Aspies For Freedom

It's not a rerun of this?

http://www.aspiesforfreedom.com/showthread.php?tid=7643

How is that different from any other traditional talk show?

What the f* are you talking about "the gays"?

You should see how "the gays" trash Oprah on our message boards.

Can we keep AFF free of ignorant stereotypes?

My dad thought the housewives loved Oprah and had it in for the hubbies.  He also made a unfortunate remark about ethnicity of a girl my brother dated.  We quickly let our old man know what we thought about negative attitudes about miscegenation.

If someone still believes miscegenation is wrong, they are only hurting themselves, denying oneself a delicious candy in another color.  So what if Skittles and M&Ms (I think the Brits call them Smarties) are multi-colored? They all taste good!

Unless someone's feelings make someone go out and hurt or kill someone, I don't personally care.  Some people like others of their own sex, so what?  It is not personal to me.  Only the reluctance of women seeking men is personal to me.  If anything, we could use more love and less war.

Of course, it is perfectly natural to disagree with your God.  God is not a fantasy like one I am having.  No, not everyone will agree with everything the Bible (we assume God dictated it as is) says.  That is mature faith.  However, one does realize one is not in charge of the way things should be.

so did ANYONE catch Oprah???

I'm stuck at work all day!

I saw most of it.  There were some negative things and some positive.  There were a few clips from the "Autism Every Day" video (though not, as far as I saw, the infamous moment in which that mother says if not for her NT child she would drive herself and her autistic child off a bridge).  Oprah interviewed some parents in her studio, and there was mention of the theory of vaccines as a cause.  Some of these parents' children developed conventionally up to a certain age, were communicative and affectionate in the NT way, then their autism began/manifested/however you want to say it, and the parents had to adjust to a very changed child.  These parents are still mourning the loss of their children's former skills and personalities and some find it hard to watch old home movies taken before their children changed.  (In contrast, an autism specialist in the audience saw autistic symptoms in her child right from infancy.)

I find it hard to remember or sum up everything that was said in the hour.  I saw footage of an autistic child hand-flapping and his mother putting his hands down again, which annoyed me, but I also heard a father say that he had to stop "looking for his son" in home movies taken before the boy's loss of speech "because my son is right here in front of me."   I'm sure I have left out a lot of things---I don't remember quotes well unless I write them down---but overall the show was less negative than I feared it would be.

Couldbecousin-
That's good! There may yet be hope for the Oprah. LOL
Stop looking for his son? OMG, THAT breaks my heart. As a parent, you'd think he'd of figured it out by now that his son is/has changed? And he's still your son, and it's okay to love him??
I'm glad they at least showed some positiveness. Any mention of us high functioning or AS'ers?

I didn't hear any mention of Asperger's Syndrome during the show; it seemed mostly focused on young, nonverbal children and the problems of their families.  One mother did mention that autism occurs in differing degrees, that it is a spectrum condition, but only in the course of explaining that her child was obviously autistic from early on instead of developing neurotypically for a few years and then changing.

I liked that father I mentioned...he says his son has made him a better man, and he does love the boy as he is. That's what he meant about how he stopped "looking for his son."   "He's right in front of me."

Ahhhh......
I get it now, reading it in context really helps! Pity they didn't mention HFA at all. Oh well.
Thanks for the summarization. I really wanted to catch it, but a dr.'s apt in the morning, and work after that.
Sweet!

I didn't see this... anyone know if it's on YouTube or something?

heres the best advice i can give for you.. to believe in him and If or when (hopefully if) he get bullied at school  make sure he knows  that your there and you Will help him and hear him. that what my mum did and i love her for it.she saved my from my fall into depression. regretibly depression is commmon for teen ones of  our unique ways.

I second that. When I was bullied at school for being a little bit "different" and "weird", my parents simply didn't have enough time (not their fault - I might add - I was one of 7 children) to really do much about it.

It's very important to believe in your child and never ever say (not that I think you would but some parents are guilty of this) that he might have brought any bullying upon himself.

It's also vital to encourage him in his interests as much as you can.

I'll third that. Bullying can be remarkably harmful, and should never be taken lightly. . .

They had the mom on who blamed the breakup of her marriage on her ASD child.  It really made me think, because usually the psychiatrists are the first to tell the children that a divorce is never their fault.

Apaprently, when the child is ASD, it is perfectly acceptable to blame him/her.

Disgusting.

The marriage probably broke up because the woman wasn't very nice (my opinion anyway).