It is a bit like spending your life telling bad jokes

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http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/20 ... tudy_N.htm

Reading through this article reminded me of the reactions I have received from the many social faux pas I have committed. People did not find it funny or endearing and the hostility was often palpable. Having autism is a bit like being a sad clown telling bad jokes to a tough crowd. After a while, you kind of figure that it is probably best to stop doing anything because no matter what you do, it ends up hurting so much.

ouch! iv never been punched for a bad joke. most adults i know. if i tell a bad joke (i tell jokes alot. id say about 80% are bad ones and thats out of telling jokes each couple of minutes... so meh. not too bad. but not of a comedian standard) dont usually glare or give mutch of a negative aproach to it... id say possably worst iv had is auquard silances. hey. if you can put up with kids they'll laugh at anything . i can't myself sadly. but im sure it could help alot to joke with a kid. you'll probably feel well apreciated at the end of it. but yeah. most adults i know laugh out of politeness if need be. but alot of my humour is spent with my cousin. we both have a similer sense of humour and when were together were usually in histerical fits of laughter. even though hes 27 and im 15. he also has aspergers btw.

I worked for years in an aspie-friendly environment, surrounded by many other aspies. Our conversation contained many puns, some dumb, some very sophisticated, most just funny. I have found after leaving there, just how much having a shared background figures in the reception of this kind of humor. It falls absolutely flat when folks don't know the references. People either don't recognize it as a pun (and think you're nuts) or do get the reference, but don't understand why it's funny, and think you're nuts. I formed a habit of using puns over the years and now have to think (even more than usual) about how I sound to the outside world. Gotta match the routine to the audience...

so, AnnaLemma, what was your "aspie-friendly environment" that you worked in?

i never can remember any jokes i have heard.

at office parties and the like, i am bereft of funny things to say.

so i make up jokes sometimes to fit in, and that makes people ignore me (unintentionally (i wanted them to laugh)).

example:
Q: what is the similarity between having JUST enough dinosaurs, and riding a horse?

A: you have no spare tire, an' a sore ass (no spare tyrannosaurus).

that one fell at .9 g's.

the day before yesterday, i was at a celebration luncheon because i coded some stuff that won a benchmark award.

they were all saying dirty jokes and i knew none.
so a woman said something about a "blind date", and i then thought of a joke that fell to the ground at 1.7 g's.

me: what is the true definition of a "blind date"?
them (confused and agitated slightly) : what?!?!

me: it is a "brown-eye with a cataract"
them: (they turned away and spoke elsewhere.).


it is pointless to express humor if it is not universal.

This is a really good point & explains a lot of why I fail socially. When I'm comfortable & confident, I have no problem being light-hearted & funny. However, my sense of humor often contains refrences people don't often get or find funny, & I often get bad reactions. My only other option is to be serious, but nobody likes that. Guess I'm screwed either way.

well at least you have a dual thread.
i can not be screwed any way (i can not be gripped by a "plank" i am screwed in to) because my thread runs up the screw instead of down.

I believe Temple Grandin referred to it as a large "sheltered workshop".

No, our actual jobsite was many millions of miles from our desks.

My dad, who I suspect strongly has AS, was the king of bad jokes.

My daughter too loves jokes and riddles, but doesn't "know her audience" and therefore often fails at humor.

We all love playing with words though and puns and that sort of thing usually are more successful.

That thing about knowing your audience is I think the AS challenge when one opts for humor in a social situation.