Autism/Am I normal?

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Expert: - 8/14/2006


Question
Does having Asperger Syndrome still classify me as a normal human being? Because my family seems to think that I'm not!

Answer
Hi,

this is an almost philosophical question.
What's normal ?
I'll tell you how I see it.  
I'm not normal. Will never be, can't be. I mean normal in the sense of being NT, being like everybody else. I'm not like them. But still, I'm not a freak, I'm not crazy as opposed to "normal". In terms of mental health I'm probably more normal than the average "normal" person (most autistics are).
If I'm thinking about myself I'd say of course I'm normal. I have lived my whole life as an autistic person. This is just as normal for me than being neurotypical for a neurotypical person. So I'm autistic-normal. If I'm having a good day, I certainly don't feel less normal than my NT mum or anybody else.
Above all, you're not only a person with Asperger's, you're human first - just like everybody else. Asperger's doesn't make you less human. If you chose to see yourself as normal or not is a question of definition. I actually like "autistic-normal" because that's how I see myself: a normal human being which just happens to be autistic.
Hope that helps !
c.  

Autism

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*DISCLAIMER*

Please note I am not a healthcare professional or a doctor.
I cannot provide a diagnosis or give any medical advice.
Therefore I cannot answer questions like "is my child autistic ?" other than by telling you to go and see a specialist
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Please be aware that if you are in the US it will usually take at least 24 hours until I can answer your question, as I'm in Europe and don't have access to my email during the day. I also cannot answer questions concerning the US educational or law system (other than by looking up things on google, but that's probably not the expertise you need), as I'm not in the US.
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Please also be aware that I'm a person with autism. My answers may sometimes be very blunt and direct and I may tell you things you won't like to hear. Diplomacy is certainly not among my talents. I'm never being rude on purpose, and I always try not to hurt or offend people, but it has happened before and may happen again. It's NEVER on purpose. I just want to help.
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What I *can* do for you is gather information on any aspect of autism and therapy of autism you're interested in and give you my personal oppinion about it (if you want to hear it) or, if it applies, tell you about my personal experience. I can answer all questions about what life is like for an autistic person.

I can also answer questions asked in German or French (but will have to answer in English to questions asked in French as my French is a bit rusty).

Ich beantworte gerne auch Fragen auf Deutsch.

Vous pouvez poser des questions en Francais, si cela ne vous dérange pas que je responds en anglais.

Experience


As I'm not doing well right now and am not in the shape of answering questions well - I recieved a few low ratings lately - I'll take a break from AllExperts for the next few weeks/until I'm doing better

I am an adult diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome/High Functioning Autism and ADD.

In the past years I have also read a lot about autism and its comorbid conditions and related subjects (as I am experiencing symptoms of most of these or know others who do) , so I have accumulated a lot of layman knowledge in this area (AD(H)D, Tourette's Syndrome, OCD, sleep disorders, allergies, sensory integration dysfunction, learning difficulties, left/right-brain, giftedness, Irlen Syndrome, prism glasses, executive dysfunction (aka. "inertia"), "special" diets).

Education/Credentials
None in the field of autism, apart from being autistic myself !

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