Telltale from whose point of view? Are you trying to determine whether you yourself have AS, or whether someone else does? The diagnostic criteria are designed to diagnose other people, based on visible signs. There are other things, which are hard to see because sometimes people misinterpret someones actions.
Sometimes autistic people are mistaken for deaf when they don't respond to sounds. The person knows they can hear, but other people may not realize it.
Having a strong aversion to lying, hating the phrase "how are you?" and feeling like I am still a child even though I'm a grown-up are a few examples of traits I share with many people here, but people don't generally look for those as "telltale" signs in someone because they are hard to see (and quantify). I can easily see them in myself, but unless I report them, nobody else will be aware of them. They may see some secondary effects, such as a sense that I am stressed, but not know that it came from having to answer that "how are you?" question yet again.
16 Apr 2008, 8:32 pm
