Being told you are different

[Suzette]

, I actually NEED the "autistic" label, but most of the people I've met (including professionals ) seem to think it's a terrible thing.

It is the D. "Disorder". The implication in that one word is "sick, damaged, mentally ill".

A better designation might be Autisim Spectrum Diversity. It encompasses the idea that a.s.d. is different but allows for autisim to be one end of the spectrum of normal.

 

[SDRSpark]

It is the D. "Disorder". The implication in that one word is "sick, damaged, mentally ill".

A better designation might be Autisim Spectrum Diversity. It encompasses the idea that a.s.d. is different but allows for autisim to be one end of the spectrum of normal.

I like where you're going with that but the word "diversity" sounds horribly wrong to me in this context. "Diversity" includes autism, autism is not a diversity.

Why does it have to have three letters to begin with? Why not just "autism spectrum"? It doesn't have to be a disorder, a condition, a diversity, or anything else. It's fine on its own.

 

[Suzette]

@SDRSpark, true Autimsim spectrum is good enough.

 

[Pieceofmind]

I could turn this into a rant if I wanted to, it gets irritating actually. I've also been called weird and strange, then whenever I dare to step out of line and ask what they mean there is silence. At work I often get the silence or talked to like I'm an alien and to me they're aliens too that communicate in a cryptic language I have no hope of understanding so I don't even care anymore being as old as I am. I can't say I'm surprised since the workplace is like high school 2.0 anyways and I just go in and try to get the shift done ASAP. I also live a quieter life though I'm on the extroverted end of introverted. When i find people I do communicate with smoothly like other people with ASD things are much more energizing which despite our differences that can be very huge on the spectrum there seems to be some sort of base of communication use many of us share that's not easily cross compatible with neurotypicals communication patterns. Like for example the other day for once someone I worked with had a conversation with me curious about me but there was a big problem, whenever I would respond this person would have no idea how to respond back fluidly or interpret what I said a wildly different way than what I meant. It was extremely awkward and I actually tried to as casually as I could end it myself by going to do something else. No one was doing anything wrong but it was still like we were speaking 2 different languages.

I do have some routines to follow that keep me grounded and I guess people from a distance can see that as rigid when really my physical and mental health is a bit more fragile especially right now since I'm going through some stuff. I especially don't drink and don't smoke so that alone puts up a lot of social walls. I occasionally vape so I guess in place of smoking that can be used but it won't get me far socially anyways. Being chronically ill, older, and autistic is its own social death sentence but besides the few people I hold close I've completely embraced a more solitary life.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

I do like is a can't go around apologizing for being bright, any more than being different. Same difference. life is a series of continuums.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

my unusual way of thinking means I'm really valuable as a troubleshooter (especially as part of a team of people who don't think they way I do) - I see things that they don't and vice versa.

Interesting how that works, especially in technical fields. Engineers used to seek me out to run the process validation and optimization elements of their projects. Being able to synthesize solutions led me to two patents in Cyclotron Targetry and isotope processing.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

My way of thinking changed the changed way my former employer operates. product line is now almost exclusively printing. 7 days a week 24 hours a day, no competition.

 

[SDRSpark]

Interesting how that works, especially in technical fields. Engineers used to seek me out to run the process validation and optimization elements of their projects. Being able to synthesize solutions led me to two patents in Cyclotron Targetry and isotope processing.

I was sought out by engineering technicians to run their process tests too! In fact I got pulled off furlough for some first articles...

Now I am an engineering technician! I was chosen.

You work on cyclotrons?! That's AWESOME!

 

[Kit]

Growing up I was told I was weird or strange, got told I was stupid or slow, even was called retarded, plus I was often rejected and treated different and faced double standards. This was how I knew I was different. Plus I was told I talked funny and I stuttered a lot as a kid.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I was sought out by engineering technicians to run their process tests too! In fact I got pulled off furlough for some first articles...

Now I am an engineering technician! I was chosen.

You work on cyclotrons?! That's AWESOME!

Isn't it great when our skills and modes of thinking intersects with our careers? The confidence and security that creates allowed me to learn to be more social, and the people enjoyed working with me.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

Growing up I was told I was weird or strange, got told I was stupid or slow, even was called retarded, plus I was often rejected and treated different and faced double standards. This was how I knew I was different. Plus I was told I talked funny and I stuttered a lot as a kid.

@Kit , I rated this as a heart because it makes me feel sad. I felt rejected as a teen and young adult, sometimes even as I self-rejected from feelings of inadequacy. The inability to have close friends or enter into an intimate relationship was traumatic for me. Here's wishing you the best.