Which Asperger's stereotypes do you not exhibit?

Post Reply New Topic

I don't exhibit:

1/ lack of eye contact
2/ special interest in tech, engineering or maths
3/ avoid social interaction
4/ Bullied and teased
5/ can't read facial or body language

Being female
Being adult
Not being verbose (mostly the opposite)
Having a very low desire for social interaction
Rarely being "active but odd" (am usually passive)
Having slow speech and expressive language problems (unless with very familiar people)
Not very clumsy
Having interests that do not have more rote than meaning
Not being faceblind

I'm at the less AS end of the AS spectrum.
It's quicker for me to list the AS symptoms that I do have than those I don't.
So in spite of the question, this is the quickest answer :
I have : -

- Sensory integration issues : particularly auditory, olfactory and visual - but no tactile or vestibular issues.

- Social issues : always have had. I was never an absolute loner, and always had a very small 'circle' of friends (maybe that should be a triangle or square of friends).

- Executive dysfunction : I lack anything like the ability to control my own reactions/behaviours that I'd like. I have to work hard to motivate myself. I have to work hard on 'working memory' related issues (distractions, etc).

But I'm good at sports, I'm a good artist, musician, mechanic and computerguy - and I love science and philosophy.
I also love animals and people - I'm just not particularly adept at interfacing with the latter to a point where I can achieve something like a normal social life ... thankfully I don't need to be for the former.

Am female.
Am not good with math.
Do not avoid eye-contact, but my eye-contact is unusual.
Have terrible visual memory.
Do like to read fictional literature.

- I'm not 'socially inappropriate'. As in - I'm not rude or offensive, I don't overstep personal boundries or invade anyones space. If anything I'm overly polite.
- I'm not a maths whizz.
- I'm not completely face blind. I usually begin to recognise a face after meeting someone for the third time at the worst.
- I can follow fiction and stories surronding relationships.
- I don't have meltdowns if my routine is broken.
- I understand sarcasm, inuendo, metaphors and so-on.
- I do have a sense of humor now. I might not be mainstream, but it is there.

I'm not face-blind, actually I have a creepy memory for faces, once I had a good look at one I never forget it. I remember people I saw on a bus 10 years ago and stuff like that. most people get slightly freaked out when I tell them that I've seen them before years ago and that I can describe the whole situation in detail.

I also wouldn't say I lack sense of humour. I actually find it hard to be serious most of the time, I just find everything funny.

also, I'm not really big on routines. I have a few but they are flexible. I love change, as long as I'm the one who's in charge of it and it's not some outside force I have no control of.

my voice sounds normal too, I speak very fast and with words overlapping sometimes but in general it's just a regular voice.

I was crap at abstract maths, but great at geometry and stuff like probability and counting the odds.

recognising facial expressions I do have problems with, but probably less than I should according to the stereotype

-That I'm not creative (that's one of the main traits)
-That I can't think in a very original way (which I do)
-That I have a giant lack of empathy (I have more empathy than most people)

I will say yes to:

The 'little professor'
Poor physical coordination, including a bouncy walk
Unusual sense of humour
Fondness of routine
Intense hobbies
Irregular and nearly involuntary hand movements
Difficulty in socialising
Extreme difficulty in forming relationships
A mild sensitivity to being touched

But

I have no difficulty with metaphors or other figurative language
I can detect sarcasm
I do not have difficulty sleeping

I forgot:

I can understand sarcasm, even more, I've always been the sarcast and cynisist.
I can lie.
I am not naive any more.
When I like someone, I can be very social.

I don't think I'm all that attached to routines.
I'm willing to try new things (eat new foods, go new places, etc.).
I don't like math (but this could be from the way I was taught it when I was young).
I can detect sarcasm (usually), and be sarcastic myself.
I don't think my voice is unusual.

I thought I was good with faces, but I then took tests and it turns out I was very worse than the average in that, which impressed me...

I wouldn't mind eating chicken for the rest of my life, but I don't have any problem with varying dishes every day, all I hate is eating something I have never heard of, but that is normal I think.

I would no go into verbose monologues, but I do really can get into very long monologues inside my brain...

About routine, mine varies from day to day, but I wouldn't like it to get very different.

yes to:

perpetual stimming (twisting, swinging on my chair, tapping, chewing things, fingertwisting, flapping in meltdowns)
prefer my own company
crave solitude
sensory integration problems
little philosopher
attracted to patterns in everything
visual thinker to the extreme
hypersensitive with all senses bar taste (hyposenstive there.)
obsessive special interests that are also used to calm self down.
meltdowns
inability to regulate emotionale responses.
great difficulty with more subtle emotions (not in my emotional vocabulary. it is as if they are completely absent)



NO to:

i am not an introvert. (good to read recently that AS extroverts do well and truly exist.)
i can read facial expressions excellently (but only if they are not talking.)
i never forget a face -ever. (i can walk up to someone and tell them i have seen them before and where -even if it was 15 years past, in an obscure cafe or something. i pull this mindless bit of info out of my visual memory bank, which is founded on a movie screen in my mind.)

Well, I like metaphors, symbolism, allegory, art, creativity, transferring visually...seeing the same shape over and over in different places and connecting the dots, sorta. It's stuff Aspies aren't supposed to be good at but I love that stuff. I also don't mind using words like "love", "hate", "sad", "happy"...the emotional words don't flinch me.
I have a decent imagination and value it in others.
All the negative stereotypes about Asperger's and socializing, sadly, apply to me, not because I want them too, more because I feel lost and like I can't do anything about it.

according to my friends i care alot about others (i have a n inferiority complex so i always deny everything they say) i can get along with a whole lot of people and i can have a conversation with a complete stranger, i can generally handle things that fall outside my routine, i can lie (people claim aspies are always honest), i go out at nights and socialize with people on occasion. i do not drive my parents crazy all the time (i have younger siblings for that).