Maybe she finds it easier if there is one sterotype of asperger. Seems like she wants the world nice and tidy put in her boxes. She'll probably think up another 'disorder' for those who match all asperger traits but do form close friendships or relations.
Looks like an NT sorting game to me.
No one would question that my 12-year-old is on the spectrum. It is just too obvious. Since we have not obtained an official diagnosis, what is in question is whether he is HFA or AS. His standardized tests come back at the 98th and 99th percentiles, which argues for AS. His echolalia / palilalia argues for HFA. It really doesn't matter for the purposes of this discussion. What matters is that he has 2 best friends, ie, young men who'd rather spend the day with John than with anyone. Who could ask for more? And I expect that when he decides that he likes girls he'll do OK. He is being raised to have a strong sense of himself and confidence in who he is. He is so much more put together than I was at this critical middle school age. I had the message that something was wrong with me, I needed to shape up, nobody liked me and that was entirely my fault, etc, etc. He has the idea that he is a valuable person who can find his place, be happy just the way he is, and lead a healthy life. How can that not be attractive? The most attractive thing about any person is liking him/herself.
This sounds like a mother who never found a way to forgive her child for not being the child she wanted. She is not grieving for her child, she is grieving for herself. A most insidious form of conditional love.
And, no, I would never say such a thing to her face. All hail the marvelous and liberating anonymity of internet message boards.
This is the point where the aforementioned professionals obviously published there own horseblindered paradigms and will have to live with the negative feedback. Thank you!
"As for individual , stop thinking of Aspies as "socially inferior" and stop thinking of that group membership as "dangerous." We live both in the predominant culture and outside of it. That's not always an easy duality to negotiate, but that's not a choice we have -- it's a fact"
Thanks Max
The reporter did not misquote Yale. I saw the transcripts (luckily, the reporter had conduceted the interview with the Yale people via email) and there were no misquotes. You can write her to see them, if you're interested. suzannexs@yahoo.com