My Quirks; Yours Too?

Post Reply New Topic

I think I have Asperger's but am still working on being more certain. Will you tell me if you have some of these quirks too?

Besides the usual characteristics:

1. Change my mind WAY too much. For example, I've moved 5 times in the last 2 years. And I make plans about a routine for doing housework, how much time to spend on the computer, and so on. Then, 3 days later, I'll decide to do it another way and scrap the old one. Then, a week later, etc.

2. I can't lie. Even once, when a sort-of stalker figured out where I lived from things I said about living near B***** High School and that my first name was Anne, he asked me (internet) if that was me, I said "No" but then immediately said okay, yes.

3. I have lists all over the place, such as the list of quirks I'm referring to to write this, but also more routine-like ones, such as the list of things to do before I go to bed, the list of things to do before leaving the house, etc. If I didn't follow them I don't think it would be a major stress, but then, I've rarely not followed them. I just really don't want to forget to do those things.

4. People: I have trouble with friendships; they've rarely turned out well, but I know this is normal for Asperger's. But I really enjoy doing little things for strangers, and I very much enjoy a short pleasant conversation on the bus or waiting in a line. These short pleasant encounters make me feel more like a normal person.

Would tell me if you have these quirks, and maybe list your own?

If you bother to read this and reply, thank you, thank you, thank you. I really want to identify myself as an "Aspie"--or, if I'm not, find out what in the world I really am.

1. When I see a bubble or a flaky surface I have a compelling urge to pop it or make it smooth. It's less about making it smooth than about hearing the tiny sounds. I was walking in the woods with my son when I saw a tree with some shelf like lichen growing on it. I decided to give in to my nature and knock it off. I was furiously scraping away when my son looked back and said 'Mom, what are you doing?

2. When I ask someone something and I'm anticipating a lie, I compulsively offer them an alibi. I wish I could figure out why I do that.

3. I can't seem to manage to fill up my gas tank until I'm riding on fumes.

4.I have these plastic juice glasses I stack in the cupboard and load in the dishwasher in alternating colors. If one gets out of sequence I will rearrange them.

5. I save bugs in distress.

Sloth
I am also undiagnosed but sure that Asperger's has been my lifelong problem.
I struggle a lot with decision making. I very seldom tell a lie - I don't like the way it makes me feel. I go through phases of being a list writter - I am going through a list writting phase again at the moment (I almost feel like I don't exist unless I have a plan of what I'm going to do next). I like to chat to checkout assistant and the like because I don't have to stay too long.

Aimless
I also save bugs (I'm hoping they'll return the favour someday) and a bit like your plastic cups I put my plastic coloured clothes pegs in a pattern on the line when putting washing out. A bit like your gas tank I don't go out to buy food until there's almost nothing left in the house!

I had to laugh because I have to load the dishwasher in a specific way, and if others do it differently, I have to rearrange it before I can wash things.

I can't lie either. It just never occurs to me to not tell the truth.

Lists - I make lists for everything, mainly to help keep me on track when I get distracted. Post-it's are the greatest invention!

I hate change! I like things to be stable. Like I'm totally thrown off when a favorite restaurant changes their menu. I wear the same type of clothes all the time, etc.

Thank you all for the help.

The more I read here, the more I think that this (Asperger's) is what I have and is my main problem. It doesn't seem like such a terrible problem if other people have it and can understand, and you can have something of a sense of humor about it.

I save earthworms stranded on sidewalks in the morning. Close enough?

1) I say blunt and inappropriate things in a joking manner.

2) Im willing to talk about almost anything no matter how taboo it might be

3) The way I phrase my words are "off" with wrongly implicit meanings. Like, "shes hiding in the library", "he's got his hookups", "Is it because god told you?". When I was younger, I would do this by accident, once I found out that people find this hilarious. I eventually incorporated this in my speech.

4) Im straight and to the point

5) Im spaced out and talking to myself a lot

6) During work, Im a bit scatter brained, its hard to multitask so I get confused

Wow, we are a bunch of kooks, but nice harmless or even helpful ones.

Luna and others, Do you burn up a lot of pots and/or the food in them because you walked away and forgot about them? Even when I set a timer for 5 or 10 minutes, sometimes I hear it go off and think "I'll just finish this and then go check it" and forget again until I hear that boilover sound or smell burning metal/food.

Do you often have to rewash or redry your laundry because you forgot to take it out? TWICE???

Or do you get in the shower, start thinking about something else, and then can't remember if you washed your hair?

*I've read that ADD or ADHD is common among Asperger's people. It can be just the attention problems.*

I tend to be pedantic with my speech.

