Am I the only one...

[Bryan]

I didn't like how they said that autism was the sad clown part of him. It seemed to me that autism is just as much his ability to see into great detail or the ability to preservate (granted that wasn't talked about much in this story.) I might be a little big biased having aspergers but it just seems to me like yeah he can keep the bad parts behind... but dont say thats autism.

[humanblackhole]

I don't think it was his bad side. It was how he handled his wizardry. I think it had to be portrayed in a way that told us he wanted out (of his autism, that is, not his wizardry). Or maybe it had to be dramatic like that to get our attention. If anything, his autism helped him with his work and I think it still does.

[bluesalamanders]

The autism was what didn't allow him to communicate with the world outside of his mind. Nobody said it was bad, but to be rid of it allowed him to look into other people's eyes and listen to their voices and not feel unbearable pain. To talk to his parents again, and go to regular school, to be a wizard - and to use his other abilities.

And while mild Asperger's or autism might not be so bad - though the people I've known who had one or the other found it frustrating enough - from my admittedly limited understanding, the extreme sort of autism that he had would probably be pretty terrible to live with.

Blue

[Bryan]

Originally posted by bluesalamanders:
The autism was what didn't allow him to communicate with the world outside of his mind. Nobody said it was bad, but to be rid of it allowed him to look into other people's eyes and listen to their voices and not feel unbearable pain. To talk to his parents again, and go to regular school, to be a wizard - and to use his other abilities.

And while mild Asperger's or autism might not be so bad - though the people I've known who had one or the other found it frustrating enough - from my admittedly limited understanding, the extreme sort of autism that he had would probably be pretty terrible to live with.

Blue

Asperger's isn't that frustrating and think of all the good things that have come from aspies (Windows (okay that might not be a great thing but would you want an even bigger monopoly with Apple right now), ET/Schindlers List/a bunch of other movies, and the theory of relativity to name 3 (people anyway). And yes the things you mentioned can be quite bad to live with but thats not all autism is, the ability to concetrate on one topic like all 3 of those people did and the ability to notice things in such detail as Darryl did are also things commonly associated with autism, so I think to call autism what they did at the end is just a tad bit offensive to auties and even to aspies like me.

[bluesalamanders]

Bryan said:
so I think to call autism what they did at the end is just a tad bit offensive to auties and even to aspies like me.

Well, for one, you're generalizing all "aspies" to be like you, which they aren't. It may not be that frustrating for you, but it can be for other people. For two, you're grouping all "auties" and "aspies" together as though they would all agree about this. How do you know?

The answer is that you don't. The ending of this book is offensive to you, and I get that and that's fine; everyone is entitled to their opinion. But just because you share one similarity with a group of other people does not mean that they will all think the same way that you do about everything. Or anything.

For that matter, there are a good number of autistic people who we could never ask what they though on the subject - or if we did, either they wouldn't understand or they wouldn't be able to communicate whatever thoughts they might have. Like Darryl was.

Blue

[Bryan]

Almost all aspies and auties preservate and alot have the ability to see into fine detail (I don't so I certainly not making them appear like me.) Secondly I probably should have stated that it could be seen as offensive not that it neccessarily would be but whatever. But let me ask you something, would you like to be known for your unability to say what you mean in simple words and for your unability to concentrate on one subject that much, probably not.

[Gryphon]

Blue, aspergers is a very mild form of autism. Autism has a wide range, with some people practically locked away inside their own skin to the people who only have a little trouble dealing with other people. But then, Bryan's right, autism isn't all that bad. Though it has its drawbacks (or at least, that's how it comes across to me, but then... I've only lived all of my life inside my own shoes), it's got its good sides too. Such as this one autistic kid who's ungodly with math. And another that my brother knows who remembers absolutely _everything_. He knew my brother's first semester schedule from the school year before this one. And my brother didn't even know that he knew (until recently), and he didn't tell the guy or anything. He knows almost everyone else's school schedules too.

[bluesalamanders]

The thing is, we're not talking about all kinds of autism; we're talking about Darryl's kind, the kind that forces you to shut yourself away from the rest of the world and be trapped inside your own mind. I know that there is a wide range and as I recall, it is mentioned in the book that there are many forms of autism.

The main or at least obvious part of Darryl's autism was his inability to look into other people's eyes or listen to their voices without terrible pain. That was his experience, not a generalization to all autism. That was the sad clown.

