Why am I so well adjusted?

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Second nature... hmmm... it seems like I know the proper context in which to use that phrase, but for some reason I have no idea what it actually means. I often use words, or phrases in the proper context without knowing the meaning. I think I assume that because I know where to put a word that I also know what it means. However, as soon as someone asks what it means I get very puzzled. My docotr says I parrot a lot, something I never realized I did until recently.

What is an empath? Is that like being a psychic? It makes me think of the word empathy, which I don't believe actually exists - I don't think I am able to.

Tha apple of one's eye... that is one that has been explained to me when I was young, so I can parrot the meaning. It means someone, or something you are very fond of. However, it makes no sense at all as a phrase. I mean... uggg, no one actually has an apple in, or connected to their eye. There is also no actual part of the human optical system that is referred to as an apple. The only thing on the human body commonly referred to as an apple is the Adam's Apple and if that were to suddenly be anywhere near my eye then I would not be too fond of anything. This phrase really bugged me as a kid, when I heard it more often, and I could never figure out which part of the eye they are actually referring to.

O.K. So far I have lost three of these. I am trying to post a verbal pic of GA.

Here we go again



I am a novice at this so forgive me if it doesn't work. Also, I made a mistake on number one = should be "a lot."

I think GA is a lot like us. Just because you have adapted to a characteristic doesn't mean you don't have it. The sunglasses are a dead giveaway that eye contact is an issue. You found ways of dealing with what was uncomfortable, but if those things were removed, you might be uncomfortable again.

I bet GA also has adapted ways of managing overstimulation or intense emotion that seem normal in much the same way as my white noise fetal position or hitting my head seemed normal to me.

And the intense focus also has to do with inordinate interest in something, be it object (or parts thereof) or person, which, come to think of it, seems very much like the description of an avid hobbyist.

GA, do you have any hobbies?????


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An empath is someone who picks up other people's emotions. I can't stand it because sometimes I think the emotion is mine and I am tempted to act on it. I pick up anxiety, mania and depression pretty easily. Disorganization too. Some things I have picked up I couldn't identify. Those were most disconcerting.

Some people tell me this is a gift. To me it is a curse. Why should I feel sad if I am not sad?

What is a "verbal pic?"

I understand the empath thing now and I think that is different than the empathy that NT's say we lack, that I don't even believe exists. Sometimes if someone is nervous, or depressed I can't be around them. It sometimes feels as if the atmosphere changes and I start feeling stressed out, or something. If my mom is complaining about something (an injury, arthritis, etc...) I get so overwhelmed with this unpleasant feeling that I can't descibe, that usually I end up telling her something like how negative she is all the time. I have never given this stuff much consideration though.

Were you ever like any of these things you're not now? There's a lot of problems from having AS that I used to have that I've learnt to get over. You'll always have AS, but some get better adjusted to it than others as they experience more in life. One nurse I had questioned whether I had it because she says that everyone else she knew with it didn't have empathy. But that's something I kinda learned, and to tell you the truth, what people think is empathy isn't so much empathy as is the fear of criticism. Just because you show empathy or a lack of any other symptom of having AS, it could be in a different way to NTs, or you express things in a way that make people think you don't have a problem.

Nowadays most people who know me say that I seem like a normal enough person, but unlike most other people who are like that, I don't take 'being normal' for granted, and it takes a lot of hard work. But I still have AS because if I didn't, a lot of these things I wouldn't have had to learn the hard way. It wasn't always like this for me, and a few years ago no one including myself ever thought it was possible to come out of my worst problems, but I did. And if I can, anyone can.

It's a shame the "support group" wasn't more helpful. It could partly be that a lot of the people were far less severely affected and didn't understand about executive dysfunction.

Also, I think it is easy for people to just jump in with solutions when somebody else has a problem that they think should be simple to solve. For instance, I have what almost amounts to a phone phobia. At times it is so bad, I won't even ring members of my own family.

Of course, this causes a real problem when things in my house break and need fixing if I have to call a repair person. Most of the time, I just find this too hard.
It is not because I don't have the physical skills to look up the number, dial it and pick up the receiver.