I tend to do exactly as I am told like my boss will tell me what to do at work and do only that not do anything else like he may show me what elevator walls to wipe and if that is all, I won't wipe the doors on the other side or the buttons on the outside, nothing until he tells me I am to do it too.

I keep things in the same spot or else I will lose them

I tend to forget to eat or do things like get the laundry out of the dryer and I procrastinate and get too absorbed in what I am doing. I keep thinking I will do it later and then not do it and I keep thinking again, oops I have to do the laundry, I'll get it in a few minutes, oops I forget again.

I also can't make up my mind

I eat the same foods because I can't decide on what to eat so I find it easier

I shop in the same order in the store and don't like doing it the other way

I take the same routes to places I am familiar with or else I might get confused and lost and have anxiety

I tend to tell the truth first than lie when I am asked something unexpectedly

I can think of a new routine in my head but I have troubles sticking to it

I have a way of thinking and talking when I describe things. (can't think of any examples right now)

I seem to be good with making acquaintances but I suck with keeping friends and making them but however it was a lot easier when I was a kid because all I had to do was go up to them and follow them and stand around and play on the playground equipment they are playing on, in my neighborhood, all I had to do was go to their house and ask if they can play and we do things together like play with dolls or ride bikes, play in my backyard or play video games, or play board games. I did not do good at their house however because they didn't do things I wanted to do and I was rarely allowed in because I didn't know the rules.

I hate talking on the phone

I get the urge to push my nose up against something and touching things and I also like to smell things

I hardly get embarrassed and I don't get as embarrassed like other people do

I tend to say random things out loud to myself in a quiet voice and it's like Tourette's.

I get weird facial expressions when I am concentrating

I tied my small wallet to my purse so I won't lose it if it falls out

I am not sure if these are all quirks and AS related.

OK, where do I start

Hate talking on the phone, unless it's to someone I know, like family or friends. But if I have to ring a stranger and I don't know how the conversation will go I get very anxious.

I don't kill things either. Except flies. I hate flies. Big buzzy ones that keep me awake at night, I spray them with hairspray.

I eat the same foods on the same night each week. Monday = pasta and sauce, Tuesday = fajitas etc. It's logical as I know what to buy each week and I don't have to thin about it.

I have black crockery with a wiggly grassy pattern down one side and they all have to be piled the same way in the cupboard.

All my cup handles have to be pointing the same way.

Don't have a dishwasher, but I always wash up in the bowl in the same order. I have to leave the room when my dh washes up as he does it differently and I find it hard to resist the urge to correct him and tell him to do it 'right'.

I get physically uncomfortable, to the point of panic if it looks like I'm going to be late somewhere, even just a few minutes.

I make lists.

When I get letters with spelling mistakes or other errors I want to correct them and send them back. Last time I was teaching in a school I did used to correct the errors on notices on the staff room with red pen - but only when no one was around. The it was fun watching them try to figure out who had done it.

I don't pick up on hints.

When I shower I always do everything in the same order. Doesn't everyone though?

I talk to myself. In fact I have entire conversations out loud with people who I KNOW, who are not actually there, and I imagine their side of the conversation and reply to them. I have had some huge rows with my husband doing this, and he wasn't even part of them. It's almost funny if it wasn't so freakish Sometimes it's a way of planning out my responses to a conversation I know I will have to have, and sometimes it's a replay of a conversation I have already had, where I think of better responses than the ones I gave. But sometimes it's just talking to myself.

I hate if someone (usually my dh) tells me that my way of doing things is not the best way. Even if he is right (which isn't often).

I cannot take criticism; I cry. Not very good in a meeting with the headteacher about my inexplicable resistance to writing down my long term plans and letting her see them.

If someone is talking about something I'm uncomfortable with I will either make an inappropriate joke, or change the subject abruptly. As in.
DH: "Rubydoobs, why did you throw the remote control at me last night?"
Me: "Oh, it's Waterloo Road tonight isn't it. Do you want to watch it?"

I loathe practical jokes. I hate them done on me and I don't do them to others. I think they are really cruel. You lie to someone, get them to believe you, and then laugh at them for believing you. What's funny about that?

I dislike people (usually my dh) giving their opinion on something loudly. I just want to curl up in a corner and hide. It's worse when he asks me for my opinion. Even if I agree with him I don't want to tell him. He stomps about the room and swears about whatever it is and I hate it. And then he wants to have a conversation about whatever it is and I really don't want to. Then he says "So I'm not allowed to have an opinion, am I not?" and I don't know what to say. So I say nothing. Which makes things worse.

I think I should go and be a hermit *hides under a blanket*.