The autism spectrum

[James]

Well, not that this thread should be just about the quiz, but taking it isn't going to change who you are...

Edit - it isn't meant to tell you who you are, either.

[BitBuster]

Yeah, exactly.

[ManipulatorGeneral]

^Well, again, remember that you can have a label attached to you and still be who you are.

However, there is a dark side of being labeled autistic. I feel that I internalized the label as a negative trait when I was younger and thus limited my potential, and that autism became a crutch for me when things went wrong or life was too hard, even an excuse to behave badly and/or give up. The best solution, I find, is to work at progress, publicly discuss struggle and progress, and inspire others still living with autism and even other disabilities; I realized how valuable my testimony was in recent times, and this makes me less of an "autistic person" than a "person with autism," a distinction made in last night's anthropology class that makes all the difference in our self-image. The things that drive us to transcend ASD are important to know and appreciate in order to land on the positive side of the fence; for me, they are my friends, family, faith, instructors, appreciation for the finer things in life, and knowledge that my story does impact people. We should be aware of who we are as autistics, but not letting autism define us, rather to let what we make of it define us.

[BitBuster]

^That was a really good post, ManipulatorGeneral. Autism's definitely not an excuse for poor behaviour (and I know I've fallen into that trap, unfortunately). On the flip side, as you said, it's important to recognize it so that you can build off of that knowledge (rather than letting it strangle you). That's why I think it's probably a good thing to know where you stand on the spectrum, even if you think that it's just a label. That it may be, but there are implications that you can use to your advantage...

[Flareon350]

Well, not that this thread should be just about the quiz, but taking it isn't going to change who you are...

Edit - it isn't meant to tell you who you are, either.

Look I just don't want to take the quiz. Is that really a problem?

Geez people stop fricking harping on me over 1 fricking thing.

[geodave]

One symptom of Asperger's is obsession, I believe. LOL

I think it's important to distinguish what affects you and who you are. The two are intertwined, but distinct.

It's also important not to try to be something you're not. Challenging yourself is good. Expecting to succeed at every challenge is unrealistic.

I'm also wondering how much diet has to do with mental health. I know I act differently when I eat poorly.

[James]

Look I just don't want to take the quiz. Is that really a problem?

Geez people stop fricking harping on me over 1 fricking thing.

Yes, it's a problem. The universe will implode if you don't take the quiz in the next 6 hours. Do you really want that to happen?

[Click to Show Content]

Nobody was harping on you, just expressing disagreement with why you said you weren't taking it. Don't take the quiz if you don't want to. Taking the quiz was interesting to me because, from the questions and the results analysis file they give you afterwards, you can infer what it's like to have Asperger's/Autism. I found the results mildly interesting as well, but they need to be taken with a grain of salt and they need never to cause you to alter who you are (in fact, it should be the reverse; the "correct" approach IMO is "my [personality/political views/sexual orientation/etc.] can be described [poorly/somewhat/well/very well/etc.] by X" rather than "X is who I am, I must be ___ because that's one quality of X, I need to try harder to be X", etc.)

This next spoiler might come off the wrong way, but I think it can be turned into a thread contribution:

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From a psychological standpoint, it's interesting that you got immediately and explosively defensive about this. I'm wondering if this is a defensive mechanism people have to help them avoid even considering the possibility of harm to their self-image (especially when "problems" like autism are the "harm" being considered).

[Flareon350]

I got defensive about it because my brother is autistic. And just because I refuse to take it, doesn't mean I have a problem. I just choose not to take it...but if the world depends on it, then fine I'll take it.

Also, getting defensive like that is how my personality is. It's also how I was raised. My apologies.

[James]

You have nothing to apologize for. Also, since I get the impression your brother's autism is serious, sorry to hear that. Maybe you'd be able to give us some insight, though, for those of us that can't really relate.

[Flareon350]

You have nothing to apologize for. Also, since I get the impression your brother's autism is serious, sorry to hear that. Maybe you'd be able to give us some insight, though, for those of us that can't really relate.

How can I give insight? Like information about it?

His autism is serious. But his is really hard to explain really...it's just not as bad as you may think it is. One thing is he has speech problems (if you watch his CCLP3 videos you'll see) and he tends to run around randomly and shakes his hands. He also asks questions he knows the answer to a lot. Other than that, he is really smart and amazing at figuring out puzzles, which is why he plays CC a lot and he also is really great at fixing electrical appliances for I have no idea why but he is