posted July 09, 2009 04:42 PM         

Where are the black people with Asperger's? When I began learning about Asperger's and autism, one of the first things I read was that its incidence was virtually the same across all races. It was more common in males, but was otherwise evenly distributed throughout the world.

It was with that conventional wisdom in mind that I embarked upon my new career speaking to readers and other groups on life with Asperger's. I began in the summer of 2007. Since then, I've made over 100 public appearances and spoken to some thousands of people who have a personal stake in Asperger's or autism. One interesting point stands out.

The number of black Aspergians I've met can be counted on one or possibly two hands. Why might that be? It's either a commentary on the audiences who come to see me, or it's an insight into the relative commonality of Asperger's among non-white people. I can't tell which it is.

I have met many Asian Aspergians. When I went West, I met Mexican Aspergians. In some communities in the East, I meet Aspergians from Puerto Rico. In many cities I see Russian Aspergians, and indeed I see Aspergians from all the European countries. The fact that I have met so many Aspergians from America's other "minority populations" suggests something is up.

If black and Hispanic people are the largest minority populations in America, why don't I meet them in similar numbers? Hispanic Aspergians are common at my city events. Black Aspergians are nowhere to be seen.

Perhaps they are shy, you say. Maybe they visit me online. Maybe that's true. I have no way to know the ethnicity of blog visitors. I will offer this tidbit: Look Me in the Eye is sold in over 20 countries, and in the last 30 days my blog saw traffic from 88 countries. That suggests Asperger's does indeed reach across many races, countries and cultures.

I have considered several possible explanations for the absence of black Aspergians at my events.

It's been suggested that the population is smaller - fewer black kids are diagnosed with Asperger's because they receive a lower level of care than other kids. But if you believe that, how do you explain the Hispanic and immigrant kids I meet with Asperger's? Do you believe their schools and care are better?

It's been suggested that they are poor, which is another marginally insulting explanation that I don't buy. I meet plenty of poor white Aspergians. They come to events even though they don't have money to buy books. Why should they be different?

It's been suggested that most books are read by white females, and my audience at events is simply a reflection of this demographic reality. That readership statement is borne out by much market research, and I can accept it. It may explain the makeup of the largest portion of my audience at events. But it does not explain why I see members of the other groups (Hispanic, Asian, etc) in greater numbers than black people.

I confronted this question last fall, when I spoke at the annual convention of the Asperger Association of New England. There were 750 people in the crowd that day, and one black female said, "Where are the black guys with Asperger's?" They certainly were not in that room. We had affluent Aspergians, and poor Aspergians. We had tekkies and animalists. We had all sorts of people. What we didn't have in that group were black Aspergians.

Some people have suggested racism holds the key. Maybe black Aspergians don't feel welcome in groups like the AANE, they say. Anything is possible, I guess, but when I think of racism in the context of my own life, one thing stands out: Part of my obliviousness to non verbal cues includes obliviousness to the race or appearance of any other person. If my own life is any guide, we Aspergians may be largely oblivious to the triggers for racism in neurotypicals. So my own life experience makes me doubt that explanation.

I've now got some questions of my own about this:

Could there be something different about black American culture that somehow better integrates Asperger's into the general population, thereby rendering them invisible? I think Asian cultures integrate Aspergian behaviors into society at large, but Asian Aspergians remain visible. Do black Aspergians have a secret the rest of us might want to know?

Is there some (genetic) difference in black people that makes them less susceptible to Asperger's? If so, what is it?

We have culture and genetics. What else is there?
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/my-life-aspergers/200902/the-myth-the-black-asper gian

Raymond

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“It is absolutely the perfect name,” Dr. Brown said, given the continuing discord among astronomers and the public over whether Pluto should have retained its planetary status.

In mythology, Eris ignited discord that led to the Trojan War.

posted July 09, 2009 05:07 PM         

For much of my life, people have attributed extremely negative meanings to my innocent Aspergian eccentricities. My discomfort at looking people in the eye was a sure sign of deception and trickery. My problems with inappropriate facial expressions were a sure sign of a sociopath, and we all know how many killers are sociopaths. My discomfort around other people was often a sign I was up to something. Who wouldn't be uncomfortable around people if you just robbed them blind? Well, sociopaths wouldn't be uncomfortable, but no one figured that out.

That's a lot of bad stuff for a nice Aspergian to swallow. It's no wonder many of us grow up with poor self image. But the fact is, those are the preconceived notions of many people in our society. And by "many people" I am talking about good, well-meaning people. When I get to know them, they are sweet, and considerate. That goes a long way to help my self image, but it does not change the fact of their original reaction to me and others like me. Those reactions come from deep within, and they've evolved over thousands of years.

Yet I am 51 years old and I never did any of that bad stuff people attributed to me. Clearly, if those reactions are indeed something that's evolved in neurotypical humans, peole like me are not their correct target. We just get hurt anyway.

It's hard to change such an ingrained thing. And then you add race. Quick now . . . tell me what a typical mugger looks like. Many studies have shown that - for a majority of Americans - crime wears a black or other minority face.

