womanwithaspergers
13p6 comments posted · 3 followers · following 0
13 years ago @ http://thinkingautismg... - On \"Quiet Hands\" · 0 replies · +1 points
I was diagnosed at age 34 last year, so I was never subjected to ABA and "quiet hands". I am beginning to understand the nature of stimming, and in addition to a self-soothing behavior, you underscore how flapping, etc. is communicative in and of itself.
Thank you for sharing this.
-Nicole
13 years ago @ http://thinkingautismg... - Person-First Language:... · 0 replies · +1 points
Now this whole person-first language debate is interesting. When I started my blog, I chose "Woman With Asperger's" as simply a descriptive title, and this was shortly after I dx'd myself. I wasn't aware of the whole person-first language debate and in retrospect, I only titled my blog that way to increase my chances I'd be found in searches. :) But when I do reflect on this, I do prefer "autistic person" or "Aspergian" versus the person-first language because I also feel that autism/Aspergers is a fundamental part of who I am.
Addressing identity and cultural issues for a moment: trying to separate my brain wiring from me would be like trying to separate my ethnicity from who I am, as I am African-American person, not a "person with African-Americanism". I think the reason why this is so important is that in the past, in whatever paradigm you're talking about (race, sexual orientation, etc) there has always been a "majority" or "default" assumption of identity and that anything else was other: for example, in time past, as Lydia Brown pointed out, certain things such as homosexuality were seen as "disordered" or "deviant"....and then you had beauty standards which favored lighter skinned women and darker skinned women were considered ugly and deviant...and so forth. Now, unfortunately in the minds of the public, we are sometimes being framed as the new deviants, and the insistence on NOT using person-first language helps establish an emphasis on identity.
I don't knock person-first language in other cases, but this is truly a case of one size does NOT fit all. Autism is an entirely different animal.
-Nicole
13 years ago @ http://thinkingautismg... - Surviving the Holidays... · 0 replies · +1 points
-Nicole
13 years ago @ http://thinkingautismg... - Differentiating Betwee... · 0 replies · +1 points
-Nicole
14 years ago @ http://thinkingautismg... - Keeping Score · 1 reply · +2 points
Your post took me back quite a few years. I was also hyperlexic as a child, but not to the same degree as your son (I am an Aspie). I read early, had memorized and was acting out portions of "Little Women", and by the time I was 8 was obsessed with Alice and Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz series (the books, not the movie). I still love to read, though time and responsibilities prevent me from pursuing it as avidly as I did back then. I totally understand your feelings about not wanting to turn this skill of your son's into a party trick, and I really like your honesty as you took us in your post through the story -- and the experiencing of emotions -- of your journey.
I had to agree a little with Zoe about the end of your post, namely until I saw your explanation. The thing is, I know and and am working to accept that I will never be normal in many aspects -- I do not make eye contact a lot and trying to follow the social "rules" I have worked out in my mind still feels like a script. I think what you place importance on depends on what you focus on to begin with.
Thank you for sharing,
Nicole
14 years ago @ LBnuke - Perspectives of Autism... · 0 replies · +1 points
Thank you for sharing. See you around the interwebs.
-Nicole