Who here was officially diagnosed with autism or Asperger's?

Good luck. Though at least things are getting better for us. Greater awareness of the condition both from government (as in, services), and the public, companies changing hiring practices (there are articles about how Google hire employees by ignoring the traditional hiring practices, and how companies are shutting down their useless HR departments), and an actual growing demand for autistic employees in some industries, means that things will get better. Not right away, but they are getting better.

So Catbert's out of a job? THANK GOD!

I know I've heard of companies specifically recruiting people with Asperger's. I wonder where they're located, what kinds of jobs they are, and how I would go about getting in with one. Or for that matter, whether I would even be considered with my current diagnosis.

They're not everywhere, that's for sure. It really sucks for us right now. Good luck getting a job. I have one only because my dad was friends with my boss. I may be moving to a higher-paying position (FINALLY!) only because my boss likes me, and she was given the opportunity to do so. She moved to a new office, and was asked "Any special requests?", and her response was to give me a higher-ranking job involving computers, and to allow me to move in to the new office with her. She was told they can't guarantee this, but they'll try. I'm very glad someone is looking out for me, and I can hopefully finally do something that's better suited to my abilities, more interesting, and pays more. Most autistics are not so lucky, and many can't get even a basic job due to the invisible social barriers that stand in the way.

I'm glad I'll be getting more specialized help soon, but it still bothers me a little that the screening I took to determine my eligibility stopped just short of actually labeling me with Asperger's. I certainly have some acknowledged tendencies, else I wouldn't have had even the opportunity to get screened, but with no one's opinion besides my own, my family's, and maybe a couple others close to me, I can't help but worry that I'm just self-diagnosing as so many do.

Yeah, I'm Aspbergic. Officially diagnosed and everything. But I never talk about it, because what I also am is a total asshole, and if I went around telling people I had Autism, they'd think the two were connected. And where would that leave people looking at you guys? Not in a good place. I'm not that horrible.

I'm better off just being seen as a dick than a dick who's trying to make excuses.

edited 11th Apr '14 8:31:11 PM by BaffleBlend

I appreciate that, Baffle Blend. I hate it when people "cry wolf" or otherwise harm their own group for selfish reasons, and I appreciate you keeping others in mind.

"Aspbergic". Never heard that term before

I was one of the first ever people diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome - by Michael Rutter, Lorna Wing, Francesca Happe, Uta Frith et al back in 1987 - 2 years after Lorna Wing had translated Hans Asperger's papers from the original German in 1985.

I was born in 1970 - basically relentlessly bullied in secondary school; this included sexual abuse by girls.

Holy crap. That's really messed up. The way society treats autistics/Aspies is sick.

It is sad how much of a stigma is still associated with Autism and especially Aspergers. I can't tell you how many times me and bf are gaming together online and someone in the game lobby or in game chat inevitably starts hurling around the accusations that someone in the chat during the game is either gay, or autistic. We had become used to being labelled "gay" when we are playing together and we usually just say, yeah, so what if it comes up as we always will pair up and kinda do our own thing, but when we hear people being called autistic is bothers my bf especially, but I find I am not happy about that either.

edited 20th Dec '14 10:54:20 PM by RainbowMatt

I don't have Asperger's, but I'd like to understand it better, because I've noticed a bunch of people have on their contributor pages that they've been diagnosed. I hate to be ignorant, but what is Asperger's, exactly? Wikipedia said it affected nonverbal communication or something, but what does that mean for you personally?

In my case, it has a bit of an adverse effect on my ability to acknowledge and internalize social cues and negotiating situations that require one to have an awareness of said cues.

For example, I'm bad at keeping sustained eye contact, and often feel that I have to actively prevent myself from moving conversations into areas of my own personal expertise when it isn't an appropriate time to do so. My reactions to jokes and certain other statements are also occasionally incongruous with the expected reactions from people.

All of this is significantly less so than the amount I displayed when I was younger thanks to years of treatment, but it's still there. (I've got to stress that this is just what I've come across, though; I can't speak as a single point of authority for everyone's experiences, which could be similar, or very different.)

