by AbdominalSnowman » Wed Dec 26, 2012 3:41 pm
Mmm, I don't know if it's a stereotype. I would be stereotyping if I said that ALL people with ASDs are musicians and engineers, but that's not what I said. I'm just talking about statistical tendencies. I'm sure somebody reading this besides me goes to a top tier engineering school. Are you really going to tell me that only 1 in 88 people on a campus like that is on the autism spectrum? Even Temple Grandin, when she spoke at my school, guessed that about 1 in 10 or 1 in 5 people in the audience could get diagnosed with an ASD if we wanted to.
Here's the deal: I am acquainted with three people who have odd speech rhythms, repeat themselves a lot, have obsessions and compulsions, and seem to have a real hard time understanding what other people are thinking and feeling. It's not just that they behave badly in social situations, it's that they behave badly in social situations and have no idea what they're doing wrong. I could be wrong about these particular people I know - I'm not a psychiatrist - but knowing them and seeing them butt their heads up against the wall and say, "Why can't I understand these things?" makes me think that there are probably a lot of people out there who aren't getting diagnosed when a diagnosis could help them.
But whether or not I really know people with undiagnosed Asperger's wasn't the point of my original post. The point was that it's not fair to assume that people use mental illness as an excuse all the time.
Mmm, I don't know if it's a stereotype. I would be stereotyping if I said that ALL people with ASDs are musicians and engineers, but that's not what I said. I'm just talking about statistical tendencies. I'm sure somebody reading this besides me goes to a top tier engineering school. Are you really going to tell me that only 1 in 88 people on a campus like that is on the autism spectrum? Even Temple Grandin, when she spoke at my school, guessed that about 1 in 10 or 1 in 5 people in the audience could get diagnosed with an ASD if we wanted to.
Here's the deal: I am acquainted with three people who have odd speech rhythms, repeat themselves a lot, have obsessions and compulsions, and seem to have a real hard time understanding what other people are thinking and feeling. It's not just that they behave badly in social situations, it's that they behave badly in social situations [i]and have no idea what they're doing wrong.[/i] I could be wrong about these particular people I know - I'm not a psychiatrist - but knowing them and seeing them butt their heads up against the wall and say, "Why can't I understand these things?" makes me think that there are probably a lot of people out there who aren't getting diagnosed when a diagnosis could help them.
But whether or not I really know people with undiagnosed Asperger's wasn't the point of my original post. The point was that it's not fair to assume that people use mental illness as an excuse all the time.