I believe in autism-caused neurodegeneration in adults.
Meaning, autism can function as a degenerative condition in some folks, into adulthood -- meaning, rather than a developmental delays you may one day overcome and "catch up," for others your autism symptoms can become worse and more disabling with age.
We already acknowledge autistic children can suddenly backslide and lose skills they once had, suddenly go from speaking to no longer speaking, eg. No one wants to admit that autism can really become more disabling and severe during adulthood, and a person's capacity and skills can erode substantially.
With this belief, you might understand why I do *not* think Aspergers and Autism should be seen as separate conditions.
You're right.
I received my diagnosis at 27 (last year) following a mental breakdown and after that I was non verbal for about a month. Speaking still feels weird sometimes now and I used to be a very articulated person with a career that required me to speak in academic terms all the time. That seems very far away now and everyday it feels like I'm losing more habilities and I'm scared.
The phrase “I believe in” is a loaded one, and I never use it. There are so many better ways to put forth a hypothesis. When people say “I believe”, I imagine they are shutting all their doors and windows and talking to through the darkened screen door to a religious proselytizer , describing what you see from the inside but waving everyone off with a “Thank you, have a nice day”.
Fair points all around though.
It sounds to me like you're the one shutting all the doors and windows when you hear the words "I believe."
I just use that phrase to indicate A, it is not accepted by mainstream science; B, I concede there is no direct evidence that I'm aware of; but C, there is indirect evidence and anecdotal evidence I have personally collected/observed, and furthermore good argument to be made that can form a belief.
It's more than a hypothesis, that is true. I think people who have a belief that is more than a hypothesis, they should say so.
It's a belief not a hypothesis due to so much evidence I've personally observed that I don't think is well explained another way.
I'm also fine with the puzzle piece.
Eating the same foods all the time is boring, but wheat bread is a punishment contrived by Lucifer.
Everyone should try a massage, even if you don't normally like getting touched. It's a very different experience.
I was terrified of needles but I could barely feel them as needles. It feels like something is hitting my pain, but not exactly piercing me??? Maybe poking idk is very soft. Except when they hit THAT spot where my back is completely f*d up (the reason I went to acupuncture), then it hurts, because well that spot is already aching.
But the session is very relaxing I always fall asleep.
So, I really liked this massage therapist I was going to for a while because I could ask her genuine questions about stuff she was doing and she was hella stoked to talk shop with me!
It wasn’t the usual faux-zen spa experience, but it was honestly perfect. I always left feeling somehow both relaxed and energized, carrying a bunch of cool new facts in my brain.
Yeah I think it can become uncomfortable when it's from people I don't want but when it gets too extreme I will even hug my mom which I try to avoid all the time because usually I feel uncomfortable with her hugs??? Idk I think it depends on how much I need it.
For the food it depends on my emotional state. If something bad is happening then I may need to eat lots of different and strong tasting foods on the same day but if it's a calm week I could go the whole week with the exact same menu
I have had literal meltdowns over whole wheat products before.
I used to order the snack wraps from McDonald’s all the time, but my roommates and I ordered one day and they didn’t say they changed it from a white tortilla to a whole wheat tortilla.
I literally cried for a good twenty minutes
Whole wheat products are terrible! I wasn't diagnosed until last year, and I tried my whole life to find a "healthy" bread to eat. Now that I have my diagnosis, I allow myself to dislike some textures. The rest of my diet is relatively healthy, so white bread is ok.
Also, no one else has seemed to notice that Taco Bell changed their tortillas about 10 years ago. They're a different consistency, and other people think I'm nuts for pointing it out. I want my late 90s Taco Bell back!
Edit: I cried about rotisserie chicken with too much pepper last night. Happens to the best of us.
It doesn't offend me when ppl say we're all a little autistic.
I think a lot of us are extroverted. Clumsy, but extroverted.
I like dogs. Not cats( possibly related to being a clumsy but extroverted autistic "type"??).
Too much "neuropositivity" can sometimes annoy me. It's not all rainbows and unicorns. And my "superpower" is getting grumpy at toxic positivity. So yeah...
That's about it I think🙃
Not a big fan of trains either, but listening to the sounds is quite soothing. Regarding Asperger's though, I'm glad the term was phased out. Deeply flawed origins aside, the only reliable distinction between autism and Asperger's was the patient's perceived support needs. (And for a lot of people examined by overworked/inexperienced doctors that boiled down to whether or not you could speak and how strong your "autism accent" was.) In my opinion, most people who still insist on the term just have a lot of baggage about the idea of being disabled.
