Comments on: Asperger's at work: Why I'm difficult in meetings

By: Flebby

Flebby — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 04:07:19 +0000

This is amazing. This puts down into words what I've not been able to for so long.

I feel like I can better explain to people about myself after reading this, thank you.

By: Stephanie Mayberry

Stephanie Mayberry — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:03:37 +0000

I am an analyst for the federal government and a Christian author. I am also an Aspie. BUT that doesn't mean it is easy or always comfortable. It is very difficult to operate in the NT world and while I can do my job quite well, the social part has caused me a great deal of problems.

Sure, Aspies may "make it" working, but that doesn't mean it isn't an almost constant struggle (at least socially). It doesn't show a lot of times, but we struggle to fit in, to make accommodations to exist and operate in the NT world.

It is hard. I know many Aspies who don't have a job and would have a very difficult time keeping one if they did get one. There just aren't enough "Aspie friendly" jobs to go around.

By: Anna Louise

Anna Louise — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 07:09:43 +0000

I am wondering where the 80% statistic comes from. The aspires I know are employed and doing quite well. They have remained employed by choosing jobs that allow them to work mostly alone and/or have a lot of control over their environment (noise, interruptions, privacy). Sometimes in the middle of the night, sometimes by day. Some are very bright – they are stars and they are irreplaceable. One fixes appliances in restaurants and spends most of his time in the car. One is a professor. Two run their own small businesses. One manages a power plant, graveyard shift.

I encourage you to paint a brighter picture regarding employment for aspies. Write about what types of work might be a good fit for them. It is pointless for them to pursue a regular 9 to 5 job in a corporate setting. But there are lots of other options.

By: Andrew Lind

Andrew Lind — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:36:51 +0000

I read your blog and most of the following comments. I have to say, many of them were completely moronic!

There were a few who understand you and what you go through (I understand because I have a close friend who has AS and she does these same things – her site for Christians with Asperger's is http://TheChristianAspie.com), but many of the idiots here posted garbage about fixing you or just outright blasting you for, well, for being you and being an Aspie.

I think THEY are the ones with the problem!

I have one word for you all

T-O-L-E-R-A-N-C-E!!!!

You can readily accept homosexuals, want them to marry and even adopt children, but you can't accept a person with a neurological condition that makes them different from you?

Who is the real disabled person here?

By: ictus75

ictus75 — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 06:59:54 +0000

@Jen – Obviously you don't have Aspergers, as you are giving advice like an NT. For many of us Aspies, we are too self aware, not from an ego standpoint, but from just being hard wired that way. So saying something like, "Why can't you focus your attention for five minutes on how the teacher is telling you your son is doing?," is like saying, "Why can't you stop breathing for five minutes?" It doesn't work that way and has nothing to do with being nervous. Aspie self-focus is never about "look at me," rather it is about having every thought in your brain trying to spill out at once, all while you are also trying to please everybody around you. It's a challenge to say the least.

By: Asperger’s and Jobs « Autistics Aware

Asperger’s and Jobs « Autistics Aware — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 12:45:04 +0000

[...] journalist Penelope Trunk explains why she is 'weird' on the job. With enough practice, and some supportive [...]

By: Jen

Jen — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 17:51:00 +0000

You sound like a drowning person. Why can't you focus your attention for five minutes on how the teacher is telling you your son is doing? Do you not have any interest in the teacher, or your son? I understand the nervous mind racing, and the interrupting, but you totally wasted the whole meeting! I would think a mother with Asperger's would take more interest in gathering information on how her son is being educated, and take a break from self-focus!

By: Mark Wiehenstroer

Mark Wiehenstroer — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 12:27:00 +0000

This post was written well before you started your homeschooling blog. I just read it (again) and can see why you have decided to try homeschooling based on the events above. Actually this post could be included on your homeschooling blog. Homeschooling is a personal decision based upon your own circumstances. A good post would be a history of your experiences that led to your decision to home school. I'm sure flexibility would be included in the list.

By: A modest reaction to the commenters of Penelope Trunk’s “A Blueprint for a Woman’s Life” « The Lone She-Wolf Wonders

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 22:21:50 +0000

[...] have followed her blog long enough, you will know of the trials she has faced managing her career with Asperger’s, as a new mother, while going through a divorce, while moving to a farm, and so on, and that her [...]

By: Stephanie Mayberry

Stephanie Mayberry — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 17:21:52 +0000

This sounds like a meeting at work I was in recently. I had been asking if something was policy and no one would answer me. Then they said they did answer me and that I was just being "difficult."

And I STILL don't know if it is policy or not.