Mihaela

Well, well, Aeolienne... Skipton, that's only a few miles from here. I often go there. I was a regular at the Russian Tea Room - an amazing place, and a great shame it had to close. I also share every one of your listed interests, and I know where you worked too! (I once worked at a UAS) Keep the ball rolling, everyone!

Considering that most if not all people with AS rather than 'classic' autism have average-to-high IQs, I would say that intelligence is a part of the condition. You misunderstand me. Waterboatman said: Asperics are intelligent despite their defect ASD, not because of it. I said: We may or may not be intelligent as a result of our condition (nobody really knows). What I meant is that no-one knows whether higher than average IQ is a causal factor of AS neurological condition, or whether the neurological condition itself causes us to have high IQ (as a 'by-product', along with social difficulties, etc. Of course, an IQ of 100+ is a defining trait of AS, but that's not what I meant, for Waterboatman seems to have been speaking in terms of causation. However, IQ testing is majorly flawed, especially when it comes to measuring the intelligence of autistic people. I agree - and it's partly because autistic people tend to have intelligence blind-spots which distort the results. There are several different types of intelligence, and IQ tests can be rough and ready at the best of times - one reason why I don't take Mensa very seriously. I suppose they're reasonably accurate for most neurotypicals. I've seen that video too. It's somewhere on Youtube. Amazing!

wheeler-dealer

It seems that all these outfits, big charities, quangos, government agencies, police forces, NHS, local authorities, etc. speak the same self congratulatory language nowadays. I could give examples of many others where they fail to live up to their words. It must be a new trend. (Some even use PR companies to write their scripts. Bell Pottinger aren't fussy about their clients - be they Tony Bliar or the Uzbekistani government - as long as the money rolls in). All I can say so far about CS is that, although their blurb looks good, they haven't yet given me the chance of finding out how good it actually is.

I am oh-so sick of the current obsession with 'business' in this country! When I say 'business' I mean all the worst parts of business, too - manipulating others, using ridiculous buzzwords and the constant lying and altering of truth. This applies equally to the voluntary sector nowadays. The 'board-room culture' and its inane management-speak has permeated virtually every organisation. I once made a long list of the shallow and meaningless jargon used at these meetings - and vital for successful interviews. It's become a kind business etiquette that opens doors of opportunity for so many - but woefully lacks ant real substance. Of course, the whole idea of 'business studies' along with most of its jargon comes from across the Atlantic, and some of that jargon comes straight from baseball pitch ('ball-park figure', 'whole new ball game', 'cover one's bases', 'touch base', etc.) http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2007-03-30-baseball-jargon_N.htm The business studies side basically taught me nothing useful apart from a few terms and phrases. Now I know it's only GCSE level, but why is this being considered such an important subject when you don't actually learn anything? Very true. Gullible ('dumbed-down') folk actually do believe that they've learnt skills of importance. In fact all they've learnt is to adopt a certain mindset which is all about using the 'right' language. They use it to impress their equally friends. You can't really learn how to be a successful businessperson - if you don't have a manipulative, competitive and ruthless personality you will not do well in business. Simple. True again. It requires a certain personality type to 'succeed' - in the popular, but so misguided, meaning of that word. Plus, it's so irresponsible to hold 'business' in such high esteem when it has been proven through several stock market crashes, recessions and depressions that the current system does not work! The older generations are essentially setting up the younger generations to be drones. And what happens? The ruthless prosper, the meek are trodden on. As ever, society never seems to learn from its mistakes. Capitalism simply doesn't work, for by its very nature it generates wealth for the 'lucky' few and poverty and suffering for all the rest - very extreme in many parts of the world. What they now call 'The Economy', that ever-consuming and voracious monster, has become an object of veneration to be propitiated and fed libations in order to grow fat, with the primary aim of making the 'fat cats' who run the show even fatter, at the expense of all other living things. We need to give future children the tools they need to succeed. This does not include a load of stupid phrases like 'blue sky thinking' and all that waffle - no, they all need to be encouraged so they develop some self esteem, they all need to be able to find and develop their best skills during their school life. They say school is a horrible environment to reflect the working world, well... can't they make the working world more pleasant for everyone including shy people? So there's less unemployment? Stop the depression epidemic? Keep NHS costs down because people tend to be healthier if they're happier? Oh wait, no, that won't let rich people have even more money to buy things they don't need. How selfish of poor and shy people to be fed up with the shocking deal we're getting. How unreasonable. You talk so much common sense! NT society talks so often of 'common sense' but I see very little there. It's all empty talk, and no sense. History proves that whenever we get an urge to appease a deity ('The Economy'), any type of behaviour becomes acceptable to those who believe in the dogma (capitalism). We are unwittingly sacrificing our humanity, our very souls, to please the Money God.

