What is it like to have Asperger syndrome

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Serissa said

Me too, only with me it was cheese. So every day at primary/grade school in the summer, I couldn't play outside at lunchtime 'cos I wouldn't eat all of my salad. Which always had cheese. And compulsory oily dressing.

Eating can be a problematic area in several respects if you have AS. It's easy to fall into the habit of eating the same food day after day. Or not to eat at all, simply because you missed it one day and broke the habit. I once for a year ate only a small bowl of brown rice and two thirds of a tin of sardines, shared with the cat. And a banana. Now I try to be aware of my diet and vary it some. Without too much success. I eat too much cheese.

There's eating by numbers and there's shopping by numbers, often the two don't quite mesh. So I regularly lose the habit of eating bananas, for example, but not break the habit of buying them. So every week I have rotting bananas... sometimes it goes on for months...

I have Obsessions that last longer than an Energizer Battery. I've just realise that I've had an Obsession that's lasted for over twelve years. The Routemaster Obsession that was originally intended as a distraction from the mean ways of my Adult Special Education Classmates. Well, at least one of them. Obsessions are fine, but I've been taught to make sure to keep them to myself. I feel a certain vurnerability, if I admit to having an Obsession that I've been keeping a secret for a very long time. That's probably because I was taught that it was bad to get "Hooked" on things and than talk about them, all the time.

Hmmm... think, think, think... What's it like to be an Aspie?...

Well, for me at least, it means:

-being highly logical, but still highly creative.

-craving eccentricity and originality and to shudder at the thought of "normal" or "average".

-consistent sensory issues, things which I just have to work with.

-being inordinately picky about the visual aspects of my surrounding environment and that my comfort level is frequently based around this.

-being pedantic above and beyond the call of duty, hehe.

-adoring information and collecting things.

-enjoying repetition and watching movies so many times I memorize them.

-tendinitis (or tendinosis) from being too obsessed with the internet and WP and other autty communities.

-at least these days, striving for excellent grades and hopefully getting into grad school (and graduating from there) so that I can pursue my obsession of psychology as a career until my brain no longer works. (I hope I can avoid total retirement.)

-being better friends with my cats than with other people.

-needing a lot of quiet time for reflection and recuperation from the day's goings-on.

-having a messy apartment that I wish would clean itself.

-being horrible at multitasking, including multitasking in social situations (i.e., listening + planning next comment).

-being good at art.

-a lot more that I can't quite think of right now.

Being lost in the fog when it comes to interacting with people.

It's like being Mr Spook on Star Trek

Flirting is totally missed by me and all the rest of the indirect messages people send out and NT's pickup are lost on me. It probably makes AS people look stupid to NT's.

I eat and shop by weight watchers points but thta's more dieting than AS. And BTW- salad dressing SUCKS! Why do people wantt o put gorss-tasing grease on theri salads??? It adds calories and riuns the salad aside from calories!

Of course, all I ever have for salad is plain lettuce and either feta or permesan on it. ((I love cheese.))

Plain lettuce or veggies are grotesque imho.

Being an aspie is normal; it's how I've always been, and I wouldn't change it.

I think it's like baing an alien, not knowing how the world works, not knowing what to say, not understanding people and their reactions to things. Sometimes I feel like I am the only person in the world. When I am surrounded by people it feels even more like that, because there are more 'normal' people compared to the wierdo (me). Sometimes it feels like being trapped in a bubble, no one can touch me or hurt me, but no one can talk to me or love me either.

And hand-flapping, that's very embarrassing.

I keep my masculinity intact by using Blistex.

I've started a website about it:

http://annaraven.pagetastic.com/home

Feel free to take a look.

Sometimes I'm treated like a Handicap, even though I'm Average or Above in Intelligence. Even my Family does it to me. I don't even act like a Handicap. In fact, I act like I'm older than 31. I'm not given credit for having a Brain and I avoid the people who don't give me credit for having a Brain, because nothing that I say to prove that I'm Intelligent, matters to those people, anyways. And I don't act Mentally Challenged!

I have an Artistic Ability that's very exceptional. I've sketched some very realistic looking pictures in the Past. I've also made a shot at the Peter Max style of Art. http://la-gallorie-internationale.com/PMAX.jpg

I've also done Pastals and Abstracts. I'm currently using the Microsoft Paint Programme. I've suprized myself very pleasantly with the two Computer Paintings that I've done, so far. I'm going to do at least 4 pieces fo Art a week, using that Programme. If I really enjoy doing Graphic Art, than I'll put aside $20 a Month, and buy myself the Correll Draw CD Rom Programme.

