To see things the way I do, you have to strip out the context entirely.

June 8, 2007 4:18 PM

AmberV's posts in this thread are a fascinating account of what it's like to hold a conversation as a person with Asperger's.
posted by hindmost to MetaFilter gatherings at 4:18 PM (18 comments total)

Thanks for posting this, hindmost -- really interesting.
posted by scody at 4:31 PM on June 8, 2007

Thanks for flagging this, hindmost. I would have missed it otherwise.
posted by ibmcginty at 4:40 PM on June 8, 2007

Right on. I missed the thread initially, so thanks for the hook up. Just great stuff!
posted by snsranch at 5:18 PM on June 8, 2007

I missed the thread initially

Heh.
posted by cortex at 5:20 PM on June 8, 2007

It is always interesting to hear an account of what it's like to hold a conversation with someone who treats every facet of personality diagnostically.
posted by bunnycup at 5:28 PM on June 8, 2007

Reading the verbage of this post without going to the comment in question, it's possible to construe hindmost was saying in a snarky that AmberV has aspergers.
posted by Burhanistan at 5:44 PM on June 8, 2007

That would require a most uncharitable reading.

The comments are very interesting -- thanks hindmost.
posted by brain_drain at 5:52 PM on June 8, 2007

I don't see how it could be read as snarky.

Thanks, hindmost - I got distracted by other things before AmberV began posting. Fascinating.
posted by rtha at 6:12 PM on June 8, 2007

Reading the verbage of this post without going to the comment in question, it's possible to construe hindmost was saying in a snarky that AmberV has aspergers.

Um, AmberV says in the first sentence of the post "As someone with AS....". So, he/she does. And...? What am I missing?
posted by tristeza at 6:52 PM on June 8, 2007

I appreciate AmberV's comments as well (also RedEmma and gminks). When I saw the interview with Evan, I immediately assumed he was AS. He seems like a very interesting kid. I'd certainly rather hang out with him than the vapid interviewer, for sure. (HURF DURF HERE'S A BIG TUNA SANGWICH WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT!!!1)

There are obviously some perceptual differences between those with AS and those without, and I certainly helps to have AS-folks, their teachers and parents weigh in.

I'm happy that most of the folks in the thread weren't saying some of the other dumb ignorant shit I've seen w/r/t this partiular interview-- calling Evan arrogant, a jerk, etc. I know that I can trust MeFi (most of the time) to a slightly higher level of discourse, or at least some reasoned debate.

For my own part, I generally have disparaged the idea and practice of homeschooling in the past, if only because I find the concept of parents teaching their children problematic-- especially when parents may not be so well-educated themselves. I am now rethinking this, though I wonder about Evan's parents.

Thanks to everyone else in the thread for your contributions.
posted by exlotuseater at 8:02 PM on June 8, 2007

exlotuseater, I couldn't agree more, and I was shocked at how Evan was portrayed in various web outlets as being a rude or jerky kid.

I may not be AS, but I'm a classic introvert and I have no use for some of the cutesy bullshit pleasantries going on in that clip - I laughed out loud when the interviewer held a tuna sandwich up to her face. As an awkward teenager with no media training, I would have reacted the exact same way.

Anyway, thank you to AmberV for providing fascinating insight in the original thread.
posted by lalex at 8:44 PM on June 8, 2007

Yeah, a welcome positive MeTa, and very well-deserved. I got a lot out of reading that--and I've known people with AS.

Best of the Web.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 9:56 PM on June 8, 2007

Wow, I hadn't expected all of this. Thank you. :)
posted by AmberV at 10:56 PM on June 8, 2007

I greatly appreciated her comments in the MeFi thread; this is well-deserved recognition.
posted by languagehat at 7:19 AM on June 9, 2007

AmberV, I think you explained things very well. My daughter tries to explain herself, but me being her mom sometimes our emotions get in the way. Hearing it from someone else helps me even more with context.
posted by gminks at 10:11 AM on June 9, 2007

Excellent, hindmost, thanks.

This thread is a great complement to In My Language.

I thought that traveling and speaking other languages were the only ways to change my own mind map but these two threads taught me a lot about the mechanics of thinking differently.

Thanks AmberV for your analytic description of your perceptions. (And thanks Baby_Balrog for setting up the stage so nicely.)

The aliens have landed and they are us.

posted by bru at 10:13 AM on June 9, 2007

Thanks for pointing this out, I somehow missed this FPP entirely. Great comments, AmberV.
posted by !Jim at 1:40 PM on June 9, 2007

I saw a TV eyewitnessnewsperson interviewing an Aspergers person and I immediately thought of what a great sitcom premise that would be if they were somehow paired up, like if the reporter got in a car accident with the AS person and was sentence to be their butler. Am I a bad person?
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 2:43 PM on June 9, 2007