Do Aspies tend to be scatterbrained?

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Hi, I'm new to this forum and think I have AS, but I'm not sure. However, it really does seem that I meet all the diagnostic criteria for AS, along with a lot of other stuff.

One of my worst characteristics is I am extremely scatterbrained, disorganized, and perhaps sometimes even absent-minded to some degree. I am very forgetful, lose things all the time, and have even been described as irresponsible and unreliable. There have been stretches of days where I have lost my car keys multiple days in a row. Although most people have a little bit of this, for me it's quite severe, to the point where people call me out on it. I've been told by some of my co-workers "I dont mean to be ugly, but we all know how forgetful you are and it'd be best we find someone else to do this because it's very important it get done". It makes one feel quite crappy when told he/she is unreliable/incompetent.

Another one of my unfavorable characteristics is I have a tendency to say things that either don't come out right or are totally inappropriate for that particular setting. I've been told my whole life "Think before you speak", but even doing so doesn't help. I can't even count how many times I've offended someone when that was not my attention at all. This happens espceically when I try to be "cute", or attempt to make a joke or clever come back. For others this comes so easily, but for me its a failure EVERYTIME. It almost seems I'd be best if I just give up trying to be funny. However, in some isntances it's almost a necessity, especially if you are talking to someone who happens to be smart-ass himself. You want to be able to come back with something clever, but for me I end up making a fool of myself. These situations are so common in my life because I work as a waiter at a restaurant, and you are constantly forced into these kind of situations.

Thanks for any feedback on this,
Tyler

im trin to get diagnosed too.
welcome to WP

This happens to my girlfriend on a regular basis, although her diagnosis of AS has not been confirmed. I'm not so absent minded, preferring the attitude that everything should have its place.

Ed Almos

I think I can safely say that you are not alone with this. I recently misplaced a friends PC-game (after forgetting even having borrowed it...for a year). After he reminded me that it was his, I started looking for it, just THEN completely forgetting about having used it recently, so it turned up, a week later, when I moved a piece of paper aside on my desk...after having looked for it all around my stuff for a week...

wish I was at times, however I end up organizing my self into nervous brake-downs. never been late for a meeting once in over 14years of attending 12 step meetings. I rise at the same time each day and put my lights out at the same time each night.....I wish I had at least a bit of flexibility to my routines at times.

You may have ADD - the inattention type instead of the hyperactive type. It makes it easy to become the "absent minded professor". That's a problem I have. I back myself up by placing things in the way so I won't forget them and by putting related things together. A psychologist should be able to tell you whether or not you have it.

You sound alot like Flakey (my boyfriend)..and kinda like me too....as far as the losing things go, he is almost helpless when it comes to finding things he has misplaced...That is part of the reason he keeps a low-functioning emotional basketcase adult-child like me around..I am very scatterbrained, but I have a serious knack for finding his lost objects....even though I am part of the reason why they are hard to find, since I am seriously disorganised...and do nothing to help his severe disorganization...
i try to be reliable..and whtnot..but it does not always work out..I have a really bad problem with dlly-dallying...i am not very structured at all...i am ADD diagnosed..with some AS traits....Flakey is very similar...

I do well at my job but, at home, I tend to be somewhat absentminded.

Roger Bannister claimed to be somewhat absentminded. He said he would misplace socks and that one time he was in a hurry to catch a train, and seemingly misplaced his collar. He discovered it under his arm. He claimed to be untidy. Somehow, I just don't believe it. Here was a man who was meticulous in his academic work and precise in his running.

I can identify with both your problems. I can't keep more than two or three things in my mind at once, and as soon as I remember or am told something else, one of the things I had my attention fixed on pops out of my brain! It has gotten so bad I have to put up Post-its everywhere and use every technology available to remind me of tasks both at work and at home.

As for humour, I've gotten better over the years, but occasionally I bungle a joke and it comes out as an insult instead. I must admit I've gotten much less talkative over the years, and these days, I'd rather think twice and let the opportune moment for cracking a joke pass by than risk putting my foot in my mouth.

"One of my worst characteristics is I am extremely scatterbrained, disorganized, and perhaps sometimes even absent-minded to some degree. I am very forgetful, lose things all the time, and have even been described as irresponsible and unreliable. There have been stretches of days where I have lost my car keys multiple days in a row. Although most people have a little bit of this, for me it's quite severe, to the point where people call me out on it. I've been told by some of my co-workers "I dont mean to be ugly, but we all know how forgetful you are and it'd be best we find someone else to do this because it's very important it get done". It makes one feel quite crappy when told he/she is unreliable/incompetent."


This is me. I suffer from severe scatterbrain syndrome. I have learned to laugh it off and blame it on the children, hormones, lack of sleep etc, but deep down, I feel a complete mess about it, at times.

I can never find anything, EVER. I always find myself stood looking around, not knowing what I was supposed to be doing, what I was thinking, where I was going etc. I often spend a great deal of time spitting out the whirl of thoughts that I do have because I am desperately trying to sort them midstream and usually forget what I was talking about because of all the other things going on.

Yesterday, I noticed I did not have my keys and couldn't even begin to imagine where they were, on the way out the door. I had the long drawn out "make sure you do not leave the house while I am due home, as I won't be able to get in" chat before leaving and then arrived at work wondering what the hell was wrong with my head, as without keys I HAVE NO WAY TO GET INTO MY OFFICE or MY Cupboards or drawers!! ! So, of course then, I had to run around looking for someone I could borrow a set from. Then, I left for lunch and returned to find I had locked THOSE keys in the office!! !! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! So I spent 1/2 hour running around searching for someone with a master key (which means management!! !) and well...yeah... you get my drift...

*sigh*

Big ol' mess I am

I am very scatttyyyyyyyyyyyyy

i am not poopylungstuffings bf, but i am also Flakey with a capital F.

i OFTEN do stuff like this: i am sitting at the computer. i think, hmm, i am hungry. i get up and head toward the fridge. i start humming a song and do a little dance on the way to the kitchen. i see a shiny object. i think, ooohhh pretty! i pick it up and wander back to the computer. when i see the computer, i remember i was hungry! and the loop repeats....

(i will do this upwards of 20 times some days before i complete the task i set out to!)

Yep..it is crazy the number of times i will walk to the back to get something specific, get completely distracted by something else, and then walk up to the front..with something else...several times before I actually get the thing that I was looking for..

I know that my mind tends to wander

It comes & goes for me. Some days I'm spot on, don't miss a beat & others I might as well have stayed in bed.