hooray for aspies

[Pseudojim]

Yo dudes

i remember there were a couple of people around within the autism spectrum, i thought you might be interested in reading and/or discussing this awesome article.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/...of-autism.html

worth a read even if you're a normie!

[Shevanel]

Have you ever heard, read about or have seen the film Temple Grandin?

Her story is really amazing. And the film made about her life is really freaking good too. Claire Danes' performance as Temple was insanely great.

Her Wiki

I just think it's really interesting and awesome how things like Autism that can be "normally deliberated as disabling" can be expanded into things useful beyond imagination.

[Pseudojim]

no but it has gone straight to the top of my list of films to see, thanks!

[Shevanel]

Here's the trailer ^_^

+ YouTube Video

[Owen]

I couldn't help but feel some sort of uneasiness about the article while reading it, and this line from the end summed up my uneasiness pretty well:

For a parent struggling with a child who cannot feed or use the toilet themselves it must be galling to hear that the condition may be advantageous.

I am an aspie, so I am speaking as someone with first-hand experience, not just as an on-looker. I will grant the writers of the article that there are certain "advantages" that can be gleaned from having an autism-spectrum disorder, but in a world dominated by neurotypicals (people without an autism-spectrum disorder), the negative effects of autism/Asperger's are truly handicaps. That is why I am eternally grateful to my parents for sending me to behavioral therapy when I was young so that I could learn to coexist with neurotypicals.

We are a minority; there's just no two ways about that. As such, to expect the world to accommodate us when we can just as easily accommodate ourselves to the world seems... arrogant (for the lack of a better word). Believe me when I say that I would not give up my AS for the world, but that is only because I was able to overcome the handicaps inherent in it. It's only because I can coexist with the neurotypicals that I can even use the advantages bestowed by AS.