My son repeats to himself his own phrases

[Jana Delaney]

I read your post just because @Fridgemagnetman made a comment, but you might be also disturbed by the fact that I don’t read posts from people that don’t bother to choose an avatar.

FYI, it’s not friendly to be new here and start posting about ‘being disturbed’.

If you don't even want your own child to be self-aware, then avatars on an Internet forum are the least of your worries.

 

[Sabrina]

I spend a lot of time posting about how good self-awareness can be as an adult. However the younger you are, the more complex and perhaps even problematic it can be.

I'd think that can't be an easy thing for any parent to approach their child without great thought.

I often wonder what my life might have been like in the 50s and 60s had I known. For better or worse, I'm honestly not sure. But medicine at the time didn't have the capability, despite all of Dr. Asperger's research of the 40s.

Some countries, like where I grew up, or where I live right now (and many others, from what I‘ve learned reading from other people posting here) are in a social and cultural time similar to how it used to be in the ‘West’ many years ago, in which is not advisable to go telling everybody ‘hey, my kids are aspies, and so am I’. Some people forget that the people who post here are from all over the world, not only from the ‘Western’ world.

BTW, geographically speaking I live in the West too (Latin America and Africa are just as ‘West’ as the US and Europe, and much more than Australia; I was shocked when I learned in my twenties that I did not live in the ‘West’).

 

[Judge]

Some countries, like where I grew up, or where I live right now (and many others, from what I‘ve learned reading from other people posting here) are in a social and cultural time similar to how it used to be in the ‘West’ many years ago, in which is not advisable to go telling everybody ‘hey, my kids are aspies, and so am I’. Some people forget that the people who post here are from all over the world, not only from the ‘Western’ world.

BTW, geographically speaking I live in the West too (Latin America and Africa are just as ‘West’ as the US and Europe, and much more than Australia; I was shocked when I learned in my twenties that I did not live in the ‘West’).

Good point. Some societies may be prone to treating those with autism as an underclass- or even a lower caste. Yet another example of that dynamic that has been discussed many times- "need-to-know" only.

 

[Jana Delaney]

Some societies may be prone to treating those with autism as an underclass- or even a lower caste.

I'd substitute the word 'some' for 'all', and the word 'may' to 'are' in this sentence.

 

[Judge]

I'd substitute the word 'some' for 'all', and the word 'may' to 'are' in this sentence.

I suppose that depends upon the degree of persecution/ignorance/indifference perceived and experienced.

 

[Jana Delaney]

I suppose that depends upon the degree of persecution/ignorance/indifference perceived and experienced.

I perceive facts; like alarmingly high levels of unemployment, financial instability, social isolation and even suicide.

 

[Judge]

I perceive facts; like alarmingly high levels of unemployment, financial instability, social isolation and even suicide.

I've endured exposure to all those things. Yet no entity in authority has forced me to live a certain way in a certain place or make me identify myself as being part of a particular minority because of who and what I am.

In essence from my own perspective it could be a lot worse depending on nationality, political extremism and culture. That such oppression comes in degrees.

Here I've managed to survive on my own resources. Put me into the wrong country in the wrong conditions and I'd simply die.

 

[Jana Delaney]

I've endured exposure to all those things. Yet no entity in authority has forced me to live a certain way in a certain place or make me identify myself as being part of a particular minority.

In essence from my own perspective it could be a lot worse depending on nationality, political extremism and culture.

It can always be worse. Then again it can usually be better. The fundamental point I would make about the bleak situation for many Autistic people in this world is that it is avoidable. It doesn't have to be that way. It is made that way through accidental or sometimes even deliberate misunderstanding.

 

[Judge]

It can always be worse. Then again it can usually be better. The fundamental point I would make about the bleak situation for many Autistic people in this world is that it is avoidable. It doesn't have to be that way. It is made that way through accidental or sometimes even deliberate misunderstanding.

You're "preaching to the choir". That's sentiment for Neurotypicals to hear. Not those of us on the spectrum.

We are already more than aware of those "bleak situations" you speak of. For many of us it's a way of life. However we can also attest that some are more bleaker than others. That's a fact.

 

[Jana Delaney]

That's sentiment for Neurotypicals to hear.

Yes, and there are plenty of 'neurotypicals' in this forum.

