Currently I?ve been (over)thinking the entire notion if autism/Asperger?s is an excuse.
I don?t think it is. If it?s not an excuse, then I guess being dumb (as in not being able to process any information past tying you shoelaces) isn?t an excuse to not get a PhD either. Fact is there?s things people can and can?t do. Should I attribute it to ASD? Myea? if I don?t attribute it to ASD, can I shelve it under social anxiety? Dyspraxia? And probably another list full list of other problems that the DSM is rich of.
And if I can?t shelve it under there; presumably some people will state ?there is no such thing as social anxiety?. Fine, you just made the entire field of mental healthcare invalid.
I?ve heard these people claim autism doesn?t exist. For them depression doesn?t exist. For them there?s no such thing as Dissociative Identity Disorder either. To them it?s just a matter of ?get your **** together?. And again, if it would be that easy, why would we need mental healthcare professionals?
Anyway; enough of taking a piss at people I (and probably you; the reader) shouldn?t care about that much. You?ve got personal troubles and who cares who judges this. For what it?s worth these people might even be cause of your problem.
So, what got me thinking about autism and the notion of ?is it an excuse? has everything to do with referrals, credentials and getting a job.
If I look at my own adult life in terms of employment and education, which I?ll share with y?all in a second it?s a pretty interesting graph. And honestly, it does not require a genius to figure out that this is not alright and despite a lot of trying by trial and error it just did not work out.
I could bombard everyone with a lot of words and numbers and have everyone figure it out. But it?s 2013, and some of us want stuff to be visual. And so it shall be!
I won?t bother anyone with exact years, but in the graph below they do add up perfectly. The first bar in Education can be seen as a full year. Anything faded represents stuff like dropping out of school and as such not completing it. Obviously length in bars represents longer or shorter duration.
First, let?s look at the most relevant of the statistics. Education and employment. Obviously, employers care to see what knowledge and degree you have as well as acquired skills through employment.
The reason I bring this is up is because even this information is full of holes. And it?s something a potential employer will ask about. ?what did you do there?? Simply put; I was unemployed. Add up that I have a resum? that already shows that I was not able to get a diploma of any sorts. I don?t need to tell them that, but if I attended computer science for a year, it?s common knowledge I most likely do not have a degree. If they?d look further for internships and they?re absent it pretty much confirms it.
Obviously they inquire why I dropped out, and why I dropped out a whopping 5(!) times. If I knew it were an easy answer back then, I suppose I wouldn?t have dropped out that much. Something I said before on this board; knowing about my condition helped me put stuff in perspective. But I only knew about this when I already dropped out the last time.
For anyone?s information; the period I actually managed to pull myself through education for the extended period in between drop-outs, was a more adult oriented high school course, which I attended for only exams and none of the actually lessons/classes. I attended school for what? at best 2 hours a week, had a wealth of spare time, had interesting classes (which I researched at home) like philosophy, managed that fairly well with good grades and best of all, I was not seeing a therapist. I could manage that.
Suffice to say that kind of life is not how the world works.
Anyhow; So how much of an excuse is it then? I didn?t know it before and as such tried and tried and tried. I didn?t use it as an excuse. But more and more I realized things didn?t work out for me. Hence, this is why at some point I ended up at a therapist and got my diagnosis.
The problem is; if an employer asks me what?s up with my resum?, do I tell him about my condition? Or do I try again? Clearly I can attribute certain things to my behavior and the way I function if I put it in line with common Asperger?s traits. Surely it?s not the full thing. Part of it is just me. Part of my personality might be slightly quirky totally separate from being an aspie. One can argue if those personality traits stem from an Aspergical mind. But in general, my personality, that?s the least of the worries. And some stuff might be a comorbid disorder even. That adds to the mix.
What?s also interesting to note; A resum? looks at employment and education, but not the terms on how you achieved that. *cough*special needs or therapy*cough*. As well as the earlier mentioned diet version of college.
I?d like to add another, a 4th statistic to my Swiss cheese. Support and professional help.
Employees clearly don?t want any of that. But that pretty much makes them look they don?t want real people either. Some people just have bigger issues with things than others.
And for a slight reality check, it?s not only employers that don?t care for this. Coaches are often blind for this as well.
So to go back to the question at the beginning; is Asperger?s an excuse? No? it?s an explanation. It?s a cause. It can be used as a crutch (note; I said used. Not; exploited) to create understanding both for yourself as well as people around you.
