My Aspie trait list

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Here's some more, drawing from personal experience:

- Difficulty thinking on the spot and improvising, especially in front of other people. It's much easier to plan things beforehand...if I can be bothered, that is.

- I often pause in the middle of sentences while thinking what to say next. Whole sentences don't just come to me like they seem to with most people...instead, thoughts come in fragments, often visual, which I have to 'translate' into speech as I'm going along. It gives my speech a 'juddery' sound.

- Difficulty in managing other people*. You have to use NT-speak to do that, plus you need good communication, planning and management skills. Oops.

*I don't mean manipulating other people, that's something completely different. What I mean by managing people is being the leader of a group, for example, and making sure that everyone is doing what they're supposed to be doing.

- Being overly pedantic, and correcting people over the slightest thing. I've got better at this, now I know that people do not appreciate being corrected all the time, especially in mid-conversation. For example, when someone said 'look at those crows,' I'd say, 'they're jackdaws, not crows. Look at their grey napes.' Shudder.

I'd say you are definitely an Aspie. At least 90% of the items on your list apply to me too, and many of them were reason for me to think I am an Aspie, and later for a psychologist to diagnose me as such. If you have trouble getting a diagnosis, I suggest you go to a psychologist who specializes in AS.
I also recognize your having many clear visual memories. There are probably more "movies" in my head than in a Netflix warehouse.

Some other Aspie-related traits I have:
- Language is a purely external thing for me, while in NT's it seems deeply rooted. If I'm a sphere, then language exists only on the outer surface of it. This makes it hard to derive deep meaning from the language of others (because my brain, like yours, immediately converts it into imagery that is probably not congruent with the others' intentions), and it makes it easy to learn new languages (because without attachment to language it's easy to replace one with another).
- I believe identities of people and things are mental constructs, never real and rarely useful. The interestingness of something I'm interested in is a property of the thing or subject and not of me.
- When I bump into a problem, then the problemness of the problem is a property of the problem and not of me. Solving problems is considerably more helpful than trying to feel better about them.
- Death is not a problem. Problems can be solved.
- I can't see edges of things, and I don't think they exist. There are no separate things. The illusion of separateness comes from language, which fragments the world into bits and pieces without environments.
- I understand why human society exists, but I don't understand why anyone wants to be a member of it.

[quote="mysterious_misfit"]This is in no particular order. I just started writing down my Aspie-ish ways in a notebook a couple days ago, and every time I think of a new one, I add it.

just add mine in bold letters

-eye contact, either avoid by using peripheral vision, or stare depending on my mood or current level of brain busy-ness, but I'm pretty good one-on-one like in therapy me too
-facial expression, my face is often blank and it feels fake to make facial expressions, even when I want to express something genuine me too, only smile on my face

-special interests- childhood it was completely horses, adolescence it was the Beatles, now I have many interests but I like to get into things very deeply me too, im into collecting things, hundreds of things
-hand flapping and finger flicking, very minimal I only do it in private me finger flicking if i don't have a pen to play with

-I just feel altogether socially impaired me im trying to belong, though it makes my nose bleed
-I miss social cues, I knew this about myself before I even knew anything about AS they say im impolite
-I don't know when or how to say things even though I may know I'm supposed to say it my mind runs faster than my mouth

-I have a very strong need to control my environment. I sort of freak out when I need something (scissors) and it's not in the place it's supposed to be. SIB for me
-It's hard for me to control my tone of voice, I must plan ahead or borrow someone else's tone, or my voice will just be flat or have the wrong tone. yup they think im always angry, when im not smiling
-I have an excellent vocabulary, but scant emotional vocabulary i prefer researches than novels

-people make fun of how I talk or comment on how I talk differently when not in monotone people think im gay
-words always create literal visual images in my head, even for figures of speech that I know. Like if someone says 'I'm on cloud nine' I know it means they are very happy but mentally I still see the person standing on a cloud. i think in images


-I prefer watching movies with subtitles turned on me too
-I mix up word order when I speak too quickly me too
-I watch people's mouths when they talk, sort of lip reading i seldomly looks at the person
-I often ask people to repeat themselves, despite my excellent hearing (CAPD) me too


-I lose the ability to speak when under emotional distress temper tantrums solves this

-I've had a few 30 second bouts of derealization i just stare a lot
-Every day at work I get up and leave my coworkers after lunch without saying anything because I don't know what to say. they are used to it


-I've gotten a few comments about how I walk differently they say i belong to a gang
-I love talking to myself me too
-Play as a child, I liked setting stuff up but didn't play dramatically, I would arrange furniture in the dollhouse but never played with the dolls, I never played house, I liked getting into small spaces, I liked hiding, I liked watching others interact and I still do, I could play by myself just fine, I was always drawn to reading, coloring, and drawing
me too

-My voice is just too quiet me too
-I hate hugs the friction





-It wears me out to socialize haha me too
-I don't need other people's approval to feel good about myself
-I love systems
-There is a type of mantle clock that has a piece that spins horizontally back and forth. I was completely mezmerized by it as a child, and I want to buy one now just so I can stare at it.


