Aspies For Freedom

1: I am honest to the point of being brutal. Please don't ask me if I dislike someone/you're annoying me/I'm in a bad mood, as the truth inevitably offends

2: DON'T F*CKING TALK IN F*CKING LECTURES. I am hypersensitive to whispering/low noises and just because you can't shut up for 50 minutes doesn't mean I should have to miss what my tutor is saying (refer to note 1)

3: I am not making eye contact with you because I find it rude to constantly stare at someone. Why should your finding it rude I don't constantly stare at you supercede my personal comfort? Is it really putting you out of your f*cking day that I don't hold eye contact with you? I know you're there, I know you're listening. I don't talk with my eyes, I talk with my mouth.

4: Aspie kids are cute. Stop expecting all kids to be little popular socialites by the age of 5. Most of us will have horrible enough experiences in school without feeling like we're a disappointment to our families as well.

5: Of course I think soya milk is disgusting. There's no need to look like I just called your mother a *** when I ask if I can have soya with my coffee. I am not a snob, I'm trying to conserve toilet paper. A tree need not die because your management doesn't understand food allergens.

6: I don't mean to drop things, have poor co-ordination of my feet or suck at remembering dance routines. And high heels were invented by Satan. Yes, I look better in heels. No, I can't walk, and yes, my balance in them is even worse than it is in a pair of skater shoes.

7: I have an 'individual' sense of humour, and whilst I continue to find things funny, I couldn't really give a toss what the rest of humanity think of me. However, Aspie humour can be infectious; my NT partner used to find my sense of humour... unusual, but after 3 years of knowing me can beat me to certain quips and sit sniggering at the exact same things that I do. Given that I've managed to get her into South Park, Futurama, Green Wing, Simon Pegg/Nick Frost work, American Dad and Family Guy (she's scared of most of League of Gentlemen and Mighty Boosh) thats not bad going.

8: Geeks are sexier than socialites. I'd rather discuss gaming than drinking; a girl who can work her way around Raccoon City, quotes any of the above shows religiously, and who can sit and discuss Weimar/Nazi Germany gets my vote everytime.

9: I don't understand why you lie. Period. You just get caught in the end, or you tell lie after lie not to get caught. Ummmm... that makes sense how?

10: I genuinely don't understand emotional responses in other people. If you tell me something, then that is how it is in my head. You have to tell me if your feelings change, because I don't know what else to do.

B"H

I don't know about "Aspies", but I know that I:

1) Like numbers that end in 18.  36 or some multiple is OK too.

2) Sphenic numbers

3) Individuality

4) Respect

5) Children who like education and are thankful for the chance to be educated

6) Stars and other astronomical objects

7) Green plants, animals, and blue sky

8) History of the early American Republic

9) Good audios from http://www.613.org

10) And last, but certainly not least, resting on the Sabbath



Now, that has nothing to do with "Neurodiversity" or anything of the like.  I do not really believe in abstractions, whether they be of a "cure-ist" nature or an anti-"cure"ist nature.  Rather, I believe in people as individuals.  I would take my sense of who I am from no one.

I hope that helps you.  Thank you for asking.  Thank you for coming here.

All the best.

*grins* No probs - it's the problem with these threaded discussions...

That being said, I think the above is a big enough question to warrent its own thread - especially since this one is going to be used as an info source for a magazine article.

I've started one here: http://www.aspiesforfreedom.com/showthre...?tid=12314

My post was a response to the following statements:

I was disagreeing with these things. If no-one said aspies are more intelligent than NT's, why would you suddenly try to defend their right to say so?

I felt that you were attacking Ethels posts for no good reason, and I intervened - it's as simple as that.

Ah, I see - that makes more sense. I was intervening on Ethels behalf, but you're correct that Batmans post was out of line.

That's a fair enough statement.

To clarify, I probably wouldn't have worried about saying anything about your statement myself, but I probably wouldn't have said what I did to Lucie if I had realised which comment she was talking about.

That's one way of looking at it. Another way would be more of a "support group" kind of thing, for mutual reinforcement; an oasis where one can feel valued. It's the motivation that makes the difference.

