"Greatest disability"? Huh? Huh? Why, I'll out greatest-disability anyone in a sixty mile greatest-disability race! I'll fight off an entire, no two entire, armies of greatest-disabilities using only my greatest-disability! Why, I'll greatest-disability anyone who disagrees all the way to the moon! GR.
Seriously, and more coherently, speaking of Aspergers itself for a moment, the only reason Aspergers might be considered the "greatest disability" is because societies are most often designed only for neurotypicals and as a result often marginalize Aspergs. This is, I think, getting more extreme as time presses on. The thought of any potential for autism being a justification for abortion is a more than a little frightening. At the best, the world would be a much more boring place without any autistics or "mentally ill" people.
Well, I wonder if they make any difference between Kanner and Aspergers (or if they even know that there is a difference). For I can understand (not agree), that people think Kanner autism might be a great disability, but Aspergers is not. Theres a lot of Aspies who live an independent life, so where is the disability then? And there would be quite more Aspies live independent if our culture would be a bit more social and people less egocentric.
I think a lot of people only know Kanner autism from films like Rainman. Before I had the diagnosis for my son I never heard about Aspergers (and I think I'm quite educated). But that should certainly not be true for so called experts. :roll:
It's just like racism: people fear what they don't know and don't understand.
Sibylle
Well, I doubt they would even find anything doing that!!! According to the latest genetic theories, autism is passed down by the father. The reason why autism is more prevalent in boys than in girls is because it's a SEX-LINKED CHARACTERISTIC!!! Not, as according to the stupid Newsweek article, due to "hypermasculinity". Personally, I think the male tendency to be emotionally stupid and dense more due to social conditioning as we tend to teach men in this society that it is okay and EXPECTED to ignore the feelings of others.
My dad's an Aspie and while it can be irritating to talk to him because he has no cognizance of other people's conversational needs, he's hardly insensitive to other people's emotions. That insensitivity is LEARNED and CONDITIONED and I think the reason why he's not is because he's an Aspie and didn't get conditioned that way. Lord knows, he certainly got pushed in that direction, growing up in the Rockies during the '50s.
Anyway, I trust New Scientist much more than Newsweek, and if these genetic theories hold up, it means that my chances of having autistic off-spring myself as an autistic woman would be about nil unless autism runs in the family of the father. Which makes sense because all the autistic members of my family are all on my dad's side and I'm the only female.
I've told people that if they eliminate autism, they can kiss goodbye to space travel, but they don't believe me. But I really strongly feel that Einstein came up with the Theory of Relativity BECAUSE of his autism. If he was just like everyone else, we'd still be working with Newtonian mechanics. (Though probably not even that. Newton was rumored to be autistic, too. We'd probably still think the sun revolves around us.)
It's a small thing, but I'm a proofreader as a day job. Without proofreaders, law firms could not function. And you want to know what I found out? Most people who take the agency tests, FLUNK THEM!!! And I score consistently high. It's my autism that makes me really good at it. My attention to detail drives people bats, but it's absolutely necessary. without people with autistic tendencies, planes would crash and computers would cease to function because most NTs are incapable of that level of attention to detail. My dad can pick up any computer language in a couple of weeks and he's 66. Most 45-year-olds can't do that. He designed the lens to the Mauna Kea telescope. And he has the worst disability?
I do so many things much better than anyone around me. But I never get a chance to prove it because the discrimination is so rife. The "experts" gave up on me at three and wanted me institutionalized, even though I had already taught myself to read.
I don't know enough about my family to make a fair guess who was autistic and who not.
If I had to try I would say my father has autistic traits (or he is a very rude NT :lol: ). The brother of my divorced husband had as bad a temper as a child/youth, as my son sometimes has, so I am not sure from that side as well (but maybe it's just the temper that's inherited from that side - the brother does not look very AS to me). My divorced husband could go as an introvert NT and I think that's just what he is. His parents seem to me NT.
I am certainly AS (still not dxed, only online tests veryfied). I know almost nothing about my grandparents.
Sibylle