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My poem on Asperger's

Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2017 8:43 pm
by Farouche
Here's a poem by me, about Asperger's.


Don't try to have me tarred
'Cause I'm not a retard
We're simply the Aspies
Who are not very graspy
Of nonverbal cues
Change has us singing the blues
We Aspies can be greats
We're Einsteins and Gates
We like to get obese
And eat lots of cheese
We're not South Park's Timmy
Just because we're stimmy
We're flapping our hands
We think Star Trek is grand
We speak fluent Klingon
We don't try to be "kewl" or put bling on
We're square and we're proud
We're out with the out-crowd
We need routine, or else we'll die
Special interests get us by
We don't like to be hugged
But as teens, peers don't pressure us into using drugs
We excel in STEM fields
When our IQs are revealed
They come out to 188
Silly NTs, having Asperger's is gr-r-r-r-reat!

Re: My poem on Asperger's

Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2017 6:27 am
by mèþru
It might go well as a rap or something, but I don't like it as a poem. Also, I wouldn't use the word "retard" because that conveys an attitude of pushing down other mentally/behavioral divergent people or being callous to people with low intelligence.

Re: My poem on Asperger's

Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2017 8:27 am
by Frislander
It sounds unnervingly like the kind of thing I'd write, perhaps it's just the Aspie style? I mean it's fun to read and all but I wouldn't say it's great.

Re: My poem on Asperger's

Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2017 10:58 am
by Vijay
I've seen a poem kind of like this before about bipolar disorder.

Re: My poem on Asperger's

Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2017 12:00 pm
by Travis B.
Vijay wrote:I've seen a poem kind of like this before about bipolar disorder.
And the thing is that I would myself be bothered by that, since bipolar disorder can be quite devastating and disabling, and ascribing positive qualities to that denies that. If I could be cured of bipolar, provided I would otherwise be the same afterwards (which I would expect, because my personality, my interests, and my skills are not my disorder), I would take it without question.

Re: My poem on Asperger's

Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2017 4:12 pm
by Vijay
Just in case it didn't bother you enough already, I'm pretty sure it was written by someone who diagnosed themselves as bipolar without consulting a specialist. I doubt that they continued to believe this very seriously for long.

Re: My poem on Asperger's

Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2017 11:26 am
by Curlyjimsam
It's a bit reductive, given that plenty of people with Asperger's syndrome don't have all of these traits: in fact, I suspect quite a few people with it have hardly any of them. Risk of contributing further to unhelpful stereotypes? Particularly unsure about the "obese"/"cheese" thing - are these really traits that are particularly associated with the syndrome?

It's fine as a poem on a purely technical level, I think, though some of the rhymes are rather too strained for my liking (others are not "perfect" rhymes by any means, but nevertheless work fine in the context of the poem as a whole, and maybe contribute something extra to it that would be absent with more conventionally acceptable couplets).

Re: My poem on Asperger's

Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2017 5:54 pm
by Soap
Aspergers is the joke of the Internet but you sound real. I agree with everything save for the last line.

Re: My poem on Asperger's

Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2017 6:02 pm
by Vijay
Idk, I don't think it has to be a bad thing for someone with a developmental disorder to write a poem about it just because it doesn't speak for everyone with that disorder. (If it doesn't speak for anyone with that disorder, that's another issue). I understand the concerns about stereotypes and trivializing, but in general, I don't see anything wrong with saying, "I am in group X, and my experience has been Y" when other people in group X have instead had some completely different experience Z. Js.

Re: My poem on Asperger's

Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2017 6:35 am
by mèþru
I agree with Vijay.

Considering how often I post/think that, it would save everyone's time if I made it my signature. But I won't because I like my current one too much. Maybe I should just abbreviate it: IAWVijay

Re: My poem on Asperger's

Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2017 2:39 pm
by Vijay
Aww, thanks! :)

Re: My poem on Asperger's

Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2017 7:49 pm
by Farouche
mèþru: How about if I start with:

I'm not mentally retarded
So don't get me started

then?

Frislander: We Aspies' poems have a certain feel to them, don't they? :-D

Travis: Yes, bipolar makes people suffer, but Asperger's definitely has some benefits. And Soap, I'm sorry you don't feel that way about the last line. :( But you must admit, it did sound like Asperger's! :-D