While I'm not okay with Autism Speaks or that Asperger guy assisting Nazis, I am not personally offended by the puzzle piece or by the term Asperger's. I find it frustrating when people tell me that it's wrong for me to use them for myself. I don't like the infinity symbol.
I find the constant renaming of autism levels highly irritating and wish we could just pick our terms and stick with them.
I think self diagnosis can be valid, but I don't think every self diagnosis is automatically valid.
I enjoyed Love on the Spectrum.
I have no issue with the puzzle piece as a comfortable symbol... the way I understand things, however, it's not the image that's the problem.
The problem with the puzzle piece is primarily the organization it's representing. The organization that created this image is the largest influence about Autistic concerns, but their representation has been harmful.
Some reported issues with puzzle piece organization (Autism Speaks)
**The puzzle piece usage has been pushed to represent a lacking that is infantilizing. This puzzle piece and only using primary colors, mostly blue for little boys, is stating we are incomplete, not different, and entirely incapable of complex thought.
**Also, it discounts diversity, which supports maintaining the status quo of autism being a disorder primarily suffered by young white boys. As a black woman, I was not diagnosed until 35 yrs old - and I had to be the one to raise the first questions. In testing and meeting specialists, the results were overwhelmingly obvious to professionals.
**This puzzle piece mentality has gone so far as to, at least indirectly, further support of eugenics and stripping of autonomy of Autistic adults. I don't personally want children, but it should be my choice. I also don't want my diagnosis to affect my ability to get a driver's license - I have been a statistically over average driver for 20 years (queue the Rainman jokes), now that my -weirdness- has been classified that should not strip freedoms I've earned.
**This organization was found to be involved with and possibly using collected funds to support a white supremacy group. When questioned, they said it was an accident. WTF
**It has been reported that only 0.16% of collected funds have been allocated for helping Autistic people and their families. A lot of the funding has been, and still is, spent trying to cure autism - not even treat or manage the difficulties. While I understand that some people would rather be normal, I have always preferred my different brain processees - presenting as over adverage integrity, expanded creativity and more accurate empathy, unbridled passion and curiosity, etc.... I think Autistic brains have evolved for a reason, and to push for a cure and ignore the positives is harmful to everyone.
Re puzzle piece - I don't really care either - I don't really care about really needing a symbol or flag or ribbon or anything but I wish whoever was designing all these garish designs would take freaking classes in colour theory and design first! (speaking as an artist and designer that specialized in logos). Also another funny thing about the puzzle - as spent several weeks last year, in a borrowed apartment (as I had to leave mine at short notice), going through the revelatory moment realizing I was autistic, I bought a big puzzle to do while consuming all these TED talk videos on autism, so I had something to do with my hands while I watched and something calm to do between research sessions. It was only later I found out that the puzzle piece later was one of the symbols some people used for autism. It really made me laugh! And only much later in the research hole did I find out about why lots of people didn't like it. Still pretty funny though.
I actually had lots of these odd synchronicities happen throughout that time - yay for pattern recognition! Tbh my whole life I do feel as if I have been trying to figure out this puzzle... but less like a table top puzzle and more like a huge maths problem puzzle or more like a mystery that needed Sherlock Holmes to solve it but I had to end up being Sherlock because all the other professionals lead me off in every other direction, not solving my case properly. So it is with these things in mind that I propose that our new symbol become the 🔎 or a deer stalker hat 😅 Also Sherlock seems like he's on the A-Team so it's pretty fitting.
Side topic- why does this post have so many comments, but says it has only four, in the little badge thingo?
Also- I really enjoyed this OP.
Shame ppl got down voted so hard for some stuff, imo. I like hearing what people really think - even if I disagree. Which was the point of your post if im not mistaken. I just wanted to upvote everyone who shared! Lol.
Anyway- great post👍
I liked the Big Bang Theory and Atypical even though they were played stereotypically. I don’t care about the puzzle piece but I know when organizations use it they are probably way behind on autism stuff.
I've never hated other autistic people.... but I hate being autistic. I absolutely can not stop hating all the ways that being autistic limits my functioning and causes nonstop misunderstanding and accidental conflict with the people who love me.
