Aspie traits that aren't diagnostic criteria

Post Reply New Topic

I have the most trouble with pub/club socializing and anything of the same nature where you're basically just supposed to hang around and talk, not actually do anything. In the past, I've just sat there, waiting for the activity to start, only to realize after some time that this is supposed to be the 'activity' and this is all the outing's going to consist of. It was much easier getting together with people as a child where we would actively play and do things. When socializing started to consist more of just 'hanging out', I became lost.

yeah, me too, i started using all sorts of substances to cover up the akwardness i felt, its nice to know i'm not the only one who doesn't get those situations, groovy

i never understood this doing nothing, i get bored to bits and usually leave...i dont mind going out if we go dancing as then i can do something...

Trust me, you're not missing out on anything. Most pub chat is boring.

- Gastrointestinal problems (?) NO
- Tendency to get lost (?) YES YES YES
- Trouble falling asleep (?) NO
- Stutters/stammers (?) NO

I'm the same exact way. I love dancing, but I can't do it sober. I have to have a good buzz, not be drunk cause then I lose balance. I go to the club a lot with my friends, and we like hip hop. When I get there, my first mission is to get that buzz. So I get my drink, chill, say hi to people I know, get another drink, etc. I know I got a buzz on when I start hugging people I know when I say hi to them. Then I hit the dance floor taking breaks to keep the buzz going or for a cigarette. About an hour before the club closes, I cease all drinking to make sure I'm sober by the time we leave. If I don't drink, I get so nervous about people watching me, and I know they are making fun of me, and then I lose all rhythm and don't know what to do and often just stand there trying very hard to start dancing. If I'm drinking, they all get blurry and I don't care that they are there. I can't sit at a bar and do nothing. MegaTouch is awesome at the bars that don't have a dance floor, but people always gets mad at me for it because it's antisocial.

I call it bar talk, but same thing as pub chat. My favorite one is when you finally find someone to have an interesting conversation with, the other bar folk can't stand it's going on. This one guy, may he rest in peace, used to interrupt every conversation I would have with someone with, "OH horse sh!t." Everytime I'd try to utter a word, he'd interrupt me with that. Not just saying it, but getting right in between me and the person I'm talking to and saying it very loudly slurring it and sometimes spitting on me or spilling his drink on me. We used to get into it so bad because I was ready to scrap over that. The bartender hated it when we were both there at the same time. She always took his side over mine (even though I was one of her best tippers and I've saved her a few times in a fight) because his wife died and that was his excuse. I'm like, "My daddy died and you don't see me being a jerk." My friend dragged me to that bar constantly, and I hated every second of it. I usually played MegaTouch. That wouldn't be my only example of bar folk hating real conversation (rather than just avoiding it), it was just the most obnoxious one.

I do LOTS of things to a rhythm....though chewing isn´t one of them, I don´t think. But I make almost constant rhythms. The male character in "Mozart and the Whale" "did numbers"- well, I "do rhythms". I press 2 of my teeth together in a rhythm, almost constantly. Or, I´ll breathe out air through my mouth in a rhythm, do rhythmical patterns with my fingers....all the time, I´m making some kind of rhythm.

Impaired walking while nervous around others.

hehe, wish you were in my city. we could have a good time dancing..

my friends usually think i am strange as i usually dance for a very long time in a row and i rarely get on with women ect...as most guys here try to pick up women on the dance floor... i on the other hand try to avoid pick ups as i just want to dance...i wouldnt mind meeting a nice girl and all, but i just dont think i am much company these days with all my issues .. so i just ignore everyone and dance in my own bubble...i dont drink much either, i usually just drink upto three beers in a night... then i start on water and go from there:)

i do feel very shy the first songs, but i just close my eyes or just ignore it all the best i can and just dance my own way...i am very strange like that as in the summer time i usually go to out door raves, and there most people are using drugs ect...but i am clean and they always think i am on E as i only dance:) i guess i just dont like to talk to people much, i just want to dance....when i do meet girls i find that its easier for me to kiss, cuddle ect then it is to talk actually...

but some times when i am out and when i leave sober as usual i see people who are having fun and laughing with other people and i wonder why i am so different to them...then i feel like a true alien...

