Aspergers vs pdd-nos and sustaining conversation

Page 1 of 2 [ 30 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

dobrolvr
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

User avatar

Joined: 31 Oct 2011
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Posts: 211

20 Jun 2012, 9:34 pm

So, I was talking with someone and she was discussing her nephew, who has been recently diagnosed as being on the spectrum. She said the first doctor he saw diagnosed him with Asperger's, while his most recent diagnosis is pdd-nos. Apparently the second Dr. said his initial diagnosis of Asperger's was incorrect, simply sue to the fact that he was able to carry on a conversation. The second Dr. stated that individuals with Asperger's aren't able to sustain a conversation longer than about ten minutes. What do you think of this? I personally know I'm more than capable of carrying on a conversation...Plus, how can he rule out the AS diagnosis because of this one thing?



ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 18 Jun 2008
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,265

20 Jun 2012, 9:37 pm

I agree completely with that especially when younger. I could not keep people interested in conversing with me. In fact, they often didn't want to be around me more than a few minutes at a time. They said I could be handled only in small doses.



Kinme
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 13 Apr 2012
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Posts: 4,002
Location: Spaghetti

20 Jun 2012, 9:41 pm

As a kid, I don't think I was able to at all. I had no interest in talking; I was interested in, obviously, my special interests. I can now, though. Really depends on the person I'm talking to and the subject we're conversing about.



Azereiah
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

User avatar

Joined: 17 Jun 2012
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Posts: 237

20 Jun 2012, 9:43 pm

I can talk your ear off on one subject any day, with any subject.
I have AS.

That second guy may not have read up on it enough >_>



btbnnyr
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 18 May 2011
Gender: Female
Posts: 7,359
Location: Lost Angleles Carmen Santiago

20 Jun 2012, 10:37 pm

I can sustain a conversation for moar than 10 minutes. When I really get into it, I can sustain a conversation for moar than 10 hours. I have sustained a conversation for moar than 10 hours, ackshuly, on a train from DC to Chicago and with a stranger.

How old is the nephew? As a child, I couldn't sustain a conversation for even a minute.



again_with_this
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 13 Jun 2012
Age: 41
Gender: Male
Posts: 780
Location: New Jersey, USA

20 Jun 2012, 11:03 pm

This is a good question, and I'd have to counter with this:

QUESTION FOR EVERYONE HERE:

A lot of the responses to this post are "I can talk for hours about a subject I like," or, "People were the ones who didn't want to talk with me." But remember, you're not the one starting the conversation in this scenario. In terms of basic chit-chat, how long can you keep it going? And how long does it stay smooth? Supposing someone wants to talk to you, but not about anything you're interested in.



League_Girl
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 4 Feb 2010
Gender: Female
Posts: 27,205
Location: Pacific Northwest

21 Jun 2012, 12:38 am

I can only keep a conversation going if I am interested in what we are talking about. Other than that I cannot do it. But then again what is the difference between an NT not keeping it going and me? I often find other people are the ones who can't keep it going with me. Online my online friends would tell me they can tell I have it because I barely talk. I tell them they barely talk to me and so why are they saying I don't do it if they are that way themselves.

Plus I have read that either aspies are excessive talkers or talk too little. I tend to talk too much and then too little. It's hard for me to end a conversation when I am into it and am enjoying our visit. I have gone back to work late after my break had ended 15 minutes ago.


_________________
Son: Diagnosed w/anxiety and ADHD. Also academic delayed.

Daughter: NT, no diagnoses.


Dillogic
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 24 Nov 2011
Gender: Male
Posts: 9,339

21 Jun 2012, 1:01 am

It's called a lack of reciprocal interaction. A core deficit in AS and AD.



Verdandi
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 7 Dec 2010
Age: 54
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,275
Location: University of California Sunnydale (fictional location - Real location Olympia, WA)

21 Jun 2012, 1:13 am

A lot of conversations stress me out the longer they don't touch on my interests. I either lose interest or find a way to work my interest into the conversation.

I think one of my paratransit drivers is an Aspie. We always end up talking about trains, construction equipment, weather, and earthquakes.

Also, I think one of the things about therapy that kept me going last year was that it was my only real world outlet to talk about autism. Fortunately, it actually helped me. I don't think it qualified as "conventional talk therapy," though.



Shellfish
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 6 Nov 2011
Age: 47
Gender: Female
Posts: 485
Location: Melbourne, Australia

21 Jun 2012, 1:44 am

Azereiah wrote:
I can talk your ear off on one subject any day, with any subject.
I have AS.

