Aspies For Freedom

I think I went through the same *** as any other Teenager, NT or not.

Hey, welcome from another Pokemaniac!

I've got a slightly twisted spine too Richard ;p

*** knows where I got it from mind

Oh verbal abuse eh? meh I just glare at the skater doods in the corridor..tends to shut em up.

People seem to think i'm a lecturer or other member of staff lol.

I absolutely hate football/sports/drama, so no, I've never felt the urge to be like "them". I would rather be working on my fish tanks, taking care of my snakes, or out in the scrub looking for rare birds. I would much rather do what I want to do.

I think I get more enjoyment out of my activities than they get out of theirs (from what I've seen of them).

Also, many Aspies do have friends, so it does not necessarily involve having no one to be with.

I like to think of myself as having some Neanderthal DNA. That would still make me human because the Neanderthals are classified as being human. The possibility that I could be one of the few who have ET DNA is a different animal. As long as I myself am human, I can learn about human evolution.

Never felt a need to be NT, though may have felt a need from time to time to have more people around me but that's a separate though related issue.  Think the part I like best about being Aspie is I find it a lot easier than some to keep clearly in my mind what I want from myself.  Don't do half the stupid stuff some people do just because they could or the pressure was on.  Just didn't feel the need to betray my idea of what I wanted to be.  Now how that all translates into expressing those values about myself into a portrayal that attracts other people  and is still me... that mystifies me.  I can remember just not understanding the social value of certain school pranks that others around me would play and I just couldn't navigate around not wanting to participate in the torment of a fellow student and wanting to keep a relationship with everyone else involved...  But I still knew who I was and what kind of treatment I thought others deserved.  I may have not known what to do but I preserved my identity.

I think Alias - that as ATM stated the time frame alters the dynamics of the situation.

Also, a knowledge of aspergers presents an option for self understanding.
Maybe it is related to that thin line ATM talks about in his post. I think having some understanding of why .... can really help us to feel okay about ourselves.

Your post gives an insight to your background ATM. Thanks.

I meant to cut out these words. These words make my post look a bit snarky. Not intended.

Being a teenager is a tough time for everybody because they are going from being a child to an adult. From what I read, the junior high/middle school years are the toughest years because of the phyiscal changes that are occuring. Once high school hits, it sometimes get easier. In my own case, junior high/middle school was tough and I got picked on, even by my own younger sister. Once I hit high school, it got easier for me, especially when I worked on my high school's newspaper during my junior and senior years, becoming its editor in chief my senior year.

For some strange reason I'm waiting for there to e a punchline.

Nearly all teens start to question authority and rules at some time but if you have an aspie teen, better be prepared to support any instruction, rule, or punishment with lashings of logic. An aspie teen even less than any other teen, will take very badly to "follow this rule because I SAY SO". Aspie teens are also very prone to picking holes in other's arguments and infuriatingly to adults, frequently being correct in their conclusions.

I would never want to be anybody other than me.  I'd love to not have trouble with Executive Dysfunction anymore, or to be braver; and I do work on changing these things about myself.  But why would I want to be NT?  I like the way my brain works.  I would not be as good an artist as I am if I were NT, and- most upsetting to think about- my ability to analyze would be far poorer.

I may admire some traits of some people who may be NT.  But I have no desire to "fit in" in the mainstream.  I don't care that I don't like sports (actually, frisbee and fencing are both fun, but I don't like any others), that I'm not on any teams, that I don't have the latest trendy clothes, that I don't fit in any of the "acceptable" social groups (the jocks, the emos, the nerds, the goths, etc) but am instead a law unto myself.  I am not a perfect human being.  But neither are they.  Why should I give up who I am just to trade my set of flaws and talents for another set of flaws and talents?  What is the point?

Nearly all my friends are NTs, and NONE of them is like that.  This is a gross over-generalization.  Sure, there are tons of people like this, and the majority of them must be NT because autistics are less than 1% of the population; but that doesn't mean that the majority of NTs are like this.  One could also say that the majority of football players are NT, but that doesn't mean the majority of NTs are football players.
I don't believe this is an issue of NT vs AS.  I think it's an issue of mainstream vs non-mainstream ideals and goals.  The above description of "NT teens" describes to me teens who want to be considered mainstream.  Plenty of NTs don't want to be mainstream, however, and even some autistics do want to be mainstream.
Even that is an over-simplification, though.

atypical, just to clarify a point here- I think when she was talking about "getting through the bases" she meant "First base, second base, third base, home base" as they are used to refer to increasing levels of sexual activity.  I can't tell from your post whether you were aware of this or not, but I thought I would mention it in case *anyone* was confused.