ASD or Aspergers or Autism - what am I?

Indeed watching Enterprise Series 4 as I type this :) Never a fan of Deep Space 9 but love all  the other variants even the politically correct Startrek Discovery - really looking forward to "Strange New Worlds" and the next "Picard" series :)

and the Americans didn't seem bothered that Wernher Von Braun was a member of the Nazi party and SS. Personally, he is a bit of a hero/legend in the Aerospace Engineering community and to be honest many people in his position had to do what was expected of them at that time in Germany otherwise, they might end up in a Concentration Camp !!

There was a whole thread about 'drive-by postings' and were they a cut-n-paste from another site posted as a place-holder for future spam attacks.

Many replies but still no sign of the original poster which is very common on this site. Post a question and never to be heard of again. It makes you wonder if this long list of  ' disappearing acts ' are actually genuine. Is there anything that can be done to discourage this ? I don't even see it being a rule to introduce yourself before posting here ?

Unknown said:

  I do think we can get a bit bogged down with it all...I know I have lately and I think coming in here doesn't help me sometimes...

never a truer word said ,  

I describe myself as out_of_step but my brain works a bit differently to others and the name for that is autism. When I've told my friends, I've said "on the spectrum" and its up to them to deduce for themselves,  knowing what they already know about me (a job...house..relatively "normal" lifestyle) and can ask further if they want to. 

The term aspergers weirded me out a bit when i read it on my report. It said altho the term is bring phased out it bests describes the subtype I have. And I never know how to pronounce it.

I'd love to tell people I have a "touch of the temple grandin's" but I think this would be lost on most people so I'll keep that one to myself.

I'm not fussed for all this person centric "is autistic / has autism" because to me it doesn't matter. Out_of step is how i identify first and foremost and there are many other facets to me alongside my recent diagnosis.

I really like the happy aspies stuff you posted about aidie. You're right...it's positive and people just getting on with their lives. They're lucky they're in the right environment.  I do think we can get a bit bogged down with it all...I know I have lately and I think coming in here doesn't help me sometimes....I try to keep things as positive as I can when I post.

have u done anything questionable lately ? 

Already from the comments in this thread, you can see how controversial the identification process is - some people identify as an aspie, others an autistic person, sometimes a person with autism, having ASC and so forth.

My personal preference is along the lines of autism as a dimension of my identity and personality - it is not able to be artificially separated from me but equally, I am not just autism embodied.

I do think that ASC is much friendlier than ASD because the whole language of disorder and deficit is just frustrating and damaging.

Across Europe and the USA now, Asperger's is no longer diagnosed but that does not stop people from identifying as such - the autistic community are not just medical labels. In addition, I don't think the use of the term Aspergers connotes anything bad about the individual who identifies as being an 'aspie' for instance. The set of traits that were associated with Asperger Syndrome have not disappeared now that some rather serious controversy has arose around the man himself. Either way, people like Kanner said some questionable things too (see https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20151006-its-time-we-dispelled-these-myths-about-autism) but they did contribute to the knowledge and theories around autism. I tend to leave history to historians and focus on autistic people themselves.

The other thing to consider is that the study of autism exists within societies, against a certain cultural and historical backdrop (clearly seen here in terms of eugenics and the language of deficit and disorder) which influences the areas of knowledge are likely to be studied (e.g. neuroscience and medicine today) and as a result, these areas appear to be of higher importance.

Fundamentally, I think we should look to individuals to see how they would like to be identified! Maybe have a look at some of the alternative ways to identify and think about the implications and choose whichever suits you! 

I'm just an autistic man. Its not a label its what I am. 

http://www.aspergerschildren.com/ 

Best to read it for yourself really. Steve Silberman of 'Neurotribes' fame has called it a terrible book. I found both books most interesting, but I think Steve was just a bit too easy on Asperger. From my POV, Asperger lived in extremely difficult times, and like most of us got quite a lot of things wrong. And Kanner also lived through times when it was widely acceptable to talk about eugenics. Things haven't really changed that much, have they? We're still mostly appeasing the doctrinauts.

The only difference was who benefits from the Government control.

My understanding is asperger's is a sub set of autism more sensory , more social problems,[no eye contact e.t.c] and more patterns but being verbal and with normal or above iq . Not used by some now.

Don't get me started, I'll never shut up, lol

There's nothing wrong with a Star Trek obsession - it works for me. 

I could have been a grumpy aspie kid and a happy aspie adult, without even bothering to care to even find out, were it not for the phobias and consequent anxiety it's potentially left me with, necessitating the cost of finding out, LOL.  Maybe one day, I just get to go back to my Star Trek obsession and stop caring, Lol.

having worked within extreme right wing ( USA, UK, South America ) and extreme left wing groups ( UK, Europe) it was hard to tell the difference sometimes

That's all based around a US smear campaign to get the US system accepted worldwide -  eg:   Only US-printed books allowed - which are changed very slightly every year to force all students to have to buy new books as the syllabus changes to reflect the new books.

It's a MASSIVE scam through every subject in US education - and of course, anyone who disagrees with this corruption is clearly a N4zi sympathyser - knee-jerk emotional blackmail.

What's annoying is there's always someone who feels the need to tell everyone he was associated with 'left-wing Germans'     

ASC, autism , or  "on the spectrum" are the most inclusive  and accurate   --- it is really not important is it ?

having said that I love the term used in USA for really good groups of autistic developers which is  "the Happy Aspies". 

They are called this because they dont care about labels and diagnoses and talking about meltdowns, shutdowns, depression, anxiety, socialising, equity/equality  because they are too busy writing the new Apps/code for the next generation of software.

There are no "happy aspies" here BTW they dont waste their time in fourns   they could have written some more code instead

I would love to meet/interview some of these very tight groups

Yes, I agree but from my reading I understand the term Asperger's itself has been discredited due to his links to the Nazi euthasia programme. 

Whatever makes you comfortable, I guess.  Clinically, I'm not sure they use the term 'Asperger's' these days, but most people have a little clue about what it means.