Neurodiversity

[christie]

Belle -

Thank you SO much for the article on Aspie college prep courses! The Life Skills class at Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Hospital in Staunton, VA is very similar. Bratboy had an introduction to the class in February when he did the 14 day eval. Since then, he has taken on doing his own laundry (for the most part - after 9700 reminders from Jess and I).

I may look into the two different programs mentioned in the article that you posted - always nice to have a backup plan!

[violaine]

beginning conversations about birds, bugs, or . . . .

THINGS BULLIES SAY ABOUT ASPIES

Rude

Rude

Aspies aren't being rude when we don't get what you are trying to say between the lines; we just don't read non-verbal communication very well



Insensitive

Insensitive

Aspies have a very hard time trying to pick up on the needs of others or to see things from someone else's perspective



Domineering

Domineering

I suppose it can seem that way when someone is pedantic by nature and not picking up on subtle social signals; but the intent is not to be domineering



Pedantic

Pedantic

Yes, guilty, Aspies are pedantic; our brains are hard-wired that way, that's why we make such good scientists and IT's



Inconsiderate

Inconsiderate

Aspies have a very hard time trying to pick up on the needs of others or to see things from someone else's perspective unless it is spoken



Talks too loud

Talks too loud or too soft, or with a monotonous voice

It is common for Aspies to have odd prosody of speech, typically too loud or too soft



Talks too much / won't let anyone else get a word in

Can't shut them up

Aspies typically lack the receptors for non-verbal social signals



Ignores body language

Shocking at non-verbal communication

Aspies typically lack the receptors for non-verbal social signals



Says and does inappropriate things

Says and does inappropriate things

Aspies have difficulty in judging the appropriateness of different behaviours in different social situations



Won't consider someone else's opinion

Selfish, narrow minded

An unfortunate symptom of Asperger's is that we do not react well to change; this makes it hard to instinctively "get" others' opinions without being spelled out



Only wants to talk about jellyfish i just posted on jellyfish. haha

Only wants to talk about their special interest

One of the key features of Asperger's and other Autism disorders is for sufferers to have an obsessional special interest

Anti-social

Anti-social

Aspies are reknowned for being uncomfortable in social situations, preferring reading, writing, computing, or other 'anti-social' activities



Off in my own world

Head in the Clouds

Yes, I suppose Aspies are that way



and some kind of case here:

http://launcestoncityscandal.com/discrimination.html

i have not read through the entire thing. i'm thinking in the work space i've not [that i'm aware of] experienced too much bullying. maybe a couple instances of 'sabotage.' once, while teaching at the humane society, there was someone who wanted my job but refused to assist me whenever invited, or make an effort to learn the ropes on her own. she hid some of my paperwork, destroyed some things, and refused to let people know about what i was there to do, i found out later. my time spent at the HS in those days, was for the shelter animals. was that a form of bullying?


the positions that i've held doing my own thing, seem to be the ideal situation for me. like right now, i do see people, of course, and must have interaction; it's just not upsetting The Job iam/we are there to perform, nor am i having to stress over sensory issues.

[Andrew, Jr.]

Belle,

Did you ever experience the situation where people set you up to fail at work?

[violaine]

[QUOTE=Andrew, Jr.;335431]
Belle,

Did you ever experience the situation where people set you up to fail at work?



yes! six months into 2005, a situation arose with my being on a board. i was asked at my address, then later nominated for the position, and i thought of many positive ideas for involving this communiy with its residents and small town. what i did not know, and could not have conceived of, andrew, was that the majority of board members wanted me to discourage a woman from attending functions by eliminating her in the process of voting, volunteerism, common day-to-day issues, et c. people saw her as 'weak' and could not 'see' her disability. they were very cruel and expected that i would support them because they did, after all, 'want me' as their 'leader.' what they failed to see in setting me up for failure, was that i am not a weak person. witnessing the preying on people viewed as weak freaked me out and i could hardly believe my eyes, but it happened. i was used, and did maintain my post for a year, but with new supporters

i posted on this before. the woman had been bullied right off of riding a bus to get her groceries, and it did take me some time to straighten that out with the transportation supervisor, because she had 'bought into' the horrible stories herself about someone she had never even met.

