Community

Dec 31, 2012 -- 12:41PM, ChaosLight wrote:

I do not beleive you are autistic at all, but I may be confusing you with a different troll. Today was a long day.

We haven't seen that guy around for a while.

But Asperger's is now a type of street cred. It's the "See? Even the doctor says I'm an ubernerd." thing. Slightly less infuriating than parents who believe their child is special because of how selfish the kid acts.

Dec 31, 2012 -- 1:04PM, ChaosLight wrote:

I find that offensive as I actually have aspergers and some other social disorders. Its not really autism, its more like autism's cousin.

I didn't mean you. (In fact, I really can't see any signs of it in your writing style.) And I think it's over now that Adrian Lamo (who had an Asperger's dx) is persona non grata at hacker conventions. (Something about snitching on a dude who snitched on the US government to a white-haired Australian.)

Besides Aspergers, a number of diseases have subculture cachet:

*"Allergic to meat" is something like this for vegans. It's also a nonexistent medical condition. (To explain, an allergy is an autoimmune response. Food allergies actually fade away as you get older. Less than 2% of Americans have food allergies, and of those, the most common allergens are peanuts, nuts, wheat, milk, eggs, soy, fish, and shellfish.)
*Bipolar to artists. Should be fairly obvious. Again, "my psychiatrist says I'm overly emotional and impuslive!"
*Synesthesia to the spirit medium crowd. What's funny is, LSD simulates the effects of synesthesia pretty well.
*HIV was this to gay men in the 80s. Not in a bragging way, but many became resigned to the idea that they would get it.
*I'd assume that with the rise of Dr. Oz and his imitators among the daytime talk show set, this will continue.

Jan 3, 2013 -- 3:45PM, ChaosLight wrote:

No I meant that people that think its a status thing are offensive. Also I have some of those other things too :9

It's a perverse mind that thinks being awkward at parties and perfectionistic makes you automatically have something in the DSM. It's an even more perverse mind that self-diagnoses.