Vae on 13/2/2014 at 06:29

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16.

Thanks for the link, ZB.

hopper on 13/2/2014 at 09:21

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I got 18, which is so right in the humdrum middle it's not even funny.

I DEMAND A RECOUNT

And what does "fascinated by dates" mean, anyway? An unhealthy obsession with calendars? I had a hard time imagining that's even a thing, so I kept thinking they probably meant "data", such as statistical data. Which I actually am fascinated by. But "dates" - not so much.

scumble on 13/2/2014 at 10:45

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I am no Aspie poseur. I got 47.


Well, as Renzatic says, the idea that Aspies are just a bit shy kind of misses the point. I understand there was a bit of an Aspie fad but I didn't notice it myself.

The thing is, even shy nerds are motivated to share particular interests. If being an Aspie is causing functional problems then it tends to turn up as recurrent depression and meltdowns. The reason is often linked to sensory overload. The Aspies that I know that are closest to emulating "normal" are often close to a state of nervous breakdown.

The outward symptoms of being a bit shy tend to hide some of the problems. I realised that part of my problem with conversation is because my brain can't seem to do two things at once. It is difficult for me to figure out what I think about something when someone is presenting me with a new thing. If I've already got an opinion handy I can roll it out. However I think a lack of a response makes people think you aren't interested, when the reality is that an opinion might come to me hours or weeks later, by which time the context is so remote the realisation is frustratingly useless.

What I want to do is pause a conversation, wait a few hours and then resume it when my brain has sorted out what it thinks.

The same thing screws up group situations because I can't filter out background noise, and I can't prioritise information coming from parallel conversations. My usual response is to end up quiet, because by the time I've sorted everything out my response is too late because the conversation has moved on.

So people think I am either bored, rude, or stupid. Probably.

I have trouble with even feeling like I'm in the same plane as other people, as if "being in company" doesn't appear to work. I observe other people enjoying company but there's something missing with me that makes me remember social situations as if I'm a detached observer. I wasn't "with" people, I just happened to be in the same physical location as some other humans. I think I can only handle one person at a time. Any more than that tends to fry my brain.

Anyway, the reason I'm writing a small essay is that despite the facetiousness in the thread there is a serious note on going beyond the "shy nerd" thing. Oddly enough, this is just another surface generalisation which actually typical of "normal" people. If you come away with that idea of Aspies you've made a superficial judgement.

I think possibly what wasn't obvious in my time here is that this was often the only interaction I had with other minds. Written communication gives me enough delay time to be able to respond to something in my own time. The pressure of verbal conversation is often too much unless I'm talking about something I know backwards.

Chimpy Chompy on 13/2/2014 at 12:14

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The question that stood out for me was "I often notice small sounds when others do not." I get agitated by noises that seem to not bother other people. And have to fight back genuine physical anger at noises that other people seem to mark as "slightly annoying". I don't know tho if I'm just more sensitive to noise or worse at restraining angry reactions.

I scored about 30 on that test but I'm happy to admit just being a Shy Nerd.

N'Al on 13/2/2014 at 12:48

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[video=youtube_share;S4AmLcBLZWY]http://youtu.be/S4AmLcBLZWY?t=53s[/video]

(http://youtu.be/S4AmLcBLZWY?t=53s) http://youtu.be/S4AmLcBLZWY?t=53s

I scored 19.