Aspies For Freedom

I am not female, I am a person with femaleness.

I am not a mother, I am a person with parenthood.

I am not being sarcastic... I am a person with sarcasm. :roll:

This irritates me. I don't think it's true. Even as a child, I understood a far greater vocabulary, including the terminology of the subjects I perseverated on, that was far greater than what I actually used. I definitely understood the content. It's just that if I am put on the spot and asked to express myself, I will stutter and stammer and have a hard time finding the words, especially if they don't have a visual context to relate to. It isn't the same as having a limited vocabulary, at all....

This isn't "bad" advice, but it isn't the best, either. I personally have to *do* something before I actually "get" it. I have heard of "motoring" autistic children through a task,, i.e. helping them to physically go through the motions, and that we catch on much more quickly this way. I only have to do it once to learn it, whereas I could be told for days, verbally, and might still not get it (depending on the task).

Hmmm. Maybe. Or maybe it just doesn't matter to us as much as the parent might like to believe....

That would be nice....I don't know if all meltdowns can be prevented, or even (I hate to say it) if it would be healthy to try to circumvent all meltdowns. For me, a meltdown can be a sign of my boundaries being reached...and if I don't try to stretch my boundaries, I'm not gonna grow and extend them. It would be useful though, for a parent to understand that a how horrible and stressful it feels to have a meltdown, that it is not a tantrum or a "manipulation" , etc....but rather a sign of genuine distress.

I like that quite a lot.

I hate to b the devils advocate all the time, but for a number of yrs now i have been observing that when dealing with many minority groups it is a problem that... let's say yre gay. And If i say oh I don't see you as a gay, i see you as a person i.e. i dont see the label i see the whole person., pple invariably take that as--- you are trying to supress our gayness (if thats a word  :smile: )!!! If it was he other way round, it would still be interpretated negatively, i.e. all you see is a label
I think these pple have thier hearts in the right places. I think they are trying to say I am more than all these things, I am also an individual, like everyone else. badly phrased though, and potentially offencive.

Nyuk nyuk nyuk  :lol:

When I read the article, it sounded like I was reading about myself.   I just wished that my parents had told me that I was loved more often, criticized me less and not made me feel as if so much was expected from me.

How about..

1. Autism is a part of who I am. I was born this way. I would not choose to change that.

thats very sensible. some may want to identify themselves with the label, some may not and with these two in mind, if i wasn't AS/autistic at least i will be able to use either approach depending on the person and not end up unwittingly offending them because an article told me either to identify them as such or not.

How about:

2. I may be different. My abilities, behaviors and learning styles might vary.  I am not diseased.

My list.
1. I am not autistic or a person with autism, i am a person period.
People say that I am a person with autism as if that changes the meaning of being.  I don't need the extra clarifier. I am a human being like everyone else and deserve the same dignity & respect that any one else deserves.

2. Who I am and what I am capable of is not defined by the DSM-IV
I am born with my own set of abilities and difficulties autism included. Those who use it to tell me who I am and what I can do are using it as a sterotype.

3. I do not have a desease, and I am not going to be cured
A desease is something that a person gets for a peroid of time. Autism is a developmental disorder. It starts in childhood (probably before) and build up after that. Nothing will change me now. and if it could, it would destroy who I am compelety and would probably leave me worse off.

4. I may be your child, but my life is own.
Parents do not have the right to choose questionable or risky treatments without our consent.

5. We can speak for ourselves
Any time one of us speaks up and says something that doesn't jibe with the othodox view they are trivialy ingored using the reasoning that since we can communicate therefore we are not autistic and have no right to speak for autistics.

i cannot think of any more at the momment

How about:

1. I am autistic. I am not a person with autism, you can't get rid of the autism and still have anything left. It is not possible to cure me or to get rid of the autism. I am a package deal: love me as I am or leave me alone altogether, but don't try to dissect me with endless nagging not to be autistic or to punish me for what is an integral part of my personality.