It affects us all in different ways. Autism/Aspergers (since Aspergers is basically what used to be called "high functioning autism" before it was separate, and Aspergers is no longer separate) results basically in the following:

• Harder time understanding social rules, and learning them. This tends to result in:
  • Bullying and abuse
  • Being seen as "creepy" or "weird" (particularly in adults who don't have more obvious autism symptoms, meaning that people don't see a disability or mental rearrangement of the thought process, but instead just see some creepy weirdo)
  • Getting in trouble without knowing why (happened to me a lot as a kid)
• Tendency to fixate on one topic or a small handful of interests, and having very limited interests, yet intense ones. These interests can be anything from the common (video games, trains, movies) to the obscure (a particular genre of novel, music from a certain era, the history of a particular town).
• Tourettes-esque tics. If you're not familiar with Tourettes Syndrome, it's often portrayed by Hollywood as "random cursing disease", when in reality, it's more like when you're stressed, you "tic", which can be anything from making odd noises under your breath, to laughing inappropriately, to more socially acceptable tics like tapping a pencil.
• Unusual sensitivity to touch, sound, light, etc. It varies depending on the individual. Autistics/Aspies often see light as being brighter, resulting in many of us not being particularly fond of bright sunny days. Many of us can't stand certain types of clothing since we feel the fabric, or even things like a shirt pocket, more intently. One man diagnosed with Aspergers hates soda because it feels like acid pain in his mouth, and nobody around him understands that. Our taste in food is heavily influenced by our sensory sensitivity, as flavor often feels more flavorful, or too flavorful, for instance, so many of us like "bland" food. Sometimes the sensitivity goes in the opposite direction and the autistic is undersensitive, like having a higher tolerance for pain.
• A tendency to prefer the company of those considered by society to be outside their normal peer group. A lot of people think, for instance, that one should have same-sex friends of around the same age. Autistics, assuming they have friends (a great many do not, many do), often have more opposite-sex friends, as well as friends outside their age group. Society considers it abnormal, but it's normal for us.
• Problems with eye contact. Looking people directly in the eye feels totally alien and everything in our being makes us want to look away. Well, for most of us. Some can learn to do eye contact normally enough to get by, but in a way that might make the observant realize that the person is giving eye contact because they know to do it, and not because it feels natural to them. For that matter, giving eye contact makes it harder to concentrate on what we're trying to say, because the eye contact and the constant thinking of "how do I fake being normal? How long should I look at this person?" and the mental bombardment of just looking at their eyes means that we find it easier to pay attention when looking away from, not at, a person.
• Odd expressions of emotion. We tend to feel emotion more strongly than most people. That, ironically, is why we often "shut down" when something big and bad happens. It's because we're so overpowered by the emotion that we sort of enter "robot mode". Minor emotions, meanwhile, can feel bigger as well.
• There's also other things like a tendency to be very skilled in one or several things, but totally hopeless in others. Like great at recognizing patterns in things (a very common autistic/Aspergers skill), but completely lacking in coordination to be capable of getting good at sports.

Autistics/people with Aspergers (whatever term you want) are often seen as annoying, weird, or creepy. Autistic behavior that's more subtle is often the reason why. More obvious autistic behavior like the Tourettes-esque tics tend to get us seen as mentally disabled, and while some autistics are, those who would be considered to have Aspergers are not. It's a real problem.

Holy crap. I guess I never considered how rough it must be to have Asperger's. I'm a little socially awkward, so at first I figured it must be kind of like that, but it sounds totally different. It doesn't sound all bad, especially since many of you are probably good at things that "normal people" aren't. But it's the prejudice that gets me. It pisses me off that people exclude and discriminate against people who are a little bit different, especially since you all (on this forum) seem like well-spoken, intelligent people. Thank you so much for your input.

Yeah. Even nerds have been known to reject autistics. The autistic joins a community like, say, live-action roleplaying, and is rejected by the other nerds for being too different and weird for them. I've heard some bad stories about that sort of thing.

There's more to Aspergers than just being a smart nerd.

The good news is that things are changing! Both self-advocates, and parents of Aspies are making their voices heard, and problems like discrimination in employment (yes, companies would rather hire a fun goof-off than an Aspie with a college degree who doesn't fit in), difficulty finding romance partners (see this post), lack of understanding from society in general and police in particular, are being addressed. Stuff is happening.

edited 4th Apr '15 3:14:14 PM by BonsaiForest

Wow, even the nerds are discriminatory? I didn't realize that was such a problem.

