womanwithaspergers

womanwithaspergers

13p

6 comments posted · 3 followers · following 0

12 years ago @ http://thinkingautismg... - On \"Quiet Hands\" · 0 replies · +1 points

Julia...I hurt when I read your words.

I was diagnosed at age 34 last year, so I was never subjected to ABA and "quiet hands". I am beginning to understand the nature of stimming, and in addition to a self-soothing behavior, you underscore how flapping, etc. is communicative in and of itself.

Thank you for sharing this.

-Nicole

12 years ago @ http://thinkingautismg... - Person-First Language:... · 0 replies · +1 points

I use the terms Aspie/Autie/Aspergian/Autistic in close proximity together. I say that I am autistic, and I say that I am an Aspie, and in both instances, I am correct. I see Asperger's as a specific type of autism, that's all - not better or worse.

Now this whole person-first language debate is interesting. When I started my blog, I chose "Woman With Asperger's" as simply a descriptive title, and this was shortly after I dx'd myself. I wasn't aware of the whole person-first language debate and in retrospect, I only titled my blog that way to increase my chances I'd be found in searches. :) But when I do reflect on this, I do prefer "autistic person" or "Aspergian" versus the person-first language because I also feel that autism/Aspergers is a fundamental part of who I am.

Addressing identity and cultural issues for a moment: trying to separate my brain wiring from me would be like trying to separate my ethnicity from who I am, as I am African-American person, not a "person with African-Americanism". I think the reason why this is so important is that in the past, in whatever paradigm you're talking about (race, sexual orientation, etc) there has always been a "majority" or "default" assumption of identity and that anything else was other: for example, in time past, as Lydia Brown pointed out, certain things such as homosexuality were seen as "disordered" or "deviant"....and then you had beauty standards which favored lighter skinned women and darker skinned women were considered ugly and deviant...and so forth. Now, unfortunately in the minds of the public, we are sometimes being framed as the new deviants, and the insistence on NOT using person-first language helps establish an emphasis on identity.

I don't knock person-first language in other cases, but this is truly a case of one size does NOT fit all. Autism is an entirely different animal.

-Nicole

12 years ago @ http://thinkingautismg... - Surviving the Holidays... · 0 replies · +1 points

I remember seeing this not too long again. This was very helpful and informative, as well as adaptable for us adult autistics trying to cope with the Holiday season.

-Nicole

12 years ago @ http://thinkingautismg... - Differentiating Betwee... · 0 replies · +1 points

Thank you for this informative guide to investigating and understanding products/therapies/etc. With some much medical and pseudo-medical quackery in the autism world, we do need to be careful.

-Nicole

13 years ago @ http://thinkingautismg... - Keeping Score · 1 reply · +2 points

Hi Sarah:

Your post took me back quite a few years. I was also hyperlexic as a child, but not to the same degree as your son (I am an Aspie). I read early, had memorized and was acting out portions of "Little Women", and by the time I was 8 was obsessed with Alice and Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz series (the books, not the movie). I still love to read, though time and responsibilities prevent me from pursuing it as avidly as I did back then. I totally understand your feelings about not wanting to turn this skill of your son's into a party trick, and I really like your honesty as you took us in your post through the story -- and the experiencing of emotions -- of your journey.

I had to agree a little with Zoe about the end of your post, namely until I saw your explanation. The thing is, I know and and am working to accept that I will never be normal in many aspects -- I do not make eye contact a lot and trying to follow the social "rules" I have worked out in my mind still feels like a script. I think what you place importance on depends on what you focus on to begin with.

Thank you for sharing,

Nicole

13 years ago @ LBnuke - Perspectives of Autism... · 0 replies · +1 points

I've asked myself the same questions (i.e. what if I had discovered earlier that I has Asperger's). I wonder how much my life would have been different. I grew up in a dysfunctional family, so I'm not sure I would have had the support I needed -- so I sometimes think that finding out later was better in my cases. Still, though, I think it would have at least helped me to know so I can better understand myself.

Thank you for sharing. See you around the interwebs.

-Nicole