Can people with Aspergers still be social?

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tasbro
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31 Dec 2010, 8:39 am

If your son is anything like I was then the social skills may have just been trained. I can come across as social when I need to, but when I get home for the day I sit at my computer playing games most of the time.

I am also familiar with the Runescape game that your son plays. It has actually been around since I was younger then him, and I'm 26 now. I found that as a teenager, and still into my adult years that I could socialize pretty well when playing an online game such as World of Warcraft or Runescape. You tend to not feel the social awkwardness when chatting with somebody through an avatar. They don't see your awkward behavior, your lack of eye contact, etc. Even to this day I can't engage in social situations well, but still love rambling on to people on online games.



CaptainTrips222
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31 Dec 2010, 9:25 am

Callista wrote:
The doctor's the one who's clueless! At sixteen, your son has most likely learned a lot about social interaction. If he was diagnosed with AS, I'm going to assume no speech delay, no developmental delay. Plus, he's had sixteen years in which to study the neurotypicals and learn how to communicate with them. That's a pretty intensive course of training. Chances are he can interact at a casual level, have a conversation, answer and ask questions, get information, probably make friends.

Transitions often do trigger meltdowns in Aspie teens. Having to get off the computer, stop doing something you really enjoy, especially with no warning--that can be really jarring. Often takes me anywhere from two to six hours to manage it...


Really? From what I've read, you don't sound like you'd have any strong spectrum traits. Of course, articulacy can be deceiving.



ruveyn
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31 Dec 2010, 11:09 am

Old Aspies (I am one) can adapt to the NT world. They will have the appearance of being more sociable. It is a matter of picking up on the externals of sociability. When people move to different countries most adapt and learn the language and the customs of their new country. In a similar way, Aspies can learn some of the body language and customs of the NT world they find themselves in. For them learning is harder. It does not come "naturally".

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anbuend
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31 Dec 2010, 11:24 am

CaptainTrips222 wrote:
Callista wrote:
The doctor's the one who's clueless! At sixteen, your son has most likely learned a lot about social interaction. If he was diagnosed with AS, I'm going to assume no speech delay, no developmental delay. Plus, he's had sixteen years in which to study the neurotypicals and learn how to communicate with them. That's a pretty intensive course of training. Chances are he can interact at a casual level, have a conversation, answer and ask questions, get information, probably make friends.

Transitions often do trigger meltdowns in Aspie teens. Having to get off the computer, stop doing something you really enjoy, especially with no warning--that can be really jarring. Often takes me anywhere from two to six hours to manage it...


Really? From what I've read, you don't sound like you'd have any strong spectrum traits. Of course, articulacy can be deceiving.


Are you serious? Writing ability says nothing at all about how strong a person's traits are. It doesn't even mean the person can always write that well or that they can write at all outside certain topics at certain points in time. I'm surprised to see that assumption on this site.


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Reptillian
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31 Dec 2010, 11:59 am

@dyingofpoetry
Now, looking back into how some people are willing to achieve their dream despite the effort that they need to be willing to put themselves, I guess it's quite honorable to hear about someone who is willing to push themselves despite the fact that a certain activity that may be found so stressful. As for that topic, I used to be somewhat like that as a kid when I had this remaining feeling of loneliness till I find myself losing interest fast into having friends. I just had never heard about a case of a person who is stressed out from being social while wanting to have friend, but I did hear about loners being stressed out from being social while I did hear about those who are deeply wanting to connect wants to have friend although they do enjoy socializing. Aspergers sounds a bit interesting from here. I'll go take a look deeper to aspergers then.