So recently I read a few articles on how autism presents in women, and how often they're a lot better at picking up social queues because they're taught to. For a while I've been wondering about whether I might have autism. I haven't had the chance to see a doctor yet, but I though some people might be able to help me out on some questions.
The reasons I've considered that I might have autism: I have issues with volume control (either too quiet or too loud, but it takes me a while to notice either). It's very difficult for me to parse verbal speech (often I need to watch a person's lips moving for at least part of the time, which makes it really hard to make eye contact), and it's very hard for me to speak normally (I either can't get involved in the conversation or start talking way too much and find it difficult to let others into the conversation) and I take a lot of comfort in being wildly obsessed with things. I find it hard to tell when I've been mean to someone, so I just overcompensate and try not to get in people's way so they will like me. These all seem like things I've heard about autism.
Why I'm not sure: In general I'm ok with social skills. Usually I scope out people from afar and once I've decided to be friends with someone I can usually do so. I'm fairly good at understanding people, but it comes from a lot of observation. Like, A LOT. Basically constantly. I write stories, and often I try to remember specific conversations that I weave into them so I can rehash what people have said to me and what it says about them over and over. Quite frankly this sort of thing, just trying to identify different personality traits and what they say about people is one of my main obsessions, and I've gotten very good at it, and one of the main things that autism sites say is that autistic people usually don't have social imagination. Can anyone with experiences with autism tell me their take on this?
22 May 2016, 1:49 pm
