This may turn a bit into a personal rant, so don't mind if I go off topic:
I would best prefer it if when I talk to an adult of authourity who knows that I am Aspergian, if it didn't seem like they say to themselves, "Oh, she has AS, so she has problems talking to people, so I shouldn't take what she says seriously because she really doesn't know what she's saying."
I'm also tired of, "Oh, this poor girl has AS. How sad... I think I should help teach her how to communicate and assign her an aide that will assist her with schoolwork so that she can do well in school. What a pity..." I don't want help. Seriously. If I want help with my AS, I will ask for it if I really want it. Having other people see me publicly getting "Help" from an aide only drops my social image some more and causes people to bully me to death.
And one of the worst: "Oh, she has AS. Isn't that some sort of mental disorder? That must mean that she's ***. She shouldn't work here if she doesn't know what she's doing. Go away."
Once I get into college or at least junior or senior highschool, I'm planning on trying my best to cover my AS so that I don't get any unwanted help which only attracts attention to my having AS and to avoid unemployment. Having my record look like a normal person should help me become successful later in life.
I always take things like that literally and get p'ed off because it takes a lot of courage for me to ask for help in the first place.
Amen to that! Just reading this thread is tightening my chest in anxeity!
Meiloyn, that is why I won't get diagnosed. I've hid it for 36 years through hard work, I can keep on doing it.
Being diagnosed certainly made me feel more comfortable with myself, given I didn't know WTF was wrong with me before that.
Services in Victoria, Australia, are a joke. In fact, with an election coming up, the Disability Services minister has tripped herself up big time in a letter to my local member of Parliament (state that is) by calling AS "not significant". When pressed for a definition, she came back with a definition that contravened federal discrimination law. I think I can get that Disabilty Services Act rewritten as a result of this - and that will hopefully force the state government to rethink their "cost saving measures" and realise they are discriminatory.
This is the whole problem. Government not taking Aspergers as seriously as they should be.
One reason I finally cosented to formal diagnosis is that I at times must deal in legal matters. This means I have to deal with judges. Judges are very often complete assholes, because they have near-dictatorial powers in their courtrooms (at least in the USA) until and unless a specific decision is overruled by a higher court.
With a formal diagnosis, I have ammunition to use against an abusive judge, should I so need it, and against abusive attorneys who would (in a heartbeat) use any Aspergic behaviors against me. Otherwise, it's all a matter of the judge deciding that I'm just intentionally violating his/her self-styled infallibility and perfection by daring to not make eye contact, making the wrong kind of eye contact, stimming, or any sort of communication difficulty. In the USA, a judge can throw you in jail for "contempt" on any of the above (or even more trivial issues). You stay there until you are sufficiently obsequious and beg the nice judge, Oh, pretty please, Lord God Judge, to let you try again and you'll never ever be a bad boy for as long as you live. Alternatively, if you've got a diagnosis, the judge then runs the risk of having to defend against charges of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.
As a fellow Aussie, Tenaciouscj, it depends on what your issue is with the telco. The Telecommunications Ombudsman will have the best idea (if you are in a position to talk to them as they only get involved if the telco concerned won't negotiate). What is the issue?
As you both have disabilities, this sounds like an issue of "taking advantage" of a disabled person. For example - were you aware of the consequences of passing the authority to do things to someone else? It sounds like you acted without all the information that was needed. Now I don't expect you to say in public who the Telco is (the fact that they run land lines does narrow it down), but if they were doing their job they should have given you all the information - and in writing (ie - sent you the full information in the mail). Now if they didn't do that you've got them on that issue.
Now if they didn't, you need to tell them that they did not make you and your friend fully aware of the full details of what you were signing up to. That places the onus on them to provide. If they don't then you can take that to the Telco Ombudsman. You should even tell them that. Advise them that you feel that you have been taken advantage of - and that is where your disability plays an important role.
