I think it's because some Aspies like to know they're not alone. I know my one friend is on the spectrum, and possibly someone where I work and also possibly someone I went to college with. I'm trying to figure out also if they too are on the spectrum.
My one friend from church I think is on the spectrum. He typically bugs people and many people say he's a pest. His social interaction isn't very awkward but it's different (he's 40, so he has a lot of life and social experience, despite his difficulty), he complains to me about anxiety, obsesses about the topic he's on, he can get very close and invades personal space. I haven't been able to figure out what are his interests, but he likes to write poetry, and is quite good at it.
The person I work with is a around my age. He's a nice person, he doesn't make too much eye contact, but it's hard to notice that he doesn't. He makes a little small talk, but frequently obsesses about whatever he's doing with his computer or network or something technology. Hard to get a word in when he's talking about that, and hard to get him to even slightly change the path of conversation. He doesn't invade personal space too much, but he's in your face.
The person I knew in college was definitely odd. He was around my age too. He was very very quiet, didn't use too much eye contact, dressed kind of goth, liked a kind of techno called "industrial", and seemed like he found it funny if a person were to get hurt. We took the same electronics program in college, and would occasionally talk, when we would talk, about creating devices to destroy things or hurt people. I remember once he was talking about getting a flasher from a camera, putting it at one end of a tube, having the unsuspecting user look into the other end, and seemed to get enjoyment out of the fact that it would temporary blind the unsuspecting user. He had a laptop and used it frequently, and once seemed to take great pleasure in the fact that he knew a girl on the internet who could create a virus that would use so much resources that it would cause the computer to burn up. I remember reading on his web site that he likes electronics, and remember reading somewhere he posted that he suffers from social anxiety disorder, which got me into reading about it and very aware of my mental state. He'd give me rides to college each day and would blast his techno music in the car. He was into goth girls too. He was one odd fellow, but I'm willing to bet he had AS too.
What all three of these people have in common is that they all give you the impression they are "different, weird, or odd". But these three people are all completely different from each other with completely different personalities and likes. These three people have some degree of a misunderstanding of social rules, and all have a different tone to their voice compared to neurotypicals. I'm not, nor mean to, judge these people in a negative way. Since interacting with someone on the spectrum is not a common occurrence to me, I like to try and figure these people out so I can learn something about not only them, but myself as well. I suppose my view of people is like a neurotypical's view, but I know that from my perspective, I don't see the oddness about myself, but others do.
13 Mar 2011, 4:24 pm
