Aspies=Tangent Monsters

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Okay, slightly strong words, and I'm guilty of it myslef; I've noticed it happens more with AS people.

What happens to me is that I'll be talking and associate the subject with something that most people don't tend to associate without verbal guidance (E.G. Vacation in Manchester, New Hampshire -> Manchester, England -> English Literature -> Sherlock Holmes -> Detectives -> The latest crimes in the news->Gun-related crimes in general -> The gunshot related homecides in Maryland).

Note that this happens while the other person is talking, over the span of about twenty seconds.

But I have often noticed other AS people doing that at warp speed; a friend of mine was recently talking with me about "The Godfather" and after I responded, went off on a tangent about scallion pancakes (I have yet to figure that out).

I think it could be possible that this is because ADD and ADHD are common Co-Morbids. I do it a lot.

Happens to me & my friends A LOT

Associational thinking. It makes you relatively creative, but it can stop you from thinking in a "straight line" or staying on topic. Ironically, this is the opposite of the linear way we are often presumed to think. "Autistics lack creativity" is probably untrue for many--possibly most--of us. Just as often, you find someone who is, in a way, too creative, with mental networks of ideas that stretch all over the universe, and no good way to stay within one category.

I do this too but not that often.

I love it but am constantly having to explain which makes it a bit extraneous and sometimes droll.

This is how i think to a tee. I have been accused of being inconsistent, non-linear, random, too plastic in my associational processes and too pliable in my explorations of everything.
I love it and enjoy it. I am always exploring and I am always considering things.

For me it is a wonderful way to be, and if it makes little sense to some others - so be it.

Same thing happens to me frequently, even over the internet!

I do this a lot, when I talk to people I don't usually talk to i'll warn them in advance that I sometimes go off on tangents during the conversation. My best friend is used to this now and when I get off topic she'll usually follow me and if there's something she wanted to talk about then she'll circle back for me when I'm done talking. The topics I usually end up talking about are always random cuz something will remind me of something else and I have to start talking about it XD

I have an OCD co morbid so I fixate and tangent even when my line of thought becomes combative as the person I am verbaly dominating attempts to politely stop me. I have gotten much much better about this, I also just avoid conversations with people who I am not comfortable with.

I tend to go on tangents about the same topic. I think this is because I get so fixated on what I'm talking about that I just want to get every little thing I know about it out of my mouth otherwise the urge wont go away until I do.
I guess I'm the opposite.

I definately can go onto tangents when I talk to people I know. Recently I have been taking what I like to call a "Wikipedia Journey". The way it works is you start with some random subject of interest and read the article until you find a interesting link then click it. Then read it until you find another link. Often times you can get quite far off from your original subject but, it's a good way to learn new things.

Nope, I am not anything like that.
But the tasmanian devil is a very interesting creature and I am told the weather can be pretty severe around the pacific this time of year.
Incidentally it was the Chinese new year just the other day and there are very few tigers still living in the wild.
My backpacking trip went quite well and I had a lot of time to relax.
I need to change the pillows on my coach as they are not so comfy any more...

I link things together so quickly that people are often left wondering what the hell I'm on about. Sometimes it's so quick that I'm not even sure how I got from one thing to the next, but I usually figure it out by going back to the original thing and slowing down the thoughts - my mind will make the same connections again.

It's not just an AS thing. My father-in-law spent much of his life giving monologues that started somewhere and took so many twists and turns that no one could remember what the subject was. This guy would talk nonstop for 30 minutes or more, with no place for anyone to enter the conversation - because it wasn't a conversation, it was a monologue. So you're sitting there, forced to listen to his rambling speech about something you can't remember why he started in on it, nor figure out where he's going with it, and after 15 or 20 minutes you wish a hole in the floor would open up and swallow you. It's as though he had no internal editor, and was unable to summarize. He would start with something, and go off on incredibly wild, uninteresting tangents and verbalize everything he was thinking. And you can't just get up and walk away, you have to sit through it. This is why after having worked for 40 years and retiring, he has no friends out of all the people he used to know. And he's not malicious, just oblivious.

Fortunately, he doesn't do it anymore. His son had what must have been an ugly confrontation with him about it awhile back - glad I didn't have to witness it - but it seems to have made an impression on him, and he hasn't done it while we were there for a couple of years.

Yes. I've been described as having "tangential thinking". They try to say that this is associated with the Bipolar Disorder, although I'm always like this regardless of my mood. I was like this as a child.

When I tell people a story, they will sometimes stop me and ask, "is there a point to this story?", because I add so many side plots.

I also have a hard time knowing which information is not necessary.