Most Challenging Aspect of Having Asperger's Syndrome

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For me, the most challenging aspect of having Asperger's syndrome is social interaction: making friends, engaging in smalltalk, remembering names and to a lesser extent faces, and reading and using nonverbal cues. I know Neuroman is a heavy advocate of sensory integration problems with Asperger's syndrome. However, I do not find I have any especially problematic issues with my senses (unless you count not being able to fall or stay asleep if my roommates are up and doing things in the dorm room because the lights and noise keep me awake); at home, I always used to turn the TV downstairs off because I could hear it while trying to fall asleep. I am not daily forced into meltdown because my sensory input overwhelms my brain; in fact, I cannot recall sensory input ever being that overwhelming for me.

People on the more autistic side of things have trouble understanding metaphors, symbolism, and poetic or abstract language; at the extreme, they might not understand language at all. Language itself isn't an issue for me. I probably have the same problem as people who have trouble understanding metaphors but in a much less severe form. For much of my life, I took the main point of going to a restaurant to be eating tasty food; apparently, most people go there mainly for a relaxing social atmosphere where they have the food served to them instead of having to make it themselves. I have made other misinterpretations like this, but I cannot remember any other specific examples at this time.

Some people on the autistic spectrum have trouble understanding emotions in any major way.

one two and five

Number three gives me the most issues.

Social skills and sensory integration are the biggest ones for me.

Same as Neuroman. Especially 5 and 1. I'm just learning how a conversation works, and it's tough. But emotions well always seem foreigm to me. Other people's emotions the most. I can't recognize them most of the times. Everyone's as indifferent as I am in my eyes. Unless it's blunt or exaggerated, emotion always falls under the radar. And lately I've been giving and receiving some major mixed signals with someone. I think we're flirting, but I don't know if I feel comfortable letting my emotions out for her to see.

One and five. Maybe it's just me but I see them as pretty related. I can't remember faces at all. I have no idea who most of my students are outside of the classroom. It's quite embarrassing, and I cannot picture what people I am very close to look like if they are not around.

But I also am completely incapable of sensing what emotions I'm causing in others and so don't know when to shut up.

Meltdowns. That completely overshadows any other problem. Comparing that to any of the others, for me, is like comparing a five-course meal to an apple. ((To make it negative assume everything is laced with cyanide.))

To my knowledge I've never experienced a meltdown, or never experienced one bad enough to make me sit up and go "What the hell was that?"

I don't really find my Aspergers all that challenging at this stage of my life (age:22), though if there were one, it'd have to be Socialisation, and all the aspects thereof.

GA

I voted for Sensory Issues as my major one, but once I tried to post, WP died. So I went back, saved this on a Works doc and am going to try and post it again.

Next in line would be Communication, which kinda sorta wasn't listed-- meaning, putting my thoughts into words and then being able to get those past my tongue at the appropriate moment. This would also sort of include emotions because I don't have trouble experiencing them, really. Mainly just labeling them.

Fourth is the Executive Dysfunction I experience. Especially attention problems during periods when I am attempting to concentrate. Due to this, I cannot read anywhere but in my apartment and the surrounding apartments must be quiet. Even still, I take frequent reading breaks when something triggers another thought, and then I get lost in thought until I remember again that I was reading and pick back up again. Then again, if the thought is interesting enough, I don't pick back up and just end up putting the book down. With attention issues, I read far less than I would like to.

Fifth would be Social Issues. Socially, I usually use two tactics: 1. humor, and 2. intellectual discussion. But I tend to overuse both of these. So people can take me in short time spans but often not more than that. Also, I can only take people in short time spans because so many times I just want to be quiet and think. I tend to have part-time friends who go no further than the environment in which we met, i.e., certain classes, etc. And we tend to get along quite well most of the time. I believe I am viewed as funny, eccentric, and intelligent in most cases. I would have greater trouble with my social deficits if I placed more importance on socializing. But often I am very content by myself.

And sixth, I don't seem to have as much problem with metaphor. Perhaps in identifying it, but once I realize it is a metaphor I understand it quickly. This is also so for figures of speech. If the figure of speech is something which does not frequent my ears I am more likely to interpret it literally, but once I realize my mistake I correct my interpretation very quickly and with few problems.

I'd say the most challenging aspect for me is a feeling of being 'muzzled' - having a lot of NT understanding and skills inwardly but not being able to communicate it, looking and acting rather autistic outwardly. It's like there's something holding me back a lot of the time, preventing me from saying and doing the things I'd really like to. It actually seems to be a similar phenomenon to what some people with LFA experience - people who are hardcore autistic in terms of how limited they are in their outward functioning, but when they use communication methods like Facilitated Communication you find there's a totally different person (intelligent, high-functioning, really quite 'normal') on the inside. (I know how frustrating it is for me and my case is so mild. I can't imagine what it must be like for some of those auties.) I keep telling my husband "Don't always believe what you see on the outside" because a lot of the time my body language and communication (or lack thereof) are almost the opposite to what I'm really thinking or feeling.

A few other things that I find difficult are misc. communication difficulties, tactile hypersensitivity, problems with eye contact (and the way it messes with my nervous system if I even try to do it), and some aloofness - I'm just not interested in interacting with other people IRL as much as I'd like to be.

Social skills definetly, then sensitive senses (I cant get to sleep at nite which just helps everything else along.

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Social skills and nonverbal communication, without a doubt.

Non-verbal communication because I fail to pick up on the most basic of expressions. That said though, I think I'd also have to say verbal communication as well because I have perfect ideas but its hard work translating them to others. Someone said to me the other day "Build a bridge" and I thought they were insulting my engineering intelligence.