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Terrodactal
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01 Apr 2014, 12:47 am

So I'm sort of in the process of trying to figure out if I have Asperger's, and while most of the symptoms I here seem to line up with how I am, there's one big one that really doesn't.
I keep hearing that, while people with Asperger's do have emotions, they just don't display/express them as much as NT's. But I cry... a lot. Especially if I am frustrated/confused with a situation. To me that seems like a very obvious display of emotion. Is this normal in those on the autism spectrum, or is this just a clear indicator that I really don't have it?



skibum
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01 Apr 2014, 1:15 am

Welcome Terrodactal.
I cry all the time. Well not literally all the time but a whole lot. It does not take much at all to get my waterworks flowing. I do not recall the DSM 5 saying that we can't display emotions. And if I am wrong please correct me. We may display them inappropriately sometimes but we certainly can display them. But I think that the ability to display them or the degree that we do is very individual among Spectrumites. I think some display a lot more or a lot less than others so I would not use that as a criteria to base whether or not you might be on the Spectrum. Of course I am not qualified, I am not a professional to be able to say one way or the other if someone is on the Spectrum or not. But I know that I am on it and I cry a LOT! I also can cry at times when no one can understand why I am crying. Sometimes I just start crying out of the blue. I can get these huge avalanches of emotions that I don't even know what has triggered them but they can make me cry. So I would not let that be the thing to judge by.


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Last edited by skibum on 01 Apr 2014, 1:17 am, edited 1 time in total.

ASPartOfMe
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01 Apr 2014, 1:16 am

Aspies react differently to emotions some shut it down others release at so called inappropriate times. A lot of the diagnostic traits are written with guys in mind. Women often present differently.


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Waterfalls
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01 Apr 2014, 6:16 am

I think the idea that people with ASD don't express emotion as much comes from not expressing the expected emotion at the predicted time. It is not the case that all people with AS express less emotion, I'm not sure it's true at all.

And like SkiBum, I cry easily, and have since I was a child. Though as a child I did not show much happiness, so overall, it might have looked like less emotional expression.



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01 Apr 2014, 7:17 am

People with Asperger's have the same emotions as NT's--as stated above, they just expressed them differently.

Same with people with classic Autism.

It's ridiculous to say that people on the Spectrum do not have emotions.



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01 Apr 2014, 8:29 am

Many autistics also have to deal with depression. You'd expect that to generate tears to one degree or another.


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01 Apr 2014, 1:33 pm

I recall that in a book I was reading about Aspergers it said something about crying easily, it may have been in response to feeling anger. Or it might have been frustration. I used to cry whenever I got very emotional, regardless of what the emotions were, but especially when I got angry. Very hard to express anger and be taken seriously when you are sobbing and tears are running down your face, especially when your are an adult. I am almost 40 now and no longer cry when angry. Not sure when or why that changed. Plus depression goes hand in hand with Aspergers often, and that can certainly cause you to cry a lot.



Terrodactal
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01 Apr 2014, 8:19 pm

skibum wrote:
Welcome Terrodactal.
I cry all the time. Well not literally all the time but a whole lot. It does not take much at all to get my waterworks flowing. I do not recall the DSM 5 saying that we can't display emotions. And if I am wrong please correct me. We may display them inappropriately sometimes but we certainly can display them. But I think that the ability to display them or the degree that we do is very individual among Spectrumites. I think some display a lot more or a lot less than others so I would not use that as a criteria to base whether or not you might be on the Spectrum. Of course I am not qualified, I am not a professional to be able to say one way or the other if someone is on the Spectrum or not. But I know that I am on it and I cry a LOT! I also can cry at times when no one can understand why I am crying. Sometimes I just start crying out of the blue. I can get these huge avalanches of emotions that I don't even know what has triggered them but they can make me cry. So I would not let that be the thing to judge by.


Thanks for the reply. Since making this post I've read a bit about meltdowns which would, in it of itself, negate the possibility that Spectrumites don't display emotions, I think, in addition to all the other facts.

I'm going through the DSM 5 now, thanks.

ASPartOfMe wrote:
Aspies react differently to emotions some shut it down others release at so called inappropriate times. A lot of the diagnostic traits are written with guys in mind. Women often present differently.


I hadn't considered that. Most gender norms exist only because of society, I'm aware, so I do stray from those lines of thoughts, but there's no denying that, biologically, females are more prone to the waterworks.

kraftiekortie wrote:
People with Asperger's have the same emotions as NT's--as stated above, they just expressed them differently.

Same with people with classic Autism.

It's ridiculous to say that people on the Spectrum do not have emotions.


I'm sorry if I came across poorly in this post. I agree it's ridiculous to claim people on the Spectrum are emotionless robots, I was only referring to the way they're expressed/displayed.

InTheDeepEnd wrote:
I recall that in a book I was reading about Aspergers it said something about crying easily, it may have been in response to feeling anger. Or it might have been frustration. I used to cry whenever I got very emotional, regardless of what the emotions were, but especially when I got angry. Very hard to express anger and be taken seriously when you are sobbing and tears are running down your face, especially when your are an adult. I am almost 40 now and no longer cry when angry. Not sure when or why that changed. Plus depression goes hand in hand with Aspergers often, and that can certainly cause you to cry a lot.


Gosh I hope I also stop crying in anger at some point in my life, it's frustrating and then the frustration just causes more tears and it's all around embarrassing.


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01 Apr 2014, 9:22 pm

I've got anxiety and depression as well as autism and boy don't the waterworks like to come. I tear up so often I go to a lot of effort to hide the fact I'm crying in public, because I don't want people to ask me what's wrong.

I can go from extremes to expressing little emotion to being so full of emotion I can barely stand still, or stand still and not sing.


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01 Apr 2014, 9:32 pm

pensieve wrote:
I've got anxiety and depression as well as autism and boy don't the waterworks like to come. I tear up so often I go to a lot of effort to hide the fact I'm crying in public, because I don't want people to ask me what's wrong.

I can go from extremes to expressing little emotion to being so full of emotion I can barely stand still, or stand still and not sing.




It's the last regeneration still settling in.


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Your Aspie score: 100 of 200 / Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 101 of 200
You seem to have both Aspie and neurotypical traits

What would these results mean? Been told here I must be a "half pint".


ASPartOfMe
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01 Apr 2014, 9:41 pm

Terrodactal wrote:

ASPartOfMe wrote:
Aspies react differently to emotions some shut it down others release at so called inappropriate times. A lot of the diagnostic traits are written with guys in mind. Women often present differently.


I hadn't considered that. Most gender norms exist only because of society, I'm aware, so I do stray from those lines of thoughts, but there's no denying that, biologically, females are more prone to the waterworks.


http://www.autism.org.uk/about-autism/a ... ctrum.aspx


Categories 13 and 17 have items related to this topic
http://taniaannmarshall.wordpress.com/2 ... -syndrome/


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FireyInspiration
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01 Apr 2014, 9:50 pm

kraftiekortie wrote:
People with Asperger's have the same emotions as NT's--as stated above, they just expressed them differently.

Same with people with classic Autism.

It's ridiculous to say that people on the Spectrum do not have emotions.


Emotions are also often expressed at different times, and often alone, thusly giving off the impression to others a lack of emotion. If you cry a lot, but only when you're alone, nobody else would know you cry unless they pick up on hints or you tell them



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01 Apr 2014, 10:28 pm

I've always been the kind of person who cries easily.