That second guy may not have read up on it enough >_>


Talking someone's ear off isn't having a conversation, a conversation is a back and forth discussion


_________________
Mum to 7 year old DS (AS) and 3 year old DD (NT)


mike1944
Hummingbird
Hummingbird

User avatar

Joined: 7 Jun 2012
Age: 68
Gender: Male
Posts: 21
Location: Riverside

21 Jun 2012, 1:58 am

More fodder for the discussion: "in terms of basic chit-chat," I can converse for as long as it may be interesting, which it often isn't. Depends on the other person. I can chat for hours with my supervisor at work as well as with another certain co-worker. I enjoy the company of smart, funny people. Just don't put me in a room with a group of people for too long. Have no interest in trains or construction equipment. Weather and earthquakes are occasionally of general interest to many, not just Aspies. I'm diagnosed as on the spectrum.


_________________
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
-- Dr. Hunter S. Thompson


Who_Am_I
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 27 Aug 2005
Age: 40
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,632
Location: Australia

21 Jun 2012, 2:08 am

Shellfish wrote:
Azereiah wrote:
I can talk your ear off on one subject any day, with any subject.
I have AS.

That second guy may not have read up on it enough >_>


Talking someone's ear off isn't having a conversation, a conversation is a back and forth discussion


This. Talking someone's ear off is monologuing.
I can do that very well. Conversing, not so well.


_________________
Music Theory 101: Cadences.
Authentic cadence: V-I
Plagal cadence: IV-I
Deceptive cadence: V- ANYTHING BUT I ! !! !
Beethoven cadence: V-I-V-I-V-V-V-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I
-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I! I! I! I I I


Verdandi
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 7 Dec 2010
Age: 54
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,275
Location: University of California Sunnydale (fictional location - Real location Olympia, WA)

21 Jun 2012, 3:15 am

mike1944 wrote:
More fodder for the discussion: "in terms of basic chit-chat," I can converse for as long as it may be interesting, which it often isn't. Depends on the other person. I can chat for hours with my supervisor at work as well as with another certain co-worker. I enjoy the company of smart, funny people. Just don't put me in a room with a group of people for too long. Have no interest in trains or construction equipment. Weather and earthquakes are occasionally of general interest to many, not just Aspies. I'm diagnosed as on the spectrum.


Trains are not interesting to me, although construction equipment is. Both weather and earthquakes are an interest.

The guy I'm talking about speaks in monotone, recites information as a list of facts, and tends to talk my ear off. I forgive the trains because I subject him to my interests. Plus the weather and earthquakes are interesting for both of us. I didn't think he was an Aspie because of the things he talked about, though. There's more stuff, like his expressions and such as well as the other things I mentioned.



OJani
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 23 Feb 2011
Age: 50
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,505
Location: Hungary

21 Jun 2012, 3:49 am

Usually I find small-talk (chit-chat) difficult. With an average person it would be no more than 3 minutes (at the very best). If I know the person well and we have interests in common it can be much more than that. If I'm allowed to speak freely about my interests it can take hours in a row. When I'm with a group of people on an ASD meetup I can participate in the conversation but occasionally I would space out, relaxing my visual senses, in oder to preserve my ability to listen to them. With my closest friends I don't think I have any problem at all. Our communication styles are similarly off.

I'm diagnosed with PDD-NOS, and to be honest, I don't give a s**t for diagnostic labels on the spectrum. They are vague at best.


_________________
Another non-English speaking - DX'd at age 38
"Aut viam inveniam aut faciam." (Hannibal) - Latin for "I'll either find a way or make one."


Verdandi
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 7 Dec 2010
Age: 54
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,275
Location: University of California Sunnydale (fictional location - Real location Olympia, WA)

21 Jun 2012, 6:37 am

OJani wrote:
I'm diagnosed with PDD-NOS, and to be honest, I don't give a sh** for diagnostic labels on the spectrum. They are vague at best.


I still like the analogy on the DSM-5 rationale page where the quote was something like "Trying to distinguish different ASD diagnoses is like trying to cut meatloaf at the joints."



Atomsk
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 9 Apr 2008
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,423

21 Jun 2012, 7:28 am

again_with_this wrote:
This is a good question, and I'd have to counter with this:

QUESTION FOR EVERYONE HERE:

A lot of the responses to this post are "I can talk for hours about a subject I like," or, "People were the ones who didn't want to talk with me." But remember, you're not the one starting the conversation in this scenario. In terms of basic chit-chat, how long can you keep it going? And how long does it stay smooth? Supposing someone wants to talk to you, but not about anything you're interested in.


If it's small talk, basic chit chat, or whatever, with me it does not last long, unless the other person is very persistent and keeps asking questions and all that, and I keep answering them. But often, it will peter out fast - my answers are often very brief, or weird, or unrelated. I also often use gibberish when talking. So to answer your questions: -I- rarely keep it going beyond maybe "hello" (the other person must do the asking). It's also not smooth at all.