AS and Exaggeration

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When stressed or upset, is it common for an Aspie to exaggerate when responding to questions like "What did you do last night when I was gone and why was the door locked?" or "Why didn't you answer my call?"

When I say exaggerate, I mean: 1. Adding a few things to the story that are not true (example: My aunt told me that I could buy them----My Aunt really didn't say a thing) and 2. Changing things around (example: The jeans at Hot Topic cost $40---the jeans at JCPenny's really cost $50).

I often exaggerate during arguments and bad situations. When things are going good, I do not exaggerate. Please tell me if this is common.

Thanks.

Actually, from what I've seen on these and other forums, folks on the spectrum tend not to lie. I tend to be pretty straight forward; however, if the truth would cost me my job, then a lie is all in the interest of survival.

I would agree, and I would add that a lot of us view rhetorical devices like exaggerating and hyperbole as forms of lying and tend to react poorly to them.

Ahh, I tend not to lie either. I hate lying!

Strangely, I feel that my exaggerations are a bit different because it is a way I can take control of my stories. Although I feel good when I do it, I feel very bad after I do it, so it is a habit. Is there any other Aspies who have this problem?

If I've said it once, I've said it a bazillion times - There has absolutely, positively never been any valid material evidence that links AS/ASD with making exaggerations!

Okay then. It is a bad habit that I have and I need to stop it...now. This type of exaggeration is very sneaky because my parents and aids cannot tell if I lied. Examples: My dad was not there on my vacation to see how much the "now broken" souvenir really costs and I trashed the receipt at the store(I used cash). Dad did not know that there was a cheaper souvenir I could have purchased. If I told Mom I made over 8 mistakes in my lesson, she cannot tell I am exaggerating because she was not at my lesson.

Okay then. It is a bad habit that I have and I need to stop it...now. This type of exaggeration is very sneaky because my parents and aids cannot tell if I lied. Examples: My dad was not there on my vacation to see how much the "now broken" souvenir really costs and I trashed the receipt at the store(I used cash). Dad did not know that there was a cheaper souvenir I could have purchased. If I told my aid that I made only 2 mistakes during my guitar practice, she cannot tell I am exaggerating because she was not there. I really made 4 mistakes.

Why does this exaggeration habit need to stop now? Because you might think I have exaggerated the info on this post...like the boy who cried wolf.

Luckily, I am very honest and I never lie when things are going okay. It is just when I am having a bad day/time.

am going to start this in a order from the begining because am on night meds which makes head all over the place,so apologise if it sounds like am patronizing and already know any of this.

#people on the spectrum by default at any level are recognised as having a developmental delay.
one of the delays that affects us is with lying,the majority of us adults are either completely unable to lie at all to any level,or are terrible at lying at come out with it badly,or they grass themselves up when they have told a lie about something bad they have done.

#spectrumers have various issues that affect the ability to lie including ToM,lack of social rules awareness/understanding,rigid thought process,rigid rule and moral following,difficulties with concepts,and imagination impairment; being the spectrum everyone is affected by traits to different levels and some not at all, with the imagination impairment for example it affects our ability to think in anything but honesty and it is very difficult to understand when other people lie because; it isnt the truth and does not exist,it isnt moraly right or honest.there is a saying; if have not got anything good to say dont say anything at all, that is a more helpful rule to go by than lie to people if it makes them feel better.
people on the spectrum also often believe strongly in not telling lies,as a personal rule for themselves to follow.

if it feels like a compulsion to make these lies it may be pathalogical lying but its something shoud speak to pysch about for an explanation if are seeing one,if are not currently seeing a doc,will speak to mine on tuesday? shes an LD pyschologist that see twice a week and knows her stuff.
woud have to PM on tues though for answer if wanted it as have got a damaged short term memory and wont remember this from leaving this post let alone until tues.

its possible,because are only ever stressed at the point of lying,that these are used as something to focus on,a pyschologicaly projecting coping strategy of some form.

I found a scholarly article from Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, 2012 which states:

"Remarkably, lying is not a common phenomenon amongst normal and intelligent human beings who are on the autism spectrum."

http://link.springer.com/article/10.100 ... 3-7#page-1

It was referenced from here:

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?start ... 8&as_vis=1
(4th link down).

I'm sorry, but the winking smiley ( ) should have given away that I was joking.

I've had to stop and correct myself on many occasions for exaggerating.

While there may be a link, I think that my using exaggerations has more to do with wanting to keep my audience's attention, rather than any comorbidity with AS/ASD.

Like I said, these exaggerations are small tall tales. Tall tales are lies and I AM very bad at lying. Anybody can tell when I lie because my behavior gives it away (as if I got a black-light stamp at an amusement park). The truth always comes out no matter what and nothing is hidden because it will always be found. I never explained how often I exaggerate...I exaggerate 2-3 times a month because things are working out good. I know that I can stop exaggerating and I will not give up.

Ummm, could you please explain point 1 again? This reads like you spent someone's money without permission.

No I don't do that. I tend to exaggerate when it comes to feelings but I think that is normal. It does seem that way for me so it's not like I am lying. Very common in anxiety.

Okay, maybe that was a bad example. No, I did not spend money without permission.

Here is a better example for point 1: "It took me an hour to get to the music store because of traffic---It really took me an hour and a half to get to the music store because of traffic." Or: "It took me an hour to get to the music store because of a closed road---It really took me an hour to get to the music store because of traffic jam." Remember, this is an example of an exaggeration, it didn't really happen.

Outside of "survival" situations, I don't lie too much, and when I do, it's terribly transparent and often for a laugh (e.g. I might tell someone a ridiculous fact to see if they'll believe it... But i always come clean quickly).
In terms of exaggeration: if I'm really upset, I'll exaggerate, but it feels like the truth (e.g. I remember being upset with an old gf about something she did wrong (littering) and, when she minimized my concern, I broke down and complained that she always minimized her behavior, even though there was maybe only one prior instance of this). Even then, though, I correct myself more often than not.

Last edited by NEtikiman on 15 Jun 2013, 6:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Okay, so you feel the need to change the story from reality for no apparent reason, why?

This does'nt sound Aspie-related.