Asperger's and natural distasters

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In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, I was wandering, are there any studies to show the short term and long term studies of asperger's people who have survived a natural disaster? Even though many knew the hurricane was comming, how does an AS person deal with a sudden change in their life because their homes and livelyhoods got destroyed? How about natural disasters that are harder to predict, like earthquakes and tsunamis?

I would think with such a major disruption in the life of an aspie, many of them would be at a loss of what to do, especially if they found themselves stranded and on their own.

Hey, is there anyway Wrongplanet.net can do something to help any aspies affected by the hurricane?

WP could use a link on the front page to the Red Cross to donate money for disaster relief.

And to think of how confused and lost I was when I didn't know where I could go as a quiet place during lunch today...I'd better hope for my life that I never get stuck in a situation like that.

How bout helping everybody not JUST aspies! c'mon don't you think we're being a little self centered?

Here's a link for slightly larger donations. I'm sure there are many others and also those which are more specific. I wouldn't mind donating to animal rescue as well.

http://www.mercycorps.org/

Aspies and NTs would probably feel a good deal of grief in such a case as what's happened in la Nouvelle Orléans. Since people with Asperger's tend to have more trouble with change, though, the effects of having to relocate may be a little more stressful than for most NTs, but NTs wouldn't really be suffering any less.

I'm sorry guys, but I simply must point out that the hurricane will have affected MANY people, Aspies and NT's alike. I can't help but think that devistation on such a big scale would affect all people in an equally severe way, albeit a different way. I think that ALL people affected will be struggling with loss...

That might be pointless, because if the National Guard can't get supplies in there fast, the abandoned pets are going to get eaten.

I don't think that it is fair to make generalizing statements when talking about such a devastating disaster. The magnitude of distress is surely overwhelming for many people that are affected, it's not "just another change" that they are dealing with. Each person's situation is different, but it is very wrong to imply that NTs suffer less.

Regardless, we need to at least help these people out to those affected, aspie or NT. I wish we could do something on wrongplanet.net to help these people out. Everyone who grew up in the deep South has probably been to or through New Orleans at least once in their lives. They need help.

I guess this is me being non-empathetic. People are treating this like a huge disaster and I grant that it is for the people who live there but we are a rich country and could afford to rebuild a city. Harder to rebuild in a poor country like where the tsunami hit.
I am not trolling, though I worry it will sound that way. I just wonder why it takes a so called disaster to get people to help each other.
This seems pretty universal. Guess we are hard wired for it. Makes me wonder what happened to my wiring? Some people on this site seem able to connect with people they don't know. How do you do it?

well, we're aspies after all.

I cannot speak for anyone else on this matter, but for myself, I think that a large part of the expression of words of remorse in relation to things happening to other people whom I have never met is a technique I was brow-beaten into emitting when considerably younger. Some people have actually called me a 'psychopath'; not because I revelled in the misfortunes of others, but merely because I was less pliant in terms of being manipulated by the 'news'-gathering media and the idle chit-chat about natural disasters going on around me.

I do not revel in the misery and misfortune of people I have never even met, on the other hand though, I see little point in turning the unpreventable misfortunes of others into my own personal Turbo-Charged Histrionic Soap Box.

Yes, yes and yes.
I missed the brow beating part - my parents just took away holiday gifts for each transgression. I made a decision to not get attached to the idea of gifts, because I couldn't do the tea and sympathy part. Still can't.
However, I had this response when the towers fell and I did learn that I should not talk to people about being impressed about how they fell straight down. The loss of life was nowhere near some other disasters. The fact that no other buildings were hit astounds me. I worried briefly about my family members who worked in the area, but nothing could be done so I went back to work.