Asperger's in Germany and Austria

[Myrtonos]

Is there much public discussion or awareness in these countries about Asperger's syndrome, let alone attempts to make the German aspie community better known internationally?
What is it like being on the spectrum in these countries? Remember, Austria is where the diagnosis all began.
How does the German aspie community compare to that of the English-speaking world?

 

[Graphin]

What I can confirm is that I heard autism used as an insult in school a lot

 

[simetra]

In Austria, Autism is not publicly discussed - I dare say - at all, outside of groups specialized in it. There is one organization that provides some support and diagnosis for ASD in Vienna that I know of, but awareness work, none. Sadly, a lot of people who don't know much about Autism either equate it with retardation or psychopathy. But I can only speak from what I have seen and heard.

Edit: There are plans to establish another institution to provide free diagnosis for children under the age of 14.

 

[Myrtonos]

In Austria, Autism is not publicly discussed - I dare say - at all, outside of groups specialized in it. There is one organization that provides some support and diagnosis for ASD in Vienna that I know of, but awareness work, none. Sadly, a lot of people who don't know much about Autism either equate it with retardation or psychopathy.

How ironic for the country where it all began. Might you want to make any videos about this if you aren't too shy to make them?

 

[Aspertastic7]

I'm from Switzerland but I hope I'm allowed to share my experiences in this thread anyways.

We've many organisations here that help autistic people to make their daily life in the neurotypical world a better one. E.g. at university you can apply for help in certain situations like the lectures or even the exams.
In my environment (which consists mostly of more or less young people), most people just accept it when I say that I've been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrom. Most of them don't treat you like you're atypical (in a negative way), which I appreciate a lot.

Contrary to this, elder people often only know the "hollywood version" of autistic people: the brilliant but antisocial guy that doesn't (even try to) fit into society. They do not try to tackle with this topic and how autism is defined in a realistic way, which results in a very stereotypical (and wrong!) point of view.

In general I'd say most people here know what autism is (even if their opinion is based on some, lets say 'special' sources such as movies that are technically made to entertain and not to inform, which is a big difference). Furthermore, my experience is that when I try to understand their world and do my best to cope with it, people are trying to understand mine as well. I think that's a good compromise

 

[Myrtonos]

If you're from the German part of Switzerland, it still counts, but this is a thread, not a blog. What also counts is the experiences of aspie ex-pats who have lived in German-speaking Europe, such as @Progster, Anja Melissa would be another.

 

[Progster]

If you're from the German part of Switzerland, it still counts, but this is a thread, not a blog. What also counts is the experiences of aspie ex-pats who have lived in German-speaking Europe, such as @Progster, Anja Melissa would be another.

Given that I was in Germany for a short period about 25 years ago, I'm hardly in a position to be able to answer this question.

 

[tree]

What also counts is the experiences of aspie ex-pats who have lived in German-speaking Europe, such as @Progster, Anja Melissa would be another.

Progster has spoken for herself, but I thought I'd point out
that the other person you mentioned hasn't been active on this forum in
over four years, so I wouldn't be expecting any outpouring
of information from her.