-Even when I like someone, they think I don't me too
this is me
-I was bullied a lot in school
-I believe perfect truth is the most important ideal
-I am a terrible procrastinator
-I am a perfectionist
-I only just realized a few weeks ago that it is possible to offend someone by not saying anything. Damn, I thought silence was safe, you know: If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. I had always interpreted that as 'it's good to not say anything'
-I don't like clothing with bright colors or patterns
-I don't usually react immediately to anything, I like to think things over and decide on the best reaction



-In early childhood, I did not understand punishment. I would get punished, and had absolutely no idea what was going on. No clue. Was this a game? Was this an accident? What happens next? What am I supposed to do? What happened that made my mom put soap in my mouth??? Was I supposed to eat it? Was it good for me? Why is my teacher making me stand in front of the class? Is it a game? Who else gets to play with me?

-I have no interest in conformity. But as the result of terrible bullying, I try to just blend in and not get noticed. im iconoclastic, never mind being bullied
-I don't like to make noise when I walk, breathe, or swallow food or drink. count me in
-I choose the softest shoes I can find or none at all

-Three years in college and I never made any friends there. me 4 years

-I never asked for help in school when I needed it, heck I don't think I ever asked for help with anything from anyone don't know that word 'help'

-I had a lot of trouble getting homework done even though I knew how to do it. I would sit and stare at it and lose track of time. haha me too
-I need strong external structure to get things done, and caffeine


-I feel uncomfortable saying people's names, and I don't like hearing my own name either i call people by codename i make and it sounds cute to them



-I unintentionally imitate other people's voices, accents, or words. me too
-I remember being born huh, me at 10 months when i started to make my first steps
-I have several very early memories me too very vivid

-Most of the time I feel that explaining things to others isn't worth the effort, even if I like the person, or the info is important. yup, me too, and why is that?
-For me emotions and language are separate things
-I know what the 'right' emotions are, but sometimes don't feel them
-Up until age 5 or 6, I would reflexively curl my toes every time my mom put my shoes on, making it impossible until she said, "don't curl your toes!" and I straightened them out. I didn't even know I was doing it. It was always a fight.
yah me too, and why is that?
-I prefer email to speaking in person me, obviously
-I hate talking on the phone very tiring
-I like knowing the scientific names of living things (Genus species) i love the sound
-I like identifying trees, birds, plants, and animal tracks that I see
-I like deep pressure, I would shove my arms and legs between the couch cushions as a child. i want being sitted at

I just want to say thank you for that list!

I have many of the same traits + OCD and Selective Mutism, so right now I am waiting to get diagnosed or tested for AS. The meeting is in 2 weeks time and I am looking forward to it...

Thanks for the list... It's a so good idea that I'll start my own.
BTW "-It doesn't occur to me that other people wonder what I think of them " It never occured to me!

Yeah, I never really thought about it before either, until I started learning about AS. It seems so strange to me that other people would even care about what I think of them. I'm just me. What's important is what you think of yourself.

90% of the things you listed fit with me too! I haven't been officially diagnosed myself, but I think it's pretty clear that you are on the spectrum.

It's actually a really good idea to make a list like this. I'm going to make one for myself too. I've done something similar before regarding a physical condition I have and it helped me put things into context and understand some things and be more aware of my strengths and weaknesses. I think this might work the same too. Thank you for the idea!

"I feel uncomfortable saying people's names, and I don't like hearing my own name either."


Thank you!! ! I thought I was the only person on earth who felt this way!! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !!

Unusual interests, either in type or intensity
Good memory for useless trivia
Addiction to books and writing

"There is a type of mantle clock that has a piece that spins horizontally back and forth. I was completely mezmerized by it as a child, and I want to buy one now just so I can stare at it."

I used to love the rotating color wheel you could buy in the 1950s and 60s to shine on your silver tinsel Christmas tree and watch it change from green to blue to red to yellow. The heck with the tree, I used to watch the wheel!