A Twist of Things to Come

I haven't posted much lately. Things have been busy. Also, I've done unhealthy things like gorge on the insanity of Polanski apologists, and gripe at folks who meant me no particular harm.

The latter was at someone who took offense at a reference to Asperger's on GC. Specifically, "Poor Amazon, the big, fun company with all the people skills of a badger with Asperger’s." It was un-PC of me, insensitive to the plight of those with "invisible" disabilities. After all, I would not have said "a badger with Down's Syndrome" would I? Well, no. I wouldn't have, mostly because it wouldn't make any more sense than when my dear sister claims to have been "working like a banshee."

The thing is, the only reason my Wee Boy doesn't have an official Asperger's diagnosis is because the frequency and severity of his symptoms has been mitigated by professional, therapeutic intervention since before he turned three years old. He gets on pretty well now. So do I. My dad was an Aspie, I'm almost certain, though they didn't really diagnose it much when he was alive. But you go down the list of things they use to identify Aspies, and it's clear he was.

So, here's my thing -- Asperger's is a social impairment with a relatively broad continuum of severity. But I refuse to call it a disability. Sure, kids like my son need extra support and help to understand people's interactions, but it can be done. I know for a fact that some people actually prefer the company of the not entirely neurotypical, though, because I'm one of them. It's comforting to be around people who don't play games, or take offense because they read motives into words that were not the intention of the speaker/writer.

I love meeting new people, and being social, but there are times when people exhaust me. I guess this is just one of those times, eh?