What is Asperger's?

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simple question. Buuuuut not really. What can you say to actaully describe what your life has been like. Instead of DSM 4 practically describe your thought/life process

In my case I remember back to my childhood when a big source of my low confidence was that I knew that something was funny but only if someone else said it It really frustrated me, and I remember thinking something that would be really funny and saying it not getting a laugh and just knowing that It was really really funny.......something had to have been wrong with the way I was telling it. I had that burning frustrating feeling that had anyone else said it, it would have been really funny. I wasnt aware of appropriate joke times but I really did think i just wasnt perceived as funny.

I also remember how I just learned this sense of I dont know how to navigate sticky situations. Like say I was growing up and in school someone tripped and fell, I would have learned to keep my mouth shut. I wouldnt know how to properly console them that it wasnt a big deal and would instead probably make it worse. Even at a young age like 10 I think I was aware that I had no clue about that kind of stuff after watching another kid successfully console them from being embarassed/down to suddenly cheerfull again.

I can sort of relate. I couldn't process anything I learned in school and the teachers just thought I wasn't paying attention. I have said socially inappropriate things and thinking it was completely fine. There were a lot of things that I couldn't as a kid, that other could do easily, that I now know has to do with AS.
I only got low confidence because I couldn't relate to my own family.

I've hardly ever seen a decent answer to this in the media. Not even particularly fond of the link given to the question here on this site. It bugs me that the answer is always a list of common behavior oddities which might or might not fit you or me. It's like asking, "What is a fractured femur?" and answering, "Well, people with fractured femurs are usually in lots of pain, and their leg is usually purple, and can't walk for a while, might even be in a wheelchair..." rather than answering "The femur is a leg bone, fractured means broken, and here are some common symptoms..."

I know studies are in their infancy, but there are a few out there which have pinpointed specific parts of the brain affected. This to me seems to explain better than a list of symptoms alone.

Or maybe it's just me and my Aspie need to know 'why' not just what the end result is.

- Jo