What is aspergers syndrome

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The one question that is bugging me is what is aspergers symdrome? I know it is some type of autism but what isit really?

The only consistent thing I've noticed is that people with AS don't seem to be able to filter out and ignore contradictions and injustices like everybody else. They also tend to be contadictory people in themselves and this makes existence rather difficult.

The definitions I've seen feature many character traits which are paradoxical:

Loneliness, need for companionship
Need for intellectual independence, fear of being physically touched
Shakiness, weak hands and poor co-ordination
Unusual artistic or musical talents
Forthright honesty
Need to 'fit in'
Not caring at all
Caring too much, obsessions
Not understanding other people - lack of awareness?
Understanding things about the world that others can't see - hyper awareness?
Stimming and ADD
Depression, lethargy
Need for stimulants e.g. sugar, caffeine drinks
'Geekiness'
Lack of competitiveness, no interest in sports etc.
Intellectual competitiveness (just look at some of the forum debates!)
Demanding tolerance from others, whilst being intolerant
Insightful and clever
Poor social skills, and likely to feel overwhelmed
Logical, good at mathematics and computing
Emotional, 'random' and artistic
Masculine, feminine, asexual, bisexual
Boring, nerdy
Unpredictable, profound
A need for security and routine
A dislike of boredom, authority and conformity

The only trait which seems to bond everyone together is that we are all contradictory people deeply affected by our awareness of those contradictions and the guilt that this brings.

That's only my personal theory, though.

Sociable Hermit, you said it beautifully.

We are more like a colorful patchwork quilt than a monochrome blanket. There can never be one kind of aspie because we, by definition, have difficulty with social norms, so we create our own. If each of us is creating our own "normal", then no one's normal can look the same hence all the variety.

Well, AS is apparantly just autism with the social part of the brain kind of remapped towards logical and language. Looking at how I match SHs criteria:

Loneliness, need for companionship

Actually, I don't care on an ongoing basis. I WOULD like to finally get what I originally planned.

Need for intellectual independence, fear of being physically touched

What a great definition! I don't have FEAR of touch though.

Shakiness, weak hands and poor co-ordination

The only one I have is somewhat imperfect coordination.

Unusual artistic or musical talents

Well, I DID gravitate towards music at one point, but couldn't get the instrument I wanted. I also showed some artistic capability. I know what I like better than creating it though. I guess we'll never know how good I COULD have been.

Forthright honesty

MAN was that me. I STILL gravitate towards this!

Need to 'fit in'

Well, I guess that is one reason I am here. I'm HOME! Enough of you look close enough to me that it is remarkable.

Not caring at all

Sometimes.

Caring too much, obsessions

Sometimes.

Not understanding other people - lack of awareness?

Oh well, that IS an AS hallmark! Again, MATCH!

Understanding things about the world that others can't see - hyper awareness?

Wouldn't it be nice if they DID understand?

Stimming and ADD

Well, My attention is just elsewhere.

Depression, lethargy

I think I have the depression licked, and WOULD like to know more about the lethargy. That has affected me more lately and, oddly, ONLY in meetings! It fits with what some AS people say about social interaction.

Need for stimulants e.g. sugar, caffeine drinks

Didn't really take them until my last employer.

'Geekiness'

YEP! That's me.

Lack of competitiveness, no interest in sports etc.

YEP! Me again!

Intellectual competitiveness (just look at some of the forum debates!)

Well, it is a QUIET competition. I would LOVE to be able to do what some here can.

Demanding tolerance from others, whilst being intolerant

Well, some things SOULD be done right!

Insightful and clever

Sometimes.

Poor social skills, and likely to feel overwhelmed

YEP!

Logical, good at mathematics and computing

I guess you have me there.

Emotional, 'random' and artistic

Well, My emotions make sense in an autistic context!

Masculine, feminine, asexual, bisexual

MASCULINE!

Boring, nerdy

OK, kind of nerdy, but not boring.

Unpredictable, profound

YEP.

A need for security and routine

To a degree.

A dislike of boredom, authority and conformity

YEP!

Steve

Something that a lot of people hate. It's also something that some people 'except' or even are 'very happy with.'

Aspergers is something a few of us blame 'God' or 'Muhammed' or 'Some' diety type character on. Some of us 'Theorist' argue it may be 'evolution.'

Aspergers, for males, at least, normally means 'singlehood' for long lengths of time.

It's a condition, its not. Either way, its definately pretty interesting.

The only consistent thing I've noticed is that people with AS don't seem to be able to filter out and ignore contradictions and injustices like everybody else.

If I couldn't filter this stuff out, I'd be dead by now.

They also tend to be contadictory people in themselves

By whose standard?

