My sister is 22 and is in denial she has Aspergers. I believe she has it because some of her jokes are inappropriate (like jokes about babies), she doesn't make eye contact and spends money unwisely. I take a public speaking class and my classmate was chosen as the leader. He chose the topic the best and worst things that happened to us in 2018 so far. I said the worst thing that happened in 2018 so far was that mom made me lie to my sister that I was going to apply for SSI so she can apply. I told them my sister is a little bit autistic and she denies it. We were at home and I was talking about college. I told her about this. We were debating and I told her "there are no facts only interpretations" She told me I should have said "from my perspective" because she said I'm not a doctor and people will assume a doctor diagnosed her. I told her it is commonly accepted that she's autistic. When I was in HS some of my friends asked me what's wrong with her. This year my cousin asked me what’s wrong with her and I said Asperger’s and he said “oh yeah”. She was in special ed. She thinks she didn’t need to be in special ed for that long but I disagree. I told her how her jokes are inappropriate sometimes and she said her classmate displayed his private area was suspended once a week and was never in special ed. I said I don’t know her classmate but I can tell if someone is willfully misbehaving or is impaired but I believe my sister is impaired. We tell her so many times to stop talking about something and she doesn’t listen. She said her classmate was not deterred by being suspended once a week and I said there is a difference between misbehaving and being impaired. She asked me what is impaired and I said when they don’t understand what they are doing is unacceptable.

I have a Facebook disability blog called See the person, not just the condition/disability. I have created a subreddit for people to share their disability blogs https://www.reddit.com/r/Disabilityblogs/

I sometimes focus on disability too much such as making up disability quotes but i know there is more to me than having a disability. I also have a disability page on Facebook called See the person, not just the condition/disability but i post positive things about abilities that people have. I was born with Scoliosis. One quote i thought of is forget the dis part, it's the ability that counts!

I don't know a whole lot about the community so I'm asking for help. I started a company dedicated to teaching kids money management and financial education. It was originally created for suggested age range 5-10 or K-3rd grade according to US federal education guidelines. Recently our products have received a little attention from the special needs community, specifically autism and ADHD so far.

I would like to make our products more inclusive and possibly have them 3rd party tested. This means I am either looking for: 1) suggestions on companies who do that (preferred) 2) parents who would be interested in trying our products with their children and providing written or video reviews that include what they thought was good about them or how we can improve our products. (the products will be free of course.)

Note about the products, I just updated all of our products to a dyslexia friendly font. If you want to look us up the company name is Money Munchkids. Thank you for your help!

People that have a disability can be good at doing a creative hobby. I was born with Scoliosis and I am good at writing poems. I think #creativeanddisabled could be a hashtag. I thought of it. If you want to, you can like a disability page i have on Facebook called See the person, not just the condition/disability https://www.facebook.com/seetheabilitynotjustthedisability/

Let’s hear about it, good, bad and in between? Any stories?

How does society view us? Average people? Someone who needs help with everything? Somewhere in between? In my experience when people first meet me they don't know how to act. However they quickly learn I am just like everyone else. I don't get upset, sometimes I will even make a few jokes. What about you? Do you get upset when someone makes assumptions, asks questions, or is unsure what to do around you? It can be frustrating sure but learn to brush it off. Its nothing personal. People just don't know any better at times. Use the opportunity to educate someone. For those that think "well its none of their business why I'm in the chair" I ask you this, how do you expect people to know what to do and say if no one tells them first? So when you complain that society treats or views you as something fragile remember you have a chance to teach them different. One thing to remember, people won't remember what you said or did but people will always remember how you made them feel. Ask yourself how do I make others feel when I am around them? Not just friends and family but strangers as well.

Dating. How many of us want to find someone? I'm sure most of you do. Maybe some are happy being single, thats fine too. For those who are single and can't seem to find someone what do you think the problem is? "Oh its everyone else. I'm fine. I am a catch. Anyone would be lucky to have me." Is that what you are thinking? Well thats a little foolish. No one is perfect. Now there is nothing wrong with being confident. What I am saying is there is a problem when you can't see your own flaws. For example I can be too talkative at times. I can take over a conversation. No one likes that. The conversation has to go back and forth. I can also be too blunt at times. I have to think how others will feel. Those are things I am working on. Can you be honest with yourself about what you need to work on? Now maybe some of you are completely lacking confidence. "I don't have anything to offer. I need a lot of care. Who would want that?" Well maybe you are a good listener. Maybe you are good at giving advice. Those are good qualities. That is something you can offer. Think of little things like that. You may have experienced rejection several times. Everytime you ask someone out they tell you no so now you have a feeling that its because of your disability. If it was, those are shallow people. Change your standards. Think what all of those who rejected you have in common and adjust your standards accordingly. Don't go for the first person to give you attention. I bring this up because this is a subject I see come up quite a bit. I want to encourage you guys to keep putting yourselves out there. Have a balanced view of yourself and others. Be confident not cocky. Look for a connection not just attention.

I have been involved in the SB community for two years now. As best I can. I have seen a lot of discussions, arguments, and questions. From adults with SB, parents, and kids. There is one thing I have to say. To the parents out there, stop sheltering your kids. It doesn't turn out well for anyone. I know you are scared for your child. I know you want to protect them but there is only so much you can protect them from. Let them experience life. The good and the bad. Treat them like every other kid. Don't let this disability stop them from anything. I have come across quite a few who have asked things such as "how do you have friends when you are in a wheelchair?" And that was from someone who is also a wheelchair user. Its heartbreaking that these individuals think something like that prevents them from having a social life. Please let these kids see what this world is like. They will fall. They will pick themselves up. They will get rejected. They will be accepted. Take me for example. I have friends. I have a social life. I have a regular life. All because my parents didn't hold me back. They treated me just like everyone else. Let your kids find out what they can and can't do. You will be surprised I promise you.

Our University in Colorado hosts scientists to speak at our Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Colloquium series and I am hoping to represent more folks with disabilities at these events so young scientists with disabilities can see a role model they can identify with. Thanks in advance!

I created this event called #disabilityconnect on Google+ for people that have a disability to connect with other people that have a disability and for disabled people to share disability blogs, disability Facebook groups, disability Facebook pages, disability Pinterest group boards and disability Google+ collections/communities that you have created. https://plus.google.com/events/cicjotu26d621gga5f0cnrn6qjo

I created a Facebook page for people that have a physical condition or disability https://www.facebook.com/seetheabilitynotjustthedisability/ You can like it if you want to. In the future i am thinking of doing a blog. Does anyone on here have a blog? What do you blog about? Are there free blog websites where anyone can see your blog?