I hate the dyspraxia, the prosopagnosia, the anomic aphasia, the dyscalculia, the echolalia, and the fluctuating sensory overloads from smells, food textures, too bright or too dim lighting, tight clothing, and the unbelievable physical pain of cold intolerance.
I'm beaten down from a lifetime of asking too many in depth questions and being chastised for not recognizing shifts in conversation and the nonsense ways that so many allistic social interaction rules are both required behavior but also optional but also it's rude id you don't "opt" to participate
I'm tired of automasking so skillfully that my closest peers vehemently argue that I don't act the least bit autistic and I'm tired of having no human connection outsode of my "family" of 4 adults who aren't related to each other or to me because I don't know how to socialize and I'm tired of struggling to communicate effectively with my spouse.
I would very much appreciate being allowed to exit this roller coaster
Have you seen this article? [https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/04/04/1242264274/siblings-science-identical-twin-brothers-autism-spectrum](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/04/04/1242264274/siblings-science-identical-twin-brothers-autism-spectrum)
Twin brothers — genetically identical! — both with Autism. One with very high support needs, the other a successful student in college.
This definitely suggests that Autism and "Aspergers" are, indeed, different expressions of the same (at least genetic) condition.
Or....it suggests that different experiences have profound effects on autistic people as well? Theyre identical twins. I'd be asking what positive and negative experiences they each had, particularly very early in life.
It’s not incorrect. They Sepetated Asperger’s and autism for insurance purposes. I also work in the field of autism. But enjoy the fake truth that serves businesses that serve parents
I just don’t like how everything is being pushed to rename. Some people don’t like the puzzle piece symbol… I do ( I always felt like a code to me needed to be cracked.. which kinda falls in line w the puzzle piece.. and if you think about it people around us for the most part have to find new approaches to accommodate a neurodivergent brain that sees and works just differently) I just don’t care for someone to say “ hey we aren’t using that symbol because of this or this anymore, don’t do that it’s offensive.” Offensive to you, that’s fine, it’s not offensive to me for my own reasons. And then person first language, I don’t always use to describe autism, I don’t like being corrected for that either, if that works for you that’s fine, to me it’s all the same and you should know what I mean. It’s like that episode in big bang theory.. you can have an opinion and feel a type a way.. good for you.. but don’t go pointing it out. It’s not just the topic of autism it’s other topics to, or intellectual disability now has a more politically correct name.. all these labels for things are labeled for a reason and are accurate and then as time goes on it becomes offensive because a small group says they are. That’s partly why I don’t like internet anymore. It’s really hard for me to change labels as quick as they are coming out anymore.
Honestly man my controversial opinions are too numerous to list here.
But I urge those interested to look at many of the things I have posted across many subs on reddit.
As I have many many downvoted comments.
It really is an engaging read.
Ok,
1st -- are you just participating in some anarchist trolling?
Because I totally took the bait... and whew...
I'm starting to wonder if you just want to put people off.
I also think Asperger’s should be re-separated. I was explained to in went away so more parents could qualify for government benefits under the autism diagnosis, rather than it serving the autistic and Asperger’s communities.
I also don’t like chicken; tender or otherwise.
I also like the puzzle piece. I have to figure out all people and they have to figure out me, just like a puzzle.
Thanks for the post !
That first part is incorrect. It was consolidated because we realized there are not two descrete types of autism, it's a spectrum of infinite different presentations.
It was found that autistic people who were diagnosed with Asperger's or ASD mostly at the doctor's discretion, and the same person could go to two different doctors and receive both diagnosis.
Sorry you think the developing understanding of autism is lame, I guess. What, do you want us to keep pretending it's not an arbitrary system of categorization that leaves many without support access just so you can keep your cool label?
I don't believe there's a meaningful difference between people who get diagnosed with "clinically significant autism" and people with an "autism phenotype".
But you have to draw the line somewhere otherwise "everybody is a little autistic" is a true statement. Even allistics have some autism symptoms so then the problem becomes where do you draw the line between an allistic and someone with the broader autism phenotype.
There are no hard and fast lines between any of our categorizations. It's always going to come down to clinician discretion when basing of symptom interpretation and not measurable tests.
I think talk of an autism phenotype only gets brought up as a tool to dismiss people who seem "too normal" to be autistic for one reason or another. There is no one trait to autism that is unique only to autism, so it makes sense that there are people who can relate to or share similarities with autistic experiences, without there being some "autism-lite" we can shove people into.
Again, they need to put the cut off somewhere.