This is a deep question. I don't have time to cover everything since I need to get to my HW and stop slacking off, but here's a brief list:

-Being fascinated with small details
-Being obsessed with one or more things, being completely uninterested in others
-Target of bullying and teasing (although some people with Asperger's Syndrome may develop social skills faster than others)
-Having difficulty hearing voices in an environment even with moderate noise
-Not being able to filter out background noise
-Having a rich vocabulary
-Wanting to fit in
-May walk with a bounce or a robotic movement
-Write with a pencil slower than others
-Dislike strong smells or being touched (personally, I don't mind getting touched that much unless it's towards my Adam's Apple or anything sexual)

That's all for now

Sometimes, it's a bit like being Timmy Lupus in Bad News Bears. Other times it's just being so preoccupied that you forget to eat, or shower. It's knowing how to wrap hands for boxing, but lacking the coordination to actually succeed in the ring. It is being able to perfectly execute a martial art form, but making a complete fool of yourself in a sparring competition. It's being able to watch a movie over and over and over, and then never watching it again--or being able to look at a picture and then knowing the exact issue and page number of a magazine or book where you saw the picture before. It's experiencing life from a third-person perspective.

It's life without middle ground, or what middle ground that does exist is very well-defined. It's being logical and literal to a (supposed) fault, and finding humor in almost everything (especially in things that involve word play). It's getting the right answer on a math test, but failing anyway for not showing your work. It's having to wear 100% cotton, and wearing your socks inside out because the seam irritates your toes. It's being a great writer, but a poor verbal communicator. It's always getting the low end of the pay scale when you get a job because you don't "interview well."

It's being like Sam in Love, Actually, only needing someone like Daniel to show you how to act around and talk to the object of your affection in addition to listening to you talk about whoever it is for hours on end. (It's also hardly ever like the happy ending in that movie.)

It's actually needing caffeine to concentrate, not just to stay awake. It's trying to go for a night job to avoid as many people as possible. It's not caring if you can't see the carpet in your room for all the junk on the floor, but going absolutely nuts if your Legos or books are moved without permission. It's organizing and categorizing your library, but having a filing system that just consists of a big plastic box in a corner.

It's insisting on bringing your Maine Coon as a visual aid during a class presentation, instead of using a picture like everyone else. It's having people tell you, "maybe you'll be mature when you're 90 because you sure aren't at 22."

It's seeing the world through the eyes of a child, and describing it through the mouth a college professor. It's being absolutely enthralled with learning about what you're interested in, but completely apathetic when it comes to learning what your teachers want you to learn. It's being a great listener. It's having a big heart (not literally), but not knowing how to show someone you care because you think they can read your mind.

It's actually grilling cheese instead of making a sandwich because your mom didn't say to put the cheese on bread, she just said she wanted grilled cheese. It's ruining two toasters because you wanted to see how long it took for various breads and Pop Tarts to catch on fire. It's getting stitches in 7th grade because you figured that if Indiana Jones could do it, you could do it, only to find out that physics applies everywhere but in the movies. It's climbing onto the roof to read because the inside of the house was too loud, plus you really like the way the roofing feels.

It's getting so sick of being picked on that you get in a fight after school and win because no one was expecting you to do something so out of character. It's winning the school spelling and geography bees, but not wanting to compete further. It's being the "smart, quiet ret*d kid" in the back corner of every class, the kid that gets into a debate with a science teacher over how a microwave works, but who never speaks up in class otherwise.

It's loving the spinning rides at amusement parks and never getting dizzy or sick no matter how long you ride them. It's having a knack for picking up inconsistencies in anything, but lacking the social awareness to deal with them "politely." It's throwing mud against the house, not because you're angry, but because you love the "thwacking" sound it makes on contact.

It's being unique, and not wanting to change it for anything because (at least for me), the good usually outweighs the bad.

You're not actually me, in some bizarre psychic twin way, are you?
Alternately, will you marry me?

A wonderful descripton. "Nicely done." J-Luc Picard

I have a sudden urge to check my room to see if there's a video camera inside of it.

I don't know if it's just AS people,but most people don't seem to see the bigger picture. They are so self centered and into their own little self centered world that they don't see the bigger picture.

Try and reason with people about the wal-mart effect and they only can see they save money and can't even begin to comprehend why the lower prices might not be the best thing going for the general welfare of the overall population.



My last job was a truck driver for a factory that made cardboard boxes.
15 tractors ,about 50 trailers,they sent out about 25 trailers loads a day and I just looked at what a project they made out of it and could see they where killing themsleves for no reason. They couldn't have made the job harder on themselves if they tried.

They where wasting about $500,000 a year doing everything the most stupid way anyone could dream of.

I didn't last long at the job, I think the shipping/receiving boss was terrified that I would stab him in the back one day and take his job so he made my life miserable enough that I quit.Looking back I made a big mistake, I took a job at the plant moving trailers around all night and was around people too much. I should have stayed on the road,just go in get a assignment and leave. Come back, park the truck and go home.

Now that I know about AS, if I ever have to get another job, I won't talk anymore than needed, won't ask questions,won't make suggestions on how to do things easier,just keep my mouth closed and watch the NT's kill themselves.

Is being an efficency expert some sort of AS thing ??

Another delivery job I had lost one of their drivers and I just did both routes and still wasn't killng myself.
At another place the business had grown while I was with them and after i quit,they had to hire 2 people to replace me.

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Driving
Is it an AS thing to actually think the rules of the road matter For the NT's they don't think much of the rules of the road,just aim the sucker and go like hell.

Last edited by Johnnie on 21 Feb 2006, 3:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.