The Asperger's Epidemic - not just restricted to Atlas anymore

[Oak Hills]

I'm surprised at the # of people here saying they have Asperger's.   Is it much easier to get diagnosed in some places w/ it than others?

Where I go to school, the kids with Asperger's/autism do nothing but rock back and forth, switch lights on and off, barely talk, and take classes in a special room with toys and special ed instructors instead of mingling with the general population.

Yeah because all forms of Autism are identical

All I'm saying is, Atlasians don't really seem impaired in any meaningful sense of the word......

oh?   

anyway I thought the whole point of Aspergers was that it was a relatively "high functioning" form of Autism.

It is.  Several people here seem not to understand the difference between Asperger's and other forms of autism. 

[TheElectoralBoobyPrize]

I'm surprised at the # of people here saying they have Asperger's.   Is it much easier to get diagnosed in some places w/ it than others?

Where I go to school, the kids with Asperger's/autism do nothing but rock back and forth, switch lights on and off, barely talk, and take classes in a special room with toys and special ed instructors instead of mingling with the general population.

Yeah because all forms of Autism are identical

All I'm saying is, Atlasians don't really seem impaired in any meaningful sense of the word......

oh?   

anyway I thought the whole point of Aspergers was that it was a relatively "high functioning" form of Autism.

It is.  Several people here seem not to understand the difference between Asperger's and other forms of autism. 

Yeah, what RFayette described sounds like pure (for lack of a better word) autism, not Asperger's.

I'm going to say something that sounds insensitive but it's the truth: oftentimes, the parents of "pure" autistics will say their child only has Aspergers to make themselves and possibly their child feel better. I understand their frustration, but it's a douchebag thing to do. And don't tell me this doesn't happen because I have FIRSTHAND experience with it.

Anyway, just for the record, I have an official Aspergers diagnosis, I'm higher-functioning than many, but I do struggle mightily with social interaction among my peers (that is, with people my age...I seem to do ok with older people).

It doesn't surprise me at all that a fair number of posters here have Aspergers. We tend to discuss one particular aspect of politics-that is, elections-at a rather esoteric level.

As for Putin, I would agree with others that he's too good at reading and manipulating people to have Aspergers.

[Antonio the Sixth]

There is almost no way you can possibly tell if someone has Asperger's through their written messages on the internet.

[Mechaman]

There is almost no way you can possibly tell if someone has Asperger's through their written messages on the internet.

I know almost nothing about Asperger's but I'm going to assume this is true.

Mind that a lot of kids with disabilities are taught to a certain extent how to blend into society.  I would imagine that with a decent amount of writing and Phonics courses it'd be hard to tell if someone has Asperger's if your only experience with them is over the internet.

Hell it is likely easier for people to detect my ADHD than any of the Asperger posters in this thread.

[rpryor03]

I'm surprised at the # of people here saying they have Asperger's.   Is it much easier to get diagnosed in some places w/ it than others?

Where I go to school, the kids with Asperger's/autism do nothing but rock back and forth, switch lights on and off, barely talk, and take classes in a special room with toys and special ed instructors instead of mingling with the general population.

Yeah because all forms of Autism are identical

All I'm saying is, Atlasians don't really seem impaired in any meaningful sense of the word......

oh?   

anyway I thought the whole point of Aspergers was that it was a relatively "high functioning" form of Autism.

It is.  Several people here seem not to understand the difference between Asperger's and other forms of autism. 

Yeah, what RFayette described sounds like pure (for lack of a better word) autism, not Asperger's.

I'm going to say something that sounds insensitive but it's the truth: oftentimes, the parents of "pure" autistics will say their child only has Aspergers to make themselves and possibly their child feel better. I understand their frustration, but it's a douchebag thing to do. And don't tell me this doesn't happen because I have FIRSTHAND experience with it.

Anyway, just for the record, I have an official Aspergers diagnosis, I'm higher-functioning than many, but I do struggle mightily with social interaction among my peers (that is, with people my age...I seem to do ok with older people).

It doesn't surprise me at all that a fair number of posters here have Aspergers. We tend to discuss one particular aspect of politics-that is, elections-at a rather esoteric level.

As for Putin, I would agree with others that he's too good at reading and manipulating people to have Aspergers.

I have the same diagnosis as the Booby Prize.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

First, please do not call it an "epidemic," because Asperger's is not a "disease."  As someone with Asperger's myself, I think internet forums in general are massively populated with us.

Where I go to school, the kids with Asperger's/autism do nothing but rock back and forth, switch lights on and off, barely talk, and take classes in a special room with toys and special ed instructors instead of mingling with the general population.

I do rock back and forth a lot, but that's where the similarity ends.  I literally talk ALL the time.

[TheElectoralBoobyPrize]

First, please do not call it an "epidemic," because Asperger's is not a "disease."  As someone with Asperger's myself, I think internet forums in general are massively populated with us.

Whenever several people on an internet forum say they have Aspergers, the NT (neurotypical) posters say it's overdiagnosed. What they don't realize is that Aspies are more likely to go to internet forums because...

1. Nonverbal communication is not a factor at all.

2. They can go to forums that focus on their special interest (s). They can't really do this in real life unless their special interest is something mainstream and/or in they're in a major urban area with there's lot of different things to do.

Yes, I understand there's plenty of NT people who post on forums too, but a higher proportion are going to have AS than the general population.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Why do people act like every individual person is either autistic or not-with a clear line separating  the two? I hardly think psychological conditions generally work that way. People are complicated (who knew?), with a lot of variation in the intensity of traits and quirks.

Granted, some cases are more obvious than others, but I think some people when self-diagnosing (never a good idea) or making armchair diagnoses of public figures (also never a good idea)  mistake being insensitive or rude in social situations (or just being an introverted and/or shy nerd or "loner" with quirky, focused interests ) with actually being autistic (not that these things are mutually exclusive...just that they're different, is all).