That Young Female Protection Force was made by some dumb girl from 4Chan for "The lulz". I don't think it really should be discussed here, as if it has any validity or seriousness what so ever.

The girl got raped, and instead of getting over it, she wants to blame all Aspies for her getting raped cause her rapist happened to be Aspie apparently. I remember now the girl's name was Tanja. Frankly, it's a wonder if she was actually "attacked" or just being a problem because
Aspies are an easy target.

Her whole deal was that Aspies don't see women as people, but as inanimate objects. Basically suggesting all Aspie men have the mental profile of a sociopath. Giving her even the dignity to suggest her position was in the least bit valid, is too much.

This is the article mentioned in the petition (link intentionally broken)

http://w ww.aspia.org.au/pdf/Grigg_Potential_for_Abuse.pdf

All I have to say to this, is people with Asperger's Syndrome are NOT the bullies, they are the bullied.

Marcia, your husband isn't REMOTELY autistic. He loves to spend lots of his spare time at the footy and in pubs, with all that NOISE and CROWDS? And you think he is on the spectrum? I've never, ever met an aspie who not only enjoys such pastimes, but neglects other important duties to pursue such noise and socialization-rich pastimes. To be drawn to regularly spend lots of time at such pastimes one generally has to have a group of characteristics; a sensory tolerance for noise, crowding and nasty and strong smells, a strong drive to socialize, an enjoyment of the feeling of being among a  crowd and part of a crowd, and one also needs to lack any stronger drive to pursue a more interesting or compelling pastime such as an autistic special interest. Autistic people generally lack most of these characteristics. Your husband is not autistic. I don't mean to sound unfriendly or unsupportive, but what are you doing HERE? This is not an activist group specifically for uncouth and uncaring neurotypical husbands.

exactly

Who the hell do you think you are?!!!

You're making assumptions about someone you've never even met?  Regardless of whether or not Marcia's husband is on the spectrum or not, her son IS diagnosed with AS and Marcia has many symptoms herself, THAT is why she is here, she has as much right as any of you to be here.  This place is getting increasingly judgemental by the day.

THIS.

it's uncalled for and extremely rude and arrogant.

I didn't really want to get involved but Lil'Marlene, as I have mentioned previously(in a previous thread), this forum is for everyone associated with ASD.

Yes. I have no qualms with Marcia being here, but I do think that her husband is not an aspie based on the information that she provided. I would think that a person with those qualities is not an aspie. That is all that I was trying to say, and it started a whole war it seems like. I'm sorry for bringing it up.

Thanks for saying this. I saw a video of him and it was scary. I think that aspies have more to fear from NTs than the other way around.

I have known my husband for over 10 years. On this thread I have provided only very few examples of his behaviours.  If I were to list every aspect of his behaviour which is consistent with autism, the list would be so lengthy as to be unreadable.  TL-DR?

You mention NOISE  and CROWDS.  There is actually nothing currently in the diagnostic criteria which would indicate that an autistic person might not choose to go to football or pubs for those reasons.  Many autistic, and other people, don't like noisy or crowded environments.  I am one of them.  

He seems to meet the Gillsberg diagnostic criteria for Asperger's Syndrome and the criteria set out in the DSM-IV (TR) and supplemented by the Adult Asperger Asssessment, so I strongly suspect that he may be.

I'm sure you've heard it said that if you met one autistic person you've met one autistic person.

As an aside, it is actually possible to go the football on one's own, and to drink in a pub on one's own.

Many aspies do have an intolerance for certain noises, as does my husband - but as I've already stated, such intolerance is not considered relevant in terms of the current diagnostic criteria.  The pubs he and his small group of friends go to are not noisy - they are "old men's pubs" in which music is played quietly so that customers can talk easily among themselves.  He and his friends go to the same pub every week, where they sit at the same seats at the same table each time.  He gets stressed if they can't sit at their usual table, and if it is very busy for any reason, he doesn't stay.

As for crowding - the team my husband initially supported was lucky to get 500 supporters at a home game.  Some of the away games had attendances of maybe 150 or so.  Not exactly a crowd.  The team he currently supports does attract large crowds, but games are played in all-seated stadia where the movement of the crowds is strictly regulated and controlled, so the feeling of "being in a crowd" is not as oppressive or overpowering as you might think.  He travels early to games to avoid crowded trains, or gets a lift in a friend's car.

As I've said, if the pub is crowded, he leaves.

