What is it like to have Asperger syndrome

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I think it's highly unlikely that I am you, although since finding this site I am so relieved to see that there are other people all over the world who understand how I feel a lot of times. As far as marriage goes, I don't think I am quite ready...I still haven't even been on a date. Maybe in a few years?



It's too small to see, and it does not emit any sort of signal, so even the highest grade of surveillance equipment will fail to find it. No worries, though. It's there only for practical joke purposes. When it is very quiet, so quiet you begin to hear things whispering in the silence, you can pick up the faint hum and random, off-the-wall quotes I've programmed it to say in order to provide me with some fun. Watching people's reactions to a voice saying things like "She turned me into a newt!" or "Let go of my friend, you giant sphincter!" just makes me giggle.

(P.S. There really isn't a camera in your room.)



I wonder the same thing. I recently had a discussion (or rather, I talked and no one really listened and sent me away afterwards) about Therbligs with my boss at work. He didn't really know what I was talking about, but I was trying to make him see how silly and useless a lot of procedures were, how much time and energy was wasted because management refused to challenge "The Company." (I'm serious, they actually used "Does the Company allow you to rearrange your workspace?" as a valid arguement for maintaining the status quo.)

I think I am efficient because I just notice details like how long it takes to walk from point A to point B, how long I wait in line, how many times I have to do X to get Y instead of just changing the placement of Y to make access easier. It's just something I do intrinsically, I think. But it could just be me. I also don't waste time by chit-chatting (unless it's about something I'm really interested in.)

OK, it's a date if you ever find yourself in my part of the 21st century.

You don't weigh the same as a duck, do you?

No. Fortunately, I am made of steel, not wood.

I feel like a human being

dex,

Your post with the quote on the Bad News Bears really struck a chord with me. You touched on a positive aspect of being an Aspie that I hadn't thought of in quite some time. Reading it brought back the happier of my chidhood memories.

You held a mirror in front of me and what I saw in the reflection was a big smile.

Thank-you for sharing!

YOU'RE WELCOME!!

Question: Is your username, Papillon, for the dog breed, or is it from Horatio Hornblower?

Thats a really cool site. I think Python is a great language. It's actually Google's language of choice. Most of what they write is in Python I believe.

Gentoo Portage is also written in Python. I used to be a Gentoo Developer, so I've definitely seen a lot of python, but I'm more fluent with perl. I'm shopping around for a new language, however, and Python is one of the contenders.

"It's throwing mud against the house, not because you're angry, but because you love the "thwacking" sound it makes on contact. "

If you love that sound---try room temperature butter. I love to let it drop from various heights. When I was very small, I received MANY beatings about the ruined butter (because of course you can not reform it).
Also, I am frequently told that I over-explain things. (I just deleted 6 paragraphs.)

And when I correct for that, they tell me I don't explain enough,
for example that an allusion to a mediaeval philosopher isn't something
everyone's going to pick up.

Working out what you can expect people to know, and what they want to know,
Now that's hard.

AMEN!

I can't really think of any truly accurate ways to describe having AS as it is seen for me, but I'll try the best I can...

I think one of the main things for me is the concept of specialist subjects. They seem to take precedence over most other things for me whether I like it or not, and once I get a new one or become majorly interested in an old one, it takes over all my thoughts.

Another problem I seem to have is the fact that I have visual thought processes instead of verbal-based thought processes, as neurotypical people apparently have. This means that I can't explain things well, and will often find my speech "jammed" in a way, so that I'll stutter and pause constantly until I either find the words I want to say or just stop trying to talk. On the up side though, I also find that having visual thoughts allows me to visualise my thoughts into pictures that are often incredible to be able to see (I sometimes wish I was good enough at art to be able to just take a paintbrush and canvas and paint exactly what I see in my head), and also all that silence in my head allows for me to constantly have songs stuck in my head, so it's kind of like having a constant jukebox in my mind.

One thing I've noticed about myself recently is that I have AS strong enough for it to affect me substantially, yet mild enough for me to really notice what's different from other people's mannerisms. This seems to be the main "double-edged sword" for me, as I'm fascinated with psychology and this allows me to use myself to study AS more closely, yet at the same time it's clear to me how I don't fit in with those around me. Still, AS will always be a part of me that I'm proud to have, and if given the choice to cure it, I wouldn't dream of taking it.

At 14, I went through a large obsession with psychology. I wanted to understand other people, in particular, my mother. I read every book I could get my hands on, including some texts that I have since learned are very outdated. (Has anyone ever heard the term "refridgerator mother?")
I researched people. I'm sure lots of us have been there.

I feel this is too complicated and vague a question to ask. As aspergers is part of the autistic spectrum and being a spectrum "disoder" then we are all individually at differnt points along the spectrum and we change along the spectrum throughout our life. So for each and everyone one of us there are commonalities im sure but each of us have far more individual experiances of being aspergers.

This is say in contrast to individuals who suffer a more traditional medical condition or psychiatric condition were the symptons will be more similair.

I have a strong need for Independence. When I express that need, I'm told that I'm stubborn. The thing is that I'd rather be seen as stubborn, than be seen as "Special", used in the context that people use it to describe people with Brain Disorders. I have it in my head that stubborn equals strong and "Special" equals weak.

I can only answer the question from the perspective of someone who has above average intelligence and was diagnosed with AS at age 34.

As you learn more about how your mind works you wonder if you have ever seen, heard, or felt anything in the same way as anybody else you have ever known. You have your up and down days as any notion you've had of coming out of your shell and having "normal" experiences, emotions and relationships is replaced by the reality that you were born this way and will die this way.

An aspie will get a lot of skepticism or outright disbelief from anyone in whom they attempt to confide that they have AS. You're used to trying to hide your quirks by now and there's no way you could have anything vaguely related to Autism because you're not walking around staring into space and counting your footsteps. Usually when people say they never thought there was anything wrong with you, they mean, anything that has a name...other than just being plain weird and creepy.

An aspie is never resented or rejected for having AS, but for not "fitting in", not "being a team player", not "projecting a good image." This is particularly true in Australia where the work/recreation culture is based much more strongly on mateship, politics and conformity than competence.

Aspies often make the fatal blunder of seeking social contact for its own sake, and on their own terms, not as a power play or an attempt to build a social hierarchy. Therefore they tend to be readily victimised by insecure, agenda-driven social climbers and so-called "alpha males"...which I'm not suggesting that any more than a minority of NT's are.

However, an aspie can often crack up laughing at little things like the smilie, agent79's avatar, anything with a strong visual or semantic aspect. In fact my sense of humour is so abstract that on a good day I can just crack up laughing at will...now you know why I don't drink or take drugs!!

Whew...ended on a happy note...

haaahahahaaahaaa.......

I've never had a problem with eating, asside from an egg alergy and a dislike of greecy food (more ingraned by family cooking that any automatic dislike...)

To me, being an aspie is about logic and extreemes....