Aspies For Freedom

Ok, I have this dear friend at school who's 11 years old, and in the 8th grade. She's not an aspie, but has a lot of aspie traits. She's intelligent, funny, and interesting. But whenever she disagrees with somebody on a topic, she always makes a huge rant on her views. Like "I could never become vegetarian. I eat meat, because i can get protien from it, unlike vegetables. Meat is part of the food groups...God has a higher ranking for humans than for animals. He put animals here so humans can use them....think about it. Why do you think that animals are here?" She's opinionated on a lot of things, and comes from a highly religious family. Although she's pretty cool with me believing only the slightest bit of religion, she thinks everybody should believe in a single God in some form.

Debating is her thing. I really don't want to be rude and force her to stop. She has to put up with my numbers, my loud talking, and my desire to be alone at times. And if we lose our friendship, I may end up having to eat lunch all by myself. How can I get her to realize that excessive debating can make people feel like she's trying to manipulate them?

The good new is that she'll probably grow up to be an exellent lawyer and become a wealthy person.

Tell her anomymously in a printed letter, maybe...

I was a constant debater.  I was surprised when a therapist said to me when I was 19 "why do you have to debate everything?"  I was really confused by the question because I thought that was just how people have a good conversation.  I really didn't understand that "conversation" was usually something other than an intellectual debate. Having a mental fencing match had made me feel that we were exchanging ideas.

Eureka Moment!

i debate absolutely EVERYTHING. and i also considered a mental fencing match the best way to...explore a subject

As i said, this girl doesn't have aspergers. She's an NT with AS traits. I think part of the reason she debates so much is because of her young age. Some children, including me, like to argue about everything, especially with their siblings, but also their friends. Her sister (13 yo/9th grade) also debates a lot. So it would't really be a good idea to have her sister tell her to loosen up, since she'll feel like a hypocrite. I'm pretty sure these two sisters will get over it as they get older. But in the mean time....they are sure lucky that some 15-18 year olds are patient enough to put up with it. btw my high school has grades 7-8 as well as 9-12.

...I'm still trying to get over that she's thinking "God" put the animals here just for humans to use however they want.....

But, if she's opinionated, and always wants her own view to be known, then I say that's pretty good.
all she needs now is to think more about what she's saying.

In Genesis it says that humans are given "dominion" over the animals. It doesn't say we can do whatever we like to them. It also says not to eat scaleless fishes,  shellfish, nor swine. Many animals your friend eats are probably prohibited by the bible. Locusts and grasshoppers are kosher, however. Would she consider eating them? http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?boo...version=45

You can get protein from vegetables. http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.htm http://www.vegsoc.org/info/protein.html

As for the "what do you think animals are here for?" argument- perhaps the animals she considers here only for human use are on this planet for the same reason as the "non-useful" animals, as integral parts of a large and complicated ecosystem. Her consumerist view of the natural world is disheartening, especially considering the precarious state of our ecology today.

I understand her love of debate, but it seems this arument of hers is based on all sorts of opinion, and no facts. Is this customary for her? How does she handle new information? Does she take in facts that don't fit her preconceived ideas?

I'm not trying to be rude. I'm just curious.

11 years old and 8th grade sounds like IQ > 150, which is unfair to the average person.

I don't understand why some people just get the goods, and others don't.  I really don't get it.

I forgot to mention that the food groups pyramid is nonsense. It was recently changed to a supposedly 'healthier' model to help counter the current explosion of obesity; however, it still recommends multiple daily servings of dairy products. Given the huge number of people in the world that are lactose intolerant, this is bizarre and draws the whole set of recommendations into question. It is well known that in America the first proposed food pyramid was much more sparing on meat and milk products. The creators were forced to change the groups to favour the powerful economic interest of those in the meat and dairy industries.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/...ramid.html

I know. but she thinks meat is  better way to get protien, because it has all the nessesary ammino acids. Vegetables, on the other hand, only have some of the nessassary ammino acids. You have to not be allergic to soy, toffu, and beans, and you have to eat a huge variety of veggies every single day.

Yes, this is customary for her. She learns a lot of these opinions from her family. She does reject a lot of information she learns in school, particularly science, because it doesn't agreee with the Torah. Evolution is one of them. I couldn't imagine not believing in evolution. Whenever she talks about it, I usually remain silent.