Sheriff's Deputy and Aspie

Post Reply New Topic

I just wanted to introduce myself to the group. I grew up in the 80s and early 90s, so of course I was diagnosed with ADHD and Dyspraxia. As you can imagine, being misunderstood in law enforcement can have consequences.

Despite being a reliable "high performer", small complaints about people who think you were rude or insensitive can add up over time. This is after you KNOW you had the best intentions and try so hard to make sure you are saying and doing the right thing. My daughter was diagnosed as being on the spectrum and she is just like me. Good student, socially awkward.

I am in the process of getting officially diagnosed mostly for peace of mind, but if being misunderstood costs me another job, I will have a legitimate defense.

Hey, but when I read about Asperger Syndrome, it described me perfectly. It has also been the key to all the major success in my life. I look forward to learning more about this so I can develop better coping mechanisms and harness the advantages which come along with it.

Welcome! Your job sounds interesting. Good luck with getting diagnosed.

Hello and welcome

I always find it interesting when someone Aspie is doing a job I know I couldn't do. I have really good customer skills, I usually work in shops, but have no ability to read other people other than, they're crying, shouting, or smiling. How do you manage this? And how are you managing when people imply things rather than say them?

'Best intentions' you mean you think carefully what to say to offend nobody, say it equally carefully, and then everyone else reacts as if you've admitted to torturing little kittens so familiar.

'Harness the advantages'? The one I've gained from my diagnosis is communication with others on the spectrum who don't say 'You haven't got any problems, you're just difficult'.

Training is key to going through the motions in the every day environment. When you are, for instance, trained to spot threatening body language, you nail it. However, I still don't realize when someone is simply being rude a lot of times. Also, a couple of weeks ago in the jail, there was a guy who was acting upset and wanted to be placed in a different block.

I completely missed what he was saying when he said "It's too dark in here", as I thought he was referring to the lighting. I told him the lighting was the same in all the other blocks. Then he pulled down his shirt collar and showed me the Nazi SS tattoo he had on his chest. Ohhh! Ok, you mean there are too many black people and if they see that, you're in trouble.

I might be a veteran, but I will miss things if you don't just say what you mean. At least I had the wherewithal not to tell him I am a Sephardic Jew.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Thank you.

Welcome, NAC. I worked in law enforcement as well, and found the hierarchy and structure to be a comfort (along with the training - wouldn't life be simpler if we all got some training in how to handle social situations?)

Welcome to WrongPlanet.

Interestingly, I lived in Las Vegas from '06 to '08 and learned some social skills playing live poker, such as . . let a medium mistake merely stay a medium mistake. Please note, I do not necessarily recommend poker as an attempt to make money.

Never tried Poker. However, Miss Chess, that is interesting. Did you get a lot of piddly complaints after social interactions, but your actual work related stuff was golden?