Autism

[Slackbot]

LOL I guess as a gay boy with Asperger's, people could use both of those on me then......

She'd sense one and I'd sense the other.

 

[tutter_fan]

Believe it or not, I have Williams Syndrome, and in the 31 years I've lived, I have done some stuff that I felt was absolutely illogical, and very unusual for me. I'm actually very weary of some people who have Down Syndrome, or anything similar. I find myself to be highly intelligent, and I have quite a sense of humor. There are a few things I should admit. I for one am a picky eater. I know it's strange that I don't eat ice cream but I like milk. Besides that, I'm picky about what I eat, and I'm also picky about my friends. I like to be at the right place at the right time with the kind of people who I believe I should hang out with. Isn't that strange? I just have a chromosome Number 7 missing.

 

[animalrescuer]

My brother has Asperger's and was diagnosed late in his life from what I understand. When he was first diagnosed, he had really bad behavioral and aggression issues, but now it's a lot better and he's no longer on any medication.

Sometimes, I think I have autistic tendencies, but I can never be sure. Is it true that Autism can be genetic?

 

[AlittleMayhem]

So I'm curious. Have any of you guys watched Parenthood? One of the characters is a boy with Asbergers. How accurately does that show portray autism? I've always wondered.

I don't watch the show so the following viewpoint is what I can tell from the clips I've seen on YouTube and some quick internet research.

Short answer: Errrrrrmmmaaaagghhhhuuurrrrgghhh

Long answer: For the most part, the plot seems to focus on the parents of Max and how they 'cope' with him. It shows the typical cliched pattern I've seen a bajilion times. The signs, the digonosis, the struggle, the 'hope he'll get better' trope, yada yada yada. And of course all the constant casual ableism left, right and centre.

There are so many problems with this I'm not even sure I can list them all. First off, I, as an autistic person, do not care about what the parents are going through. I want to care about what Max is going through. Things like struggling with fitting in at school, being happy when he finds something awesome that he likes, finding contentment with doing things alone, joy with his favourite movie, confusion as to why people react to him negatively when he doesn't know what he's done wrong, realisation and relief when he finds out about his autism. I want to relate to Max and his life, both the good and bad. But I can't. Because we are told through the parents point of view and how 'we just want our son back waaaah!'

Which brings me to my second part. Fictional autistic characters are very, very rarely treated like actual people with thoughts and feelings of our own, instead portrayed as something emotionless, frightining, unpredictable and in no way a real person. And that unfortunately reflects a lot of how allistic people (term used by autistics to descibe non-autistics) view us. You know the charity Autism Speaks? Bottom line, their main goal is to find a cure for autism to make us normal rather than give support or activate for their rights. Again, hugely problematic for many reasons I don't have time to list. From what I have looked upon, the founders of AS worked on NBS and had a few programs with autism themes. All of which contain misinformation and, again, nothing I can relate to.

Nah. As I said, she's a parent of two autistic children, plus she knows families with other children with autism and Asperger's. Some people have gaydar; she picks up on autism, I guess. You notice the things that are close to you.

Interestingly, when she was here this year we watched about half the Death Note anime series, and she commented that the character L (who I just happened to be cosplaying at D*C!) seemed to be on the spectrum as well. I was surprised by that, and I did a little Googling around, and found some interesting articles in support of that.

I've had people say to me that they suspected I was autistic when I came out to them because they've got relatives with similar behaviours as me. Not quite sure how to feel about that but at least they know some stuff.

I love headcanoning characters as autistic, even (especially) if they don't show any obvious signs. Mainly, they're from The Hobbit, The Muppets and Guardians of the Galaxy. Heck, it could be argued that every pony in My Little Pony could be on the spectrum as their fates literally centre around their special interests. There's also Sherlock Homles which I used to find annoying when the BBC series came out but I attribute it more to the Elementary version rather than the Moffat version.

Sometimes, I think I have autistic tendencies, but I can never be sure. Is it true that Autism can be genetic?

