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A few questions I've been pondering. I'm curious how others see things.

1 - Why do you believe people with AS have obsessions? It's not just the intensity of our obsessions, but the unusualness of them. Why are we only interested in one thing, whilst NTs are interested in a range of things, and why is our one interest often so odd? Are NTs interested in similar things because their minds are very similar, or is it more cultural, and we're oblivious to cultural pressures?

2 - Do you agree with me that a feature of AS is emotional underdevelopment? If so, do we develop emotionally, only at a much slower rate? If you feel this way can you approximate your rate of development relative to your biological age? Please think carefully about this. A lot of Aspies say they only feel about 9, but they've got a decent job and a car; things that a 9-year old could never master.

In my case I estimate I was developing at about half the normal rate until I was 40, but then things speeded up dramatically (something just 'clicked') and I'm now developing at the normal rate, though I'll never catch up. Emotionally, I feel about 24 now (physically I'm 44), and I guess I'll always be 20 years behind, though I feel about 90% NT today, i.e. a slightly nerdish (though not much - my eccentricity has also largely evaporated) 24 year-old NT.

3 - My life hasn't been a complete tragedy, but I did miss out on a normal teenage life (emotionally I was only about 9-10 when I was 19, and I was pretty much disconnected from my NT peers at that point). Fortunately things did get better in my twenties, but it's sometimes hard to accept that I never enjoyed the teenage experiences that most people have. I guess there must be others on WP with similar feelings. How do you cope? I'm trying to cope by convincing myself that I'm just a very late developer and my best days are yet to come (40 is the new 20, blah, blah), but it's hard sometimes.

4 - Also, how would you explain Autism/Aspergers in a few sentences to someone who knew nothing about it?

Thanks

Sorry - 4 questions.

[quote="Another_Alien"]A few questions I've been pondering. I'm curious how others see things.

1 - Obsessions are emotional rewards shelters for the brain

2 - It's not an underdevelopment of emotions, it's an underdevelopment of communication. I feel angry, sad when I am not able to communicate like someone else. I do feel happy and satisfied when I succeed like anyone else.

3 - I'm different and I accept it, I don't have the same goals in life that the tacit ones that govern the NT world. It seems I was always respected for my solid convictions even if people disagreed with me.

4 - I think the best way is to explain: "what does it mean not to understand the intention of a conversation" by putting someone in your shoes.
I tried to do it with a drawing
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postp3223581.html#3223581
That topic is one among many other who try to answer your question

The reason I feel about 9 years old is because for some reason, I don't feel the need to be an integral part of a sick society. Kids think in a simple, straightforward manner, and adults over-complicate things to the point that they no longer understand them. Kids have a knack for thinking clearly simply because they relax and look at the situation at hand. It's amazing what you can come up with when you have a 22 year old mind that thinks objectively like a 9 year old does.

As for special interests, how many 9 year olds don't have special interests? Every kid is going to have an interest, but a kid will focus more on that interest if his or her peers are NOT interesting. That's what happens to people tat are ostracized from society, they go more and more into the comfort of what they know. So if a kid likes trains, and people don't accept him, he will go more and more into trains. My special interests have gotten less intense now that people accept me better. It was a proportional decrease too.

I was a late developer. I didn't figure things out until I was 21. Until then, I could watch a whole movie, and not know what was going on. Imagine a 20 year old not knowing the plot of a PG-13 movie! But I developed skepticism around this time, which was the thing I was missing. Critical thinking is a blend of skepticism and wonder, and I always had the wonder. But I didn't get skeptical until I met a guy at work that helped me question things. Once I started questioning things again (the same questions I used to ask when I was younger, mind you) I developed at a rapid rate. Well, I suppose what happened is I was able to understand the knowledge I had already gathered.

I'll answer question # 1 for you.

Answer 1. My special interest is an interest that I've had for a very long time. I started enjoying the music of The Kinks at the age of 9, though I didn't know the name of the group, yet. I found out the name of the group that recorded all these songs about London and England by borrowing a record from the Kwantlen College library, 10 years later. I listened to the record and told my mum that I knew that there was a group that I liked more than The Beatles, the next day. The group is The Kinks.

I really appreciate these answers guys. I can’t respond to everyone, but:

Mysty – That’s an interesting viewpoint. You’ve got me thinking there. I do think Aspies lack emotional maturity relative to their biological age, however, which isn’t simply a consequence of being isolated. If we didn’t why would we become isolated in the first place? Maybe it’s a bit of both, i.e. catch 22?

SuperAspie – Thanks for the link.

Mindslave – I could have written your last paragraph myself (except for the guy at work, and I was older than 21 when I started to work things out). Do you feel, therefore, your emotional age/biological age ratio is locked at 9/22? In other words, do you expect to feel like an 18 year-old when you’re 42? One theory I’ve been toying with is that the severity of AS is partially determined by a ratio of this kind, i.e. the greater the ratio the more severe the AS. However, once we reach a certain point of ‘enlightenment’ the ratio can quickly fall, so we’re then developing at a normal rate. Does this make sense?

Anyone can respond to this, of course, not just Mindslave.

LostAlien – On the emotional/intellectual point: yes, I agree; it’s like one part of our brain is overdeveloped and the other part is underdeveloped. This makes things more frustrating because we know we have huge potential, but we can’t apply it. 

I guess you’re right about the teenage years not that being that great. Unless you’re the right ‘type’ of teenager (one of the ‘in crowd’) in the right place it probably isn’t that amazing.