On the OTHER hand, this has given me an icon idea...

[conuly]

Conuly:

The aspie with

Femaleness
Intelligence
Humor
Literacy

Except... weird thing... I'm not thinking up more nice words for myself. Wow. Now I feel bad :(

Still, this could beat out "obviously incredibly high functioning" for righteous amusement value.

Comments

[pockingell.livejournal.com]

With ...Helpfulness
...Entertainment value
...Neopets?

[conuly]

Entertainment value? Is that all I am to you????

Neopets. Hm... *stares at 'em*

Nope. They aren't, technically, mine. They were... boooooorrrrn freeeeee!

(I'm a little high on cheezits right now)

[pockingell.livejournal.com]

Yup. Entertainment value and a Surgeon-General sponsored warning about cheezits overdose. But we don't have cheezits over here (what are they, btw?), so in practical terms, you're just entertainment value.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

The more I see 'high functioning' the more it annoys me.

I can't explain why. Tried to start a few paragraphs about it, but none of it made sense. I have a hard time expressing myself in this form, in comments or posts.

[conuly]

Well, the quote is about somebody whom nobody would reasonably call high functioning (and, yes, I know it's a loaded term), so it really, really, really pissed me off. And then, when we all tried to explain why it was a bad statement, they changed their definition of high functioning rather than admit they were wrong.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

For me its not so much its a loaded term, because honestly it's not a part of my life in that it directly affects me or anyone in my immediate circles.

It's more that as I learn more, it seems off. Not right. Like to me, my friends, aquaintences who I guess would be termed 'high functioning' are just 'differently quirked' from my world view.

And then my 'normal' friends, well, some of them are BARELY FUNCTIONING in that I swear I wonder how they make it through the day. They're just that disfunctional.

So why don't they get that label, too?

[griffen.livejournal.com]

Where is the quote?

[leora.livejournal.com]

Maybe because it belittles the reality of the situation. I don't like when people drastically underestimate my level of disability. It's part of my life. And I have to live with it. I accept it. The least others can do is not evade the subject as if it's this huge, scary thing.

I'm not autistic, so the terms high-functioning aren't generally applied to me. But there's the whole "moderately disabled" versus "severely disabled" issues. And I will freely admit that I am between the two and on bad days amd clearly severely disabled. When people try to minimize the disability, that's when they start blaming me. Sure, not everyone will do that, but that's my experience. I think it says more about me that I've managed to do so much despite serious disabilities. And that means more than pretending I'm able. I'm not able and I know it. But I'm also generally not ashamed of it either. And I don't want to have to hide the problems, to shove them aside as things I can't discuss or have to minimize. They're there and real, and far too many people want to pretend I'm normal.

I know I'm a little overly sensitive on this point, but for my first two years of being disabled, I did try to minimize it. I fell into that trap. And I became much sicker. I would be stuck in bed for weeks because I tried to pretend I could walk around like a normal person. Now I try to accept my limitations and do what I can with them.

And well, if you have to be disabled, it's more fun to be in your face about it and force people to accept you as who you are.

It might be something like that for you, but it is a different thing. Autism/Asperger's aren't disabilities in the same way that muscular weakness, fatigue, chronic pain, etc. are. But I think the core issue may just be wanting to be seen honestly for both strengths and weaknesses. Just to have people look at the real picture and face up to it just as it is.

[leora.livejournal.com]

I think I will continue to call you Conuly.

[conuly]

You could do that.

I've had people call me Connie online. It always startles me, just like: what are you doing? Don't call me that!

[rho]

A head!

[conuly]

*taptaptap*

OH! So that's what this big thing is!

[griffen.livejournal.com]

*grin*

You notice that I admitted she's trying?

Yes, she is trying. Very trying. She is trying my patience.

[conuly]

Give her a chance to reply to the people there. And... um... learn?

[pockingell.livejournal.com]

With ...Helpfulness
...Entertainment value
...Neopets?

[conuly]

Entertainment value? Is that all I am to you????

Neopets. Hm... *stares at 'em*

Nope. They aren't, technically, mine. They were... boooooorrrrn freeeeee!

(I'm a little high on cheezits right now)

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

The more I see 'high functioning' the more it annoys me.

I can't explain why. Tried to start a few paragraphs about it, but none of it made sense. I have a hard time expressing myself in this form, in comments or posts.

[conuly]

Well, the quote is about somebody whom nobody would reasonably call high functioning (and, yes, I know it's a loaded term), so it really, really, really pissed me off. And then, when we all tried to explain why it was a bad statement, they changed their definition of high functioning rather than admit they were wrong.

[leora.livejournal.com]

Maybe because it belittles the reality of the situation. I don't like when people drastically underestimate my level of disability. It's part of my life. And I have to live with it. I accept it. The least others can do is not evade the subject as if it's this huge, scary thing.

I'm not autistic, so the terms high-functioning aren't generally applied to me. But there's the whole "moderately disabled" versus "severely disabled" issues. And I will freely admit that I am between the two and on bad days amd clearly severely disabled. When people try to minimize the disability, that's when they start blaming me. Sure, not everyone will do that, but that's my experience. I think it says more about me that I've managed to do so much despite serious disabilities. And that means more than pretending I'm able. I'm not able and I know it. But I'm also generally not ashamed of it either. And I don't want to have to hide the problems, to shove them aside as things I can't discuss or have to minimize. They're there and real, and far too many people want to pretend I'm normal.

I know I'm a little overly sensitive on this point, but for my first two years of being disabled, I did try to minimize it. I fell into that trap. And I became much sicker. I would be stuck in bed for weeks because I tried to pretend I could walk around like a normal person. Now I try to accept my limitations and do what I can with them.

And well, if you have to be disabled, it's more fun to be in your face about it and force people to accept you as who you are.

It might be something like that for you, but it is a different thing. Autism/Asperger's aren't disabilities in the same way that muscular weakness, fatigue, chronic pain, etc. are. But I think the core issue may just be wanting to be seen honestly for both strengths and weaknesses. Just to have people look at the real picture and face up to it just as it is.

[leora.livejournal.com]

I think I will continue to call you Conuly.

[conuly]

You could do that.

I've had people call me Connie online. It always startles me, just like: what are you doing? Don't call me that!

[rho]

A head!

[conuly]

*taptaptap*

OH! So that's what this big thing is!

[griffen.livejournal.com]

*grin*

You notice that I admitted she's trying?

Yes, she is trying. Very trying. She is trying my patience.

[conuly]

Give her a chance to reply to the people there. And... um... learn?