"...if you are a high functioning, would you rather be rid of the problems? Asperics are intelligent despite their defect ASD, not because of it" Maybe I wasn't clear enough. Yes, I'd like to be rid of my problems which amount to executive dysfunction and sensory overload - and nothing more. If I was 'cured' of this at the expense of all my AS-related positive traits, it would a price not worth paying. My positive traits are so many and so important to me. They make who I am, and I have no wish to have my personality altered by using drugs or having brain surgery. Some of what I see as positive traits may not be seen as such by some Aspies - emotionally childlike, socially naive, high empathy, high emotional sensitivity, highly logical, highly intuitive, unconventional thinking style, idealistic, collections, special interests, etc. These are what make me who I am. We may or may not be intelligent as a result of our condition (nobody really knows), but it's highly likely that the imaginative and unconventional ways in which some of use our intelligence is due to our condition. This is crucially important. Merely having a high IQ wouldn't allow me to have the insights that I've enjoyed all my life. It's the way I use my IQ that makes me so different. I wouldn't be a 'philomath-polymath' without my AS.

Sorry to hear this. It's high they time some of these 'experts' realised that we are all different. True, we need to be treated as Aspies, but also as individuals each with our own specific needs. By our very nature we can't be pigeon-holed.

true, it's so easy for Aspies to become passionately distracted! "....can not escape, or will not escape." I don't know about 'will not'. Ask any victim of bullying if they'd rather escape if at all possible. I know an Aspie girl who's being bullied at school. None of us choose to be bullied. Yes, non-observance, or rather turning a blind eye and victim-blaming, allow bullying to flourish. I've always justifed my existence however much I've been bullied and have never had any intention of perishing. I bounce back, gaining strength each time.

"Come on really, if you are a high functioning, would you rather be rid of the problems?" No way! Not in million years! Many Aspies don't want to change our personalities. We're happy the way we are, proud to be who we are, and use our unique gifts to the full. I wouldn't trade those gifts for anything. Anyway, I'd be bored sick as an NT! We're all different.

I forgot to post the latest news. having heard nothing last week I rang CS on the Friday and was told that the relevant person was 'at a meeting'. They gave me a mobile number and told me to ring on the Monday (yesterday). This was unexpected, and foolishly I didn't ask for her to ring me back after the meeting. Anyway, I rang that number yesterday, and she asked who my support worker was - I haven't got one, which is the whole point!. She'd no idea who I was, and was totally unaware of the referral, but said she may not have seen it yet. I assured her that the CAB had now sent the referral to them twice and spoken to them too. She said she'd check and would ring me within a week or so. She sounded friendly enough, but all this vagueness is getting a bit much. So I'm still waiting. As for an actual visit, that still seems a distant glimmer on the horizon at present. Thanks, Laddo. I'll bear your offer in mind. Giving them a nudge from another direction might be necessary. Let's see what the next week brings...

Same here about reaching brick walls. Despite the bland reassurances of the Autism Act, we are still being badly let down in many ways. That law, like so many others, is hardly worth the vellum* it's written on! It seems that mental health services are very much a postcode lottery. Even children on the autism spectrum are suffering very badly and being let down by schools time and time again. Adults get the worst deal of all. Years ago I was always on the move trying to find somewhere that suited me. I never found it and have now settled into a rather uncomfortable compromise brought about by accident rather than by design. At last knowing waht my 'problem' is, I now find myself more content than I've ever been, and I have all I need - except the support I need in executive function, something I just can't help. I'm lucky in that I'm not caught up in the desperate seeking of work, which would make my life even more difficult. I think we're all very disillusioned with the way society treats us. I feel it would prefer us to just go away and suffered in silence. (* Alone in the world the British government still insanely insists on writing its laws on expensive goat skin. As a vegetarian and iconoclast I find this archaic practice pretty repulsive and quite unnecessary. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/502342.stm )

It's always wise to read between the lines. Often it's what is not included in a news story (for that's often all it is: a story) that, if known, would completely change our views. Manipulation of the news has become a high art and nowadays uses very sophisticated methods. I used to watch TV with my mother every so often and couldn't help but notice the insidious slide in a downwards direction. It has become a drug for the masses who, for the sake of our 'leaders' must be encouraged not to think for themselves. Britain has very successfully followed the well-tried US model - known as 'dumbing down'. Yes, there's still some good stuff but it's being swamped with socially toxic waste. As for 'poor-people baiting', I see this as a perfect example of an increasingly selfish and dysfunctional society. The more a society and its 'leaders' talk about 'care', the less true care there is, and the meaning of the word becomes restricted. I knew someone who was addicted to the Jeremy Kyle Show, and her daily routine was literally geared around getting back home in time to watch it. Every weekend, a friend of hers would phone her and they'd exchange the 'thrills' of another 'show' (Big Brother) as it happened. Quite pathetic. This kind of uncivilised behaviour is a modern manifestation of the Victorian freak shows - appealing to narcissists, sociopaths, snobs, voyeurs, and generally inadequate brainwashed people. Even our news stories are designed for maximum entertainment value, i.e. deliberately sensationalised.

