs (or NT-like people with HFA) -- who both understand HFA in adults from thoughtful professional experiences, and are receptive to becoming acquainted with people with HFA on an informal basis.

In short, important experiences for thoughtful NTs and those concerned with HFA alike!

After all, why let "chance and accident" alone determine whether or not those concerned with HFA become acquainted with thoughtful NTs??

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Should covert Aspies be more open about their status--to possibly educate NTs that Asperger's Syndrome might not be exactly what they think it is?