tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466691337834051176.post111670482355622035..comments2024-03-01T03:37:20.420-05:00Comments on I'M SOMEWHERE ELSE: Autistics Speaking Day post 1/3-ish, do NOT link this, it is not doneAmanda Foresthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04200794053287551087noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466691337834051176.post-77364179322412876022011-11-16T10:08:47.864-05:002011-11-16T10:08:47.864-05:00You're awesome.You're awesome.Jesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06001020811877167957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466691337834051176.post-40185280768314957162011-11-15T23:17:45.933-05:002011-11-15T23:17:45.933-05:00Pleeeeaaaase let me know when I can link to this, ...Pleeeeaaaase let me know when I can link to this, because I HAVE to link to this. It has been too long a day for me to write anything insightful about it, but I love it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466691337834051176.post-81215312879448427602011-11-04T19:50:09.560-04:002011-11-04T19:50:09.560-04:00This entry demonstrates why I like this blog so mu...This entry demonstrates why I like this blog so much (even if we disagree on some major issues sometimes). This blog and the asperger community on LJ were the things that made me realize I could be autistic, because they made me realize I didn't have to live up to a stereotype, which I originally didn't even know was a stereotype. I just thought that was how autism was (Spock-like, not needing people, super-smart, etc), so I never though it could possibly apply to me. <br /><br />Like I loved when you talked about your IQ a long while back and admitted that it wasn't anything to write home about, because as it turns out, it's very close to my own. I'm so used to to aspies talking about how brilliant they are or just being being brilliant that I figured I couldn't be aspie without being brilliant. Which I'm very much not. <br /><br />And yes, it would take me longer than the average person to find stuff for under $15 in a Walgreens that I wanted too. And I often have a hard time getting out of the house in time because it's so hard to 'get it all together.' I have little old lady problems like forgetting whether or not I've washed my face yet in the shower. But I didn't line up toys as a child and it bothered me that I couldn't make friends. And while I tend to interpret language strictly, I can comprehend commonly used metaphors. I'm sure I can pass a Sally/Anne test. You get the picture. <br /><br />Anyway, I never found an autie-biography I could relate to, but I can relate to your blog.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466691337834051176.post-14318526074676163442011-11-03T15:03:55.878-04:002011-11-03T15:03:55.878-04:00I was thinking more (while I was asleep?) and one ...I was thinking more (while I was asleep?) and one thing I thought about is why autistic people latch onto some of those narratives about us. And that is because it's simply so much closer than anything we've had before. And as someone who "came to autism" relatively later on I definitely had tried so many other ways to make things make sense.<br /><br />I never "realized I was different," but I think I've always been aware I'm quite a lot of differents. I went to school with one person who thought I was trying to be special and purposefully do unusual things. I knew he was wrong but I didn't blame him for thinking that. So "autism" was a way of saying how all those unrelated things are actually related and make sense.<br /><br />One thing that people like you do, though, is give another narrative for people to try to use, one that's hopefully a bit closer to what things are really like. When using that kind of paradigm it becomes less important to talk about, say, that I read nutrition labels as a child like that's some kind of defining thing about me.Panchohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14695297748121188470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466691337834051176.post-86085882173908866132011-11-03T09:44:51.052-04:002011-11-03T09:44:51.052-04:00Glad to see the new post. It was quiet in here. ...Glad to see the new post. It was quiet in here. Too quiet.Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11538573774184028004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466691337834051176.post-85065193148898300872011-11-02T23:39:04.528-04:002011-11-02T23:39:04.528-04:00And again, you did a really good job of explaining...And again, you did a really good job of explaining ASD-related disabilities in a way that isn't often talked about. I hate how the focus is always social skills social skills social skills weird behavior repetitive behavior when that's not the issue for me, at all. The issue is that getting through the day tires me out so much that I need to nap when I get home and can't do things like cook a nutritional meal, do laundry, clean up after myself. But people look at me and see that I seem relatively okay socially and that's all they see. When really these issues are much more significant than so-called social skills.Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00313619400997453196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466691337834051176.post-26376823797276976202011-11-02T23:35:16.682-04:002011-11-02T23:35:16.682-04:00Amazing post. I am muchly looking forward to the ...Amazing post. I am muchly looking forward to the rest.<br /><br />You've identified the central conundrum of explaining autism/developmental disability. We really are just human like everybody else...but we experience difficulties that, when added up, are quite different from what non-disabled people experience. It's really hard to explain this to most people. Hence the exotification that you mention.<br /><br />And LOL, cow fetuses.Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00313619400997453196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8466691337834051176.post-71713471354796306622011-11-02T22:10:49.512-04:002011-11-02T22:10:49.512-04:00I have a teacher (a mostly well intentioned and he...I have a teacher (a mostly well intentioned and helpful teacher) who used to keep going on about how I was the same as other people and he would be like "X had trouble with communicating in this instance (because he was talking about something new for him and complicated). You had trouble communicating in this instance (because of sensory issues). Therefore it's the same!"<br /><br />No, it's not the same. But I don't think "normal" people have to worry about this. If they can't talk because they got a cold and their throat hurts no one says that's like trying to talk about theoretical physics for the first time (and one person can have both problems even at the same time). So rather than playing into anything I think you're pointing out another way we're treated differently- by people reacting to our differences in ways they wouldn't react to other people's differences, including trying to make them into a more typical difference.<br /><br />I got to the point where I wanted to say something to the teacher like "You must either think that I believe I'm totally unlike other people or you think I'm ashamed of being different than other people and that saying I'm like them will make me feel better. But neither are true."<br /><br />Of course I'd never manage to actually <i>say</i> something like that- there are too many bits and pieces for me to hold in my head at once. But he hasn't done it for a while, anyway.Panchohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14695297748121188470noreply@blogger.com