Common aspie traits:
- Anxiety - Y|N|N
- Clumsiness - Y|Y|N
- Talking a lot/talking very little - Y|Y|Y
- Talking fast/ loudly - N|N|Y
- Naive/gullable - N|Y|Y
- Can't multitask - Y|Y|N
- "Rigid" thinking - N|Y|N
- Odd/bad posture/gait - Y|Y|Y
- "Can't" make eye contact - Y|Y|Y
- Poor/odd sense of humour - N|Y|Y
- Hypersensitivity/Hyposensitiveity - Y|Y|Y
- Difficulty with transistion/change - Y|Y|Y
- Dislikes/"can't stand" being touched - N|N|Y
- Difficulty determining proper body space - N|Y|N
- Trouble dealing with/controlling anger - N|N|Y
- Depends a lot on concrete fact, logic, or images - Y|Y|N
- Thinks in pictures (spelled-out words or images) - N|Y|N
- Difficulty expressing thoughts and ideas with words - Y|Y|Y
- Depends on words, rather than intuition, to find out how people think and feel - N|Y|N
- Observes and analyzes social situations (rather than intuitively understanding them) - Y|N|Y
- Follows their own inner truth or logic, rather than being easily influenced by others - N|N|Y
- Feels uncomfortable in emotionally intense situations - Y|N|Y
- Tends to analyze/a preference for logical thinking - Y|Y|N
- Has difficulty remembering names/phone numbers - N|Y|N
- Arranges and organizes things - Y|N|Y
- Mimics socially adept people - N|Y|Y
- Doesn't lie/use sarcasm - Y|Y|Y
- Takes everything literally/doesn't "get" sarcasm - N|Y|Y
- Has a strong sense of social justice - N|N|Y
- Thinks "outside the box" - Y|Y|N
- Gastrointestinal problems (?) - N|N|N
- Tendency to get lost (?) - N|N|Y
- Trouble falling asleep (?) - N|N|N
- Stutters/stammers (?) - Y|N|N

Answers for three people with Aspergers in my family to the list in the first post.

1: 17/34
2: 21/34
3: 19/34

Just for the fun of it, and not to ascertain anything:

- Anxiety - Y
- Clumsiness - Y
- Talking a lot/talking very little - Y
- Talking fast/ loudly - N
- Naive/gullable - Y
- Can't multitask - Y
- "Rigid" thinking - Y
- Odd/bad posture/gait - Y
- "Can't" make eye contact - Y and N (it can be awkward/intense and sometimes all over the place)
- Poor/odd sense of humour - Y
- Hypersensitivity/Hyposensitiveity - Y
- Difficulty with transistion/change - Y
- Dislikes/"can't stand" being touched - Y
- Difficulty determining proper body space - N
- Trouble dealing with/controlling anger - N
- Depends a lot on concrete fact, logic, or images - Yes to the images and No to the others
- Thinks in pictures (spelled-out words or images) - Often
- Difficulty expressing thoughts and ideas with words - Y
- Depends on words, rather than intuition, to find out how people think and feel - N/S
- Observes and analyzes social situations (rather than intuitively understanding them) - Y
- Follows their own inner truth or logic, rather than being easily influenced by others - Y
- Feels uncomfortable in emotionally intense situations - Y
- Tends to analyze/a preference for logical thinking - Y
- Has difficulty remembering names/phone numbers - Y
- Arranges and organizes things - Y
- Mimics socially adept people - Sometimes
- Doesn't lie/use sarcasm - It makes me feel very guilty
- Takes everything literally/doesn't "get" sarcasm - Without thinking I can take things literally. Though I do get sarcasm and figurative language.
- Has a strong sense of social justice - Y
- Thinks "outside the box" - Y
- Gastrointestinal problems - Y
- Tendency to get lost - Y
- Trouble falling asleep - Y
- Stutters/stammers - Y

Um, I don't know what that says. Again, just for the fun of it.

I hate this. When put in a big list like that they all seem so damn trivial and easy to change.

Also, what about habits involving patterns/rythms? I have this annoying habit when watching a TV/a movie/reading where I count the amount of syllables in a sentence, and if it does not end up being an even number then I have to pretty much re-write the sentence in my head until it gets to an even number.