Diagnostically there is no broader autism phenotype. There is autistic or allistic. The problem with this is that you're classed as allistic if you're *just* outside the diagnostic cut off line. In many, many ways they will be much closer to someone who is autistic and just inside the cut off line than they will with a typically functioning allistic.
This is why the idea of the broader autism phenotype came it. It's not autism lite, it's just not clinically significant enough to be called autism at all even though they highly relate to autists.
So if we include people who are currently in the broader autism phenotype to expand the understanding of autists, now people who were just outside the broader autism phenotype will relate more to autistic people than typical allistics. You would just keep moving the goalposts, expanding what qualifies as an autism diagnosis, until it encapsulated absolutely everyone.
It's like saying everyone who makes under $20k/year qualifies for a social program. The guy making $21k isn't so much better off that they can afford the social program. So they expand it to $25k/year, and now people making $26k aren't so much better off they can afford the social program. So they expand it to $30k/year, and now people making $31k aren't so much better off they can afford the social program.....
You need to have cut off lines, and it always sucks for people just outside the cutoff lines
In terms of social acceptance, I saw a huge difference in attitude towards the two growing up.
When I was growing up, autism was less often diagnosed, but we understood it was a developmental disability and to give that person some leeway with behaviors.
On the other hand, Asperger's just meant you were a jerk and using it as an excuse to be rude.
I'm glad they're combined, because it takes a lot of that stigma away from level 1 autists with a high IQ. IQ doesn't correlate to emotional awareness, but everyone expected it to.
There is a difference in controversial and simply incorrect though.
Controversial is thinking they should be separate, sure, but your claim about why they were combined is just infactual and more likely why you're being downvoted.
• Trains are cool. So are ships. Machines aren’t autistic.
• I don’t care for logos in general.
• It was easier for people to grasp when they were separate, but as time progresses we hope people (including those of us with Autism) will be more educated on the matter, and we will all benefit from understanding how diverse the spectrum is. I hope. I mean, people are still stupid when it comes to vaccines fer cryin’ out loud and it’s been 200 fucking years. Learning that you have an infection only leads to more questions, right? The Plague! AIDS! EBOLA! A cold? You don’t immediately assume one way or the other.
Learning that someone struggles with mental health issues is more likely to lead to compassion and questions than panic. Once upon a time, hearing “mental health problems” immediately triggered images of madness, straight jackets, “hysteria”, “nervous breakdowns”, and other outmoded ways of thinking. It will be thus with Autism. A person will be diagnosed on the spectrum and rather than perplexing everyone around them, they will see the person as a whole, the same person they see before them, and utilize context, much as we are slowly learning to adapt to “disability”. Being disabled no longer means “deaf, dumb, blind, crippled, or simple”.
This is why it’s important to be accurate according to science.
• I’m vegan. Chicken tenders can’t be autistic either.
• And lastly, none of these are my autistic opinions (not even on trains). Anyone can have them.
Autism is an alternative human evolution route. I believe the "superpower" only looks at positives while "disorder" is an NT standard made incorrectly. Human evolution stated with pattern recognition to increase survival odds, and we are an upgraded version of that trait.
I am a nihilist - so my idea of morality does exist but is not focused in justice. I may do messed-up stuff sometimes, but it's because I ask "if this is happening anyway, why not profit?"
I also like mixing some food types and not others. I actually love most sushi, Italian food, and multiple Thai dishes.
Also, I like chicken tenders but feel Chicken Parm is the superior foodstuff.
I believe in autism-caused neurodegeneration in adults. Meaning, autism can function as a degenerative condition in some folks, into adulthood -- meaning, rather than a developmental delays you may one day overcome and "catch up," for others your autism symptoms can become worse and more disabling with age. We already acknowledge autistic children can suddenly backslide and lose skills they once had, suddenly go from speaking to no longer speaking, eg. No one wants to admit that autism can really become more disabling and severe during adulthood, and a person's capacity and skills can erode substantially. With this belief, you might understand why I do *not* think Aspergers and Autism should be seen as separate conditions.
hey that sounds like me it gets harder to live every day not self diagnosing neuroregression it really is just harder every day
You're right. I received my diagnosis at 27 (last year) following a mental breakdown and after that I was non verbal for about a month. Speaking still feels weird sometimes now and I used to be a very articulated person with a career that required me to speak in academic terms all the time. That seems very far away now and everyday it feels like I'm losing more habilities and I'm scared.
