Below are the most recent 6 friends' journal entries.

Monday, December 28th, 2009
asperger [ iluvnooyawk ]	12:14p	"Aspie" Crossposted to ask_an_aspie Hi everyone. To start off, I'll just introduce myself. I'm Mollie, I'm 18-years-old, and I'm neurotypical. My twin sister has Asperger's. Ok, I just have a question. What is your view on the term "aspie"? My sister finds it very offensive. She always says, "You know what they call us? They call us ASPIES!" (I don't know who "they" are. She attends school in a private, mixed-age wing in a public high school. I doubt she's talking about the public high school students, most of whom probably don't know what Asperger's is.) Have you ever heard this term being used derogatorily? I can identify to a certain extent. As a queer/genderqueerish person, I've come to embrace certain terms that have been typically used against the queer community in order to take the edge off of it and reclaim it so it can't be used against me. (Okay, I'm talking about the word "dyke". I used to be terribly offended by it and put off by people who use it- even queer women who use it jokingly or whatever. I feel differently about it now that I'm more comfortable with myself. Anyway, </rant>... this isn't about me.) My sister is somewhat engaged in current events and the neurodiversity movement, though she has a tendency to read information and then regurgitate it without fully comprehending what it all means. Or maybe she does, but she communicates it in ways I don't fully understand. She's very talkative, but sometimes (in writing) she uses vocabulary words that just don't fit, so if that reflects her verbal communication or comprehension in any way.... Ok, sorry for all the ranting. Posing the question again: how do you (you as in each individual person reading this, not people with Asperger's in general) feel about being called/calling yourself an "Aspie"? Thanks! Molls (50 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
asperger [ amysmile88 ]	8:22p	Family woes. (sorry to bother you this close before christmas) So I got diagnosed awhile ago now, and it explains so much, and I'm glad I'm not alone anymore. But my family's attitude hasn't changed. I'm still at the. bottom of the foodchain. There's three kids, I'm the oldest, but that's a joke. The two younger ones (they're not very much younger than I am) constantly gang up on me. Constantly. Sometimes I think I get it and they really are 'joking around' as they put it, but a lot of the time, when I'm really aspie ing out and it's been a long, touchy, social day, it's the last straw, and I beg, plead, for them to stop, but they get closer, and poke me, and ridicule me further I stutter through an explanation for my behavior, and they make fun of my explanation then. Anything weird and aspie that I do, they have to make fun of it. And then at dinner it's the whole family making fun of my tendencies. Maybe they are just 'joking around', but I don't think so. I'm the least able to defend myself, so they go for me first. When I was younger and it happened I would just run upstairs and slam the door to my room, nothing else works. Sometimes I feel the joking around vibe and I laugh at myself too, but mostly not (I'm a sensitive soul) and it's just a constant barrage of crap from all sides of the table. I try, these days, to verbally stop the harrassment (I thought the meaning of 'leave me alone' was obvious), but days like these, when it's already been too much, babysitting my wild cousin, and it's been all social and touchy (it's the holidays) I couldn't talk myself away from it (not that I ever really can), and it just escalated and got worse until I ran up to my room and slammed the door. At least now that I'm 21, I can sneak a beer upstairs with me. /end rant (20 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
asperger [ novanglus ]	6:57p	Kim Peek, 1951-2009 "Kim Peek, the autistic savant who inspired the Oscar-winning film Rain Man, has died, aged 58." (8 Comments |Comment on this)
asperger [ nekusagi ]	4:25p	The autistic spectrum and Aspie privilege I'm probably going to tick some people off posting this, but that's fine- I honestly want to start a discussion and see what others think. Has anyone ever had the impression that we, as Aspies on the autistic spectrum, have a certain level of privilege, that we sometimes forget when talking about autistics? Now to preface this: I am not trying to discredit any Aspies involved with autistic rights, or discredit any aspies in positions of leadership in autistic rights movements. I feel that fighting for autistic rights is the responsibility of all with autism and/or their allies, regardless of where they fall on the spectrum. However, I also think that sometimes Aspies have a tendency to try and speak for all on the spectrum and assume that our experiences are the experiences of other autistics on the spectrum. While I find the actions of Autism Speaks, Generation Rescue, etc deplorable, I cringe a little whenever I see someone with AS saying "living with autism isn't that bad, I deal with it all the time." Our experiences, in where we are in the spectrum, are not the experiences of others, and by speaking for others on the spectrum, we are essentially doing the same thing as Autism Speaks does so often. Being an ally is good, and in fact necessary; however falling into the trap of thinking all autistics share an experience is a common mistake, but one I think the Asperger's community as a whole needs to become more conscious of. I recently had an experience with this that prompted me to make this post. I have a friend with severe HFA and a few disorders along with it, and she was talking about how she would probably end up living with her parents all her life. I suggested she try vocational rehabilitation, since it's been a great help to me. She grew angry, pointing out that she couldn't handle it. I continued to say "you can get the help you need" which upset her. I realized that I had privilege she lacked honestly- it's much easier for someone who's just Asperger's like me to adapt, since I've done it all my life, and to tell her she should too is hurtful. In short, I know that the reason many Aspies are at the forefront of the autistic rights movement is due to the skills Aspies have being excellent skills for those involved in causes and leadership, and I'm fine with that, and think it's fantastic that there are more and more groups like ASAN starting to provide a more evenhanded voice for autism. However, I do think that we as Aspies need to check our privilege at times before speaking and realize that autism is a whole spectrum, and the spectrum of autism is also a spectrum of experiences. Any thoughts? Current Mood: pensive (63 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, December 21st, 2009
asperger [ staircase_wit ]	11:01p	Kava Given the general autistic trend towards high anesthesia tolerance and the general weirdness we may or may not have with any mood-altering substance (e.g. dairy makes me drunk), I was wondering if any autistics here are regular users of Kava... not the pills, but the actual south-pacific turn-the-lights-low root beverage. Given my ever-increasing levels of stress and the fact that I feel like I am just one or two steps away from the fabled mid-30's autistic crash, I have made a 2010 new years resolution to drink Kava every night. I was wondering if any others here had any tips, tricks or advice. Thank you. Edit: No advice will be considered too elemental. For example, having a sweet juice as a chaser is a good recommendation. To pour that juice out of the glass bottle to avoid hitting one's incisors with the bottle due to the lack of coordination is something that common sense would dictate, but I have very little common sense. I have a high degree of uncommon sense, which can be very useful at times. (26 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
asperger [ caerfrli ]	8:35p	an interesting approach A young Jewish autistic is about to be Bar Mitzvah-ed, that is, celebrate his coming of age at 13, Usually, the child reads from the Torah (Bible) in Hebrew and often delivers a sermon. The youngster in question however is non verbal. The dilemma: how to perform a significant ceremony. The solution: the congregation leaves the synagogue, all but nine. Since ten adults are required for a number of important prayers, the young man will be the one to make the tenth, thus acknowloging his becoming a grown up. Then everyone comes back. It seems like a good idea to me. Current Mood: mellow Current Music: ncis (8 Comments |Comment on this)