E.G.
If someone said: "I'm gonna to go to the store" - 7 syllables
I would re-think it as: "I'm going to go to the store" - 8 syllables.

Sometimes I count it on my fingers but mostly in my head, I also chatter my teeth to beats in music.

So here are my answers, as someone not in the autistic spectrum disorders, I seem to be able to tick many of these off as part of me, which is probably why they aren't used as diagnostic criteria.

- Anxiety - Y
- Clumsiness - Y
- Talking a lot/talking very little - Y
- Talking fast/ loudly - N
- Naive/gullable - N (don't trust anyone)
- Can't multitask - Y
- "Rigid" thinking - Y
- Odd/bad posture/gait - N (slightly bad posture, but nothing that can't be put down to a frowth spurt in highschool)
- "Can't" make eye contact - N
- Poor/odd sense of humour - Y
- Hypersensitivity/Hyposensitiveity - Y
- Difficulty with transistion/change - Y
- Dislikes/"can't stand" being touched - Y
- Difficulty determining proper body space - N
- Trouble dealing with/controlling anger - Y
- Depends a lot on concrete fact, logic, or images - Y
- Thinks in pictures (spelled-out words or images) - N
- Difficulty expressing thoughts and ideas with words - Y
- Depends on words, rather than intuition, to find out how people think and feel - Maybe
- Observes and analyzes social situations (rather than intuitively understanding them) - Y
- Follows their own inner truth or logic, rather than being easily influenced by others - Y
- Feels uncomfortable in emotionally intense situations - Y
- Tends to analyze/a preference for logical thinking - Y
- Has difficulty remembering names/phone numbers - Y
- Arranges and organizes things - N
- Mimics socially adept people - Y
- Doesn't lie/use sarcasm - N
- Takes everything literally/doesn't "get" sarcasm - Maybe
- Has a strong sense of social justice - Y
- Thinks "outside the box" - Y
- Gastrointestinal problems - Y
- Tendency to get lost - N
- Trouble falling asleep - Y (3.39am here at the moment)
- Stutters/stammers - N
- Toe Walking - Maybe, recently my housemate asked me why I walk on my toes when barefoot, never even knew I did it.

I answered 'no' on only 3.

- Anxiety - Y
- Clumsiness - Y
- Talking a lot/talking very little - Y
- Talking fast/ loudly - often
- Naive/gullable - Used to be
- Can't multitask - Y
- "Rigid" thinking - Y
- Odd/bad posture/gait - Y
- "Can't" make eye contact - getting better/sometimes
- Poor/odd sense of humour - Y
- Hypersensitivity/Hyposensitiveity - Y
- Difficulty with transistion/change - Y
- Dislikes/"can't stand" being touched - depends on the context and type of touch.
- Difficulty determining proper body space - Y
- Trouble dealing with/controlling anger - N
- Depends a lot on concrete fact, logic, or images - Y
- Thinks in pictures (spelled-out words or images) - Y
- Difficulty expressing thoughts and ideas with words - Y
- Depends on words, rather than intuition, to find out how people think and feel - Y
- Observes and analyzes social situations (rather than intuitively understanding them) - Y
- Follows their own inner truth or logic, rather than being easily influenced by others - Y
- Feels uncomfortable in emotionally intense situations - Y
- Tends to analyze/a preference for logical thinking - Y
- Has difficulty remembering names/phone numbers - Y
- Arranges and organizes things - Y
- Mimics socially adept people - Y
- Doesn't lie/use sarcasm - I've learned to. I still miss sarcastic phrases that I am not overly familiar with and absolutely hate to lie (although I can if I need to: ie. to the police)
- Takes everything literally/doesn't "get" sarcasm - Tend to.
- Has a strong sense of social justice - Y
- Thinks "outside the box" - Y
- Gastrointestinal problems - Y
- Tendency to get lost - Y
- Trouble falling asleep - sometimes. Full blown insomnia as a child (3.39am here at the moment)
- Stutters/stammers - N
- Toe Walking - No. I actually do not put any weight on my toes at all - I usually walk with my toes dorsiflexed (bent up/back) so that they don't even make contact with the ground.