34

Yup, on the 29th, I turned 34. Yay. I still have problems with certain social skills. It's kinda depressing, really.

My mom was talking to my dad, in my presence, saying that people probably tolerate me walking up and chatting to them because they're being polite and they think I'm "retarded". Yup. Her exact words. Down to that invective.

It wasn't a total horrible day, but my argumentative habits upset her. We went out to dinner, and it went off without her being embarrassed, and funny thing is, someone from our Church did something that even *I* wouldn't do; he sat down in my dad's seat while he was up at the salad bar. I was even speechless at first.

It's just slightly offensive when my parents tell me that I shouldn't do certain things because I have aspergers, instead of just teaching me certain social nuances for each situation. It sounds almost like she's saying, "Don't do that - you're disabled!" or even worse, "Don't do that, you're too retarded!". It's extremely patronizing and it offends me at times, but I can't just tell her how it comes off because she can be so damn self-righteous and she even treats my dad like a child.

I don't mean to sound depressing or to just bad-mouth my mother. She means well, and she is trying to get me to start routinely selling stuff on ebay, but she has a really hard time listening to people - my sister, my father, and me included. She will not listen to you for very long unless you're talking about ebay or veganism.

And yes, I get argumentative. Sometimes I just don't understand something or it sounds very illogical or too general to me - almost like telling a robot "Spread peanut butter on bread" without going through more specific steps. Not all situations apply for me like that, but if you know me well, you'll know that some statements can make me draw a blank.

Yes, people with aspergers need to learn to function in society and to obey certain rules, but they should also be taught the logic of these rules and where certain things are appropriate. I believe it is possible for someone with aspergers to learn these nuances, and it pisses me off when people we should trust seem to think it's okay to patronize us. We're already tap-dancing for you guys - why not meet us halfway?