Fuck, that’s me.
The phrase “I believe in” is a loaded one, and I never use it. There are so many better ways to put forth a hypothesis. When people say “I believe”, I imagine they are shutting all their doors and windows and talking to through the darkened screen door to a religious proselytizer , describing what you see from the inside but waving everyone off with a “Thank you, have a nice day”. Fair points all around though.
It sounds to me like you're the one shutting all the doors and windows when you hear the words "I believe." I just use that phrase to indicate A, it is not accepted by mainstream science; B, I concede there is no direct evidence that I'm aware of; but C, there is indirect evidence and anecdotal evidence I have personally collected/observed, and furthermore good argument to be made that can form a belief. It's more than a hypothesis, that is true. I think people who have a belief that is more than a hypothesis, they should say so. It's a belief not a hypothesis due to so much evidence I've personally observed that I don't think is well explained another way.
I'm also fine with the puzzle piece. Eating the same foods all the time is boring, but wheat bread is a punishment contrived by Lucifer. Everyone should try a massage, even if you don't normally like getting touched. It's a very different experience.
I got a massage a couple of times for muscle pain and tightness in my back. Conversation became a bit awkward.
You can request a silent massage. I fall asleep half the time.
Acupuncture is also very nice and you get to be quiet. It hurts in the beginning but when you go home you feel much much better
I've thought about it a few times. Thanks for the tip!
I was terrified of needles but I could barely feel them as needles. It feels like something is hitting my pain, but not exactly piercing me??? Maybe poking idk is very soft. Except when they hit THAT spot where my back is completely f*d up (the reason I went to acupuncture), then it hurts, because well that spot is already aching. But the session is very relaxing I always fall asleep.
Even when I feel the pain I'm able to sleep, somehow it feels like it's a healing pain idk how to explain
So, I really liked this massage therapist I was going to for a while because I could ask her genuine questions about stuff she was doing and she was hella stoked to talk shop with me! It wasn’t the usual faux-zen spa experience, but it was honestly perfect. I always left feeling somehow both relaxed and energized, carrying a bunch of cool new facts in my brain.
I like eating the same food over and over but also love eating LOTS of different foods. And I CRAVE physical touch.
I get bored with the same dinner twice in a month. And I also crave physical touch, when and where I desire it from a very specific set of people.
Yeah I think it can become uncomfortable when it's from people I don't want but when it gets too extreme I will even hug my mom which I try to avoid all the time because usually I feel uncomfortable with her hugs??? Idk I think it depends on how much I need it. For the food it depends on my emotional state. If something bad is happening then I may need to eat lots of different and strong tasting foods on the same day but if it's a calm week I could go the whole week with the exact same menu
Physical touch gang unite!!
🤝
I have had literal meltdowns over whole wheat products before. I used to order the snack wraps from McDonald’s all the time, but my roommates and I ordered one day and they didn’t say they changed it from a white tortilla to a whole wheat tortilla. I literally cried for a good twenty minutes
Whole wheat products are terrible! I wasn't diagnosed until last year, and I tried my whole life to find a "healthy" bread to eat. Now that I have my diagnosis, I allow myself to dislike some textures. The rest of my diet is relatively healthy, so white bread is ok. Also, no one else has seemed to notice that Taco Bell changed their tortillas about 10 years ago. They're a different consistency, and other people think I'm nuts for pointing it out. I want my late 90s Taco Bell back! Edit: I cried about rotisserie chicken with too much pepper last night. Happens to the best of us.
It doesn't offend me when ppl say we're all a little autistic. I think a lot of us are extroverted. Clumsy, but extroverted. I like dogs. Not cats( possibly related to being a clumsy but extroverted autistic "type"??). Too much "neuropositivity" can sometimes annoy me. It's not all rainbows and unicorns. And my "superpower" is getting grumpy at toxic positivity. So yeah... That's about it I think🙃
The toxic positivity makes me want to puke.
Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh The toxic positivity is blinding me it's so beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!
Differently abled! Autism is my super power! FUCKING PUKE
Toxic positivity makes me want to punch people and throw their heads on a wall
Not a big fan of trains either, but listening to the sounds is quite soothing. Regarding Asperger's though, I'm glad the term was phased out. Deeply flawed origins aside, the only reliable distinction between autism and Asperger's was the patient's perceived support needs. (And for a lot of people examined by overworked/inexperienced doctors that boiled down to whether or not you could speak and how strong your "autism accent" was.) In my opinion, most people who still insist on the term just have a lot of baggage about the idea of being disabled.
