I'm Dale

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I discovered this site from a link in the Wiki for Asperger's Syndrome. When I read the symptoms, it immediately seemed familiar and made sense of a lot of things. Now I'm curious whether I am an Aspie, and if so, what does it mean for me? Is this information helpful to know? If this is true for me, is there then something I can do to improve my life? I'm already 38 years old and I feel like having knowledge of this at a young age and having some sort of socialization based on that could have helped me tremendously, but now I wonder if it's too late for the knowledge to do much good.

Hello! Welcome to Wrong Planet.

Hi!

Welcome to Wrongplanet!

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Hi,

Well, I'm 30 and have only just suspected.

It is very strange as i have had review all my memories and re-align them from this new perspective, so it has made my life more sense.

Personally having a blame free explantion has helped me alot and I can now work on or manage the things I now know I m not very good at.

I just came across an old chat session that I saved on my hard-drive because it was so upsetting to me. I wanted to be able to re-read and analyze it, which I did. Now I'm looking back on it and it's blowing my mind. This is just a small excerpt from about 16 pages of chatting.

Dale: You gone?
Eric: No.
Dale: Thought I'd lost you. Maybe I did... in a way.
Eric: Yeah, you did.
Dale: You're not pukin' are you?
Dale: I guess I should believe you when you say your attention span is limited when the subject doesn't involve you.
Eric: No, I just haven't read any of your last several IMs, as I've been trying to finish up a letter. :]
Dale: OIC
Eric: (As if you were any different, Dale.)
Dale: I resent that.
Eric: And it all depends on the subject matter.
Dale: My brother does that and I don't care for it, thank you.
Eric: Well, maybe so, but it's no less true.
Dale: He assumes everyone else has the same flaws as him. My flaws are quite different from yours, thank you.
Eric: Dale, I don't mean any offense by it, but it's something that others have noticed and commented upon, not just me.
Dale: What's that?
Eric: How do I put this? You're often... shall we say, a very self-absorbed person.
Dale: Oh am I?
Eric: Which is not to say that you're arrogant or egotistical; nothing of the sort--you simply have a tendency to focus on things of personal importance to the exclusion of other matters--on occasion.
Dale: That would explain my unreciprocated attempts to reach out to my friends in Atlanta. Oh wait, no it doesn't.
Eric: It's only evident during certain conversations with you.
Dale: I would like to be reasonably open to constructive criticism but I have to vehemently disagree with you here.
Eric: It would probably be fairer to say that you come across that way within the context of a conversation, then in how you act in life in general. Perhaps I misspoke.
Dale: Well, as much could probably be said about just about anyone at times. I don't think the comment is appropriate unless it's a habitual thing.
Dale: I have many flaws and I will admit it, but I will not accept this one.
Eric: Forgive me for saying so, but it does seem habitual; at least, to the extent that others besides myself have made the same observation.
Eric: In much the same way that you told Matt that some of your friends would back you up on the observations and statements that you made about him, this is akin to that.
Dale: You know, I would suggest that instead of just negative instances, you take some time out to think of the amount of time, effort, and or expense I have gone to to help other people.
Dale: Or to reach out to my friends.
Eric: Again, I'm referring to your conversational style, not necessarily your lifestyle.
Dale: ANd try to stay in touch when they don't do the same.
Dale: I'm more of a talker than a listener. I'll give you that. But that also depends on who I'm with. If I'm around generally quiet people, I instinctively try to fill the void.
Dale: When I'm around talkative people, I tend to go the other way.
Dale: And I know several of those types out here.
Eric: You're obviously an empathetic person, and someone who has taken an active role in the affairs of others, past and present. But when it comes to dialoguing or roleplaying with others, you seem more inclined to be insulated by your own thoughts and priorities.
Dale: I don't interpret it that way.
Eric: That, combined with your seeming ability to casually dismiss other people's contributions, gives one the impression that you are only just humoring other people long enough to get the opportunity to make your own interjection.
Eric: And again, I mean "contributions" in a conversational sense.