Well his name means Asparagus. So if you live in some countries in europe you would have 'Asparagus syndrome'. :?
His name means Asparagus? :smile: In what language?
I assumed it would be German, but I found that the German word for an Asparagus is "Spargel".
I've tried "coming out" as an aspie twice. The first time was to an NT girl I was somewhat acquainted with from school. She had no idea what it was and had never heard of it before. She broke off all contact with me after that.
The second time involved a NT guy I knew over the 'Net and whom I thought was my friend. Not surprisingly, he wasn't. His response was limited to simply "No way you have Aspergers!" Again, not surprisingly, I never heard from him again. Also, his friends did, in turn, break off all contact with me as well.
Actually, now that I think about it, I've tried "coming out" three times. The third time was when I told my mother I have AS. This was when I had just started my psychiatrical evaluation and the psychiatrist said she'd like to speak to a caregiver from when I was still a child. My mother took it better than I had expected, actually. I only had to repeat it four or five times before she stopped contradicting me and started to actually listen to what I was saying. My mother is master of not listening to things she finds "disturbing".
Responses I've had along the lines of: "You can't have asperger's because..."
1. You're not like Temple Grandin.
2. You're not withdrawn enough.
3. You seem like you're pretty organized.
4. You get along with people okay.
5. You do pretty well in conversations with people.
Lots of educating to do, eh?
All of the above responses actually sounds a lot like my mother's usual line of "reasoning". One time she called me up almost incoherent with emotion and excitedly tried telling me I couldn't possibly have Asperger's. Her reason why this could not be? Her chiropractor had told her so.
When I tried telling her that a chiropractor is not an expert in neuroscience or psyciatry, she got irate and said that because "he was a doctor", it automatically meant he knew what he was talking about.
"Lots of educating", indeed.
Please tell me he at least met you once...
Please tell me he at least met you once...
Of course he didn't.
With a mother like that, I would probably be drinking a lot.
It's easier when you show them the diagnostic criteria, explain each point, and so on...
I found that if I put chalk on my lips, so it looked as though I had been drooling or foaming at the mouth, people were more able to accept me as one of "the mentally handicapped."
In general, I would say I think most people I meet (which is very few) are aware that there is something "different" or "not right" about me within five minutes and start giving me "funny looks."
Stella
"Funny looks", yes...
When I walk down the street, I swear I can see some people glancing at me out of the corner of their eye. I seem to stick out. It's like I have a sign saying "DIFFERENT" on my forehead. Funny, because I don't look different in any way what so ever. Maybe I'm to stiff when I walk? Maybe my voice isn't loud enough? Maybe my clothes fit too loosely? I don't know. I do know people I meet tend to glance at me, though. Always that glance out of the corner of their eye. Sometimes they even turn their heads slightly. It's very unnerving.
With a mother like that, I would probably be drinking a lot.
It's easier when you show them the diagnostic criteria, explain each point, and so on...
After my psyciatrist had interviewed my mother over the phone twice and asked her about my childhood and upbringing and so on, she (meaning my psyciatrist) was frustrated to say the least. "That was one of the most avoidant people I've ever spoken to!", she told me afterwards. "It was like she couldn't even hear the questions I asked her! She kept altering the implications of what I asked her mid-question, forcing me to ask each one several times. How frustrating!"
She then went on to postulate that my mother might be suffering from Avoidant Personality Disorder. Nice diagnosis, doc.
It sounds like she is in deep denial, which could be explained by APD (I think they are making disorders out of too many undesirable behaviours, but that is just me).
With a mother like that, I'd quit drinking! :razz: Anyway, I have now lost 2 "close" friends because of my disclosure/coming out!!! Guess they weren't really that close! If thats what they want, FINE, I'm too old to play the game any more!!!! I thought they accepted me as I accepted them. Guess the facts are more than they could handle, I don't fit in their superficial worlds!! :cry: :? I haven't changed, it's just that I now have a "LABEL"! Unclean, unclean!!!
Peace :?:
Yeah, that pretty much sums up how I'm feeling as well. I'm sick of pretending in order to try to fit in with a group of people that really has nothing in common with me. I've recently come to realize I've never really done anything else for the duration of my entire life. I've always just pretended to be someone or something that I'm not just in order to fit in.
It sounds like she is in deep denial, which could be explained by APD
Yeah, tell me about it. I've repeatedly experienced having an argument with her (usually over how she never listens to me) over the phone, hanging up on her out of sheer frustration, only to have her call back an hour later and not remember a thing. It's like the argument - or anything unpleasant, for that matter - didn't even exist in her universe. Frightening.
In recent years, though, I've come to wonder if maybe a lot of NT:s doesn't operate like this mentally, albeit on a much less extreme level.
No science can be static, not even psychology. If you think that people are abusing the DSM-IV to "treat" behaviour they find abhorrent, then consider that homosexuality was considered a diagnosis in previous editions.
I, for one, am glad that Asperger's Syndrome is in the DSM. It means there is a standard diagnostic criteria, and it also means that future generations will not go screaming for help for decades and not get it.
No science can be static, not even psychology. If you think that people are abusing the DSM-IV to "treat" behaviour they find abhorrent, then consider that homosexuality was considered a diagnosis in previous editions.
I, for one, am glad that Asperger's Syndrome is in the DSM. It means there is a standard diagnostic criteria, and it also means that future generations will not go screaming for help for decades and not get it.
I agree. I just wish the AS diagnosis would have been present while I was still a child. Had I been diagnosed with it when I was growing up, I could maybe have recieved some special attention or help for my condition and not have had to be bullied by the other children for "being different" all throughout school.
That said, I'm fairly certain that opinion is echoed by many who are of similar age to myself, or older. Growing up, I was basically just labeled an "idiot" or "difficult" throughout my entire school years.
How is that any different to what we have now?
so far i have only had to tell a few people, since i dont know alot of people i knew before being openly autistic & proud. i still dread telling my one IRL friend who lives in another country that im aspie, i dunno what she'll say.. i have known her 2 years and i didnt tell her right away cause i hadnt "accepte my faith" or whatever. i dunno if she has even heard about it, i think she has only heard about depression, and i am really afraid i will tell her and she will read about it and think i am a freak.
but so far i have told alot of people i know IRL, but i told them on MSN, and most were interested and were like: tell me more, etc. one is a medical student so he was really okay with it.
these days when i meet someone new i usually tell them whithin the first 5 minutes or something, since im not embarrased anymore. its just telling all the people i knew before being open about it that is the problem.
t3ch! nice too see u here. i agree i think.. i have started comin out to almost EVERYONE lately and its great, freeing really.
but i cudnt have done it without the aspiecommunity :lol: