Renzatic on 13/2/2014 at 17:29
Quote Posted by NuEffect
God yes.
This is what makes me Angry Cinema Man. People talking during the film is often not noticeable if you're focused on the film but I always get really irritated by it.
Probably because even if it's not noticeable, it's really goddamn rude. There's some shit you just don't do.
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And I notice simple things like the road surface changing when driving, a radio that's on too low to hear, etc.
Yup, so do I. There'll be times when I think I'm singing a song at random, then I turn up the radio and find out the song I've been singing is playing. All it means is you have extra sensitive hearing. Which I know I have, because this one friend of mine uses an old CRT monitor cuz he's a cheap bastard, and every time the screen displays mostly white (which pretty much happens everytime he's on the internet), it produces this high pitched, nearly intolerable "eeeeeeeeeeeeee" sound. It's like suddenly getting a case of super tinnitus, and it drives me up the wall.
Doesn't bother him, though, since he can't hear it at all.
SubJeff on 13/2/2014 at 17:50
Well this is the odd thing about it. I've always been able to "hear" electrics. Back in the day, in the African bush, the only thing that would be on in the house was the fridge. Or a fan, but that was plenty noisy. We often used candles or had only one light on in the house, and in Nigeria I never watched tv, at all (b&w effort, tiny, only ever had African fooball on it). We didn't get a vhs player til really late on so hardly ever watched films (which was elsewhere).
Yet when computers arrived (ZX81/Spectrum days) I'd know if one was on in a house the minute I entered. But I don't have good hearing. It's really bad actually and I can't hear people in loud nightclubs or crowds and so on. I frequently ask people to repeat themselves because I miss things. I've been formally tested, a few times, and my hearing is classed as "normal", but there are some things I don't hear well and others that I hear very well. I think it's something to do with the pitch. I hear high pitched stuff really well, bassier tones badly.
Renzatic on 13/2/2014 at 18:26
Yeah, so can I, and I'm pretty sure it's not all that out of the ordinary. Like I can tell if a TV gets turned on somewhere in the house, even if it's displaying nothing but a silent black screen. All electronics produce a comfortable, almost subliminal hum when they're getting power.
But the thing with autism and the accompanying visual/audial sensitivity isn't necessarily about what you notice, as much as how much all these various sights and sounds effect you. Like you could probably walk into a car factory, club, or some other bright, noisy place and not feel completely oppressed by the extreme amounts of stimuli around you. The strobe lights don't freak you out, the grinding metal noises don't overload your senses. To a point, you're able to filter it out.
Autistic people experience sensory overload from the smallest things. On the low end of the spectrum, large social gatherings can be a little uncomfortable and maybe a bit confusing, but they can deal with them. For people on the middle-high end, even normal everyday situations, like visiting an office full of people talking quietly amongst themselves, can be completely overwhelming and unbearable. The murmur of voices is too confusing, the lights too bright, the colors too bold. Everything mixes together, and feels chaotic. They don't have those mental filters most everyone else has, which has the effect of making them feel like they're being physically assaulted by their environment.
You might notice little things no one else does, but you probably don't feel like these little things are attacking you. That's the difference.
Also, clear out your damn inbox. :mad:
june gloom on 13/2/2014 at 20:17
Quote Posted by PigLick
(like dethtoll for example)
Hugs and kisses to you too Piggers.
Nicker on 13/2/2014 at 21:33
Quote Posted by PigLick
well said Scumble, and I do kinda get what you are saying. I often feel "on another plane" when relating to people, but I tag it down to my utter arrogance that I know better than them. Is that aspergers? I am a pompous didactic asshole at my worst, at my best I am a convincingly charming rogue, you know, the loveable kind.
Sounds more like Narcissistic Personality Disorder to me.
A friend of mine has a terminal case of NPD. Someone will throttle him in a fit of rage someday.
BTW - Scored a borderline 31.
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I am not one for small talk or chit-chat because honestly I find it boring, however I can come up with the goods in a social situation because I know whats expected.
Hello fellow functioning sociopath...
Harvester on 13/2/2014 at 22:47
Yep, confirmed Aspie here... I was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome when I was about 21, but my parents knew for far longer that there was something off with me. Like in kindergarten instead of playing with the other kids I kept walking in circles around the playground, because I didn't know how to deal with that many kids and social stimuli. In puberty I was very withdrawn and played video games most of the day, because I kept messing up social situations and got flack/bullied for it by other kids. Thankfully even then I had a small number of true friends who accept/ignore my idiosyncrasies.
I'm in the low end of the autism spectrum though and can function fairly well in social situations nowadays due to various therapies and lots of practice.
You guys were talking about enhanced sensory perception and I have that too, but for me it's not so severe that it's completely unbearable, but it can still be annoying. Whenever I visit a big city it's like an assault on the senses. When I visit Amsterdam I both enjoy the beautiful architecture and culture, and at the same time I'm always glad when I leave and glad I don't live there, it's just way too crowded and busy. When I was in Rome last time, it was just too much, it's so damn crowded that I couldn't even enjoy the centuries old architecture and culture even though it was gorgeous.
I also have these small weird things, for example when my wife said she wanted a clock on the wall, I demanded that it didn't have a seconds dial, only minutes and hours, because I keep staring at a moving seconds dial and it annoys me to no end. I also absolutely can't handle it if I can hear a clock tick.
With social situations, I know that I almost manage to behave completely normally, but not quite. I've noticed people behaving differently to me than they do to other people. I was frequently bullied because I behaved just a little bit differently than other people, it was the small things that they latched onto, like small nervous ticks or slightly different reactions to social situations. I was behind the curve with growing up, most people leave puberty and start behaving like adults at about 18, I was about 25 when I finally learned to behave like an adult and act reasonably normal in social situations.
The thing with social situations is, I know I don't manage to hide my autism completely and that makes me extremely self-conscious, but at the same time, I'm also that much of a people person that I don't like to sit in my house all day by myself and play video games (though I did when I was a teenager), that makes me feel lonely and miss other people. So I get out there and do stuff with other people, but fear that I'm not doing it right gnaws at the back of my mind. Come to think of it, the only people I regularly meet where that fear is completely absent are with my wife, my parents and a couple of my best friends.
When I went to clubs when I was younger, I both loved and hated it, because I love electronic music and to feel the bass reverbate through me, but at the same time I hated the busy crowd and staring eyes. What also didn't help is that I dance like a buffoon due to bad motor skills, another common trait of autism.
I've recently started a new job at an IT company and I'm doing pretty well so far, but at the same time I wonder if that's really true and if I'm not secretly annoying everyone with my slightly-but-noticeably-off behavior, and that maybe they're too polite to say anything about it. I like my job fairly well but I'm still very self-conscious if I'm doing things right.
Even on TTLG I'm interested to know if people notice anything weird about me, but at the same time I'm afraid of the answer. I beat myself up for social mistakes, I still blame myself for recently misinterpreting a social situation here and lashing out at NuEffect in a discussion about racism because he mentioned shaving his head and wearing a Lonsdale hoodie. That was probably my biggest blunder at TTLG, and I apologize again, NuEffect.
At the same time I can correct my own thoughts (also thanks to the therapy I've had) and can think that most people here probably don't have strong feelings about me, because I'm mostly a lurker and don't post nearly enough to either severely annoy or impress people. And it's only an Internet forum so most of the time I can let it go, but with my colleagues and extended family this sort of thing does keep bothering me and it's hard for me to let it go. But some autistic people just give up and play World of Warcraft all day, I've known some of those people, but I still like other people that much that I want to keep meeting them despite the near-constant fear gnawing at me that I'm not doing things right.
To end on a positive note, in my new job I enjoy the benefit of autism that we're really attentive to details. I'm asked to correct websites for spelling, grammar and layout before they go live, because I notice every little error, I'm anal that way. Today I corrected some errors in a brochure just before it went to the presses. That's something that can come in very handy in my line of work and gives me an edge over my co-workers, who might be great webdesigners but are prone to make errors. I've gotten a good review from my supervisors and everyone is friendly to me, and while that doesn't completely assuage my fears that everyone secretly hates me for acting weird, I'll keep soldiering on and try to do the best job I can.
And despite all this negativity on display in this post, I can actually say I'm happy. My wife loves me (and I her), we make enough money to get by, I've got friends and family that love me, the depression that I used to have is virtually gone, so all in all my life is generally fine and I'm thankful for all the blessings I've received. Took me a long time to get there though.
SubJeff on 13/2/2014 at 23:10
Quote Posted by Harvester
And despite all this negativity on display in this post, I can actually say I'm happy. My wife loves me (and I her), we make enough money to get by, I've got friends and family that love me, the depression that I used to have is virtually gone, so all in all my life is generally fine and I'm thankful for all the blessings I've received. Took me a long time to get there though.
How heartwarming. :D
I think this is all you can ask for in life really.
PigLick on 13/2/2014 at 23:43
And for the record Harvester, even though I know its just words, you come across as perfectly normal here on TTLG.
-er, which is a good thing?
PigLick on 13/2/2014 at 23:52
Quote Posted by Harvester
Like in kindergarten instead of playing with the other kids I kept walking in circles around the playground, because I didn't know how to deal with that many kids and social stimuli.
My eldest daughter was exactly like this, and moreso she also had a condition called "selective mutism" where she would absolutely not talk to anyone she wasnt very familiar with. We definitely thought that she was a high chance of autism. Many years later on though she is a confident student with a good circle of friends, involved in lots of extra curricular activities, and has no problems interacting with people (well no more than the normal teenager ;).
Aerothorn on 14/2/2014 at 02:37
This is the best book on the subject, for those interested:
(
http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Guide-Aspergers-Syndrome/dp/1843106698)
Yes, it's a spectrum, so by definition everyone registers somewhere on the continuum, but autism is not "shy nerd" or "nerd" at all and really shouldn't be conflated with these. Proper autism is a mass of many (seemingly unrelated) symptoms, whose connections are only somewhat understood and whose basis is still somewhat mysterious (different neurology, sure, but what forms that?).
Autism is also really, really shitty, despite some fringe benefits - a lot of people think it's like "oh ha ha you are diagnosably weird" without thinking just how alienating it is to be autistic. Even those who have learned a lot of coping mechanisms, like myself, still miss a lot of social cues or entire frameworks of thinking and can be shunned and/or abused as the result of miscommunication that results from that.
Being autistic means a lot of people are going to think you're a huge asshole, and if you're an assertive, aggressive person, even moreso.