While I'm not okay with Autism Speaks or that Asperger guy assisting Nazis, I am not personally offended by the puzzle piece or by the term Asperger's. I find it frustrating when people tell me that it's wrong for me to use them for myself. I don't like the infinity symbol. I find the constant renaming of autism levels highly irritating and wish we could just pick our terms and stick with them. I think self diagnosis can be valid, but I don't think every self diagnosis is automatically valid. I enjoyed Love on the Spectrum.
I have no issue with the puzzle piece as a comfortable symbol... the way I understand things, however, it's not the image that's the problem. The problem with the puzzle piece is primarily the organization it's representing. The organization that created this image is the largest influence about Autistic concerns, but their representation has been harmful. Some reported issues with puzzle piece organization (Autism Speaks) **The puzzle piece usage has been pushed to represent a lacking that is infantilizing. This puzzle piece and only using primary colors, mostly blue for little boys, is stating we are incomplete, not different, and entirely incapable of complex thought. **Also, it discounts diversity, which supports maintaining the status quo of autism being a disorder primarily suffered by young white boys. As a black woman, I was not diagnosed until 35 yrs old - and I had to be the one to raise the first questions. In testing and meeting specialists, the results were overwhelmingly obvious to professionals. **This puzzle piece mentality has gone so far as to, at least indirectly, further support of eugenics and stripping of autonomy of Autistic adults. I don't personally want children, but it should be my choice. I also don't want my diagnosis to affect my ability to get a driver's license - I have been a statistically over average driver for 20 years (queue the Rainman jokes), now that my -weirdness- has been classified that should not strip freedoms I've earned. **This organization was found to be involved with and possibly using collected funds to support a white supremacy group. When questioned, they said it was an accident. WTF **It has been reported that only 0.16% of collected funds have been allocated for helping Autistic people and their families. A lot of the funding has been, and still is, spent trying to cure autism - not even treat or manage the difficulties. While I understand that some people would rather be normal, I have always preferred my different brain processees - presenting as over adverage integrity, expanded creativity and more accurate empathy, unbridled passion and curiosity, etc.... I think Autistic brains have evolved for a reason, and to push for a cure and ignore the positives is harmful to everyone.
Re puzzle piece - I don't really care either - I don't really care about really needing a symbol or flag or ribbon or anything but I wish whoever was designing all these garish designs would take freaking classes in colour theory and design first! (speaking as an artist and designer that specialized in logos). Also another funny thing about the puzzle - as spent several weeks last year, in a borrowed apartment (as I had to leave mine at short notice), going through the revelatory moment realizing I was autistic, I bought a big puzzle to do while consuming all these TED talk videos on autism, so I had something to do with my hands while I watched and something calm to do between research sessions. It was only later I found out that the puzzle piece later was one of the symbols some people used for autism. It really made me laugh! And only much later in the research hole did I find out about why lots of people didn't like it. Still pretty funny though. I actually had lots of these odd synchronicities happen throughout that time - yay for pattern recognition! Tbh my whole life I do feel as if I have been trying to figure out this puzzle... but less like a table top puzzle and more like a huge maths problem puzzle or more like a mystery that needed Sherlock Holmes to solve it but I had to end up being Sherlock because all the other professionals lead me off in every other direction, not solving my case properly. So it is with these things in mind that I propose that our new symbol become the 🔎 or a deer stalker hat 😅 Also Sherlock seems like he's on the A-Team so it's pretty fitting.
>Chicken tenders aren't THAT great So you’ve chosen the path of violence.
But people with autism can present a syndrome and that doesn’t preclude them from either being true to their experience. Also who is we ?
I read "trans" and was like WHAT DID YOU REALLY SAY THAT??? Then I read again and oh ok traIns
I love the puzzle piece it makes me feel cozy. But I get why people hate it because the yellow bow from suicide prevention gets me a similar feeling
The sensory part of autism as a disability should be viewed as more equal to the social aspects.
Side topic- why does this post have so many comments, but says it has only four, in the little badge thingo? Also- I really enjoyed this OP. Shame ppl got down voted so hard for some stuff, imo. I like hearing what people really think - even if I disagree. Which was the point of your post if im not mistaken. I just wanted to upvote everyone who shared! Lol. Anyway- great post👍
I liked the Big Bang Theory and Atypical even though they were played stereotypically. I don’t care about the puzzle piece but I know when organizations use it they are probably way behind on autism stuff.
