No, like I said they'd have said you were "mad" and chucked you in the local Mad House.
Exactly.
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No, like I said they'd have said you were "mad" and chucked you in the local Mad House.
Not offensive at all - it's a shame people were ever like that. As an adult stopped for speeding I was once tested for alcohol because I was so nervous and acted, I guess, drunk. (I don't drink at all - but my behavior made me suspicious).Yep.
I'm really nervous writing on here, not sure if I am going to say something wrong, but here goes..
We behave "normally" until pressure is put on us. I have been wondering for awhile (been watching a police show) how many people on the spectrum have been accused of things they did not do by parents, teachers, pastors, or others in authority and punished because they acted awkwardly when "interrogated." Is it possible ASD folks are in prison today because a police officer decided they were guilty and "did what was needed to make sure justice was done?"
I know as a child I was punished so many times for things I did not do and I never understood why.
I was ran out of a church by a pastor who listened to gossip, called me into a meetings with the elders and treated me like a criminal until I explained my side. Not once, again and again and again. Until I left. (I'm not a christian any longer.) Then made sure all the other churches in the area knew I was evil. I couldn't find a place to go where I wasn't treated like a leper. In the name of God.
Sorry if this is offensive.
It is good that society is recognizing that we are different (not evil, retarded or dangerous) but I would still like never to have to openly acknowledge that I am HFA. It could cost me my job, my right to drive, and who knows what else.
I have to agree with some advantages of not having the diagnosis until later because forcing me to be more normal (at least in behavior and actions) is probably the reason I was able to push myself through nursing school and work as the sole supporter of my kids and raise my kids. A label would have limited all that I'm sure. Even in my own mind would have given me an excuse not to fight as hard to do those things.I grew up in the 70-80-90's. I was high functioning and just considered 'difficult and awkward to deal with', someone who was weird, unapproachable, temper tantrums, inflexible, smart but annoying.
I was forced to try and understand myself on my own, find workarounds on my own, find my own sense of self worth etc, but i kind of like to see it as an character building exercise, albeit an unpleasant one.
I preferred discovering who i was rather than being told who i was or being boxed in by a medical label. While getting the diagnosis in my 40's helped me understand what was going on, i don't really regret only getting it later in life.
Knowing sooner would have helped in some aspects, all i really wanted was understanding and acceptance from my parents, but i would be worried that while it just a part of my life now, if i had learned at too early an age it may have defined me too much, it may have pushed a framework or context on me that may have limited me more later on in life.
The diagnosis has helped me improve my quality of life by making it easier to accept myself, respect my limitations, communicate to others about my needs, to stop fighting pointless battles to belong in environments that don't make me happy.
Everyone has difficulties and challenges in their lives. I just got deal the spectrum card and want to make the best out of my life.
Too bad it's rated R. An autistic James Bond would be cool.Where even Hollywood has made us appear "dangerous".
As I recall, in the 50s and 60s, if you weren't retarded (think Dustin Hoffman in "Rain Man"), then you were not autistic. You were shy, clumsy, quiet, and a loner. But not autistic. If you were able to screw up enough courage to tell a parent you were depressed or even thinking of suicide, you got something like "You're too young to have those kinds of problems. Just cheer up and be happy."We didn't have multiple toys to line up other than matchbox cars. We had 1 Barbie and multiple outfits.
Didn't have computers and video games to become obsessed with.
We were sent outside to play and our play was never observed.
Didn't have the resources we have today to have the opportunity to learn everything we could about one particular subject (mine was that I learned everything I could about music I liked but my information was limited to what was written on the album covers. But I could tell you at that time who sang what part and who played what instrument and could recognize them by their sound.)
We got thumped in the head to knock some sense into us often.
We were kind of forced to learn to behave normally.
Teachers checked behavior boxes in report cards that parents never looked at.
Kids didn't have a voice and was basically just something belonging to the parents.
Everyone (including teachers) used corporal punishment or worse and it was acceptable so we also didn't act up in class.
People had the attitude that you were either sane or crazy and quirkiness was considered sane, just weird.
It didn't matter how late you were in talking - it wasn't a competition then.
I know there are hundreds more to list - care to add any thoughts?
Suddenly I was supposed to give up kid stuff that I was still interested in and become into adult stuff that I was too young to do and thought most of it was stupid or dangerous anyway
What you say makes perfect sense to me. Clusters of teenagers, girls or boys, should raise alarm bells to those who are different from them or just plain old unpopular with them. The clusters are typically are insecure about themselves, desperate to fit in, resort to bulling to curry favor with their friends and to retaliate against bullying that they have also experienced, and are generally immature and emotionally shallow. Teenage years are about the hardest phase of life. Some turn out great; others turn out the opposite, and it is hell being a parent to teenagers and trying to teach them the right things.
That's exactly how it seemed to me too, growing up in the 60's.As I recall, in the 50s and 60s, if you weren't retarded (think Dustin Hoffman in "Rain Man"), then you were not autistic. You were shy, clumsy, quiet, and a loner. But not autistic. If you were able to screw up enough courage to tell a parent you were depressed or even thinking of suicide, you got something like "You're too young to have those kinds of problems. Just cheer up and be happy."
I never heard that one before.He also ensured than no one would try to translate Hans Aspergers work.
Something similar happened to me too, I was sent to a private remedial tutor to help me catch up with school work, and she told my parents that she thought I was autistic. My parents then took me to the GP, and he disagreed basically because I did not seem like a classically autistic child as it was understood at the time.I remember the family doctor once told my Mom when I was around age 14, he though I had an autistic
personality.
When we left the office she was upset and rather angry that someone dared say they thought I was
autistic!
That's exactly how it seemed to me too, growing up in the 60's.
Also I was one of those "artistic" and intelligent types.
Got labeled as shy when I wasn't at all.
I remember the family doctor once told my Mom when I was around age 14, he though I had an autistic
personality.
When we left the office she was upset and rather angry that someone dared say they thought I was
autistic!
I told her I thought she misunderstood and he said I had an artistic personality.
He said autistic though as I understood him also.
But, it settled her down.
Rocks are still my special interest to this day.
I was born in Arizona and had a daily ritual by the time I was three of running outside after breakfast
each morning with my "Spoom" and digging in the same place next to our house thinking I would find
some treasure rock!
I have quite a collection of rocks I have either found or aquired through the years.
I also collected a jar of sand from White Sands New Mexico and brought it with me when we moved to
Missouri at age five.
I thought it very special, until I gradually used it all up making mixtures with it, playing alchemy.