RE: Theory of the Aspie Mind

[Guest guest]

Hey .

Welcome to the forum. We've had a lot of introductory posts lately

because we've had an influx of new members all of a sudden. Mostly

due to (what else) bullying going on on other boards. I've set this

place up as a refuge from that sort of thing.

I suppose possibly you could generalize and say that there is a

certain type of Aspie here that wants to avoid being bullied!

Anyway, I look forward to your future posts. And if YOU want to

introduce yourself, we have a database for that purpose in the

database section.

Welcome!

Tom

> Well, okay, so two things:

>

> I have been considering a theory -- well hypothesis, maybe? --

> that some symptoms of Aspergers Syndrome aren't symptoms of AS

> at all. Some symptoms are " core " symptoms, arising out of

> whatever neurological difference(s) result in AS.

>

> And some others arise out of brutality, bullying, and not from

> AS itself. But because all or almost all Aspies experience

> bullying, those secondary symptoms are nearly universal, so they

> appear to be " Aspie " symptoms, and not caused by this

> additional, all-too-common phenomenon.

>

> Might have an interesting effect on the public perception of

> bullying as boys will be boys. " Bullying Causes Autism Spectrum

> Epidemic! Film At Eleven! "

>

> Or not. Could be wrong.

>

> Second thing: Why are there so many " Introducing Myself " emails

> in these lists? Wouldn't it more " Aspergian " to simply shove a

> topic that interests you out there, without all that social

> stuff? <grin>

>

> --

> " Maybe this is As Good As It Gets? "

> This message may not be reproduced without the express, written

> consent of the Commissioner of Baseball. Void where prohibited

> or otherwise taxed.

[Guest guest]

At 11:42 PM 10/29/04 -0500, wrote:

>And some others arise out of brutality, bullying, and not from

>AS itself. But because all or almost all Aspies experience

>bullying, those secondary symptoms are nearly universal, so they

>appear to be " Aspie " symptoms, and not caused by this

>additional, all-too-common phenomenon.

I wrote something a while back about Asperger's and C-PTSD (Complex Post

Traumatic Stress Disorder - a condition similar to regular PTSD but caused

by an ongoing series of " smaller " events, none of which in itself would be

considered significant enough to trigger PTSD but when taken in the

collective are emotionally and physically devastating.)

One common mention of C-PTSD is in relation to bullying and other forms of

peer abuse. Pretty much all the symptoms of C-PTSD are Asperger's symptoms.

If you were to draw two circles, one inside the other (sort of like a

doughnut) and indicated that everything inside the larger circle is an

Asperger's symptom, you can put all the symptoms of C-PTSD inside the

smaller circle and the model works.

Your theory is similar to my theory which is that a healthy aspie is

something very different from the standard description of aspies the

medical and mental health professions currently use. Because we live in

cultures where bullying is so rampant and where it is so rare for others to

appreciate the amount of stress aspies are under or how to help alleviate

some of that stress, we do not currently have healthy aspies -- we have,

for the most part, aspies who have been traumatized by social abuses.

(The fact that any of us have survived at all is a testament to our mental

and spiritual strength!)

Sparrow

(I'll dig around at some point when I'm not as scattered as I am at the

moment and see if I can find my full post about C-PTSD)

[Guest guest]

Ahhh.... but email lists have a consistant predictible social ethos of introductions. It isn't hard to understand how to do it. There's not a lot of timing pressure about what you're supposed to say when and how to respond to the other person. The response time is immense so there's less risk of totally goofing it and feeling ultterly humiliated. I think it is VERY Aspie to do introductions. On email we can excel at it. :-)

My 2 cents.

and the zoo.

----- Original Message -----

From: Second thing: Why are there so many "Introducing Myself" emails in these lists? Wouldn't it more "Aspergian" to simply shove a topic that interests you out there, without all that social

[Guest guest]

Hi and welcome,

I am interested in

your hypothesis about AS and some symptoms not being symptoms of AS. Can you expand on that?

About the introductions,

I like to know a little about a person I am corresponding with. I also don’t think it is too disagreeable

to most Aspies to talk about themselves a little lol. I do agree that it clogs the group

sometimes (especially with one as active as this one!) and those who have been

on the group for a while can become bored with seeing the same intro time and

time again, so I asked Tom and Inger to create the ‘introduction database’.

Wendi

Theory

of the Aspie Mind

Well, okay, so two things:

I have been considering a theory -- well

hypothesis, maybe? --

that some symptoms of Aspergers Syndrome aren't

symptoms of AS

at all. Some symptoms are " core "

symptoms, arising out of

whatever neurological difference(s) result in AS.

And some others arise out of brutality, bullying,

and not from

AS itself. But because all or almost all

Aspies experience

bullying, those secondary symptoms are nearly

universal, so they

appear to be " Aspie " symptoms, and not

caused by this

additional, all-too-common phenomenon.

Might have an interesting effect on the public

perception of

bullying as boys will be boys.

" Bullying Causes Autism Spectrum

Epidemic! Film At Eleven! "

Or not. Could be wrong.

Second thing: Why are there so many

" Introducing Myself " emails

in these lists? Wouldn't it more

" Aspergian " to simply shove a

topic that interests you out there, without all

that social

stuff? <grin>

--

" Maybe this is As Good As It Gets? "

This message may not be reproduced without the

express, written

consent of the Commissioner of Baseball.

Void where prohibited

or otherwise taxed.

FAM Secret

Society is a community based on respect, friendship, support and acceptance.

Everyone is valued. Always remember that.