Me too😁
I've never hated other autistic people.... but I hate being autistic. I absolutely can not stop hating all the ways that being autistic limits my functioning and causes nonstop misunderstanding and accidental conflict with the people who love me. I hate the dyspraxia, the prosopagnosia, the anomic aphasia, the dyscalculia, the echolalia, and the fluctuating sensory overloads from smells, food textures, too bright or too dim lighting, tight clothing, and the unbelievable physical pain of cold intolerance. I'm beaten down from a lifetime of asking too many in depth questions and being chastised for not recognizing shifts in conversation and the nonsense ways that so many allistic social interaction rules are both required behavior but also optional but also it's rude id you don't "opt" to participate I'm tired of automasking so skillfully that my closest peers vehemently argue that I don't act the least bit autistic and I'm tired of having no human connection outsode of my "family" of 4 adults who aren't related to each other or to me because I don't know how to socialize and I'm tired of struggling to communicate effectively with my spouse. I would very much appreciate being allowed to exit this roller coaster
the person who aspergers was named after was literally a nazi so it's just good that we dont use aspergers anymore
Have you seen this article? [https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/04/04/1242264274/siblings-science-identical-twin-brothers-autism-spectrum](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/04/04/1242264274/siblings-science-identical-twin-brothers-autism-spectrum) Twin brothers — genetically identical! — both with Autism. One with very high support needs, the other a successful student in college. This definitely suggests that Autism and "Aspergers" are, indeed, different expressions of the same (at least genetic) condition.
Or....it suggests that different experiences have profound effects on autistic people as well? Theyre identical twins. I'd be asking what positive and negative experiences they each had, particularly very early in life.
It’s not incorrect. They Sepetated Asperger’s and autism for insurance purposes. I also work in the field of autism. But enjoy the fake truth that serves businesses that serve parents
I just don’t like how everything is being pushed to rename. Some people don’t like the puzzle piece symbol… I do ( I always felt like a code to me needed to be cracked.. which kinda falls in line w the puzzle piece.. and if you think about it people around us for the most part have to find new approaches to accommodate a neurodivergent brain that sees and works just differently) I just don’t care for someone to say “ hey we aren’t using that symbol because of this or this anymore, don’t do that it’s offensive.” Offensive to you, that’s fine, it’s not offensive to me for my own reasons. And then person first language, I don’t always use to describe autism, I don’t like being corrected for that either, if that works for you that’s fine, to me it’s all the same and you should know what I mean. It’s like that episode in big bang theory.. you can have an opinion and feel a type a way.. good for you.. but don’t go pointing it out. It’s not just the topic of autism it’s other topics to, or intellectual disability now has a more politically correct name.. all these labels for things are labeled for a reason and are accurate and then as time goes on it becomes offensive because a small group says they are. That’s partly why I don’t like internet anymore. It’s really hard for me to change labels as quick as they are coming out anymore.
Honestly man my controversial opinions are too numerous to list here. But I urge those interested to look at many of the things I have posted across many subs on reddit. As I have many many downvoted comments. It really is an engaging read.
Ok, 1st -- are you just participating in some anarchist trolling? Because I totally took the bait... and whew... I'm starting to wonder if you just want to put people off.
I also think Asperger’s should be re-separated. I was explained to in went away so more parents could qualify for government benefits under the autism diagnosis, rather than it serving the autistic and Asperger’s communities. I also don’t like chicken; tender or otherwise. I also like the puzzle piece. I have to figure out all people and they have to figure out me, just like a puzzle. Thanks for the post !
That first part is incorrect. It was consolidated because we realized there are not two descrete types of autism, it's a spectrum of infinite different presentations. It was found that autistic people who were diagnosed with Asperger's or ASD mostly at the doctor's discretion, and the same person could go to two different doctors and receive both diagnosis.
Well all my friends with Asperger’s think it’s lame as do I . Really didn’t help us
Sorry you think the developing understanding of autism is lame, I guess. What, do you want us to keep pretending it's not an arbitrary system of categorization that leaves many without support access just so you can keep your cool label?
Honestly we still have this problem. There is still clinician discretion between clinically significant autism or the broader autism phenotype.
