Published on 12, July, 2020
I can't stand stereotypes and do not wish to be defined by my condition. I would rather people saw me as an individual with strengths and weaknesses, some of which can be explained by me having Asperger's syndrome, rather than defining me by a label. This is why I can't stand the word 'aspie'. While having Aspergers is an important part of my identity, it is no more important than me being female, no more important than my sexuality or my age. I would hate it if someone did not see past me being a woman or past my age, why is having aspergers any different? The disability movement campaigned for disability to be seen not as an individual affliction or difference, to move beyond individualising disability and to see it as a societal problem: people with disabilities should campaign collectively to change society, making it imperative to see the person before the disability. I am a person with asperger's syndrome, not an aspie. I share traits that other people with AS may have, but I don't share all the traits, just enough to have aspergers. We are all different, to say I am an aspie suggests conformity with other 'aspies' and obliterates the part of me that defies easy categorization.
Fair enough. Since you refuse to answer my question I think we will just have to close the discussion. You insist on seeing your view as right and objective instead of subjective and a personal opinion, as all views essentially are, mine included. This is not to say Truth does not exist objectively - it does. Truth is lived objectively every day when men and women create their own lives within the confines of the environment, and also change the environment to enable them to seek new horizons. We must agree to disagree. But History will ultimately be on the side of gender equality, undoing the supposedly objective view that men and women are prone to different behaviours based on brain structure. The Science you report has no relevance to most peoples' lives, unless policy makers use it to create sexist policy.