My name is Matt. I recently found out about asperger's through my Mom. She came across an article and said "Man, this sounds a LOT like Matt" She shared it with me and I agreed with some of it.
For example, I am sensitive to loud noise, and this was very evident when I was a kid and my Dad would yell at me or my brother. I would jump whenever the school fire alarm would go off, and it startled me so much the principal decided to tell me when it would go off. Nowadays I understand some schools no longer do surprise fire drills.
I have an intense passion for game shows and have videotaped several of them. I have all 4 walls in my room filled with game show tapes. I read AS people have at least one obsession or hobby and run away with it.
My speech is not perfect, and part of it may be because of my underbite. However, I read AS people have speech difficulties.
I also have a passion for acting and performing, which is unusual for AS people, which prefer isolation. When I found out I may have AS, that made me want to fight my lack of social skills and force myself into situations where I'd have to socialize.
I tend to find a deeper meaning behind what people are saying or even not saying. Sometimes I don't understand that some people just say what they mean, and there is no other hidden meaning behind what they are saying. Often I misinterpret what people are saying and that can get me into trouble.
I also find that people that tend to talk fast, I have a hard time understanding. People who I have to ask to repeat themselves think I DIDN'T HEAR THEM when in fact I just didn't understand what they were saying.
I guess I also misinterpret facial expressions or other mannerisms, because I cannot tell for the life of me if a woman is interested in me in a romantic way or just wants to be my friend.
In some social situations, especially those where I don't know anyone, I tend to wait for someone to approach me. I am not a good instigator of conversation.
When I talk about game shows, I am aware that I have more information about them than anyone would care to know, so unless I know the person I talk to loves game shows, I wouldn't talk too extensively about them.
At work, I find myself doing, for the most part, the same exact routine each shift. I am comfortable doing my duties in a different order, but for the most part, I get the same stuff done I usually do. However, whenever things happen, like someone being late, or calling out, I tend to feel less comfy, because that means I'll have to adjust things, and I know that AS people don't like change. I can multi-task, but I find when I do, sometimes I'll forget duties here and there.
30 Jul 2007, 7:09 pm
I agree with Alex because I don't prefer isolation ether.
