Bartleby, the Autistic Scrivener?

I originally posted the following short story and commentary onto my Facebook wall, along with commentary…

"I would prefer not to."

“I would prefer not to.”

Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street (by Herman Melville):
http://www.bartleby.com/129/

My Commentary: “I would prefer not to.” Ha! I’ve always loved this short story, and while sharing it with a friend a moment ago, a thought occurred to me: was Bartleby on the Autistic Spectrum? Hmmm… I wonder…

Autistics Speaking Day 2011!

"Autistics Speaking Day"

“Autistics Speaking Day”

In honor of Autistics Speaking Day, I would like to share with the public a few of my experiences as an individual on the Autistic Spectrum.

I first was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome in 2006, when I was 26 years old. Before this, the only professional explanations for my differences were “severe social phobia” and “selective mutism.”

Being on the spectrum, I have some sensory issues. They have been with me all of my life, and have created many challenges for me. Typically, bright lights and strong perfumes irritate me, and I often suffer from headaches due to them. I feel very uncomfortably self-aware of my skin, and sometimes feel trapped in my body. Because of this, I unwittingly engage in certain stereotypies – often pacing, shaking my leg in place, flapping my hands, swinging my arms, and rocking back and forth, without even realizing it. I am unable to withstand most fabrics, and almost always wear cotton, avoiding anything frilly or lacy. Tight-fitting shoes and pants are completely unbearable, along with bras with seams in the cups, and cheap socks with seams that pucker at the edges. I’m intolerant of many flavors and textures, and typically eating the same few foods over and over, for weeks, months or years at a time, with little deviation.

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2nd Annual Autistic Artistic Carnival: Music and Artwork by Rayn Kleipe

"Autistic Artistic Carnival"

“Autistic Artistic Carnival”

2nd Annual Autistic Artistic Carnival: Music and Artwork by Rayn Kleipe:
http://drivemomcrazy.com/2011/autistic-artistic-carnival-music-and-art-work-by-rayn-kleipe/

(Jason Ross, DriveMomCrazy.com) Rayn Kleipe has 2 websites she started Aspergian Woman United and her personal art, music, and blog Acid Rayn

She has been a good friend of mine since we met at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network in the New York City chapter

(Read entire article here…)

Asperger’s Syndrome Quiz

I originally posted the following information and statement onto my Facebook wall…

Aspie Quiz:
http://www.rdos.net/eng/Aspie-quiz.php

My Chart:
2011-03-19 - Asperger’s Syndrome Quiz

My Results:
My Aspie score: 162 of 200
My neurotypical score: 36 of 200
You are very likely an Aspie.

These results are not at all surprising, as I was officially diagnosed as Autistic over three years ago, at 26 years of age.

Asperger’s Syndrome to Be Phased Out of DSM-V and Folded Into “Autism Spectrum Disorder”

I originally posted the following information and commentary onto my Facebook wall…

The drawings of Daniel Tammet, above, who wrote the 2007 book “Born on a Blue Day,” about living with autism, show how he visualizes some numbers

The drawings of Daniel Tammet, above, who wrote the 2007 book “Born on a Blue Day,” about living with autism, show how he visualizes some numbers

A Powerful Identity, A Vanishing Diagnosis:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/health/03asperger.html

(Claudia Wallis) It is one of the most intriguing labels in psychiatry. Children with Asperger’s syndrome, a mild form of autism, are socially awkward and often physically clumsy, but many are verbal prodigies, speaking in complex sentences at early ages, reading newspapers fluently by age 5 or 6 and acquiring expertise in some preferred topic — stegosaurs, clipper ships, Interstate highways — that will astonish adults and bore their playmates to tears.

In recent years, this once obscure diagnosis, given to more than four times as many boys as girls, has become increasingly common.

(Read entire article here…)

My Commentary: According to this article, “though [Asperger’s syndrome] became an official part of the medical lexicon only in 1994, the experts who are revising psychiatry’s diagnostic manual have proposed to eliminate it from the new edition, due out in 2012. If these experts have their way, Asperger’s syndrome (AS) and another mild form of autism, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (P.D.D.-N.O.S.), will be folded into a single broad diagnosis, autism spectrum disorder — a category that encompasses autism’s entire range, or spectrum,” from mild to severe.

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