What use would any other parts of his autism - his autism, not anyone else's - be, if he was forever stuck in his own mind?

Blue

Oh, and for the record, I am known among my friends for my vocabulary of large and sometimes obscure words, my inability to easily explain things and my habit of randomly switching topics in conversation, which comes across as exactly what you're talking about, Bryan.

[Alina]

I think it might have symbolized the power the Lone One has over people and how temtping it can sometimes be, but actually harmful if you can't resist it. If you can, fortune is yours.

[Bryan]

Originally posted by bluesalamanders:
The thing is, we're not talking about all kinds of autism; we're talking about Darryl's kind, the kind that forces you to shut yourself away from the rest of the world and be trapped inside your own mind. I know that there is a wide range and as I recall, it is mentioned in the book that there are many forms of autism.

The main or at least obvious part of Darryl's autism was his inability to look into other people's eyes or listen to their voices without terrible pain. That was his experience, not a generalization to all autism. That was the sad clown.

What use would any other parts of his autism - his autism, not anyone else's - be, if he was forever stuck in his own mind?

Blue

Oh, and for the record, I am known among my friends for my vocabulary of large and sometimes obscure words, my inability to easily explain things and my habit of randomly switching topics in conversation, which comes across as exactly what you're talking about, Bryan.

Yes but she never makes a mention that that was just his experience (well early on in the book she says theres all forms but doesnt list any of those forms. But you do have a better point that he needed to be able to see into other peoples eyes and stuff, but that is not being cured of autism (or leaving the autism behind as the case may be), just a symptom of it. So why say its all of autism unless your trying to demonise autism (which trust me once an autie tries to get cured of his/her autism it doesnt go good.)

Also its good that your known for those things instead of just one, maybe autistics like Darryl would like the same opportinity :shrugs:.

[Angel]

Originally posted by Bryan:
So why say its all of autism unless your trying to demonise autism (which trust me once an autie tries to get cured of his/her autism it doesnt go good.)

I believe that DD locked all of Darryl's autism away because, in the medical world, you can't really pick and choose which parts of a condition that you do or do not keep. If you 'cure' something, you 'cure' all of it. You can't just say "Oh, I want this neat aspect without all the other painful parts!" It would have been cheating to do that and from what I've seen in DD's work, she doesn't cheat or cop out of something, just because something else might be kinder.

Oh, and secondly, I do take issue with the line about "once an autie tries to get cured of his/her autism it doesn't go good." I was good friends with an Autistic and from what I saw, he hated being that way. Secondly, research shows that Autistics *can* be helped. Maybe not cured completely, but so they can have a life without being crippled by a condition that could otherwise greatly restrain them. Maybe it doesn't work so well with the heartbreakingly intense cases, but (especially if started at a young age) they can be helped.

Please understand, this isn't a personal slur against you. There's such a wide spectrum of Autism that, quite frankly, no one knows what will or will not work in someone else's case. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it isn't fair to imply that no cure is possible. Granted, there are many who say that we should accept autism for what it is and not attempt any cure at all. Would you agree with that, Bryan?

[Bryan]

Go to autistics.com or any number of autisim groups (that are actually run by auties not parents of them) and you will see a trend of hating most treatments.) And actually with alot of conditions you can pick and choose what parts you want to treat, for example if you have a cold you will take a medicine for the coughing it may not neccesarily help the other parts of it.

[Angel]

I'm sorry, Bryan, I think we've misunderstood each other. I was under the impression that you were saying that treatments didn't work, where you seem to think that I was saying that they were pleasant. I have done some research on Autism, partly due to my friend and partly due to AWA. The treatments don't sound like anything I would ever want to go through and I can completely understand why Autistics would hate them. I was merely trying to say that there are treatments that produce results, but I should've added that the results are occasionally bought at prices that are more painful/unpleasant than any treatment should ever be.

And as for the medical part, again, I think we've misunderstood each other. Taking cold medication is considerably different than treating someone for Autism or another condition focused in the mind. I think of cold medicine as a suppressant, more than anything else. They only reduce certain symptoms because they can't do anything else. With Autism treatments (ideally and theoretically), you are supposed to go for the root of the problem and not just one part of it. Unfortunately, that doesn't usually happen.