Aspies For Freedom

That people like Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Thomas Jefferson, Bill Gates, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and almost all of the movers and shakers of the scientific world are alleged Aspies, as are many of the more famous writers, musicians, actors, and artists. Your world would be a shadow of itself without us.
(There are seemingly endless lists of famous Aspie names on the internet.

That we see, hear, taste, smell, and feel much more of the physical world than you do. We are ultrasensitive to soft sounds than you are. Many of us can hear high-pitched (ultrasonic) sounds that your ears are incapable of hearing. We are driven crazy by tiny pinpoints of light that you can't even see. The seam in the bottom of our socks is very bothersome. (I'll bet the princess in the "Princess and the Pea" fable was an Aspie.)

That we are NOT repeat NOT mentally ill. We have a different neurological system which is not yet understood.  We are not schizophrenic ( a chemical imbalance); we live in the same world that you do, not little worlds of our own.

We are not sociopathic, people-haters,or wannabe hermits. We are nonviolent unless pushed beyond the limits of our tolerance. We do not have an attachment disorder, as so many people seem to think, despite the many differences.

And yes, many of us are clumsy. We walk funny. We are humiliated in our gym classes because we are usually the last people who are picked when the gym teacher tells his favorite "jocks" to choose up sides. We can't understand why the gym teacher thinks that everybody has to be an athlete, and gives us low grades because he thinks we are shirking.

We are subject to food allergies like you wouldn't believe. We have bizarre medication reactions which baffle doctors and pharmacists.

Our likes and dislikes are very different from yours. We could care less who wins the Superbowl or Wimbledon or the Stanley Cup. We like old coins and freight trains, and can drive you out of your mind by reciting an encyclopedic knowlege of the development of diesel locomotives.

If we were offered a "CURE", and become like the neurotypical (normal, whatever that may be) people, whom many of us consider to be dull and boring, we would refuse. We wish that well-meaning people would quit trying to "cure" us, especially those delusional people who think that behavior modification is going to do the trick.

And MANY THANKS for asking this. I am even thinking of mailing this to the editor of a local newspaper.

OOOPS second pragraph...I meant to say that we are ultrasensitive to soft sounds that you cannot hear.

Anthony - your post was good - well stated. People with aspergers are individuals as you stated. If we are to write up the thoughts given here with the idea of publication we have to be very careful not generalise.

Also - people should be free in this thread to express their individual thoughts without fear of critisism or being told their ideas are crap. I would have thought in this thread especially that people could state from their hearts what matters to them - what they want on  -a personal level - for people more neurotypically wired to understand about them as an individual.

People's opinions come about through life time experiences. I understand how hard  it must be when you know you have superior intelligence or academic ability - to be have to put up with being made to feel ignorant and foolish by dunderheaded bullies.  No wonder people develop negative attitudes. I really hate bullies.

My thoughts in relation to the question asked - speaking for myself and my son. Give us time to respond when talking with us - we seem to process our thoughts more slowly when communicating verbally - we struggle with finding the words to express our ideas.
Communication is difficult - but that doesn't mean the thoughts aren't there - we just need people to allow us the time to express our ideas.
If we say the wrong thing - don't leap to make negative judgements about us. Ask for clarification. Don't decide we are weird or dumb - this hurts.

Of course. Let every man speak for themselves. Let those with higher intelligence feel free to express their individual thoughts freely - without fear of being told their ideas are crap.

I don't have higher intelligence - I am in awe of those with higher intelligence.

I get the feeling there may have been a misunderstanding.

Unique talents and gifts - I like that Hrick's mum. What would Hrick like people to know about him?

Self acceptance is the cure to finding a peace of mind.

I honestly cannot see where this has happened - please show me.

I encourage you to express your ideas Ethel.

I objected to you telling another poster that their thoughts were "crap".

I agree with this point.

But when you have bullies putting you down and making out you are retarded - a natural response is to feel antagonised, angry and hurt at this clear injustice - especially when you know you have intelligence that surpasses that of the bully.

I understand how someone could carry this personally perceived injustice forward into their lives - allowing it to impact on their thoughts and feelings.

I believe that if you have been made to feel a retard because of your autism- a determination to view your intelligence as a positive attribute of autism is perfectly acceptable.

Let people take pride in themselves for things they are good at - if an aspie has a higher academic intelligence - let him value it.

My impression was that a couple of people valued their higher intelligence against that ignorant bullies who made them feel retards - not the general population.

yeah me too - the world tells aspies they are wrong often enough.

This thread (on an aspie forum) was about aspies telling NT's what they wanted NT's to know. If some aspies want NT's to know they are intelligent - fine! This thread offers people a chance to express a personal opinion - not fall in to or conform to the expectations of others.

Where zacchie? - if this was said it needed challenging -- I will accept that --- but show me where this was said.

They shouldn't - who said the above statement zacchie? Show me where that statement was made in this thread.

I am really sorry Ethel - your posts were fine. Yes, you were allowed to argue point and you did it well in this thread.

I look back and I see it was Batman - "just more crap from guess who". If Batman wants to argue a point with 'Guess who' - yes he should feel free to do this - simply telling him his ideas are crap in not acceptable - I beleive.

I hope this disagreement or misunderstanding can be reasoned out. I don't ideas misinterpreted.

Zacchie - leaping in and making false judgements and then ignoring someone when they ask for clarification is not fair. I am very disappointed. How can we ever work together as a group / community with this kind of behaviour?

I do not believe all aspies have higher intelligence.

One person who made comments in this thread about having higher intelligence made it clear he only intended to present a personal perspective.

Guess who's ideas. - - I got the idea his posts were specifically aimed at the neurotypicals who had bullied him and made him feel like a retard. I didn't believe his opinions were aimed at society as a whole.