Loneliness, need for companionship

Yeah, it's harder to make friends, especially with NTs

Need for intellectual independence, fear of being physically touched

Not a fear, just a creeped-out feeling

Shakiness, weak hands and poor co-ordination

Nope

Unusual artistic or musical talents

I was a great technical pianist when I was practicing. Does that count?

Forthright honesty

Yup. Though I have learned just to shut up a lot of the time.

Need to 'fit in'

More like a wish, not a need

Not caring at all

When I'm not wishing

Caring too much, obsessions

How can one care too much?

Not understanding other people - lack of awareness?

Yeah. Requires a mentor to learn this better, or years of observation.

Understanding things about the world that others can't see - hyper awareness?

Yeah.

Stimming and ADD

Nope.

Depression, lethargy

Periodically.

Need for stimulants e.g. sugar, caffeine drinks

Doesn't everyone?

'Geekiness'

By whose standard?

Lack of competitiveness, no interest in sports etc.

Yeah, but I can fake the interest for nefarious purposes.

Intellectual competitiveness (just look at some of the forum debates!)

Yeah, but again I've learned to shut up.

Demanding tolerance from others, whilst being intolerant

Only certain political viewpoints (note: that was a joke)

Insightful and clever

Goes without saying

Poor social skills, and likely to feel overwhelmed

Yup.

Logical, good at mathematics and computing

Yup.

Emotional, 'random' and artistic

Nope. Vibrant emotions, but they are not random. Not artistic.

Masculine, feminine, asexual, bisexual

What does this mean?

Boring, nerdy

By whose standard?

Unpredictable, profound

NTs often express this viewpoint. I don't see it.

A need for security and routine

Doesn't it help everyone?

A dislike of boredom, authority and conformity

Yup. But when I find a truly authentic authority, I'm on board with it.

The only trait which seems to bond everyone together is that we are all contradictory people deeply affected by our awareness of those contradictions and the guilt that this brings.

Sounds like everyone, we're just MORE aware of it.

That's only my personal theory, though.

It's as good as any other I've seen. That's only my opinion though

I think it's a different awareness of the world. The same thing may look completely different to an NT than to an autistic person. Everything looks different to anybody, not two persons live in the same world, because they perceive the world in a different way, but there's a huger difference than is regular between autistic people and NTs than between an NT and another NT. But humans have that ability to change themselves and understand other things than what was given to them by their genes. The problem is, that it's not easy and it doesn't happen often right now.

Makes live very difficult for both of us, and sometimes, even more so for all autistic people, because the human world is naturally reigned by neurotypical people, as there are so many of them!, who make the world function neurotypical. That clashes with anything that's not conforming to the expectations. Thus, all difference is notice for the first time.

That was my take.

Just to clarify a little...

The list I posted wasn't meant to be definitive. I was just trying to point out that, particulalry to an outsider, many of the traits recognised as Asperger's traits seem completely at odds with one another.

Why would a strongly independent person who dislikes physical contact ever feel lonely?
How could someone with a condition characterised by weak wrists and hands play the guitar or paint pictures extraordinarily well?
Why would a parent of a child with potential ADD and behavioural difficulties try giving them energy drinks?
How can a quiet and thoughtful person be so rude?
How can these people be so judgemental and yet get offended so easily?
Why do self-confessed 'loners' spend all day chatting on the website?
What makes a seemingly dull and isolated character suddenly come to life when a particular topic is mentioned?
How can 'cold', emotionless people become obsessive? Surely they don't care about anything?
Why would someone who hates boredom, conformity and authority choose to live their life to a fixed routine?
How can these antisocial weirdos come up with such amazing ideas?

Of course there can be many reasons why these apparent contradictions aren't actually contradictions at all. For a start, not everyone has the same symptoms. Secondly, many of the feelings involved are circumstantial and do not apply all of the time. And so on and so forth. It's a very personal condition, as we all know.

However i do feel that the number of contradictions here (and the ease with which we recognise them) tells us something about the nature of AS itself. The average NT seems to float through life in a bubble, ignoring corruption and lies and stupidity and things that just don't make sense. Well, sorry, but my bullsh*t filter seems to be missing. I suspect that others feel the same way and that is part of the problem. We are overloaded with information that just doesn't correlate, and also acutely aware of our own shortfalls and contradictions.

Yup, agree definitely about the way NTs just seem to be able to ignore and deny the lies, unkindnesses, and the appalling duplicity of the world. I just can't work out how they can even say 'Yeah, that's right, it all stinks', yet they do nothing to change things. They're like llittle lemmings - 'this way, chaps! over the cliff we go!!' Don't mean to get into NT-bashing, but I've never been able to sit back drenched in bullsh*t, I've actually done things and changed a few things because I was so mad at how unjust the system is.

I'm also painfully aware of my shortfalls and contradictions. But, by and large, I woudn't be any other way.