I'm so glad things are changing. Whenever I can, I'll be an advocate for people with Asperger's and autism. Really, for most of the people on here, it just seems to be a behavioral thing like ADD (that's what I have), not something to exclude people over.

People who are bullied a lot are often bullies as well.

i guess i might as well raise my hand.

it's hard to really describe the way my aspergers manifests other than people can instantly tell i'm "different". i don't have a problem with interpreting things in an overly literal fashion, but i have a very hard time being dishonest in any way. this doesn't necessarily mean lying flat out, but just acting in a way that goes against my nature, "faking it till you make it", or just being an actor of any kind. it's not something i feel comfortable doing at all. an old flame told me i was probably the most genuine person she'd ever met.

Autism is a mixture of behavioral issues caused by the differences in thinking, and the difference in thinking itself.

Many autistics don't care about social strata. Heirarchies. We're much more egalitarian, much more open to people violating gender-role norms, social class norms, and more. It's common for autistics to not see authority figures as actually having authority until they come to know the authority figure well and believe the individual has earned that position. (This has been known to cause problems with autistics who haven't yet learned to show the proper respect) Autistics also value honesty - blunt honesty, and have been known to be honest about things to the detriment of themselves.

I think these differences in thinking aren't bad. I have a female Aspie friend who is the only person I can relate to both emotionally and intellectually, and although we do not share the same hobbies, it's a deeper relationship than I've ever had with someone who shares my interests but nothing else. She said I'm one of the very few people she knows who "gets it", as her nonautistic friends don't understand her, and are of the "well you don't seem autistic!" variety.

AngelG55th raises hand

This being the closest thread to a general Autist/Aspergers thread, I would like to discuss an issue that's currently giving me enormous amounts of grief.

Do any of you wish you were more enthusiastic/motivated about that one thing that fills your mind? Do you sometimes struggle to feel motivated enough to do things related to it?

I do, in both cases.

That One Thing for me is video games and some ancillary topics that have to do with technology. And since 2012 or so there has been this series of doujin video games that's been with me for all this time. What do I have to show for this supposed interest/obsession?

• I only play the games once every few months due to issues with motivation. These games are difficult and require dedication to win - dedication I've never truly given them.
• Loads of written material I've never read.
• No real enthusiasm over successes. This applies to a large proportion of things I do, not just this video game.
• No real interest on new material. Two new games were released yesterday and while everyone in a forum elsewhere was was busy playing and/or discussing it, I was totally blank about it.
• I lack a "waifu", or even a favorite character; all I have is some characters that feel a bit closer to me than the rest, but still no strong feelings.
• Actually scratch that, my interest is generally lacking in strong feelings outright.
• It's a long-time interest that's still puddle-deep despite all the time I've spent. It's plastered all over my desktop◊, it's plastered on my profile in every forum I've been to since then (this one is no exception) and it governs a lot of my ideas, yet I don't have a whole lot about where it really matters. (knowledge, satisfaction, enthusiasm, etc.)

Overall, it doesn't seem like I'm having a good time with it, even though I supposedly am. The deepest it goes is having some of its music synonymous with sad moments in my mind. Basically it is something I obsess with but don't truly feel satisfied with. It's a paradox, a nonsensical reality that disturbs and worries me.

It sure does sound absurd to hear complaining I don't feel happy enough with my video games, but I came here to swap words with people who have what I have, experience what I experience and therefore are much more capable of understanding and helping me out. If most of the ones who view this can't offer anything, then I'd really like to be directed to a site where I could be offered the advice I look for.

edited 10th May '15 8:25:58 PM by AngelG55th

We actually do have a general autism/Aspergers thread, actually, if you want to check it out.

Anyway, your problem could be either depression of the "anhedonia" variety (inability to enjoy things you're normally interested in - the root word, "hedon", is where "hedonism" comes from) or addiction - you really want to do this one thing (play these particular types of games) but you're no longer getting satisfaction out of it.

But I'm not sure. Maybe chat therapy sites like 7cupsoftea or blahtherapy might help, as some of the people there might understand. If one person doesn't seem to know much, try another.

I have aspergers. Following thread because this seems interesting.

Which thread? This one or the one I linked to in my previous post?

both