Nasty and strong smells - well, I don't know how smelly football supporters and pubs are where you live, but really they're not too bad here!  Also, my husband doesn't have a very good sense of smell, so any bad smells are unlikely to be noticed by him.

A strong drive to socialise - ah, well this is one which does get a mention in the literature on autism.  It is usually mentioned in the context of people on the Spectrum actually seeking friendships, but having difficulties making and sustaining them.  The idea that autistic people do not want to socialise is one that is often repudiated by the autistic community as an inaccurate stereotype.

My husband attends games and goes to the pub with a small group of friends.  They watch the game, they drink after it, and they talk mostly about football.

Enjoyment of being among and part of a crowd - yes, he enjoys being part of a crowd in which all present share a common focus.  A football crowd is very different from a crowd, in say, a busy airport, or a busy shop.  It is also, as I've said, within a controlled environment and crowd movements and responses are fairly predictable.

You're not a football fan, are you?

Football is a special interest for my husband.  For both teams he has supported he has compiled scrapbooks filled with various newspaper and magazine clippings, he has bought books, CDs, DVD, etc about the clubs and their players and managers.  He used to correspond fairly regularly with the Secretary of the first, small, club he supported.  He collects badges, pennants, posters, pictures, signed or unsigned memorabilia, and researches the historical and other aspects of these clubs.

Until he was in his mid-thirties he had no interest in football.  He then developed this obsession with the game, and with each of these two clubs in turn.  I was brought up in a family in which most had an interest in football.  My grandfather, father, uncles, cousins, sister and brother-in-law were/are all football season ticket holder and one uncle was a football club chairman.  I know an obsession with football when I see it.

You've met one autistic person, you've met one autistic person.

The fact that some autistic people don't go to the football or the pub, doesn't mean that other autistic people also shun these activities.

I've been a member here for over a year.  I joined shortly after my son was referred for assessment for autism, and I've stayed because I find I have a lot in common with other members, and most of the time I enjoy it.

Scary in what way?  I am puzzled, I have attended 2 Tony Attwood conferences and I found him to be very open and friendly, he seemed to be very much FOR Aspies and helping and supporting them.  I emailed him once asking for help on a personal matter and he replied, considering how busy the guy is I appreciated him taking the time to do that, most people wouldn't have bothered or would have left it to the secretary.

Exactly.  What is heaven to one autistic person can be hell for another.  There are as many brands of autism as there are autistic people.  Problem is some people think there is only their brand of autism.

Check out their poetry page!

Marcia, I've had a heck of a lot more invlovement with genuine autists than merely knowing one. For a start, I am one. Every AS-relevant test or questionnaire that I have done has resulted in a score typical of a person with AS. I have ALWAYS known I was different. I have no need or desire to seek any formal diagnosis. Secondly, I have been married to an autist for many years now. One of his parents told me that he did not speak till the age of 4 or 5, and could read before he spoke. He is obviously a most unique individual, as was his parent from which he inherited his AS gene(s). Thirdly, our kids have all manner of autistic traits, plus my synaesthesia and some have been "diagnosed" with intellectual giftedness by the school system. Fourthly, I have lived among and known my own family of origin and my in-laws very well, and there's plenty of AS characteristics and genes among these groups. One of our rellies self-diagnosed as AS before and completely independently of my discovery of AS. One characteristic that can be found in both of our families, and in every person who is clearly on the spectrum, is sensory hypersensitivity. I believe sensory differences are not included in the diagnostic criteria for AS, but that just shows how utterly ignorant the (exclusively American?) people were who created these lists of criteria. Autism researchers are now realizing that a very important aspect of autism has been overlooked by many autism experts, and one new theory of autism has sensory hypersensitivity as it's centrepiece (see link below). Fifthly, I have been loitering about in various forums for people with AS for too many years, and I have read lots about AS.

I don't have any problem with Marcia being at this forum to discuss any subject (who am I to make such judgements?), but the point I was making is that if she is just here to complain about the supposed AS traits of a husband who doesn't really have AS, I don't see the point. Nothing that Marcia has written has changed my opinion of her husband and AS. I just don't believe any person with AS would get much pleasure from the pubs and footy scene. Not only do I doubt that a person with AS would tolerate it, I can't see what their motivation would be to spend great swathes of one's life doing this stuff. Pubs and footy are all about bonding and mates and identifying with the player-heroes and all of that BS. Aspies laugh at that nonsense.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19...utism.html

Sorry to go on. I'll shut up now.