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AS people, please can you help me?

classic codger

I am trying, with great difficulty, to understand something. I could really use your help with this, it's literaly taken me over (you know the one) and I need the thinking of others. Call it an intervention!

Before I begin, please can I ask you to look over the following article?;

nymag.com/.../

I have seen many posts from NT parents about 'treatment' for AS.

The question I have asked myself is, 'if I could go back and be changed into an NT by 'treatment', would I choose it?'

My firm answer is 'No'. I am the sum total of a life spent as an AS person. I can't change my past, so my best option is to use the learning that is  'the sum of who I am' to help others if I can, and especially for the next generation. If any of you think that I can be helpful and supportive, understanding and insightful, fine. If you think the opposite, also fine and I am sorry that I wasn't helpful. I do what everyone does - the best I can.

I'm an egalitarian by instinct. I will state my thoughts and opinions, but they are mine alone. When I read other people's posts, I assume the right to agree or disagree, and simply expect the same fairness back.

Thank you for listening this far, and now I've come to my taxing absorption.

I read this post under the title Stem cell treatment for autism: 'Has anyone undergone stem cell treatment for autism?'

I responded with '

This is my personal opinion. I don't argue my personal opinions, just for them.

How about 'tretament' for being NT? Their capacity for being the most illogical, spiteful, self-destructive creature on this planet leaves me staggered. I pity the poor creatures and their lack of insight, but what can you do? No-one is researching 'treatment' for them, because they collectively agree that their unsanity is 'normal'.

The inmates are running the asylum.

Now, I thought that I was humourously disparaging the idea of 'treating' people just because they are different. It is my belief that most people will be able to see that I have reiterated the concepts of the same thing as the poster, with our roles reversed. Here's your mirror, as it were.
I just discovered that I got moderated for this post . Apparently, I should watch my language. A particular word picked out is asylum because it is derrogatory towards past attitudes to mental health (?).
I am totaly confused. I don't know why 'mental health' is being brought into it. Given the various current uses of the word 'asylum' I don't know how it becomes offensive, even in context, 'the inmates are running the asylum' is a common concept and has been the root idea behind several award winning books, plays and films, yet it appears that some ignoramus doesn't like it. And apparently, I'm supposed to know this and understand it in their particular case. Que?
Please, any insights will do. Sooner or later one of you will say something that will help me get a grip on this. You know the one where the more you try, the more you're shaking your head, you're laughing bleakly, you don't know whether to be angry, offended, confused, puch drunk, weakened, disempowered, desperate to understand, shocked, fed up with mods public messages yet again, privacy invaded, and a whole bunch more, and because you can't choose one, you have them all at once instead. That's where I am right now.
Phew! Bit of a maze. Ariadne, the thread!
Parents

  • I can certainly see both sides here.  Personally, I'm a great fan of satire and parody used to highlight hypocrisy and abuses of power etc. (big Chris Morris fan), and the intent of the post was clear enough to me.

    However, I think it wise to remember that this forum is used by people with a wide range of autistic spectrum conditions, some of whom may find it particularly difficult to distinguish what is meant literally, and what is meant as satire/parody/sarcasm etc. (much as I loathe their "ugliness", emoticons can be a very useful tool to avoid such ambiguities - I did not see the original post, so don't know if the text was 'flagged' in this way)

    So, I can sympathise with Sofie's position too, and I do feel that it is wise to be cautious with such things if there is a chance that remarks might be taken out of context by other forum members.  Having been a forum moderator myself in the past (not on this site), I have seen how quickly such misunderstandings can degenerate into a "flame war" even though neither side initially intended any hurt - especially for new members who have not yet "got to know you" through your previous valued contributions to the forum.

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  • I can certainly see both sides here.  Personally, I'm a great fan of satire and parody used to highlight hypocrisy and abuses of power etc. (big Chris Morris fan), and the intent of the post was clear enough to me.

    However, I think it wise to remember that this forum is used by people with a wide range of autistic spectrum conditions, some of whom may find it particularly difficult to distinguish what is meant literally, and what is meant as satire/parody/sarcasm etc. (much as I loathe their "ugliness", emoticons can be a very useful tool to avoid such ambiguities - I did not see the original post, so don't know if the text was 'flagged' in this way)

    So, I can sympathise with Sofie's position too, and I do feel that it is wise to be cautious with such things if there is a chance that remarks might be taken out of context by other forum members.  Having been a forum moderator myself in the past (not on this site), I have seen how quickly such misunderstandings can degenerate into a "flame war" even though neither side initially intended any hurt - especially for new members who have not yet "got to know you" through your previous valued contributions to the forum.

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