What would I like NTs to know?

I keep to myself because 1) I like to think and have a lot to think about, and 2) I don't understand social interaction very well. It is NOT because I think I am better than you; to the contrary, I feel quite inadequate and alienated. Treating me like a snob does not help.

Right.

An oasis from bullies group is a nice idea, but is unworkable as an organized entity in practical reality for many reasons. And really, how many Aspies are there going to be at one school anyway? I think I might have known two or three the whole time I went to school. I don't know if they were smart.

Just to clarify, I wasn't very brainy myself. I was an "A" student in many subjects that a lot of students found difficult - Math, Biology, Chemistry. I got Cs and Ds in Foreign Languages and PE, though.

I even managed to get an F in the "easiest" class there was (according to most students): typing, or "keyboarding" nowadays. I have no internal visual representation of the keyboard. If I don't look at it, I have to find the keys "verbally". To find "Y", I have to think, "right pointy finger up one, left one." That slows me down a lot when I'm also reading what I have to type off of a page - it's like having two conversations at once. (Headache City! Nooooooo!) I know where the keys are, I just can't picture them. Looking back and forth is faster and easier (it gets rid of the two conversation problem), but that gets an "F" in typing class.

Anyway, I wouldn't have been invited into a "brainy" group either. In fact, one manifestation of a similar kind of group, Chess Club, threw me out. Success in chess has high positive correlation with the ability to play ahead: the further you can play ahead, the greater your chance of success (on average). Unfortunately, my neurology does not support the visualization option, and auditory encoding (talking your way through moves in your head) is only good for about two moves at best. Translation: I really suck at chess, but not because I don't know how to play.

The first computer chess program I had worked by looking ahead. In "expert" mode, it would run through all possible moves and pick the one most likely to lead to a win. In "intermediate" mode, you could limit it to two minutes of look-ahead time. In "lose" mode, it would not look ahead at all, but would take the highest point value move, or the move which would not result in the loss of a piece. I didn't know it then, but this was how I played the game. Out of 100 games, the results were: 1 win, 6 losses, and 93 stalemates. The toss of a coin, via the law of averages (aka, "chance"), would have produced a better record than that!

Absolutely. I identify 100%.

ATM: Yes.  I concur.  I have the exact experience.  I enjoyed Eighth Grade Algebra because of the connections that made sense, and that were symmetrical all around.  Sorry about the phrasing, but "symmetrical all around" is the best way I can put it at 10:12 PM.

Human relationships, by contrast, are not symmetrical all around. However, as the Chassidic Masters suggested, one's hardest task might be the reason for one's existence, one's Purpose in this world.  Consider that when one might be reluctant or fearful.

All the best.

In HS I was at the top of the class. Stood out so much I intentionally put down wrong answers to take some of the attention off of me.

In college, I majored in electronics engineering. This one other guy and I were in a semi-competition, and were kinda sorta tied for the top spot. In the end, he got it. He was NT, I think.

That was fun, but for practical application, all of my classmates were employed relatively quickly and got on with their lives. Twenty years later, I'm still not able to hold a job. So woo hoo I did great in math; big fat hairy deal.

*blushes*

Um...  I kinda forgot to mention this, but the point of this post was supposed to be that I only knew one NT who was really good at math.

Just wanted to point out that the earlier figures Guess Who quoted were entirely made up - the WIRED article didn't mention any figures.

I've seen the actual figure quoted in an earlier thread - around 10% of aspies display exceptional mathematic or scientific skills. It's a much higher percentage than the average population, but at the same time, it means the stereotype doesn't work 90% of the time.

It's an accurate article - autistics are over-represented in IT circles. 10% may not sound like a lot, but it's an extremely high figure compared with the general population. It's just not high enough that you can apply the stereotype to autistics in general.

Basically, my thinking is that it comes down to special interests and hyperfocus - if someone has a special interest in something related to maths or science, then there's a good chance they'll become one of the 10%. But these abilities could also be directed into art, history, acting, or any other specialised field of knowledge, ranging from mainstream things to obscurities.

Autistic people are specialists, but there's no rules as to what they have to specialise in.