Do you Recognize your Fellow Aspie?

Post Reply New Topic

I work with kids 12-14, and I think I've gotten pretty good at spotting ones with Asperger's. The biggest tip-offs are kids who can't figure out eye contact, give huge "information dumps" about things they are interested in in place of conversation, and actually manage to strike me (ME!) as socially awkward.

I always make sure to "out" myself to those kids and parents when I talk to them about it, because it can be hard to find good role models, and that's important if all they have to go on is 'Rain Man' and maybe some BS from Autism Speaks.

It depends. I work with 2 or 3 other people that I believe are on the spectrum. Oddly, they are the people I get along best with and I never knew why before I started learning about autism. Now that I know what to look for, I can usually tell after interacting with someone.

i think i'd be able to from that faraway, dreamy look in the eyes. a fellow aspie told me once he knew i was an aspie the moment he laid eyes on me.

I'm a computer science major, and the radar has definitely gone off in some of my classes!

I can sometimes spot people I think might be different, but I don't automatically go for the aspie label. However, what I've noticed is that people with ADD/ADHD, OCD(sometimes, depends on how severe it is), and other spectrumites seem to get along with me and relate to me better than anyone else, and if they don't totally relate, they're the least likely to judge and make a big deal out of some stupid oddity when compared to others. Pretty much anybody who isn't one of those things only ever talks about stupid cars, sports, and celebrities.

Bless you! Yes, starting at about age 10, a big clue is the random information dump that is unrelated to context and delivered more as a monologue. It seems that that sort of thing is usually gone by adulthood, but my SIL's father does it about planes, so I guess it persists in some.

Usually, as soon as they enter a room. The way they look around at people, the way they move, their body language, I can sorta sense it. It's pretty weird, but I'm nearly always right.

Yes. Friends were concerned about something being wrong with their daughter and went into detail. It would be safe to say she is definitely on the Autism Spectrum with Bipolar. I suggested that they need to find a specialist for Autism if they chose to take their daughter.

I'm also beginning to see signs of Autism in my brother as well. I'm already aware of 2 or 3 traits of Autism plus he may have Bipolar as well.

The strange thing is my brother lives next to me on the south side and my friends with the Autsim daughter lives next to me on the North side. This is really strange to have 3 autistic people living side by side.

Then across the alley there is a lady that was diagnosed with Bipolar and I've seen some of her nasty temper. But, I'm wondering if she has Autism too, because I just don't understand her at all.

It's super easy to spot for me.
When they walk in the room they ignore the people and just start scanning the details of objects instead.
NT's always run up to you and start annoying smalltalk off the bat, completely ignoring the surroundings...

Even if people pretend to be NT it's a doozy, as they'll stare at eyes or look at the floor when talking.
And sit apart, not really participate in groups as an NT would etc. etc. etc.

I've seen myself do those things over 25 years non stop, so of course I can spot it in others.
Only now I actually know what the reason is after some years of social skills training and educating myself on Aspergers (got the diagnosis at age 25 or even later).

I see a lot of either the narcissist end of aspergers or the aspergers end of narcissism. Actually, they are subclinical narcissists, i.e. having two or three but not five of the traits (DSM criteria), particularly lack of empathy (cognitive) and haughtiness. They are basically jerks/b*****s who can't comprehend that that is how they come across to others. Despite their somewhat narcissistic abuse of people, they wouldn't fit the NPD diagnosis, but they might fit AS if you look at their youth and childhood.

As for garden variety aspergers, I really don't see much of that around, though now that I think of it, I do know someone who looks like he might be, but I perceive him as normal, simply because he is not a jerk. So I perceive something obviously different in his mannerisms, but that has no bearing for me on what counts as normal. It is the narcy-aspie jerks who I consider abnormal or deviant, which is ironic considering they are often so preoccupied with being normal.

I've recognized only a few people I've met as being on the spectrum, but I've always been correct. Before I was diagnosed, these would always be the people that I found myself drawn to without knowing why. A 14-year-old boy with Asperger's Syndrome that I met during a play told me, "You're exactly like me!" I didn't think much of it until I started to seriously research Asperger's a few years later and found out just how much I really was like him.

Sometimes.
It could be anything but sometimes it seems reasonable. They are just different from the others, their way of talking, dressing...etc. And the way others react to them.

I can't prove that I am good at it because I don't usually ask if an adult has it or not (it would usually be an interruption for us both) but I definitely notice traits in certain people immediately. It goes both ways. I think we both recognize the gaze avoidance and the lack of expression and body language and small talk. And rather than push for conversation I find that understanding silence relaxing, and from the responses I get from these folks when they are at work...so do they.
Once in awhile a particular special interest will draw me to people I strongly suspect have some level of AS. I'm more likely now to mention that I have it at some point...and if they do and they know it they'll probably say so, and if they don't want to I haven't put them on the spot with a question. It's less direct but also less likely to be taken as rude if they don't have it.

To a point. I don't know too many, as I don't automatically equate someone's "nerdiness" or social anxiety to them having Aspergers. Generally I only assume they've got it/have traits of it if they talk to me forever about their hobbies or special interests. Like this guy at my church (who's pretty cool, really) talking to me for like 20 minutes about bicycle racing until I was like "Yeah I gotta go." But unless they do that, then I don't consider them to have Aspergers. Basically, monologues=Aspergers. That's my criteria. There's like one girl I know I suspect NVLD in, too, she seems like the female version of me, but because of that we're both just too shy to really talk to each other. :/ (I used a text smiley, look.)

Hah. AspieSense.

Some traits are more obvious. Even so, it could be a result of something else. Proper education and training and exposure to Aspie or Autistic people can lead to a greater, but not perfect, ability to "diagnose" them. Teachers who work with autistic kids all the time are more likely to pick up on some kid at the grocery store being autistic than the average person, just like someone with a condition might be more aware of and attune to traits in other people.

I can pick up moderately autistic people, but not mildly autistic people.