That's likely in some cases. I know autistic sisters and I've heard of many siblings and cousins like so. But it could be you just have the traits but otherwise allistic (see above). If you think so, I'd say try talking to someone you trust or is knowledgable in the area. Doesn't nessaerily have to be a paid professional. I hope you find the right answers and wish you the best of luck.

 

[Drtooth]

I don't watch the show so the following viewpoint is what I can tell from the clips I've seen on YouTube and some quick internet research.

Short answer: Errrrrrmmmaaaagghhhhuuurrrrgghhh

Long answer: For the most part, the plot seems to focus on the parents of Max and how they 'cope' with him. It shows the typical cliched pattern I've seen a bajilion times. The signs, the digonosis, the struggle, the 'hope he'll get better' trope, yada yada yada. And of course all the constant casual ableism left, right and centre.

Lemme also guess. They dealt with it in the most emotionally manipulative way possible? I know this is really really really really off topic, but I HATE Parenthood. It's like the show constantly strives for being as depressing as possible. I wouldn't be surprised if they managed to talk about that and manage to make it as heavy handed and clumsy as possible for drama's sake. I've watched like 3 episodes of that show and even when it's upbeat it's managed to be depressing. And not like a soulful, meaningful, feeling depression. Like a totally made up, fake drama for drama's sake type deal. Like I said, no surprise they managed to make it depressing without a whit of actual research.

I love headcanoning characters as autistic, even (especially) if they don't show any obvious signs. Mainly, they're from The Hobbit, The Muppets and Guardians of the Galaxy. Heck, it could be argued that every pony in My Little Pony could be on the spectrum as their fates literally centre around their special interests. There's also Sherlock Homles which I used to find annoying when the BBC series came out but I attribute it more to the Elementary version rather than the Moffat version.[/url]

Which makes me wonder (and kinda the only reason I'm here is to ask this)... what does anyone think about retroactively diagnosing Nerd characters from older TV shows as autistic? Somehow, there's a group somewhere that claims this about Steve Urkel, and I really don't see it as much as he's a stereotype of awkwardness to the point where he annoys everyone he meets.

 

[AlittleMayhem]

Steve Urkel? Not...really? At least, I don't see it. If people think he is, fine I guess but I wouldn't personally think so. Ironically, some the characters I headcanon as autistic are usually tough types, like Tauriel or all of the GotG.

In a way, it does bug me that the nerd type characters are the one people always claim to be autistic but, like I stated, I have headcanons for nerds too. I guess in a perfect world, more people would have autistic headcanons for any character troupe.

 

[mimitchi33]

I have ADHD, but I used to have autism until I was in middle school. I always told crazy lies on the internet, threw tantrums when nothing went my way, and liked preschool shows like Sesame Street and Little Einsteins. I had to go to special needs school and met a lot of kids with disabilities. I still know a few autistic kids today.

 

[AlittleMayhem]

I have ADHD, but I used to have autism until I was in middle school. I always told crazy lies on the internet, threw tantrums when nothing went my way, and liked preschool shows like Sesame Street and Little Einsteins. I had to go to special needs school and met a lot of kids with disabilities. I still know a few autistic kids today.

How do you mean used to? Was there a misdiagnosis?

 

[theSHE124]

It can happen, little mayhem girl: I didn't speak as much as my older sister when I was a toddler. That mite b normal for siblings, but I guess I wasn't being outspoken enough that my parents worried about me. Autistic traits can be diagnosed in those years, but that wasn't known about me at a time. I mentioned earlier that the official autism report of me occurred back in my 1st grade, my family living in a new state by then.

 

[Slackbot]

Misdiagnoses definitely can happen. My nephew was diagnosed as autistic because, at age 3, he was making no effort to talk and paid no attention to anyone around him. However, there was another reason for that: his parents had babied him so much, carrying him everywhere and falling all over themselves whenever he cried to make things all better, that he simply had no incentive to mature. That diagnosis was a big wake-up call for them, and they started teaching him as opposed to treating him as an infant. Now he's 15, and you'd never believe anyone would call him autistic.

So, yeah. Misdiagnoses can happen, especially in "flavor of the month" disorders. Which does no service to people who truly are autistic.