As there may be a discrimination factor in there, it may be prudent to have a chat with Legal Aid. I know they have one in Queensland as I have conversed with them myself, and there has to be an office in Townsville. It might not work, but at least they can give you some more specific advice instead of the generalised stuff I'm giving you.
I've got an awful feeling they may be trying to penalise you for trying to change from the original deal AKA contract. Because the change never happened that's not right.
It sounds like it has got to the point where you need outside help. As your friend is legally blind he actually CAN'T represent you - because you can't put a limit on "just the phone" (if you understand what I mean).
As it stands - going public is not the right course to take at present. Going to legal aid for advice rather than assistance is an option for anyone. But frankly from what you have said - you have to talk to the Telco Ombudsman. You and your friend are faced with a large mess that you can't sort out on your own - and it sounds like your Telco isn't helping because you just don't know what's going on. Explain this in full detail to the Ombudsman, including the fact that you can't deal with the telco directly because of Aspergers as things are so far out of control information wise. Tell them exactly what you've told me. Even write it down just to make sure you don't forget anything.
Sorry to take so long to reply to this, but I've been away.
Yes, doctors in Queensland are a complete waste of time as a general rule. Unfortunately you're up north and too far away from New South Wales to do anything about that. It really pisses me off that QLD is so far behind on mental health issues that it isn't funny. Heck I complain about the poor service in Victoria - but that BS up north makes Vic look like heaven!
Hope you're getting better. Nervous breakdowns are bad - especially for Aspies.
I work as an independent advocate for adults with learning disabilities. We sometimes work with people in the autistic spectrum, because there is sometimes no-one else there to support, even though people with aspergers/autism do not particularly have a learning disablility. People with autism/aspergers are often of higher than average intelligence, but as they have neither a physical disability nor mental health issues, there is no specific service to provide support. A new gentleman has come to our organisation, who seems very vulnerable in many ways, but is very undersupported. Do people with Aspergers syndrome have difficulty accessing services, i.e. to have suitable housing that reflects their needs, because of their obvious intelligence and capabilities in other areas? I think I mean, do people find that their strengths work against them, and services don't provide for peoples vulnerable aspects? This is coming from the North West of England, I would love to know how other people/areas have accessed good and RELIABLE aspie-friendly supports.
cheers! :?
Hey…is that like… An office with services from Utility bills, real Estate, legal service, financial service, to budget and house management services to Autistic people. Autistic people would “hire” these services that would state in their contracts not to go beyond their rightful hired services thus protecting the client of abuse of powers and the government would pay for these services ton behalf autistic clients…
The sometimes uneven nature of our impairments makes it harder to obtain help. You can have a person who functions quite competently in a routine job but whose coping mechanisms fall apart when they go home.
I find people disbelieving that I have any impairments because of high competencies in other areas. The fear of using the phone to call strangers means if my mower breaks (which it has a few times), the grass will grow really high and I will resort to cutting it by hand with a pair of scissors.
If something else breaks, eg. the hot water system, I will get by with having cold showers for months on end. I've got to be really sick before I'll go to the doctor's.
This is all related to executive dysfunction and some people think just giving a list of instructions will solve the problem. They forget to check if I am really able to carry out all that they say. Anyway, I don't want advice unless I specifically ask for it.
This describes me perfectly. Except that I am still debating whether or not an "official" diagnosis is necessary for anything. I seem to get a little bit more Aspie by the day. I don't know if it's because I now understand it a little bit more about AS, and I'm less inclined to conform to the NT way of life or if something else is going on. I am 36 and I've struggled to fake fitting in with the rest of the world to the best of my ability. It now causes a lot of anxiety. There are only a handful of shrinks in my state who list AS as a specialty, and most of them only see children. There is one a couple of hours from here that doesn't specifically say children, but then I'd have to pick up the )(*)(* phone to call. And I wonder if after thousands of dollars spent for a diagnosis if it would even be worth it.
And I think it is so wrong that you would have to pay thousands of dollars for a diagnosis. That is completely ridiculous. Somebody is making a big profit out of people's misery.