Asperger's & Autism Forum

Hi guys, I want to start this post off by saying I know at least the majority of you aren't medical professionals and aren't qualified to diagnose me or anything. I guess I'm just looking for opinions from people who know more than I do about ASD.
A bit about me:

-I'm a 21 year old female, currently enrolled in college and working part time (15 hours a week)
-I'm highly intelligent and do exceedingly well in school. That's one area that I excel at for sure, especially anything related to writing and literature. I can focus really well when I need to and almost never procrastinate.
-As a child I used to have a lot of problems socially, never playing with or talking to other children even though I really wanted to.
-I do have friends now, which I didn't start making until about 4th grade. I now have two at home and about three at school, who I am very close to.
-I have only seriously dated one person in the past for about 3 months, and he did not understand my need for quiet...

First thread on here, looks like an awesome place to air your thoughts to here goes; did any of you have a "helper" when you were at school? I'm interested to hear how it made you feel and how it shaped you as an adult?

I had an assistant up until I was 16-years-old. In one way it was great, she did everything for me to the point where the only reason I was actually at school was because I legally had to be there. In other ways where was a big question mark over head as to why there seemed to be a piece of string attached to me, tethered to this woman at the other end. It was embarrassing in some says.

So feel free to air your thoughts and view points here.

Who here as a problem of repeating what they say over and over?

I do. I sometimes expect a response from people about what I say, and they say "ENOUGH! STOP!"

Additionally, I lost a friend because I kept calling her constantly around the holiday in 2007 (ten years ago now) because I wanted to see her. Lesson learned for me.......... and this is why I don't have a GF. I'm much better at that now, thankfully.

Bullying is an unfortunate part of life for those on the autism spectrum, as noted by the various threads and comments on the subject. Tales of emotional and physical abuse at the hands of bullies clearly illustrate the pain brought upon us and the subsequent effects. In these cases there is no doubt about the bullying; the source, the actions, and the reasoning were usually clear.

What about, as I call it, Passive Bullying? Passive bullying occurs at the hands of those that one trusts, considers to be a friend, etc. It is not cruel, vicious, or brutal, as is typically recognized. The bullying might take on the form of “good natured” ribbing, but the “victim” is clueless as to what or why. Consider the scenario of the victim being “kept around” because of their eccentricities brought on by being on the spectrum. The “Passive Bully” thrives on the “differences” of one on the spectrum.

So, have you experienced Passive Bullying? If so, did you recognize it? Did you address...

I will be discussing this with some movie SPOILERS because it is certain movies that have triggered this response, and the most important parts of these movies are the ones that are falling flat and confusing me. (so... I will start with the movie name in italics and just skip until you see another movie name in italics if you haven't seen it.)

Titantic. I was doing okay with this movie until I go to the part where she turns down a spot in the lifeboat to be with her Love, and so he dies because there isn't room for him on the door! If she had gotten in the lifeboat like she had a chance to, he would be meeting her on the dock! And also, he would be happy she had a chance to live, you know? It could have been a much better setup.

Steel Magnolias. I wanted to slap this movie. Every single instance of heartbreak and anguish was completely preventable. Julia Roberts' character, who was a nurse and should have known better, made a constant stream of bad decisions that led to her...

A few general questions...

-Do you work?

-If so, what job do you do, part-time or full-time? How many hours do you feel capable of doing? What kind of environment do you feel comfortable in?

-If not, have you tried to in the past and things didn't work out? How do you support yourself otherwise? Do you feel incapable of working? Do you want to work? Do you get bored not working? What do you do with all the free time?
I'm currently trying to convince my aspie boyfriend to consider a part-time job in order to help pay the bills. I can cover things on my own, but even him working 10 or 15 hours a week would make us a lot more comfortable. He really wants too but thinks he can't handle it and is afraid to try. I don't know what to do.
I guess for now I'm just trying to understand him...if this kind of difficulty with work is common to aspies or not.

This is something I'm genuinely curious about as I hear some people pronounce it (most often as an insult) as if the 'p' is a 'b' so it sounds like Ass-Burger, while in other places you're supposed to pronounce the word with a 'hard G'.

For me, I pronounce it as "A-Spur-Jer". What about you guys?

I have heard different theories and possible “cures” concerning autism. Recently I was engaged in an informal conversation at work (several standing around chit-chatting) about nothing in particular when someone brought up the subject of natural living, etc. I have several friends that subscribe to that lifestyle. They eat only organic, do not believe in doctors, use natural treatments for various things, etc.

As I listened in, it was suggested that potassium can help those with autism. Since I am not overly knowledgeable in the area of natural living, I didn’t say much. According to the one speaking, a potassium deficiency can bring about a number of effects with one being autism. I’m confident that I’m not correctly sharing what was conveyed, but it still struck me as a bizarre statement.

So, has anyone heard of a link between a potassium deficiency and autism? I’ve found a number of links, but there are so many articles it’s difficult gleaning what is useful or correct.

Hi there,

I had a question for everyone.

My childhood friend and I recently started talking again. He has told me that he has asperger's syndrome. I am not on the spectrum, so I have done a lot of research to try and understand it as I would love to see this relationship grow to the next level.

My question is, how do you tell someone with asperger's that you love them? We have been sharing romantic songs back and fourth, but I really want to express my feelings to him. I am asking for help cause I don't want to screw anything up with him. Any tips would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Does anyone ever get that response when you are trying to describe certain aspects of asd to them?

I usually speak for myself when discussing asd since a lot of symptoms don't show up in all of us or to the same extents, so of course I don't make blanket statements, it really annoys me then when I say something about autism and it is dismissed as something everyone has.
its like saying your diagnosed with anxiety and someone says everyone gets anxious, I don't think we should have to clarify the "more often then nuerotypicals" after every sentence but it's mostly a social disability for me there's a difference between "sometimes I feel awkward" and "a symptom of my disability is that I often come across as awkward"

One of the weirder ones when I tried to explain it to a lady and she decided cats must have aspergers... All cats... Because they aren't as social as dogs. T_T

idk maybe I'm just looking for snowflake points and don't want my specialness dismissed but I wonder if...