It is because I get afraid of the conversation going wrong and not having the ability to handle this. I don't like asking other people for help with this as they would think I was being silly (and some do when they find out about this - they cannot believe that it is such a worry)

I suppose you would get a similar situation with cooking, cleaning and the like. It is not so much the inability to perform the physical actions needed to do these things; it is the inability to plan the various steps and carry them out in sequence. This is particularly the case if there are unexpected interruptions which we often find hard to deal with at the best of times.

I do the exact same thing. I find it so difficult to use the phone unless the conversation is likely to be very structured, so I am easily able to understand what is being said, and have the appropriate verbal responses prepared. If the conversation takes a turn I am not expecting, I start having to ask the person I am talking to to repeat themselves so that I can understand them, and I feel that I end up looking stupid.



Absolutely. I am physically capable of doing household chores, but my brain cannot handle the steps needed in order to complete, or even start, the chore. I will sit and try to get my thoughts in order, but just end up feeling anxious about the fact that I am having difficulty knowing where to start. This gives the impression of laziness - I'm embarrassed about the fact that my mum used to come over and tidy up for me. Now I am living with my partner, he is getting used to my difficulty in this area and in order to have me help out around the house, asks me to do one very specific task at a time - in other words he breaks down and prioritises the tasks for me. I wish I could manage it myself, it is something I find a little embarrassing.

I am not familiar with the term "executive dysfunction," however my doctor has told me that I have no executive function and am not capable of seeing my plans as a completed work in my mind before I have actually finished. He said more stuff, but I am tired and having difficulties with memory access at the moment.

I get the phone phobia too. My family usually calls my companion because if they try to call me I will usually just stare at the phone until it stops ringing. I rarely call anyone other than my companion.

A verbal picture is one created more with words than graphics. I don't know how to upload the image. I can figure these things out if I think about them, but right now my brain isn't working because I am about 36 hours without sleep at this point, and still have 8 hours of work to get through.

Neuroman gives too many things too much thought too often.
Hazard of having a lot of folds in your brain.

I hate situations where I feel stupid, or ret*d, even though I may be smarter than the people around me. My doc says (I know, I say "my doc says" a lot) that is usually a social issue, but it has also happened when I am simply able to do something at an expert level, but have no idea what I am technically doing and then someone wants to discuss the technicalities with me. Uhhh, I guess that is social as well...

I have often been told that I over-analyze certain things, but that is often needed for me to simply comprehend some of those things. Parts of my brain have to work harder than the others.

O.K., I couldn't stand it any longer. This is from businessballs.com:

apple of his eye/apple of your eye/apple of my eye - a person much adored or doted on, loved, held dearly, and central to the admirer's affections and sensitivities - the 'apple of his eye' expression first appeared in the Bible, Deuteronomy, chapter 32, verse 10, in which Moses speaks of God's caring for Jacob: "He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye". Brewer's 1870 dictionary of Phrase and Fable describes the 'apple of the eye' expression (or apple of your eye, apple of his/her eye, apple of my eye) as being a metaphor based on the pupil's significance within the eye. The theory goes that in ancient times the pupil of the eye (the black centre) was thought to be a small hard ball, for which an apple was a natural symbol. Logically the pupil or apple of a person's eye described someone whom was held in utmost regard - rather like saying the 'centre of attention'. Strangely Brewer references Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 3, which seems to be an error since the verse is definitely 10.

OK, it still makes no sense.

After reading that and confirming the definition I have been familiar with for the last 3 decades, I still have trouble visualizing an apple in someone's eye. Actually I have a very distinct visual image of a large red apple covering a persons eye. The peot in me can think of many deviations of this phrase and how they could be used to even insult people. I think what is hard to understand about it is the fact that the meaning of the phrase does not match the visual imagery it provokes, or it's obvious deficiency in the area logic.

The pic didn't display properly... Email it to me if you'd like (email addy in the profile, hopefully it'll be working by then)

Hobbies, I have a few hobbies I guess... I love Star Trek, I play games(computer), I read books, I create images on the computer, stuff like that. But (barring Trek, which is my obsession) I can easily get bored with any of those interests and I'll move to something else...

GA

Did you say Trek was your - obsession ???

Hm. Raises another question. Wonder how many Trekkies are NDs?