If you had to explain Asperger to a friend, what one and only article on Asperger would you take as an introduction?
I always wonder how best to explain someone else what Apserger is, and how I can explain it very simple. Because I am highly visual thinker, it may be difficult for me to do it well. Thus I often look out for articles I can use to explain my ideas. And I don't like most articles about Asperger, and certainly not the ones talking about a 'disorder'.
So why not collect the single articles that serve best as an introduction?
My favourite one is this:
"The Geek Syndrom" by Wired Magazine
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aspergers.html
What is your one and only favourite on the topic? Please post your recommendation od an article, and NOT a comment on people's recommendations.
You might like to link this to similar articles on old Aspergia (there were at least two in recent months, and both had some great links). It's worth noting that most descriptions differ significantly (however positive they may be) so it's also important to decide exactly which describes you best (my best fit is the Baron-Cohen, extreme male brain model; and I've got the long ring fingers to prove it!)
Just tell them you're Autistic and watch the stupid look on their faces.
I often use this one, although I don't agree with the characterization of "mentally retarded" as meaning "unable to learn". (I also don't tend to use the term 'Asperger' except in sentences like this one, as it is neither my diagnosis nor something I believe to be so separate from autism that it needs a new name.)
http://web.syr.edu/~jisincla/bridging.htm
If I had to explain AS to a friend I might take along the paper by Prof Baron-Cohen "Is Asperger's syndrome/High-functioning Autism necessarily a disability?". The article explains AS as a difference and contrasts this with the idea of AS as a tragedy :cry: . Pity and concern from others often provokes anger :evil: and nausea :?
Although I have no problem with the "extreme male brain" theory, a lot of the examples of aspie obsessions in Baron-Cohen's article are very blokey and not exactly the same as to the kinds of interests that get me hooked, so I would like to be able to explain AS with some article that is untragic in tone that is specifically about female aspies, but I know of no such piece of writing.
The only lists of traits or articles that even start to describe the difference between the emotional side of my personality and "the norm" are not articles about Aspergers or autism, they are documents about an unrecognised and now generally forgotten "personality disorder" associated with epilepsy, epilepsy of the left temporal lobe specifically. It is called the Interictal Personality Disorder, and unfortunately most, but not all of the literature about it characterises it as a dangerous, tragic condition. I myself do not have epilepsy, but I know many aspies do. An aspie that I know and myself both have a speech problem that apparently can be caused by a left temporal lobe that is on the blink.
I have not found much in the literature about Aspergers that describes my emotional world, perhaps this is because the experts assume that people like me have no emotions because we don't wave them about in people's faces. I would also like to take the experts to task for neglecting to describe or identify females with AS properly. Perhaps we should have a diagnosis of our own.
Welcome lily; if you check out some of the stuff on the "...a five minute test" thread, it'll cast a new light on the male/female thing.
I'd love to read this paper you mention; is it available on the web? I've been looking for some time with no success! Could you provide a link, or maybe reproduce it for us?
I am not sure if it is the Baron-Cohen paper that Gwynfryn was enquiring about, here is the link for that paper
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/713...bility.htm
If it was stuff on the Interictal Personality Disorder that you were enquiring about, there is a brief intro to the "epileptic personality" at
http://www.epilepsy.com/articles/ar_1064250059.html
and there are offline articles about "the temporal lobe epilepsy personality syndrome" or the "Geschwind Syndrome" and the book "Seized" by Lynda la Plante. Surprisingly none of the sources mention autism or aspergers even once, even though some obviously autistic behaviour is described in each.
IPD was "discovered" by Norman Geschwind, who was the scientist who came up with the grand theory about testosterone and brain development that Baron-Cohen's work on the extreme male brain theory of autism has built upon, but Geschwind's theory was centred around lefthandedness as a kind of hub trait that he linked to other traits. I'm reading the old book "Cerebral lateralization" by Geschwind and Galaburda, which is interesting. If this book was more widely read it is possible that the more ridiculous theories explaining autism would go into the dustbin where they belong.
I saw that Gwynfryn recommended an article by Attwood for this topic. I'm sorry, I just can't take that Attwood person seriously since I read his description of marriages between aspies as "platonic" relationships centred around a common obsession. If some aspies do have marriages like this then that's fine by me, but I wouldn't describe that as a marriage, it seems more like a friendship to me. My own personal experience strongly suggests that Mr Attwood the "expert" does not know what he is talking about. I have kids to prove it!
I strongly agree with your last point about aspie relationships Lili, my experience is an aspie-NT relationship is more likely to be platonic, cos the same bond isnt there.
A friend I have in the local autism support group passed on some really good articles to me from the growing joel website but unfortunately, I don't have the link with me right now but I can look for it and post it on the forum when I have it.
It's good to find articles that are explanatory but don't baffle with too much medical jargon and waffle.