[Andrew, Jr.]

Yes, I have had it happen to me as well. I have always experienced the negative & rejecting side of society. I think that is why I would much rather be around animals and just people watch. What is inside just never comes out right or comes out backwards or people look at me like I have 3 heads. Even when I did my activist work for trans-folks. The medical community here in Balto. sucks if you ask me.

[Quintease]

This looks interesting http://www.jkp.com/catalogue/book/9781849058261

[Semantics]

Originally Posted by Quintease

This looks interesting http://www.jkp.com/catalogue/book/9781849058261

I'm going to order that one. Thanks.

There's another good book specifically about girls on the spectrum called [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Girls-Umbrella-Autism-Spectrum-Disorders/dp/1931282471/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1304984459&sr=1-1"]Girls Under the Umbrella of Autism Spectrum Disorders[/ame] that I highly recommend.

[Jess]

Originally Posted by christie0918

Belle -

Thank you SO much for the article on Aspie college prep courses! The Life Skills class at Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Hospital in Staunton, VA is very similar. Bratboy had an introduction to the class in February when he did the 14 day eval. Since then, he has taken on doing his own laundry (for the most part - after 9700 reminders from Jess and I).

I may look into the two different programs mentioned in the article that you posted - always nice to have a backup plan!

He seems to be beginning to understand that actions or the lack thereof have consequences.

Six months ago I would have been asked to explain "WHYYYYYYYYY?" 58 times..... he was going to lose his internet privileges for not doing his chores ( clean his filthy room..LOL).

Today, we come home from school. He asked when he would get his web back and I quietly answered when he tidied his room and he started a load of laundry. No questions. In 15 minutes he brought his dishes downstairs and began a load of clothes. He got web back and later I will remind him to come put clothes in dryer. Trick is to remind early enough to still have internet bargaining time left. LOL.

In trying to prepare him for life in the world beyond the cloister of home and school, we are trying desperately at times, to instill in him the notions of social and personal responsibility. It has been an interesting journey for all of us.

[violaine]

love jessica kingsley publishers! rudy simone:


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/wo...spergirls.html

[Andrew, Jr.]

Auditory Processing Delay...anyone else hear of this?

[violaine]

andrew, i am familiar with auditory processing delay. here are some links for a bit of understanding about the problems caused with auditory processing delay in adults/children:

http://qw88nb88.wordpress.com/living...sing-disorder/

i love the section on bugs! :0}


http://www.actg.org/programs/auditor...processing.htm


i stumbled upon this in some of my research work [some of you know that's what i do intermittently work-wise for an author/attorney.]


http://www.portfolio.com/news-market...Cyber-Bullying


got a kick out of this question on a law forum- "assuming you are non-aspie!" HA!
http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?..._id=2#18011945

[JazzGirl]

Peeking in from out of my hermitage.

P.S. May you all be blessed and loved.

Jazzie

[Fanbutch]

Hello Just popping in to see if anyone was about.

[Ursy]

Hello
It's been awhile. I hope all is well with everyone.

[girl_dee]

Originally Posted by Ursy

Hello
It's been awhile. I hope all is well with everyone.

i Ursy, nice to see you again

[Ursy]

Originally Posted by girl_dee

i Ursy, nice to see you again

Thank you hon, it's nice to be back

[Bit]

*peeks in to see what Urs is up to* Hi hon! Got nothing to say, just following you around.

[Girl_On_Fire]

Hello everyone. I can't believe I missed this thread! Wait, yes I can. I always miss the obvious. lol!

I'm a self-diagnosed aspie since 2007. I stumbled upon the disorder from a combination of the way others reacted to me and Googling, "Why do I take everything literally?" one day out of sheer frustration.

Since then, it's been an amazing journey. Finding out I have Asperger's syndrome helped put the puzzle pieces of my life together. I don't have an official diagnosis and have not yet sought one. I'm a woman in my early 30s and from the research I've done, it seems it is very difficult to diagnose women older than 25 because of our unique ability to "parrot" appropriate social responses by watching and memorizing.

