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Severus
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20 Jan 2011, 5:54 am

Verdandi wrote:
My left hand hurts, both arms hurt. I think my handwriting is maybe decipherable, but I am biased. I had forgotten how often I reverse two letters or drop letters, or make vague letter-like shapes that could be any of a half-dozen possibilities.


Blimey. That's my handwriting in a nutshell.
Provided that someone beats me to death to make me write by hand, that is.

I remember that when I was applying for a PhD position they had me read my written exam paper aloud to the examiners because none of them could decipher my writing. And mind, those were three doctors who have read illegibly written prescriptions and medical histories all their working lives.
So they had my 54 pages read out to them, poor things. True, I had them bored to death but also very impressed indeed.

Ents have always been my favourite type of magical creatures in Tolkien's works.



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20 Jan 2011, 6:10 am

Verdandi wrote:
Oh, right. They were good friends and both were involved in the Inklings.

Anyway:

I just had to fill out an eight page form for social security, and:

My left hand hurts, both arms hurt. I think my handwriting is maybe decipherable, but I am biased. I had forgotten how often I reverse two letters or drop letters, or make vague letter-like shapes that could be any of a half-dozen possibilities. My phrasing is much simpler and with much less explanation than when I type.

I keep forgetting how much of a godsend computers were for expression. I didn't manage to get along with typewriters until I had already learned how to use a PC.

When I was writing my Doctor Who fanfic and my computer crashed (great timing) I had to write the rest by hand. My arm ached for days but because I was pumped up on my meds I couldn't stop writing. I ended up with the pencil smudging my right hand.


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Verdandi
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20 Jan 2011, 6:43 am

Wow, that is rotten timing. Good thing you were able to finish.

I don't know that I could hold out that long. Printing and handwriting hurts like hell.



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20 Jan 2011, 6:45 am

There are so many posts in this thread that I can relate to, I'm not sure which to mention first.

I think I can both generalize and deal with details, but often when writing I will use tree-like structures to make sure that all of my details attach to more general concepts.

I think the main reason my language, both written and spoken, gives a lot of detail is that (like others have said here (even in embedded paretheses, which I like as well)) when dealing with a special interest, there are just so many background details I can't assume the general public will know.

Aside from that is an aspect I think closely related to Aspie honesty and literalness. I don't want to generalize without pointing out the exceptions and limitations of the point I'm making.

And I'm also a big fan of Ents. :D



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20 Jan 2011, 6:52 am

Severus wrote:
Blimey. That's my handwriting in a nutshell.
Provided that someone beats me to death to make me write by hand, that is.


I believe I have dysgraphia. Although I am left-handed and it was suggested to me all left-handed people have trouble with writing because it is ergonomically designed for right handed people, I suspect most left-handed people are not quite as illegible or experience quite as much pain. I somehow suspect it'd be kind of well known.

I would so hate reading a paper aloud.



Severus
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01 Feb 2011, 5:41 am

I know a couple of left-handed people who have good handwriting. It is tilted to the left though.

The descriptive term is dysgraphia but I think it is more a symptom than anything else. I mean that it is related to having autism, ADHD, etc. and is rarely on its own. It is usually considered a manifestation of sequence and/or motorics problems that are part of the bigger picture.



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01 Feb 2011, 5:55 am

I don't think that I'm hyperlexic, but I can understand what you are talking about. I've had the early advanced reading ability too. I also have a tendency to understand words in context, and sometimes get into trouble because they don't mean quite what I intend. I must admit that my examples aren't quite as extreme as yours.

I can be too wordy too. Though in a different way. Instead of starting with the details, I start with a brief description. Then I feel obligated to add qualifiers and explanations and details to make sure that I'm understood completely. I hate being misunderstood. I've mostly managed to break that habit, thankfully, but I will still fall into that trap once in a while.


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01 Feb 2011, 5:57 am

Yeah, that sounds about right. I tried to find good thorough information on the topic online, but most of it was basic precis-level stuff for parents of children with dysgraphia. I am currently bitter about all the forms I've had to fill out for social security and DSHS (state services) with no alternatives (such as online forms I could type out) available.

I also never quite mastered tying my shoes. I got the basic principles down early on - and my mother insists that I was good at it - but my shoes were constantly too loose or too tight or came untied whenever I had to walk more than 10-15 feet. I think I was in my late 20s before I worked out I could do something to keep my shoes (or boots) from coming untied. Doesn't matter now, though, I'm all about the velcro.



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01 Feb 2011, 6:12 am

Yensid wrote:
I don't think that I'm hyperlexic, but I can understand what you are talking about. I've had the early advanced reading ability too. I also have a tendency to understand words in context, and sometimes get into trouble because they don't mean quite what I intend. I must admit that my examples aren't quite as extreme as yours.


Extreme? 8O

I think I stopped using words contextually at some point in the 80s, where I think I've been pretty sure what most words I know mean, and know how to use define:word google searches if I think to.

I have one professionally published misused word that is at least somewhat close to what I was trying to say. It's still a bit of a blight on my mind.

Quote:
I can be too wordy too. Though in a different way. Instead of starting with the details, I start with a brief description. Then I feel obligated to add qualifiers and explanations and details to make sure that I'm understood completely. I hate being misunderstood. I've mostly managed to break that habit, thankfully, but I will still fall into that trap once in a while.


Yeah, there are few things I hate as much as being misunderstood, or misread, or having people choose to read subtext into my text that isn't there.

This seems to work for me writing-wise, most of the time.



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01 Feb 2011, 6:22 am

Verdandi wrote:
Extreme? 8O



I was mostly thinking about this quote:

Quote:
And yeah, I mean I remember one time I was angry at a foster sister for something, and I picked a phrase I had read in a book that I knew was meant to insult someone, but I didn't actually know what it meant. I got in so much trouble for calling her a "traitorous b***h," though. It's actual meaning was way meaner than I was even aiming for.


I don't think I ever did that. :-)


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01 Feb 2011, 6:24 am

Yensid wrote:
I don't think I ever did that. :-)


Ah, right. I never did that...again.



Severus
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01 Feb 2011, 7:25 am

Verdandi wrote:
I am currently bitter about all the forms I've had to fill out for social security and DSHS (state services) with no alternatives (such as online forms I could type out) available.


The last time I tried to donate blood it failed because I couldn't fill out the form right. I got stuck at ' Do you practice currently or have you ever practiced a profession which may increase your risk of blood-transmitted diseases?' I know full well that this is an indirect question of whether you practice sex (possibly unsafe) with multiple partners (prostitution, etc.) or whether you are a tattooist, etc.
But when I thought about it - oh yes, I have handled blood samples from hundreds of people, the bulk of which were at risk of blood-transmitted diseases simply because of the fact they they had regular blood and plasma transfusions. Therefore it is quite a high-risk profession.
I tried to explain this to the nurse who had to collect the questionnaires but she simply looked suspicious and said 'Well you don't seem to fulfill the 110 pounds requirement anyway so you'd better go'.
So she invented a reason so as not to think for about 5 seconds but in the end it was me who looked stupid, or mad, or whatever.