Tips on Being a Considerate Audience Member
by Abram
Having attended quite a few different events where the audience consisted largely of Aspies, I feel both qualified and compelled to share some indispensable advice on how one ought to behave at such events. First of all, when I say “how one ought to behave,” I’m not talking about some archaic system of etiquette which certain NTs continue to follow out of habit. Rather, I am referring to the sort of social “Best Practices” that will prevent you from annoying your fellow audience members to the extent that they intentionally forget to tell you about the next event. Read the rest of this post »
August 13, 2010
Posted in: Events, Life
Tags: audience etiquette, endless anecdotes, irritation
One comment so far
Perspectives on Social Awkwardness
by Abram
It’s been a little over a week since this year’s Adult Conference at Northeastern University, and I am almost fully recovered. Every time I attend an event where the main attraction is a whole bunch of adult Aspies trying desperately to relate to one another, I come home feeling mildly depressed and in need of a stiff drink. What bothers me is the persistent feeling that I’m witnessing my own flaws from the outside; that as pitiable as some of my, er, less socially adept brethren may appear, that’s just how I look to the rest of the NT world. Read the rest of this post »
August 10, 2010
Posted in: Events, Life
Tags: endless anecdotes, irritation, social ineptitude
2 Comments
Autism: Difference or Disorder?
by Nomi
Hi everyone,
Nomi here, grappling with my latest philosophical dilemma. It’s actually a long-standing one: Is autism a “disorder?” Many with Asperger’s vehemently protest the pathologizing of all forms of autism. I certainly would not jump to call my Asperger’s a disease. At the same time, however, I think I would be hard-pressed to convince the family members of a severely autistic person that such helplessness, impaired communication, and even self-destruction are simply “a different way of being.”
The way I currently view it, then, is that autism is Read the rest of this post »
August 3, 2010
Posted in: AS Community & Culture
Tags: Asperger's, autism, benefit, Diagnosis, difference, disease, disorder
3 Comments
The Meaning of Uniqueness
by Chris Damon-Cronmiller
On June 19th, I arrived at Arsenal Park right on time. A couple of days beforehand, I had offered to help and volunteer at AANE’s 9th annual Summer Barbecue, which is an event that is greatly looked forward to by many. I was looking forward to this event a great deal. On the other hand, there was another part of me that was skeptical about how this whole event would turn out.
I was of course diagnosed with autism many, many years ago, and have had it for as long as I can recall. As a result, Read the rest of this post »
July 22, 2010
Posted in: AS Community & Culture, AS News, Events, Testimonials
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