I've been thinking. There are a large number of us out there, although it may not feel like that. According to the NAS, around 1.1% of the British population have an autism condition. Around half that figure don't have a learning disability. Also the male-female ratio is decreasing, and the rate of diagnoses is increasing. However, these statistics vary such a lot depending on all kinds of factors. It becomes a bewilderingly hit-and-miss affair. For example: A much higher prevalence rate of 2.64% was found in a study done in South Korea, where the researchers found two thirds of the ASD cases were in the mainstream school population, and had never been diagnosed before., (Kim et al, 2011). Researchers comparing findings of prevalence studies from different parts of the world over the past few years have come up with a more conservative median estimate of prevalence of 62 in 10,000. They conclude that the both the increase in estimates over time and the variability between countries and regions are likely to be because of broadening diagnostic criteria, diagnostic switching, service availability and awareness of ASD among professionals and the public, (Elsabbagh M. et al, 2012). I suspect that there are still very many of us who don't even realise we have AS (just as I didn't until a year or so ago). We are forced to struggle against an uncaring NT world, erroneously believing that we only have ourselves to blame, we're 'weird', 'oddballs', 'in the wrong', 'useless', etc - a shameful state of affairs. Ironically, our traits can be our own worst enemies. We like to be alone persuing our special interests; we feel socially inadequate; we're not good at social organising. These all work against us meeting one another ...yet we can talk for hours with others who share our own special interests! What we all have in common is our AS and I feel we should all add this to our list of special interests. We must see it as a positive thing for it's essential to self-understanding. This would give us more incentive to meet up with others who share this common interest. It would help us enormously in fighting the daily injustices we receive from the NT world, and give us a much stronger voice. We don't need others speaking for us when we're united. We can speak out for ourselves. This is why I find our local Aspie video group so inspiring. Even after a 4-hour session I find I'm still enjoying it - because we all passionately share a common interest in positive ways.

A beautiful musical interpretation of Mihai Eminescu's poem Somnoroase Pasarele ("Sleepy Birds"): I love his poetry. Here's a translation by Corneliu Popescu: "Drowsy birds at even gliding, Round about their nests alight, In among the branches hiding... Dear, good night ! Silence through the forest creeping, Lullaby the river sighs; In the garden flowers sleeping... Shut your eyes ! Glides the swan among the rushes To its rest where moon light gleams, And the angels whisper hushes... Peaceful dreams ! O’er the sky stars without number, On the earth a silver light; All is harmony and slumber... Dear, good night !"

Laddo - I forgot to ask as there were several things I needed to mention to her, and I got so distracted there actually enjoying myself! I'll be seeing her again soon so I'll let you know.

I don't follow the news and only find out things haphazardly. The 'news' nearly always consists of variations on particular themes, and I know those themes only too well, so I find little point in gaining regular 'fixes' with them over and over again. I find it so very depressing that society chooses not to learn from its mistakes. I can feel the suffering of others too strongly if I let myself dwell on it, a situation I try to avoid for it can seriously affect my life.

Few Aspies are even asocial, for we're not indifferent to others; we just can't take them in large doses - unless we share special interests. The kind of active leadership being promoted that you speak of isn't a good kind. Passive leadership is far better - when others look up to you simply because you show integrity and practise what you preach. Political and business leaders rarely show these qualities.

If I had my way there'd be more unity. Unity gives us strength in the face of the NY world, and we become very vulnerable if we don't stick together. I really enjoy the video group I belong to. We all support one another and I feel a real unity in a safe environment where we can all be ourselves, and with no expectations. (There's even a garden and other rooms where we can escape to if we want). And Verbeia, it doesn't matter whether we are diagnosed or not. That's just an official thing. All that should matter is that we self-identify as Aspies, or suspect that we are.

Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism - many devoutly orthodox Jews are strongly opposed to Zionism. Besides, the Semitic ethnic group has always included Arabs, Akkadians, Maltese, Sabians, etc. It is not restricted to people of the Jewish faith, so the term antisemitism, popularised in 19th century Germany, is a misnomer.