 

[WittyAspie]

I spend a lot of time posting about how good self-awareness can be as an adult. However the younger you are, the more complex and perhaps even problematic it can be.

I'd think that can't be an easy thing for any parent to approach their child without great thought.

I often wonder what my life might have been like in the 50s and 60s had I known. For better or worse, I'm honestly not sure. But medicine at the time didn't have the capability, despite all of Dr. Asperger's research of the 40s.

The 40s were not exactly a time of free flowing information. The politic climate (that’s putting it mildly) has a lot to do with why Dr. Asperger’s research took a long time to be recognized. He couldn’t be open about his research with the powers that be and most of the world wasn’t interested in scientific progress from central Europe. If they were interested, it was in terms of how they could defeat it.

 

[Judge]

The 40s were not exactly a time of free flowing information. The politic climate (that’s putting it mildly) has a lot to do with why Dr. Asperger’s research took a long time to be recognized. He couldn’t be open about his research with the powers that be and most of the world wasn’t interested in scientific progress from central Europe. If they were interested, it was in terms of how they could defeat it.

Yep, the Third Reich was a bit occupied in 1944 to take a long, serious look at Dr. Asperger's work.

Though IMO it's much of the equation in how people continue to argue whether he was a man of good deeds or something else. Hard to say how real scrutiny would have made Aspies party members or just another brand of "untermenschen" and most of us know what fate that meant in the Third Reich.

Lucky for us that this regime never got the chance to seriously consider who and what we are. I'm only speculating, but I suspect it could have gone very badly for us.

As for the 50s and 60s? Not fatal, but plenty toxic. In an environment where subjects like autism got less exposure than homosexuality or racism. It wouldn't have been pretty for me. Life was difficult enough with my peers by 1965. And I haven't even gotten to the war and how that preoccupied everyone's minds.

 

[WittyAspie]

Yep, the Third Reich was a bit occupied in 1944 to take a long, serious look at Dr. Asperger's work.

Though IMO it's much of the equation in how people continue to argue whether he was a man of good deeds or something else. Hard to say how real scrutiny would have made Aspies party members or just another brand of "untermenschen" and most of us know what fate that meant in the Third Reich.

Lucky for us that this regime never got the chance to seriously consider who and what we are. I'm only speculating, but I suspect it could have gone very badly for us.

Or very well if we sold our souls. It would probably all come down to whether they used the DSM-IV or DSM-V.

 

[Judge]

Or very well if we sold our souls. It would probably all come down to whether they used the DSM-IV or DSM-V.

Actually I sometimes wonder how many people on the spectrum may have been loyal party members. Who didn't question orders and only followed them. After all the party offered a rather simple life unencumbered by independent thought. Where it may have been possible for even an Aspie to blend in and yell "Sieg Heil!"

But just not this Aspie.

 

[WittyAspie]

Actually I sometimes wonder how many people on the spectrum may have been loyal party members. Who didn't question orders and only followed them. After all the party offered a rather simple life unencumbered by independent thought. Where it may have been possible for even an Aspie to blend in and yell "Sieg Heil!"

But just not this Aspie.

I'm actually the exact opposite. Following the crowd is the last thing I want to do. Part of the reason I struggled in the Army is because it disturbed me when I was forced to follow stupid orders. I would be trouble for a repressive regime. They would get rid of me if I ever got caught.

 

[Judge]

I'm actually the exact opposite. Following the crowd is the last thing I want to do. Part of the reason I struggled in the Army is because it disturbed me when I was forced to follow stupid orders. I would be trouble for a repressive regime. They would get rid of me if I ever got caught.

LOL. Me too. I was fortunate to consider the advice of my mother who suggested I stay out of the military. While my father thought it would be a good fit for me.

I spent my childhood in the Navy in a matter of speaking. Had some social obligations of my father's making that were absolute murder to me. Didn't understand why back then, but I sure do now.

But no, even the simplicity of mass conformity and blind obedience wouldn't have worked for me.

Though at times I wonder what it is like to "belong". Something so foreign to me I have no idea of what that feeling would be. Only that some people thrive on such a thing.

Totalitarianism fascinates me. But only from a distance.

 

[Homebrand]

That's me, in my head, every day grrrrr