Aspies For Freedom

Woah.

That's amazing. Most people have stopped doing minor quirks and stims openly or at all. Amanda hasn't. She has just kept going. She has never appeared to stop and think that doing X isn't doing her any favours or that she is getting a bit old to be doing Y. That takes balls.

Mind you, it's probably because she's at the level if autism that makes her have no desire to join any aspect of the NT world. I envy that about so called 'Low Functioning' people. I'm aspie, and I want to join in and make friends.

It's good she did that video though as it quashes the misconception that 'LF' autistics can't think for themselves.

I couldn't believe some of those comments though! One person said that seeing as autistic people already had help then there was nothing else they should want? Hm, how about and end to curebie propaganda, people patronising them, writing them off or refusing to employ them, people seeing them as 'broken'...

It's all her.

Not sure if she had a facilitator to start off with, but I'm sure she'll tell you when she next logs on here.

atta girl!

having just actually watched the video, i have to say it again;

i must admit that, sometimes, i feel threatened by the sheer intellegence of LFAs.
and again i find my preconceptions blown sheer out of the water.

She posts on this forum (anbuend).

I posted the same link on the Autism Speaks forums, not much of a responce.

Gee I wonder why?

one would hope so

I'll bet they picked that up from the Wired story a couple of days ago.

I am nonverbal LFA so you need to see my writing to recognize my intelligence. I am in awe of Amanda. She could do it differrently but chooses not to. She chooses to do what is least stressful to her personhood not as defined by others but as defined by herself. Her bravery in it ,asking and telling, is so great.  I want to be and not be like her.  I do not seek to communicate with dead objects. I respect her right to do so. It is her conformance to no one but her true self that is most honorable.

Hrick

In what way?

What I mean is that Amanda doesn't appear to have decided or felt the need to, at any point, discontinue or neutralise any of her autistic traits, whereas most people do.

I think I get it.

I do sort of know what you mean as well. I do this thing where I pace about with my Ipod in thinking of my imaginary world. I do this a lot- I suppose it's a stim. Anyway, when I get my Ipod taken off me and then find myself wanting to stim it really does get annoying. I usually end up just walking round and round without it.

Sorry if this is a rude question, but is it that non-verbal autistics are genuinely mute and couldn't speak if they absolutely had to becasue it's to do with the vocal cords, or is it a psychological thing in that you can, but prefer not to, find it difficult or stressful or are anxious about talking? I'm not being ignorant, I'm just not sure how it works.

Time and time again I've said to my shrink "Sometimes I just can't talk", and always it's dismissed as "Elective Mutism", ie I'm choosing not to speak. How crap is that? Sometimes when I'm stressed/upset I just can't put my thoughts into words. Sometimes I just can't make my mouth say the words in my mind. And sometimes there's just nothing going on upstairs, no thoughts, emotions or words. Believe me it's not "Elective"

Anxiety could add to your stress load, making you less able to talk. Or it could result from being less able to talk. Or it could be completely incidental. This isn't all that simple, is it?