re: Is Autism some sort of new badge of honor?

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think aspergers can be a positive, like Elon Musk. Its a higher functioning part of autism.

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Most people who claim autism on line are either self-diagnosed (and exaggerated), or had they been diagnosed would have been diagnosed as Aspergers prior to that designation going out of style. Aspy people are often brilliant at some things and completely and hopelessly inept at things that are automatic for most people.

The difference between what used to be called aspergers and full blown autism was “usefulness”. Basically, autism is a wide spectrum between some weirdness and someone who is complaining dependent on others to survive. Dr. Asperger was a Nazi scientist who set the dividing line between Aspergers and autism as the line of “these are the ones we use” and “these are the ones we exterminate”. As a result, they simply call everything autism spectrum.

The problem is that while that designation was used to justify eugenics, it does have a helpful designation for figuring out how to best help people. Someone on the aspergers end of the spectrum needs very different help as a child to integrate than someone who would fall deeper on the autism side. Lumping both together is as dangerous as equivocating all awkward flirting with sexual assault with rape. These are 3 completely different things that require completely different responses, so they shouldn’t just be lumped together because they’re all sorta related.

I actually am diagnosed aspergers. People wouldn’t pick up on that interacting with me initially because I taught myself how to mask as a teen. Those who know me well can see the tisms, but a relative stranger or casual acquaintance will only see the mask. That mask was developed just to survive as a kid. I didn’t get any help for any of my mental illnesses until I was 29. As a kid, I was at a huge disadvantage trying to “rawdog” mental illness, just knowing I was different but not understanding how or why. I adapted a mask through trial and error until I could sorta pass for normal.

If I had gotten help at 12 years old (or younger, in family videos the autism practically jumps off the screen) instead of at almost 30, I feel like I would have learned much healthier coping mechanisms, social skills, and habits much sooner.