A great deal much of the workplace runs on social cues. AS interferes mightily with the ability to read and act on social cues, and so working with other people can be awkward at best and at worst, can get you fired. Women with AS tend to be better at reading social rules in a given situation, but it takes time, and as they’re mostly mimicking, what we learn from one situation might be completely inappropriate in another. The learning curve can be costly.
AS, as it is a form of autism, embodies more than just “awkwardness”. Autism is oftentimes referred to as a spectrum. Traditionally, the spectrum was linear, with AS being on one end, and so-called “low-functioning” autism on the other. However, autism is really more of a color wheel. It has many symptoms and comorbid conditions, and where one person can have intact executive function, they may struggle with anxiety or incontinence.
A person with deficiencies in certain areas, such as speech, hygiene or incontinence will be labeled as lower-functioning, disregarding their strong points, whereas one with executive dysfunction, auditory processing problems, or mental health issues, might be given a “high-functioning” label. Asperger’s Syndrome as an official diagnosis was omitted from the DSM-V, simply referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorder, but these functioning labels remain, putting a diverse group of people at a disadvantage, and a lot of them, myself included want to see them done away with altogether.
Last edited by Phoenix20 - on 06 February 2021
