Had this exact conversation with my 18-year-old daugther yesterday. She's fairly recently diagnosed and was happy with being described as Asperger's, but now it's much less clear when she's described as Autistic.
Just calmly explain that weaponized autism makes the world go around. She is on the superpowers end of the spectrum and the normals are right to be afraid of their superiors.
I wish that was the case. Both daughters have diagnoses, and both have had very difficult adolescent years. Next-level stuff that I think people don't believe me about most of the time. They have great difficulty with socialising, and that has been extremely difficult for them. Both of them rather resent the 'rain man' view of autism that they have some special talent as a payoff for their difficulties, although one is incredible in terms of research and planning. But she doesn't see that as being anything to do with autism!
> But she doesn't see that as being anything to do with autism!
Don't forget that she is also a teenager. Growing up is hard, socializing and fitting in can feel incredibly important -- but there's always an alternative cost: less time mucking about with mean girl types, more time to study the sword.
This is a blessing in disguise. The payoff will come, for that reason alone, and so will the true friends down the line. She probably wouldn't choose this now, but later on she absolutely would.
Do you think they might be inspired by the Temple Grandin lens of autism? She's accomplished so much in a field that basically didn't exist before her and against a massive amount of adversity. She's a time-worn example of how the different perspectives that autism can give you can be leveraged into a calling that is both lucrative and improves lives.
Glad to mentioned "Weaponized autism" because the original justification for Hans asperger not being forced to murder the aspie kids was their potential for those kids to develop military technology for the Reich.
Remember aspies, the world believes you are only valuable due to your ability to produce, and specifically, to produce novel things.
Ultimately, for this reason, I'd love to see a "cure" for autism as it is a debilitating disease for many of those who suffer with it
I mean, I absolutely understand not wanting to use that, but what do I say instead? Autism is a spectrum, and some folks are less able to function than others on that spectrum.
I legitimately want to know, because I don't know what to say here.
The problem one daughter of mine had with that was because she is high-functioning, she says that poeple think she consequently needs no support. She's demonstrated conclusively that isn't the case, and both of my diagnosed step-daughters need a lot of support, much in areas where many people don't.
The reality is that Autism as a whole IS NOT one single spectrum. It's a lot of different symptoms, needs, quirks, and crossover with a bunch of other mental illnesses as well, like social anxiety. Describing it as a singular variable "Spectrum" produces entirely wrong conclusions.
It's more like a 10 dimensional space, at least, with each dimension being a symptom or needs category. For example, I don't think anyone would diagnose me with autism, or even old asbergers, but I have a lot of sensory issues and struggle to parse speech and faces.
If you are aware of someone having some form of autism, and you want to know more about "where on the spectrum" they are, simply talk to them, ask what they struggle with, ask about their needs. If you didn't have to talk to a family member or nurse before talking to them, they probably don't need huge affordances.
