Asperger's and computers

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I think it has more to do with Generation Y and Z and the digital age, as it's called. Pretty much everyone I know is into computers, although, I think aspies might have picked it up at a younger age compared to other kids and tend not to use it as much for things like Facebook or Twitter, or games if they're gamers. My first computer was a Mac and I've been living on my computer since I was 8, but I use it mostly for research and learning and for drawing and watching anime. You really can live on it if you're not careful

I'm addicted to the Internet. The Internet is where I get a lot of my knowledge and also a place where I can socialize and feel the most confident. I turn to the Internet to research a lot of things that have to do with interacting in certain social situations as well.

My advice to anyone with AS is to learn which area of computing you love most and make it a special interest. Its possible to then go and earn money.

I got into them back in the early 90's and have earnt money since then. My specific interest was software development so I learned a lot of programming languages and environments and I still love doing that.

When it comes to computers, my special interest is definitely research so I'm going back to college to take Library and Information Tech this September.

i think people with AS like computers more then nt's
i currect for me

As someone who had a 20 year career in IT, I would think aspies are naturally attracted to the math/logic challenges one uses in designing and programming computers. Today computers can almost be whatever one wants them to -- a teacher, a friend, a toy, a telephone, etc. Let's not confuse computer usage with an actual love of computers.

i use computers to get a way from real life
sad real life

Yes! I'm even a computer science major, sometimes spending 18 hours a day at a computer! One of my friends is also an Aspie, but hes obsessed with military history rather that computers!

If I'm awake, I'm on my computer. If I happen to not be on my computer (cooking/showering, etc), I'm thinking about my computer. If I've been out for a bit (getting some shopping done or commuting) I get excited just thinking about going back to my computer.

so computers seem to be a common special interest

I didn't care about computers, until internet came along. I'm addicted now though. {important to note my age: when I was in HS we had a commodore vic 20. Is it any wonder I didn't really see the point?}

No, computers are the trend nowadays, nearly everyone I know owns a computer and uses them a lot in the day (which is why most people go on to phone companies that have unlimited internet use). You basically have to own a computer these days. Aspies being into computers is an old-fashioned stereotype.

I get what you are saying, there are various depths of use of a computer though. Most people who use a computer these days are really just web browsing (ie. facebook / e-mail / games / music etc.) and although everyone is glued to a screen (even if it's just a phone), there is a real difference between programming, hacking (the good kind) and the end-less exploring that some will do, compared to what everyone else is doing.

I've must be approaching 80,000 hours in front of a computer, very little of this time (maybe 5%) is playing games, entertainment and communication. If this isn't a life-long special interest, I don't know what is

Jason.

I spend a lot of time on computers, but I'm not really interested in computers themselves. I can operate machines running windows, OSX or android pretty easily. Grew up with windows, currently using mac (didn't choose it - I got a macbook pro for free, but it's actually grown on me and I like it), and my phone is android. But I have no interest in the actual computers - I view them as tools - I definitely like having them though. Who doesn't spend a lot of time in front of a computer now though? My NT sister and mother both spend a lot of time on one - my sister almost constantly. I still spend much more time playing instruments.

I certainly am.

Female 55.

Not computers so much, as in how they work, only in being able to use one.

I've used them for years, taught my spouse and my mother to use them. I worked around computers in some form or other since 1978 when I had a lowly job in a big computer center. But I was at odds with the idea of computers then. I'd grown up close to nature and all the time I grew up I wanted to do something that connected to nature. So the fact that I worked around and used computers for most of my career is ... odd.

But I've had a home computer (the first was a DOS PC) since the late 80s - 1987 or so - and I've come to love having a computer available. I'm addicted to the Internet for sure.

Last edited by SpiritBlooms on 18 Jun 2012, 11:28 am, edited 1 time in total.