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Your biggest social obstacle?
Poll ended at 20 Aug 2007, 4:32 pm
Shyness/insecurity 70%  70%  [ 35 ]
Disinterest in having friends 16%  16%  [ 8 ]
Lack of empathy, stimming or other visible symptoms 14%  14%  [ 7 ]
Total votes : 50

Anubis
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24 Jul 2007, 8:55 am

All of them except the insecurity, I think. If I had to pick the most important, it would be disinterest in friends.


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ixochiyo_yohuallan
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24 Jul 2007, 4:05 pm

I wonder why hasn't anyone mentioned lack of distance yet. It's always been a problem with me, to a greater or lesser extent. I have difficulty telling which things I should or shouldn't share (especially with people whom I don't know well); as a result, I can tell everybody and their dog all I can about myself, my troubles and the way I feel about this or that, all that's possible to put into words anyway. Since I've grown out of my teens I've become more cautious about what I'm saying, but I still easily slip into that excessively sincere mode when I start talking to somebody and get carried away. And I still don't have a good internal sense of what to share with whom - I have to reason it out instead, by rationally deciding what I am "supposed" to keep private.

My feelings are readily visible, even during times when I feel reserved and aloof. I can hardly hold any of them back - it doesn't seem natural, it's hard, and I don't think I really know how to do it. I suppose it makes me vulnerable. I don't have half the defenses most other people appear to have, and it's too easy to hurt me, or to use my emotions in order to manipulate me (my own parents were the ones to do it a lot of the time). During the last several years I've learned to distance myself a little more, but it often still won't work. The openness also makes it difficult for me to wear social masks when it's necessary. My natural state is to be frank, and as friendly as possible with anyone; so in an official setting that requires one to maintain remote, very formal relationships, I don't function well at all. I just don't know what to do.

I'm not saying that openness is bad - far from it, but I suppose too much of it is.

I can be shy occasionally, and I used to have panic attacks throughout my teens whenever I had to say something important in public (like answering questions during a seminar, making a presentation or just talking about something that matters to me with a friend) but it's never been a major problem.



Last edited by ixochiyo_yohuallan on 25 Jul 2007, 1:13 am, edited 1 time in total.

Electra
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24 Jul 2007, 5:43 pm

I put shyness/insecurity, purely because of my 'fear' of phoning people and my past experiences.



sandra3
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24 Jul 2007, 6:36 pm

I like people even though i'm not naturally shy I generally avoid them. Also insecurity can get the best of me sometimes. i'am often told i'm void of emotion though thats not true because I can feel just not for others like i would myself. And the human face is alien to me which is why i dont make eye contact. It's not a natural or needed habit.



gamefreak
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24 Jul 2007, 9:46 pm

Shyness



KingdomOfRats
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25 Jul 2007, 8:20 am

there should be an [other] thing,in the vote.

-Speech and language,some do not want to know am,when they find am non verbal,but if they got to know am,they would realise am can speak sometimes,just not as well as others,ignorants think NVers/Mutists are either ret*d or deaf,that says more about their own mental capacity than us.
am not like the usual friend stuff such as talking,so don't have any friends apart from I. [who am live with] as he accepts am and does not expect chats,am would prefer knowing others who like doing things [eg,going for mocha,looking for cats,going to park,going on walks etc] rather than talks,still prefer own company/ with animals though.



unnamed
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25 Jul 2007, 10:02 am

zee wrote:
Pandora wrote:
zee wrote:
My biggest concern is I have nothing to offer people in return. I can talk to people initially, but I can't develop friendships as I have nothing to give them, and I don't have interesting events in my day-to-day life that are worth talking about.

Oh dear! That's just what I feel a lot of the time, too.


I sometimes wonder if things would be different if we lived in a more archaic society... If there was more time devoted to working, especially in a community-based environment, and less time to stand around and talk, would things be different? Would we feel more accepted just knowing we were doing our part, and had our place in the world? Is that why AS is more prevalent today than it was 100 years ago?

I agree, Zee. Maybe back when everyone was busy just trying to stay alive, we'd have been utilized and valued based on our unique strengths, instead of being seen as superfluous and inconvenient because we prefer actually working to net-working.

I think my biggest obstacle is my lack of ability to share my interests with other people, and my lack of interest in other people, period!