I don?t think it is. If it?s not an excuse, then I guess being dumb (as in not being able to process any information past tying you shoelaces) isn?t an excuse to not get a PhD either. Fact is there?s things people can and can?t do. Should I attribute it to ASD? Myea? if I don?t attribute it to ASD, can I shelve it under social anxiety? Dyspraxia? And probably another list full list of other problems that the DSM is rich of.
And if I can?t shelve it under there; presumably some people will state ?there is no such thing as social anxiety?. Fine, you just made the entire field of mental healthcare invalid.
I?ve heard these people claim autism doesn?t exist. For them depression doesn?t exist. For them there?s no such thing as Dissociative Identity Disorder either. To them it?s just a matter of ?get your **** together?. And again, if it would be that easy, why would we need mental healthcare professionals?
Anyway; enough of taking a piss at people I (and probably you; the reader) shouldn?t care about that much. You?ve got personal troubles and who cares who judges this. For what it?s worth these people might even be cause of your problem.
So, what got me thinking about autism and the notion of ?is it an excuse? has everything to do with referrals, credentials and getting a job.
If I look at my own adult life in terms of employment and education, which I?ll share with y?all in a second it?s a pretty interesting graph. And honestly, it does not require a genius to figure out that this is not alright and despite a lot of trying by trial and error it just did not work out.
I could bombard everyone with a lot of words and numbers and have everyone figure it out. But it?s 2013, and some of us want stuff to be visual. And so it shall be!
I won?t bother anyone with exact years, but in the graph below they do add up perfectly. The first bar in Education can be seen as a full year. Anything faded represents stuff like dropping out of school and as such not completing it. Obviously length in bars represents longer or shorter duration.
First, let?s look at the most relevant of the statistics. Education and employment. Obviously, employers care to see what knowledge and degree you have as well as acquired skills through employment.
The reason I bring this is up is because even this information is full of holes. And it?s something a potential employer will ask about. ?what did you do there?? Simply put; I was unemployed. Add up that I have a resum? that already shows that I was not able to get a diploma of any sorts. I don?t need to tell them that, but if I attended computer science for a year, it?s common knowledge I most likely do not have a degree. If they?d look further for internships and they?re absent it pretty much confirms it.
Obviously they inquire why I dropped out, and why I dropped out a whopping 5(!) times. If I knew it were an easy answer back then, I suppose I wouldn?t have dropped out that much. Something I said before on this board; knowing about my condition helped me put stuff in perspective. But I only knew about this when I already dropped out the last time.
For anyone?s information; the period I actually managed to pull myself through education for the extended period in between drop-outs, was a more adult oriented high school course, which I attended for only exams and none of the actually lessons/classes. I attended school for what? at best 2 hours a week, had a wealth of spare time, had interesting classes (which I researched at home) like philosophy, managed that fairly well with good grades and best of all, I was not seeing a therapist. I could manage that.
Suffice to say that kind of life is not how the world works.
Anyhow; So how much of an excuse is it then? I didn?t know it before and as such tried and tried and tried. I didn?t use it as an excuse. But more and more I realized things didn?t work out for me. Hence, this is why at some point I ended up at a therapist and got my diagnosis.
The problem is; if an employer asks me what?s up with my resum?, do I tell him about my condition? Or do I try again? Clearly I can attribute certain things to my behavior and the way I function if I put it in line with common Asperger?s traits. Surely it?s not the full thing. Part of it is just me. Part of my personality might be slightly quirky totally separate from being an aspie. One can argue if those personality traits stem from an Aspergical mind. But in general, my personality, that?s the least of the worries. And some stuff might be a comorbid disorder even. That adds to the mix.
What?s also interesting to note; A resum? looks at employment and education, but not the terms on how you achieved that. *cough*special needs or therapy*cough*. As well as the earlier mentioned diet version of college.
I?d like to add another, a 4th statistic to my Swiss cheese. Support and professional help.
Employees clearly don?t want any of that. But that pretty much makes them look they don?t want real people either. Some people just have bigger issues with things than others.
And for a slight reality check, it?s not only employers that don?t care for this. Coaches are often blind for this as well.
So to go back to the question at the beginning; is Asperger?s an excuse? No? it?s an explanation. It?s a cause. It can be used as a crutch (note; I said used. Not; exploited) to create understanding both for yourself as well as people around you.
