I know my viewpoint is very controversial among many members of the Asperger's Community. The fact is, I got the diagnosis when I was thirteen. At the time, the "T" was the first person in the area to have read the recently translated papers about Asperger's. That's a tale for another day, but the point is, I've never put as much stock in the diagnosis as others have and I still don't.

I see a lot of people making statements like, "I can't control my Asperger's." Or, "Your Asperger's is making you do this."

But when you look at all of the "symptoms" of Asperger's what you have is basically a series of traits. Some of those traits are more prominent than others. And I respect everyone's viewpoint. If you feel that Asperger's is something you can't control, I don't discount your personal feelings about this.

However, I have trained myself to get certain aspects of my behavior under control because there were things I wanted in life and I knew I couldn't have them if I didn't learn to control those other things.

For those of you who do feel this is a "disability" it might help if you see it this way. A list of traits that when combined can be described by the term "Asperger's". That empowers you to see which of those traits you can take control of by yourself and which ones you may need outside help for.

This is not an easy way of thinking, because it puts responsibility in your lap. It forces you to take control of your own progress and development. But it has worked out for me in the long run and I hope it gives you something to think about.

[Hellion]

I would kind of tend to disagree with that in a sense...while I certianly don't think aspergers makes me do things in a direct sense. Like say I accidently say something rude without realising it was rude first and was to say 'my aspergers made me do it' well I wouldn't do that....However it is true that having aspergers is probably why I didn't understand why the context was rude but it didn't make the words come out of my mouth. So I guess in a sense I agree one should still be responsible for them self to the best of their ability....but there also are a lot of things that can't nessisarily be 'controlled' or 'changed' especially since its a different way of the brain working.

For instance difficulties processing all the information at once, sensory issues, being overwhelmed by too much chaos having social difficulties I don't see any of that going away...I would say I do socially interact more since i've gotten older but not because I can behave and interact normally, I have just learned situations I can put myself in where it is likely I will have interaction...still can't walk up to someone I don't know and start a conversation. But i think there are differing severities of autism....for instance maybe some people don't have sensory issues as severely and don't become brain dead after a half hour in wal-mart because of sensory overload from the lights, and that buzzing noise they make as well as how they arrange the stores.

I might add to that I never was diagnosed as a child, didn't get diagnosed till 23....so throughout my childhood I wondered what was so different about me, made plenty of attempts to 'fit in' and got a lot of accusations about being lazy when I felt I was trying my hardest, not paying attention when I was paying attention and endless amounts of being bullied by other kids because I was 'weird' or 'retarded' according to them. So yeah no understanding of any difficulties I faced....it got so bad I had a suicide attempt when I was 15 because I felt entirely useless and couldn't understand why people treated me so horribly. So I suppose my point is sure using aspergers as an excuse for everything isn't a good thing, but ignoring that it can significantly effect how you function/behave probably isn't a very good thing either.

But having the diagnosis of Asperger's didn't stop people from bullying me. It's not like I had a magical shield that I could whip out when a kid assaulted me out in front of a K-mart when I was fourteen. And it wouldn't have stopped them from bullying you.

Nor did having the diagnosis help me "fit in", because I had freewill and I didn't feel the need to fit in. I still don't now. I know how to deal with people so that I can function at work and still get through the day. But telling my boss that I have Asperger's doesn't prevent people at work from changing my routine, or making sudden rule changes without letting me know in advance. So I either have to deal with that stuff, or I have to get out.

Having the diagnosis won't stop people from accusing you of being lazy. They'll still make those accusations. They will still insist that you're just using it as an excuse to get away with being lazy.

Again, I'm not trying to discount your feelings. Maybe it did give you a peace of mind, but can you honestly say your life would have been any different if you knew one way or the other?

Cause when I look back on my life, nothing would have changed. Except that maybe teachers wouldn't have judged me so harshly based on information they didn't even understand. Or maybe my nosy aunt wouldn't have shouted the diagnosis from the rooftops, making it hard for me to be taken seriously at work because they thought I couldn't do anything besides push a broom and gather carriages.

If it makes you feel better, all the power to you. It never made me feel better and it doesn't make me feel better now. I honestly wish I could get the diagnosis removed but it's life long and I don't know how to go about it.

[Hellion]

I don't think having been diagnosed would have stopped the bullying, but at least I would have understood why...and maybe some people would have been more understanding that I wasn't being lazy and such. Not to mention if people had made fun of me for being autistic as opposed to 'retarded' it would have perhaps made a little more sense.

But yeah not so sure having the diagnoses would have changed much...and as of now don't see what benefit having the diagnoses removed would have.

[Rapunzel]

Having this diagnosis or not having it doesn't change your traits or your circumstances, but it does help with making sense of it. It also can help with knowing what to ask for so that I have a better chance of being able to function. And now I know that all the things that I struggled with really were harder for me than they are for other people, because my brain doesn't work the same way. It is validating to be able to know that what I experienced was always legitimate.

A diagnosis like asperger's is harder to understand because it isn't tangible like other disabilities can be. But as much as someone who is blind might like to have that diagnosis removed, they still would not be able to see, and if we have the characteristics or traits that we refer to as asperger's, it doesn't change anything to remove the label. We are who we are.

And we are responsible for doing our best. People with any disability might think that they are more limited or have less control than in reality, or might be tempted not to try as hard, or even might have been taught that they can't do anything because of the disability. The fact is, we can do a lot. Asperger's or autism has positive traits too, and we need to remember that and put our talents to good use. The whole point in identifying a diagnosis is to figure out what can be done to help us overcome our obstacles and live our lives the best that we can.

[Hellion]

Originally Posted by Rapunzel

And we are responsible for doing our best. People with any disability might think that they are more limited or have less control than in reality, or might be tempted not to try as hard, or even might have been taught that they can't do anything because of the disability. The fact is, we can do a lot. Asperger's or autism has positive traits too, and we need to remember that and put our talents to good use. The whole point in identifying a diagnosis is to figure out what can be done to help us overcome our obstacles and live our lives the best that we can.

I actually spent a long time not wanting to accept maybe I had some more limitations than other people...I find it more helpful having accepted my limitations so I don't feel so crappy about myself when it makes something harder or maybe impossible for me...that doesn't mean I should never try or do anything to potentially improve my life but its also important to accept I have limitations. Growing up I didn't know about my limitations really so of course whenever they interfered with my life I felt like it was my fault, and I couldn't do anything right even if I was trying my hardest perhaps i wouldn't have strained myself so much having known I had some limitations. I certianly would not have benefited from being told I couldn't do 'anything' but having it acknowledged I had trouble with a lot of things would have helped. That said Aspergers isn't my only diagnoses...some of my others kind of interfere with some of the positive aspects of the aspergers and sometimes I even question if these positive aspects were really that useful...sure I can retain a lot of information and research information for a paper(its very hard now because my PTSD screwed with my concentration and ability to focus)...but yeah that was one of my 'talents' not sure it would have gotten me that far though...maybe.