processing things slower...

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so i noticed that with me and wodnering if anybody else has this, it takes a while for things to process in my head. ppl wave to me i jus look at them, like no its not processing to wave back, no its not processing their even acknowledging me, so i jus stare blankly(most ppl smile their use to me haha), but then later on i always think like i shoulda waved, shoulda acknowledged them, then that thought quickly disappears. Stuff like opening and closing a door, i see handle, yet i keep pushing will sit there for hours pushing but didnt realize had to turn handle, it wasnt processing. today i saw a walle in somebodys car i love walle haha, so i kept pointing to it a hundred times even after they said yes i see it yes i see it, it wasnt processing or triggering that i asked that question i jus know i see walle, and kept doing it for the rest of the hosw. Or to walk in to a room when its dark, no its not processing to turn on the light, isntead ill jus stand there banging my head agaisnt the wall until somebody comes in turns on the light. Or ill ask a question i signed where is this person, i asked the same question i think 20-30 times with the same answer, its not processing i asked it, all i know inside my head is where the heck is this person, thats all. Or last night my bf got hurt fell to ground hurt, i ask why you hurt, over and over and over, did it trigger that when i was spinning in circles i hit him by accident and didnt realize it? no jus wonderng why he was hurt. It doesnt process that i may have done it or that hes on the ground, i jus notice he is saying im hurting, so i ask why over and over, doesnt matter the answer, but in my mind all i know is hurt him, why? but later on after it finally processes, and its already at the point that it doesnt matter, nor does anybody remember nor care, so as quickly as it finally processes, the thought goes away jus as quickly. Does anybody else process things slower, that it seems like you just dont understand, when you do, its just taking awhile to get there

All the time; struck me heavy last night while out at an event, "The Witch's Ball", there was a tent full of freakshow type artifacts i.e. two-headed stuffed ducks, but you need to pay admission to get inside. Outside was a woman at the door to the tent, so I come up to inquire about getting inside and she said "I'd love to take your money... and let you inside." I must've stared blankly at her for 6-7 seconds solid trying to evaluate whether she was trying to make a joke about robbing me or something (as I could tell at the very least she didn't mean me harm) before my brain finally got around to the second half of what she said and finally pieced it all together... that was my slowest moment in recent memory, although they generally happen so frequently they don't get special notice in my mind.

Yes, although not to anything like such a high degree. Lots of things will stun me, but usually only for a short while.

I've experienced the wave hello thing and it's like I wave hello back in my mind and forget that I'm not actually doing it. I see my son do the same thing. It sounds like you are processing okay as far as speed goes, Age1600 but you're not retaining the information.

I'm definitely a slow-but-careful type of thinker. Mostly in social situations....if I try to run at NT speed then I end up referring to people by the wrong names and similar goofs. What I don't understand is the way most other people seem to expect a good response within a split second.....is life really such an urgent business that nobody can afford to wait 2 or 3 seconds for a coherent answer?

It's most noticeable at meetings. The topic changes too quickly for me, so I'm still chewing over the first idea when everybody else has moved onto the 10th.

My father (who I believe was spectrumy) used to stop in the middle of a sentence and think for a while about how he wanted to say something. He was in a marriage group with my mother and they all complained and even taped it so he could hear (audiotape). I realized that I do the same thing when someone pointed it out to me. I just care about expressing myself well and yes, I probably need more time.

I do that quite often

A lot of times when someone says something to me, it takes a little while for me to process what they said. Sometimes I'll ask "what?" and then realize that I did hear it..

I don't know how you got that from what she said.. although maybe you meant that it was less processing than recognition? But the recognition is a result of processing.

I process slower with some things too.

People I know walk past and it takes a while before I respond to them, they take it personally and think I ignored them on purpose.

Lots of things in todays world need a fast reply or response and I cannot always do it, it is so annoying because people and life will not wait whilst we find the right track in our brains.

I do the "what?" thing, and the not saying/waving hello thing, too. Mostly with me it's social processing that's slow. I process what someone else is saying very, very slowly, and I'm slow at putting my thoughts together into speech.

Like, I went to an AS group awhile ago. There were 4 NT parents, and 2 people with AS. The NTs kept taking over the conversation at such high rates of speed that I couldn't even get my thoughts together on what my opinion was, much less formulate speech so that I could voice it. I had a lot of things that I wanted to say, but the conversation was moving so fast that I never got the chance to say it. The people with AS barely got to speak at all. I didn't say that I had AS, since I'm not dxed, just that I have a child with HFA, but I don't think it would've made a difference, since they didn't slow down for the other people in the room that were dxed.

yes! not at that big of an extent. i wave or smile in my head, but forget it doesnt come out, and yes, it "stuns" me for a few seconds. i often smile AFTER the person passes me (i'm such a dork XD)
i have the "what" thing as well. but mine seems to be a lack of hearing or something. my ears arent bad, i can pick lots of things, but quite often i have to ask someone what they said because i miss a couple words....and just CANT hear them. X(. or sometimes i realize what they said like, 10 seconds later.
i forget little things as well. but not to your extent. i just miss obvious things. im actually pretty logical, but for example, if there is a chair next to the fridge, and i need something from the top of the fridge, i might throw a ball until i knock it down...then realize AFTER i get it that i could have used the chair. you know what i mean?

I was once trying to simultaneously hold a conversation and sit down on a chair. Problem was, it was a hard chair and the only cushion around was a huge floor cushion that actually made it impossible to sit on the chair. You'd probably need to try this out to see just how impossible it is. But, being deeply focussed on the talking, I must have tried to sit on it 4 or 5 times before I realised what I was doing. I figured it was just the effect of trying to do two things with a single-track brain. But my parents occasionally used to remark that I had a strangely long way of solving problems, that I'd miss the simple, obvious way and go for something unnecessarily complex instead.

I have issues processing and I think the Aspie mind might be slower in a way. I don't have the issues you have age1600 but at times it does happen I kind of space out and I can't process doing 3-4 things at once it's 1 thing,then #2 then what Oh #3 (I'm this way with house chores)

I understand quickier than the average NT but it takes longer to reply. I usually need time to put my reply together but I usually understand/study concept easyier than the average people.

I figure it's because we are focused on something other than the thing we are expected to respond to. This only really happens to me in conversation but can be a real killer in academic conversation as I will occasionally not really listen to the other person's point until I've stopped thinking about my point, i.e some hours later

I process some things slowly. The mention of doors made me smile. I often push doors that require pulling. I know the door is not opening... it just takes me awhile to stop pushing. I do the 'what' thing like Maggiedoll does. I also tend to interrupt the person who is repeating the question to me once I know what they said the first time. Later it will occur to me that I was being unintentionally rude. I have about a ten second delay in conversations, so I hear. But the delay can be much worse if I am out in a public place.