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sherlockbbc they've had two posts in as many weeks about how "OMG, you guys, Sherlock totes has Aspergers! They're bad with people and are brilliant in weird ways!" I'm probably going to put together my various comments to that when I have enough spoons and write a post on "Why Sherlock Holmes is absolutely not on the autism spectrum in any way, shape, or form. No, not even if Benedict Cumberbatch has said that's how he's playing him."
But there's one comment that won't fit in there, and it's in response to a sensitive subject, so I'm reposting here just to vent. The person I am responding to (the OP)r said (about strong responses to the topic) "I am always surprized by strong reactions to particular issues or themes. It seems perfectly natural to me to openly discuss all manner of things--But then I'm a particularly extroversial individual so yacking about things is simply what I do."
My response:
As someone on the spectrum, here's why talking about Aspergers triggers a strong reaction in me: the Autism Spectrum Disorders (of which Aspergers is one) are the trendy "new" mental health issue. So people see them in anyone who is anything other than perfectly 100% "normal" and find all kinds of ways to twist the actual diagnosis so that it will fit. And they tend to assume that watching Rain Man or reading a single book makes them greater experts in the subject than someone who actually has the disorder. And then try and lecture me on how I don't know what I'm talking about. Then there are people who want to talk with me, not because they want to talk to me but because they want to talk about what they heard about Aspergers on daytime television or from their second cousin who's got a kid with autism etc., and I'm just the most convenient stand-in. It's not destigmatizing, it's emphasizing the stigma by trying to figure out every weird/unusual trait I have and categorizing it, as if I was a disorder and not a person. As if you could just put certain behaviors/thought patterns in a box and say "this is the Aspergers, and that stuff over there, that's![[info]](https://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
beatrice_otter." And I don't always have good enough social skills to figure out how to turn the conversation to other tracks, particularly if I'm tired and stressed. Sorry, this is my life here, not your amusement. I do not exist for the purpose of educating you.
There are a lot of people on the spectrum who like talking about it. Sometimes that's even me, when I'm not tired and stressed. I just wish that I didn't always have to start at ground zero with everyone. It's difficult and stressful, particularly for someone who finds dealing with people in general to be very stressful.
I can't tell you the number of job interviews I've been on in the last year where the subject came up (for the kinds of jobs I was applying for, prospective employers needed to know) and we spent most of the interview talking about Rain Man or Temple Grandin or whatever new book just came out instead of the job and whether or not I was qualified for it and would be a good fit.
So that's why this type of discussion strikes a nerve with me.
If you would like to educate yourself on the subject of Aspergers, there are many fine books on the subject. I would not recommend novels about people on the spectrum unless written by someone on the spectrum, because chances are good the author is just jumping on the bandwagon and doesn't know what zie is talking about. Most experts--and people with the disorder--tend to write non-fiction. Anything by Temple Grandin is great, of course, but for a beginning resource for laypeople I would recommend So Odd A Mixture: Along the Autism Spectrum in Pride and Prejudice by Phyllis Ferguson Bottomer. In the first chapter she gives the clearest description of the underlying causes of ASD and the resulting symptoms I've ever seen, and in the rest of the book she takes each character from the book that she identifies as being somewhere along the spectrum and analyzes their words and actions to show you why and where they're coming from. It's thoughtful, well done, and easily accessible for laypeople, particularly if you happen to be an Austen fan (although you don't have to be to find it a useful book). It's also available on Google Books, with "Autism Spectrum Disorders for Janeites" beginning on page 25.
sherlockbbc they've had two posts in as many weeks about how "OMG, you guys, Sherlock totes has Aspergers! They're bad with people and are brilliant in weird ways!" I'm probably going to put together my various comments to that when I have enough spoons and write a post on "Why Sherlock Holmes is absolutely not on the autism spectrum in any way, shape, or form. No, not even if Benedict Cumberbatch has said that's how he's playing him."But there's one comment that won't fit in there, and it's in response to a sensitive subject, so I'm reposting here just to vent. The person I am responding to (the OP)r said (about strong responses to the topic) "I am always surprized by strong reactions to particular issues or themes. It seems perfectly natural to me to openly discuss all manner of things--But then I'm a particularly extroversial individual so yacking about things is simply what I do."
My response:
As someone on the spectrum, here's why talking about Aspergers triggers a strong reaction in me: the Autism Spectrum Disorders (of which Aspergers is one) are the trendy "new" mental health issue. So people see them in anyone who is anything other than perfectly 100% "normal" and find all kinds of ways to twist the actual diagnosis so that it will fit. And they tend to assume that watching Rain Man or reading a single book makes them greater experts in the subject than someone who actually has the disorder. And then try and lecture me on how I don't know what I'm talking about. Then there are people who want to talk with me, not because they want to talk to me but because they want to talk about what they heard about Aspergers on daytime television or from their second cousin who's got a kid with autism etc., and I'm just the most convenient stand-in. It's not destigmatizing, it's emphasizing the stigma by trying to figure out every weird/unusual trait I have and categorizing it, as if I was a disorder and not a person. As if you could just put certain behaviors/thought patterns in a box and say "this is the Aspergers, and that stuff over there, that's
beatrice_otter." And I don't always have good enough social skills to figure out how to turn the conversation to other tracks, particularly if I'm tired and stressed. Sorry, this is my life here, not your amusement. I do not exist for the purpose of educating you.There are a lot of people on the spectrum who like talking about it. Sometimes that's even me, when I'm not tired and stressed. I just wish that I didn't always have to start at ground zero with everyone. It's difficult and stressful, particularly for someone who finds dealing with people in general to be very stressful.
I can't tell you the number of job interviews I've been on in the last year where the subject came up (for the kinds of jobs I was applying for, prospective employers needed to know) and we spent most of the interview talking about Rain Man or Temple Grandin or whatever new book just came out instead of the job and whether or not I was qualified for it and would be a good fit.
So that's why this type of discussion strikes a nerve with me.
If you would like to educate yourself on the subject of Aspergers, there are many fine books on the subject. I would not recommend novels about people on the spectrum unless written by someone on the spectrum, because chances are good the author is just jumping on the bandwagon and doesn't know what zie is talking about. Most experts--and people with the disorder--tend to write non-fiction. Anything by Temple Grandin is great, of course, but for a beginning resource for laypeople I would recommend So Odd A Mixture: Along the Autism Spectrum in Pride and Prejudice by Phyllis Ferguson Bottomer. In the first chapter she gives the clearest description of the underlying causes of ASD and the resulting symptoms I've ever seen, and in the rest of the book she takes each character from the book that she identifies as being somewhere along the spectrum and analyzes their words and actions to show you why and where they're coming from. It's thoughtful, well done, and easily accessible for laypeople, particularly if you happen to be an Austen fan (although you don't have to be to find it a useful book). It's also available on Google Books, with "Autism Spectrum Disorders for Janeites" beginning on page 25.