Thanks, Unusual one. My unconventional thinking style, as well as having so many interests, can be very useful socially. Although I've had no formal training in any of the many subjects that I've studied, I find I can talk (often pretty much as an equal) with anyone who happens to share a common interest. I also learn more in the process. Our mutual passions feed each other. Last year some high-flying academic arranged to meet me to discuss my work on one of my specialised interests, with the intention of demolishing once and for all my original theories - which had been niggling him for some time. Having blinded him with detail to the nth degree, he left in a daze and with his academic arrogance totally deflated! I soon found his knowledge of his 'specialised' subject was inaccurate, hazy, partial and full of holes. I had a ready answer to all his criticisms which instantly stopped him in his tracks, and he ended up doubting all he'd been led to assume to be true. My experience of turning the tables on these types has vividly shown me just how little general knowledge they tend to have, how narrowly-conventional their thinking has become, and just how indoctrinated they are with the fashionably bland, cosy 'university discourse'. All so different to the original purpose of university learning. Not too bad for a 'nonentity social misfit' who has chronic executive dysfunction, umpteen vulnerabilities and the emotions of a child. I know not many Aspies are as seemingly-paradoxically complex-naive as I am, but we can all be true experts in our own fields, and need to have pride in this. Don't let the NT's grind us down. We have so much to offer the world. Let's all try our best to improve it in our own small ways.

A very well-reasoned post, UnusualPatronus. I'm glad that my words weren't wasted. An excellent analysis, Canopus - and all those 'isms' work against our natural humanity and the natural order and harmony of life. At least that's when liberalism is interpreted as a political ideology rather than simply a natural and ethical belief in freedom and human rights. Free trade, free and fair elections and freedom to own property are often seen as features of liberalism. Free trade is not necessarily a good thing, especially when applied to multinational capitalism. Free and fair elections often amount to mere tokenism - giving us the impression that putting an 'x' in a box gives us real power over the elites that control our lives! Freedom to own property, without limiting that freedom - is nothing more than a recipe for obscene wealth and abject poverty. The only acceptable freedoms are those that don't deprive others of freedom.

True, and I could well be within walking distance of you, Verbeia. I do know a few local Aspies. I'll be seeing some today at our video project, and I'll be mentioning this to them. Of course, another problem is our difficulties with socialising. I was a bit nervous of this when I decided to join that project, but it's turned out very enjoyable for all of us - no stress at all!

Welcome Michelle! Just let us know what kind of struggles you're having, and I'm sure we'll do waht we can to help you.

That's just how I feel too when battling with so many 'professionals', Laddo! Why should be so very difficult dealing with these faceless people? Their behaviour makes a mockery of the Autism Act. As for my poem, it's written on several levels. De Profundis is the traditional name of a psalm (its first two words in the Vulgate) that was ritually read in pre-Reformation England at wayside crosses during funeral processions. (De profundis clamavi - From the depths I cry). Many authors have used those words to express a feeling of melancholy, helplessness and frustration at all that's wrong with the world. Crying out from the bottom of a well, seemingly with no escape. The well imagery was inspired by Laddo's previous words: ...Full of suffering Further I fall Down I go Sink into your hell... Which reminded me of three wells - the well of depression (as in Bunyan's 'Slough of Despond'); Radclyffe Hall's Well of Loneliness - which in 1928 was considered by the medical 'experts' of the day to be a danger to the country, and so it was banned and so truth was suppressed... and the well of truth, which is an allegorical motif used in art and based on Democritus who said that truth lay at the bottom of a well. In other words truth can be difficult to reach. Here are some examples: http://www.jcbourdais.net/journal/18avr08.php (very good text too, but it's in French). The mirror never lies, it reflects reality. What I meant was that we may find ourselves in the depth of depression, but we can rise out of it feeling stronger and wiser having caught inspiring glimpses of the truth, both the truth about ourselves and about the NT world. Lux in tenebris - the light in the dark, the gold amongst the lead, etc. This theme of hidden/suppressed truth is related to the esoteric Tradition, very strong in France, and one of my special interests - where poetry with multiple levels of meaning is known as la langue des oiseaux (language of the birds) or langue verte (green language). (Old Father) Time will eventually 'unveil' Truth (his daughter) revealing her in her unadorned glory. Tempus veritas revelat. This is another allegorical motif in art and there are many examples. Here's a well-known one (that painting is full of symbolism) - and an interesting article on enlightenment. https://floliblog.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/

Faust (who prostituted himself by selling his soul to the devil)