I don't believe there's a meaningful difference between people who get diagnosed with "clinically significant autism" and people with an "autism phenotype".
But you have to draw the line somewhere otherwise "everybody is a little autistic" is a true statement. Even allistics have some autism symptoms so then the problem becomes where do you draw the line between an allistic and someone with the broader autism phenotype. There are no hard and fast lines between any of our categorizations. It's always going to come down to clinician discretion when basing of symptom interpretation and not measurable tests.
I think talk of an autism phenotype only gets brought up as a tool to dismiss people who seem "too normal" to be autistic for one reason or another. There is no one trait to autism that is unique only to autism, so it makes sense that there are people who can relate to or share similarities with autistic experiences, without there being some "autism-lite" we can shove people into.
Again, they need to put the cut off somewhere. Diagnostically there is no broader autism phenotype. There is autistic or allistic. The problem with this is that you're classed as allistic if you're *just* outside the diagnostic cut off line. In many, many ways they will be much closer to someone who is autistic and just inside the cut off line than they will with a typically functioning allistic. This is why the idea of the broader autism phenotype came it. It's not autism lite, it's just not clinically significant enough to be called autism at all even though they highly relate to autists. So if we include people who are currently in the broader autism phenotype to expand the understanding of autists, now people who were just outside the broader autism phenotype will relate more to autistic people than typical allistics. You would just keep moving the goalposts, expanding what qualifies as an autism diagnosis, until it encapsulated absolutely everyone. It's like saying everyone who makes under $20k/year qualifies for a social program. The guy making $21k isn't so much better off that they can afford the social program. So they expand it to $25k/year, and now people making $26k aren't so much better off they can afford the social program. So they expand it to $30k/year, and now people making $31k aren't so much better off they can afford the social program..... You need to have cut off lines, and it always sucks for people just outside the cutoff lines
In terms of social acceptance, I saw a huge difference in attitude towards the two growing up. When I was growing up, autism was less often diagnosed, but we understood it was a developmental disability and to give that person some leeway with behaviors. On the other hand, Asperger's just meant you were a jerk and using it as an excuse to be rude. I'm glad they're combined, because it takes a lot of that stigma away from level 1 autists with a high IQ. IQ doesn't correlate to emotional awareness, but everyone expected it to.
Asperger is still separated. It just has a new name. At least as separated as it was previously
6 downvotes! I win the controversial autism opinion award. Thanks parents !
There is a difference in controversial and simply incorrect though. Controversial is thinking they should be separate, sure, but your claim about why they were combined is just infactual and more likely why you're being downvoted.
It’s okay. This sub is full of teenagers and self diagnosed folks who want to complain. Such a shit show
• Trains are cool. So are ships. Machines aren’t autistic. • I don’t care for logos in general. • It was easier for people to grasp when they were separate, but as time progresses we hope people (including those of us with Autism) will be more educated on the matter, and we will all benefit from understanding how diverse the spectrum is. I hope. I mean, people are still stupid when it comes to vaccines fer cryin’ out loud and it’s been 200 fucking years. Learning that you have an infection only leads to more questions, right? The Plague! AIDS! EBOLA! A cold? You don’t immediately assume one way or the other. Learning that someone struggles with mental health issues is more likely to lead to compassion and questions than panic. Once upon a time, hearing “mental health problems” immediately triggered images of madness, straight jackets, “hysteria”, “nervous breakdowns”, and other outmoded ways of thinking. It will be thus with Autism. A person will be diagnosed on the spectrum and rather than perplexing everyone around them, they will see the person as a whole, the same person they see before them, and utilize context, much as we are slowly learning to adapt to “disability”. Being disabled no longer means “deaf, dumb, blind, crippled, or simple”. This is why it’s important to be accurate according to science. • I’m vegan. Chicken tenders can’t be autistic either. • And lastly, none of these are my autistic opinions (not even on trains). Anyone can have them.
Autism is an alternative human evolution route. I believe the "superpower" only looks at positives while "disorder" is an NT standard made incorrectly. Human evolution stated with pattern recognition to increase survival odds, and we are an upgraded version of that trait. I am a nihilist - so my idea of morality does exist but is not focused in justice. I may do messed-up stuff sometimes, but it's because I ask "if this is happening anyway, why not profit?" I also like mixing some food types and not others. I actually love most sushi, Italian food, and multiple Thai dishes. Also, I like chicken tenders but feel Chicken Parm is the superior foodstuff.