Aspies For Freedom

yes some times

i dont mean that i mean that poeple treat me like i cant think for my self and try to help me when i want a chance to prove to my self that i dont need it.

Not me specifically (probably because I'm not officially diagnosed yet), but I have heard many people say that everyone with any sort of autism is mentally ***.

Same here, more like eccentric or quirky tho.

Not so much now (that I'm 6'3", have a master's degree in computer science, and a brown belt in karate), but I got that crap all the time back in middle school.  (That was in the nasty 1980's.)  My favorite one was "Hey man, you got some kind of disability problem?"

Earlier this year, my parents came to visit.  They went on the standard tour at the place I volunteer at.  I introduced them to a few of my co-volunteers that I happened to see.  I answered a question for the one who was acting as cashier, and she made a remark to my parents on how I was a bit slow with the answer.  I let that one slide, but I didn't think it was appropriate.  (I'm 34 for ****'s sake.)  She probably just didn't realize it was rude.

I'm absent-minded.  That I can live with, and I'll even tell you that myself up-front.

No.  I'm quite certain it's not epilepsy.  By absent-minded, I meant my mind and imagination are constantly busy and never stop.  Sometimes the world outside my mind has to compete with that to get my attention.

Along those lines, I do get occasional muscle spasms such at toe-cramps and tongue-cramps.  Fortunately, nobody's ever noticed me dealing with a tongue-cramp (feels like the tongue wants to draw back down the throat), but I'd imagine it would look rather bizarre to anyone who did notice.  (Basically, work the tongue muscles to try to counteract the cramp, which often involves poking the tongue out of the mouth.)  I don't know if that bears any relation to epilepsy, but I thought I'd mention it.

Anyone here who hasn't ever had the "***" remark?

I don't remember receiving it at any point, in fact I would often get the opposite remark--"smart"--because people seemed to equate introversion with that.  And something about the way I looked gave me a "sharp" vibe, even though it wasn't really true.

Speaking factually, AS is not considered a form of retardation in the first place.

Link, please.

I really don't think that's true at all.

I think Dr. Death was a nut-case, but I also know he was also much lied about and the object of enormous religious propaganda. It's difficult to sort out the truth from the lies.

No, I was always seen as the "smart kid", even by those who don't know me.
My therapist when I was 14, when I told her I just dropped school, told me if I wanted to go to a school for gifted kids (HUH!? I never understood)
I never had anyone telling me I was dumb or something. But I am seen as shy and unconfident NO MATTER WHAT I DO.

What kind of learning difficulties?

NTs also struggle with schoolwork.  This is a moot point and has nothing to do with lack of intelligence.

There's a massive difference between weird and ***, we are talking apples and oranges here.

Saying something out of the blue is something I do all the time, and can also be an ADD/ADHD trait.

I know people think it because what kind of normal 20 year old goes around buying MY Little Ponies? Cashiers look at me weird when they see me with stacks of them. But that's their problem. As long as they don't say anthing insulting it dosen't bother me. If someone did say something, I'd reply, "And why is that your buisness?"   My mom says I have mild mental retardation because I "don't retain things". What it is I am supposidly supposed to retain I don't know. But then she dosen't retain everything either, does that make her ***. No. Some people just aren't experts in phycology and my mother definatly isn't one of them.

It definitely is a problem communicating.

If you're going to ignore the above and use the other theory, Beanz, that would suggest that the only thing we are is "cognitively slow" in several areas.  Not a pleasant idea.

I do that all the time.  ;p