My symptoms:

• I take what is said to me literally
• I have a shuddering aversion to certain sounds/textures
• I have no sense of direction
• I get sensory overload so bad driving on highways I start to black out
• I don't read non-verbal cues well
• I am empathic/highly sensitive
• I can't stand change in my routine
• Others often misunderstand the intentions of my words/deeds
• I need lots of time to myself
• I have muscle twitches and tics
• I flap, stretch, and squeak (stims, I guess)

This isn't to say I can't function at all. I actually do quite well and have been doing well since I realized that I truly was wired differently. In 2008, I did a series of homeopathic remedies called "Brain Protocol" to treat another medical condition I'd struggled with for years. My homeopathic doctor believed I had developmental issues based on the medical condition I was experiencing because nothing else would treat it. However, I had no idea that this was also used and successfully to treat people on the autistic spectrum.

After the treatment, I found new connections had been turned "on" in my brain. Not only was the chronic medical condition clearing up (finally) but my brain was working differently. I was able to see "obvious" things that had never been obvious before. I was also able to successfully drive to a park and go hiking without getting lost (okay, I got lost in the woods once I got there but I found my way out). So this was amazing for me. I didn't venture out of the house much because of my complete lack of direction. I never could have hiked even well-blazed trails with a map because maps used to mean nothing to me.

So, the brain protocol helped but yes, I'm still an Aspie.

When I was a child, people terrified me. It seemed I was always being pulled out of my beautiful, safe imaginary world to be yelled at and told I was being rude of doing something wrong. I spent many years hysterically hyperventilating and explaining myself profusely when there would be misunderstandings between myself and my family. I'd swear to God I "didn't do it" when, in reality, perhaps I did but just didn't view the situation the same way and had more innocent intentions.

Being an Aspie can make communication very difficult. After nearly 3 years of being in a relationship with somebody with a severe mental illness, the two proved impossible to meld together. We loved each other but we were ultimately incompatible. I understand on all levels what it's like to have Asperger's and have certain people understand and others look at you like you just walked off the Mother ship. I've just been trying to tell myself not everybody needs to understand me and if they don't, it's best I walk away. I'm extremely emotionally sensitive and susceptible to being abused and mistreated, not because I'm a victim but because I take everything so literally and have trouble accurately interpreting the intentions of others. Also, some people, it seems especially those who've been deeply traumatized themselves, mistake my social ignorance for purposeful cruel intent, which is the exact antithesis of who I am. I can't be in any type of relationship where I have to explain myself, sometimes hysterically, for months and even years. There has to be a cut-off point where it's like, "Okay, if you don't believe me, I am not safe with you and must move on."

I've learned trusting my God-given empathic abilities is my best bet in avoiding future emotional devastation. Though I cannot read social cues well, I am usually spot on with what I sense energetically from another.

Thank you for this thread!

I hope we can keep the dialogue going.

[Bit]

Hi, Girl on Fire, welcome! I'm glad you've found ways to understand yourself.

Congrats on the hike, and getting yourself unlost! My sense of direction is so bad. I'm never sure I can get unlost... I have gotten lost before just walking from work to home when it was only four blocks and I had done it for a year already!! So I'm pretty impressed that you got unlost in the woods.

I can read maps just fine, but I never seem to get them pointed in the right direction. "North" seems to default to wherever I'm facing at the moment; I tell people I'm directionally dyslexic. My first partner used to laugh and say that I'm just "upside down and going in the opposite direction in a parallel universe." She doesn't seem to have been far wrong. *wry laugh*

[Girl_On_Fire]

Originally Posted by Bit

[SIZE=3][COLOR=teal]"North" seems to default to wherever I'm facing at the moment;

Yes!! That's the way I read maps too. Where I'm facing is "North" to me, even though I know that's not true.

I also have the staring thing. I need to stare off into space to deal with sensory overload at least 5 times a day. I may not do it for long but it's how I "rest" in between "takes" of life. My ex didn't understand this for a very long time. I'd just power down and hy'd ask what hy'd done wrong or what my problem was and I was like, "I'm resting. This is how I rest." And I'd keep starting blankly with my mouth slightly open. I know what's going on around me most of the time, I just need to tune out a bit so I can keep going all day. I got sick of explaining all the time after we'd been together for years. Some people, I guess, simply cannot or will not accept neurodiverse people.