So what do you have in a black Aspergian? A dangerous criminal, in many people's eyes. Look how bad I was, to listen to those critics from my teenage years. Imagine what they'd have said if I was big and black, instead of big and white?

What an ugly scenario. It's no wonder the black male Asperger population is mostly invisible. Interestingly, it's only the black Asperger population that's invisible. There are plenty of black kids who are disabled with autism in our schools. What's the difference? When a kid has severe autism, it's obvious that he's disabled. So other humans feel an instinct to help. There's no need for kids with autism to hide.

An Asperger kid who looks normal, but laughs and says "You look like a pig today!" is in a whole different situation. I experienced that firsthand as a white kid. I can only imagine the reaction to some of the stuff I did, had I been black.

A few weeks ago I wrote a post asking where the black Aspergians are. With all the Asperger people I meet, black males are almost invisible. Some people responded to my post publicly, and many more wrote private emails. Today, I have a better sense of where they may be hiding. Thanks to those of you who wrote in, I have two possible answers to offer:

1 Jail

For a variety of reasons, a disproportionate share of our prison population consists of black males. In some cities, a full third of the potential young black male population is in jail or under correctional supervision.

Asperger's causes all manner of social problems. I've seen many, many disaffected and alienated Aspergians. What happens when someone is disaffected and alienated, and black and poor? There are several possibilities, but I'm afraid jail is pretty high on the list.

2 Hidden in plain sight

To paraphrase what several people wrote: It's hard enough being black, let alone being black and different. I think that may well be true. I suspect some black Aspergians learned how to fit in - just as I did - because they were not offered the "gentler special needs accommodations" afforded to middle class white kids.

It is this second group that interests me. If it's true that a good many young black Aspergians manage to blend in, wouldn't the rest of us benefit from knowing how they did it? I think so. I suspect they learned many of the same techniques that I and other middle aged Aspergians had to figure out, because there was no Asperger diagnosis when we grew up and it was sink-or-swim in the social pool for us, with no special accommodation.

Those of us with Asperger's are always less than 1% of the population. In my opinion, we in the 1% are fools if we expect the other 99% to change their behavior to accommodate us. Sure, we deserve better treatment. But so do many other marginalized groups. The reality is that life will go smoother if we can fit in smoothly with the 99% instead of sticking out all the time.

That's not to say we shouldn't celebrate our uniqueness - I'm all for that. I just think we need to always recognize the difference between being dangerously weird and pleasantly eccentric. My life sure got better when I started to figure that out.

I deplore the environment that forces young black people with Asperger's to blend in to survive. But at the same time, I admire their doing so, and I believe the successful moves they make can stand as a life lesson for all of us, as we all - yes, even you neurotypicals - struggle to fit in as we grow up.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/my-life-aspergers/20090 3/the-myth-the-black-aspergian-pt-2-accomodation-or-jail

I have wondered about things myself.
I strongly believe that neuro-divergent conditions are overlooked and/or misdiagnosed in black populations.

From what my mom told me, my father had strong neuro-divergent traits that including speech problems(stuttering,cluttering)auditory processing problems,and physical/social awkwardness, and extreme emotional sensitivity. He definitely had the symptoms/traits of Dyspraxia which has similarities with Aspergers, but he was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic by prison psychiatrists. My father was a very hypersensitive,emotional,shy,insecure,idealistic,unusually good natured,gentle,very nice,mildmannered,very softspokened man but had a violent temper that made him dangerous. He was the opposite of sophisticated, and that trait got him easily arrested when he was selling drugs. He was already an ex-convict that went to prison more than once before he met my mother in San Francisco where I was born.
He was originally from Louisiana (born in New Orleans and raised in Lake Charles),raised by his grandmother because his mother couldn't handle him with him being the only son among a few daughters. His grandmother believed in metaphysical,occult stuff including even Voodoo, and he believed in that stuff.
When he was 19 years old, his mother sent him to Los Angeles to be with his uncle who was finacially well-off, but it turned out that he was making his money illegally as drug dealer,hustler. The family didn't know about it. He got my father working for him. He also had drug problems too. He was out of my life when I was a year old. Therefore,I never really knew him.

my father was a black man born in 1941 in the pre-civil rights Southern United States.

so he was a black neuro-divergent man misdiagnosed as having schizophrenia.

many blacks have been misdiagnosed as having schizophrenia. neuro-divergent symptoms have overlap with schizophrenia.
so he was twice as likely to be misdiagnosed as schizophrenic.

As a neuro-diversity advocate, I am concerned about psychiatric misdiagnosing of neuro-divergents and blacks. I definitely want to help black neuro-divergents from being misdiagnosed and medicated.

I share the same concerns with John Elder Robison about black neuro-divergents.

Raymond

------------------
“It is absolutely the perfect name,” Dr. Brown said, given the continuing discord among astronomers and the public over whether Pluto should have retained its planetary status.

In mythology, Eris ignited discord that led to the Trojan War.