I realize that for some parents with children who have Asperger's Syndrome there are those who believe or hope that certain interventions and strategies will yield the kind of results that would mean their children can unstep or outgrow or unlearn their AS/autistic tendencies. Most of us who are adults with AS (whether there was intervention in our childhoods or not) do not believe that this actually is the way to go, that it works, or that it is the best thing to do with anyone with Asperger's. It is, in my opinion, great to teach skills and to support your child's being able to connect with others and get the most out of taking part in the Neuro-Typical world as he/she is able to or wants to.
That said, though, I do not believe that Asperger's can be taught or re-conditioned out of anyone. I don't even believe that it should be if it was possible. What is more important is supporting who we are as we are. We have a right to be who we are as we are and to value and pursue what fits for us in our own differences.
Working to find ways for each segment of the online AS Community to interact makes a lot of practical sense to me. Can't we learn from each other?
It has to be a two-way street however. On many lists on the net, all-too-often, where parents are understandably concerned about their child/children with AS the focus seems to invariably shine brightly on all the parents seek to know, learn, and understand for their kids and it essentially really further marginalizes adults with Asperger's. This marginalization is the very thing that will happen to the AS kids of today, when they reach adulthood if changes aren't made to our current and long-standing plight.
Not all about the plight of AS adults is negative or to be dreaded at all. But don't adults with Asperger's deserve support and services and advocacy too? By the very nature of what it means to be an adult with AS, many cannot effectively advocate for themselves or connect and organize in ways that would advocate for the greatest number of us.
