Many of us seem fine here... What changed?

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I see a lot of threads here that talk about having difficulty in social situations, and I can certainly identify with that. However, many of us are strangers to one another. We are separated geographically and many of us have aliases. I also get the impression from threads like this (click) that some of the things we share on these boards are things we would not share with strangers in real life, but I'm generalizing there.

Would it be accurate to say that socializing and connecting online is easier for many people with AS? How do you feel about speaking to someone face to face versus socializing through a digital medium?

Well being able to edit as you go and then afterward is probably the sole reason why no one has banned me from this site yet!

i've always been better able to express myself in writing than in speaking. forums were made for people like me.

I can say (type) things online I probably wouldn't say in person, but I can't really connect or socialise with other people any better.

From The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome by Tony Attwood.

As someone with AS, I'm not sure I agree with that. I've developed later on in a pretty NT way, so I do not feel that I express myself any better online than in person.

Well, I'm pretty much just as crappy with girls online as real life. I have NVLD (nonverbal learning disorder) specifically, though, it for all intensive purposes works like AS, but yeah. Nonverbal learning disorder basically means your verbal IQ is like 130+ but your nonverbal is like 80. So for me I'm kind of thinking verbally all the time, so transferring it to text is pretty easy.

My sister, though, one time she and her friend IMed me, and her and her friend were like "Wow, you sound like, cool, online." Once I learned to use correct grammar and spelling, I'd be like 13 years old and have people tell me I sound like I'm in college when I talked online. I don't have very many online friends anymore, though, I used to have like 20 friends, but now I'm down to like 4, and it's now hard for me to reconnect to more people online for some reason. I think it's because my like, home board, Gundam.com/AnimeX.com, died. And that board was a constant in my life for a lot of years, I was on it from 2003 (or more likely 2002 if we're counting Gundam.com) to 2008. It was a really close knit board (maybe to it's demise) and yeah. I still talk to people from that board, though, that I've known since 2003.

But uh, on this board in particular, things aren't perfect. I feel like a bit of an outsider on this board due partially to having NVLD, but also my interests and viewpoints are pretty different a lot of times on this board. One particular problem I have is I make really long posts, so it becomes tl;dr for a lot of people to read them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Person_(TV_series)

I have seen the one about Rick Rosner and Denny Fitch. Now that I remember them I think I will want to go back and watch them now.

The documentaries are about extraordinary things that people did

Many of the communication difficulties associated with Asperger's have to do with body language, proper eye contact, tone of voice, and even rythm in speaking (e.g. the proper allowance for pause & knowing when it is your turn to speak). Those things would not be apparent through a text-based medium.

Not to mention the fact that the relative anonymity makes most everyone feel less anxious and more free to be themselves.

It's easier in writing than face to face. No body language to worry about. What I really like on this AS forum is the fact that people are more inclined to write in a logical manner. Because, you know, I've noticed that there are some social dynamics on all the NT forums I've been a member of - some social dynamics that are as obscure to me as are the ones in real life.

Another thing is that people online do not know who I am. Of course I can admit here to all kinds of stuff, there are no consequences. I can admit to whatever stuff I hide from my family freely over the internet, because, even if another member happened to knew me in real life, he/she could never guess my true identity, you know. That's why, I think, people are sharing these things that one should not talk about with strangers in many social circles...

_________________
Probably 75% Aspie, 25% NT... and 100% ADHD

Aspie-quiz results:
Aspie score: 138 of 200 / NT score: 78 of 200 => Very likely an Aspie.

I think it is because the certain types of people that use this site have somewhat of a connection cause we all are either anti social in a away or other things like this. just my thought... could be wrong though..

Connecting online is much easier for autistic people (generally), and in fact, is actually highly recommended. I wouldn't be surprised if it became the law for autistic people to only communicate online.

(NOTE: That last sentence was a joke)