How do people misinterpret your quirks?

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I believe that the majority of the "misinterpretation" is deliberate by many NTs.

62yrs of coping with this....I could probably write a book. If only there was the general interest within neurotypicals. From teenage yrs on I was able to suppress most of my obvious outboard symptoms. Now everything seems to be coming back with a vengeance. And so little research has been done for aging and Aspies. The eye contact thing is the biggie....I just can't do it...I can only process with my eyes averted. A couple of yrs ago I was helping stage the PFLAG tent at a big outdoor social event here. An older woman came in and said she was onboard with our cause...great. I talked to her for quite a while and with much passion. In the end she asked if she could give me some feedback because she was a counselor. Wearing my 'be nice" hat, I said sure. She proceeded to tell me that if "I" wanted people to take me seriously about LGBT issues, I need to look them in the eyes while speaking. The real truth is, she didn't take me seriously because I didn't look her in the eyes while speaking. You're either onboard with LGBT issues or you're not....what would eye contact have to do with anything, especially if you're communicative, sincere and passionate? That pretty much devastated me....and that's only one example.

I've forced myself to do a lot of public speaking because I used to adhere to the notion that you overcome personality 'flaws' by doing the things that you fear most. I know now that's all BS for Aspies. People usually think I'm a snob because I can process them so fast. And I can always tell the people who are going to make me uncomfortable or enrage me...so I gracefully exit and that makes me a snob in their eyes. Compounded by living in a small town where first impressions dictate your very life. No second chances here...get it 'right' the first time or you're perpetually weird.

my family would usually get mad or impatient with me. they acted that way toward me through out my childhood and even now as an adult. my mom would usually tell me im acting like a b***h when i would get into one of my mute moods or if i didnt want to socialize. she would call me lazy if i couldn't bring myself to leave the house or ask for help if i was at a store or something. i pretty much just get negative responses from her and it sucks. i tell her all the time that i really cant help being this way but she tells me that i need to stop making excuses and just do the things that i cannot bring myself to do. it sucks

Misinterpreted as being stupid and mentally ret*d.
I hate it when a***holes pick on me for being different. I want to burn them with fire.
I wish they would understand that I'm different and leave me alone. But you can't deal with a***holes, they are dumb and irational.

When I was small, I was always being told off for being arrogant. I had no idea what they meant. I'm still mystified about that.

Possibly it had to do with the fact that I had no idea what other kids knew or didn't know. I had this friend who always got mad at me both for overexplaining (Do you think I'm stupid?) or explaining too little (You always talk about stuff we know nothing about, as if we ought to know!). I never knew when she would blow up.

People tell me to calm down and not be so stressed, when I am working hard and having fun.

I can be scatterbrained and do some really ditzy things sometimes, so people assume that I'm not intelligent.

Told that I seem "angry" because I do something fast.

Seen as stuck-up when I don't have a lot to say.

Interpreted as flirting (?) when I'm just being friendly or polite.

Being seen as angry when I'm actually anxious, or as anxious when I'm excited.

Being interpreted, I can only guess as insubordinate (?) because I don't play the ass-kissing game with managers and other people in authority roles.

People assuming that I'm much younger than my age.

Assuming that I'm really interested in what they have to say when my mind is a million miles away.

When I was in school, I think teachers assumed I was on drugs. If I disclosed my ADHD and asked for testing accommodations, they acted like they thought I was trying to cheat.

Real1s wrote:

People usually think I'm a snob because I can process them so fast. And I can always tell the people who are going to make me uncomfortable or enrage me...so I gracefully exit and that makes me a snob in their eyes. Compounded by living in a small town where first impressions dictate your very life. No second chances here...get it 'right' the first time or you're perpetually weird.

Oh, I was called snob before too.

For example during my cousin wedding reception. Sensory issues were too much for me and noone cared to do something about it although I asked to turn the music down by a few tones (the music was way too loud, the walls were literally shaking from the sound and I spent most of the party in restroom because it was the only place where I could stay without ears covered - but walls were shaking even there). So I left early, using "I'm not feeling right" as an excuse.

Afterwards my parents told me that aunt complained to them about my behavior:
- Miss princess didn't like our party, huh?
And once they told her:
- "Miss princess" has Asperger syndrome and can't stand loud sounds but her concerns were ignored so she had no choice but leave.
All she managed to answer was:
- Oh.

I just recalled something funny. I have a habit of holding my left ear using left ear(I am right handed) when I am in front of school board and try to solve an example there. I am not really sure why I do it but my middle school classmates figured I must be "contacting the base"(meaning I am an alien and contact the alien mothership). I like the interpretation!

Teachers and other people think i am questioning their authority and think i am being a smartass