You know you're autistic when...

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When you are 3 years into a project to trace ALL the freeways & primary roads of North America in Google Earth....



here it is zoomed in on the northeast us...



The "my places" .kmz file is over 20 megabytes.
There are some 10000+ "path" objects drawn on this map.

Yes, my "aspie obsession" is maps.

You see, the roads on google earth fade out at different altitudes. I want to be able to see them at all altitudes.

WOW!! !
That's fantastic. That's amazing! I can imagine you getting lost in that for hours/days on end stuck in deep hyperfocus. It must consume all of your time. I'm envious.
At one time, my special interest was anything and everything to do with Sun Microsystems. I had collected heaps and heaps of Sun servers, configured them - I loved them and when Sun was taken over by Oracle, I just lost all interest in it. It was as though my heart had been ripped out. I literally went from 100% obsessed to having no hobby overnight. I felt lost. It was a horrible feeling. It honestly felt like part of me had died and that a huge void was left unfilled.

For a long time, I would try to get interested in anything from Morse Code to knot tying but nothing seemed to make it past the magical 3 week life limit. It'd start out with all guns blazing and by 3 weeks, I'd get bored with it. Even Astronomy and Mathematics lost their lustre.

I've now stumbled upon a new interest and it's traveling very well so far (past the 3 week mark) but I don't think you can pick something to be your special Aspie interest. I think it's got to pick you. You can't force or make an interest in something. It has to come naturally. I'm just glad I've got this one now because life was getting very depressing without a hobby to obsess about.

I think most of mine have one arm by my side, the othe folded behind my back holding it's elbow. I never knew what to do with my arms.

That´s funny! People often thought, that something was wrong with my left arm. I held it quite still, unless I was running or doing gymnastics.

when you break your leg by tripping on carpet fibers.

You know you're an Aspie when you start stimming on a regular basis.

You know you're an Aspie when everyone seems to be hearing comfortably at a concert but you're having a panic attack with the amount of noise.

You know you're an Aspie when you find it impossible to look someone in the eye.

You know 're an Aspie when you just can't handle people coming up and talking to you any more but they keep insisting on talking to you and you reach the point where you have 2 options. You either pick up your desk and hit them with it or escape to somewhere where you can be alone for a while.

That and the not being able to look people in the eyes thingy - or worse - when you become acutely aware of the eye contact problem and find yourself staring into their eyes like a weirdo. And then you can't concentrate on what they're saying because the eye issue takes over.

When you're forced into social situations like birthday parties you just can't get out of - so you quietly escape out the back to a quiet, alone room, find the family dog or cat and spend your time patting and cuddling them - and then you get busted and people think you're a weirdo.

This is exactly the description I give when I lecture in college abnormal psych classes about autism: you don't pick the interest, the interest picks you. I once tried to become obsessed with all the species of North American birds, but was unable to focus on the information long enough to retain it. Now I have an obsession with Gene Wilder which cropped up out of the blue one day after watching the 1968 film The Producers. Special interests are always surprising! And Aspie's right Pete, your maps are amazing!

When someone appeals to you for sympathy, and ten minutes into your very short response you suddenly notice that the look on their face is as though they're having open heart surgery while they're awake.

Another indicator is that people rarely appeal to you for sympathy.

A list of some stupid Things I use to do:

-You know you are a aspie when you walk like a robot
-You know you are a aspie when you have`nt brushed Your hair since childrenschool
-You know you are a aspie when the one you love the most is Your dog
-You know you are a aspie when you use sweatpant + sweater everyday
-You know you are a aspie when you dosent wear make-up
-You know you are a aspie when someone Call the police because you act stupid, even thought it is nothing
-You know you are a aspie when People think you are 11 when you are 16
-You know you are a aspie when Your future plans are having only lots og dogs and cats as Your Family and not a boyfriend
-You know you are a aspie when you hate motorbikes sound
-You know you are a aspie when you eat on the floor
-You know you are a aspie when you dont like too much People in the store

You're an Aspie when......
.....when you pace around a lot.
.....when some people perceive you as stalkers, when you are clearly not.

you get called "ass hat" and your not offended instead you take it as a compliment as the say in show business bad publicty is better than no publicty, look at Sasha Grey as an example.

When you're fascinated with elevators.

When you can accurately and succinctly explain why a given trivial item or event is special, and not a soul wants to listen.

you prefer animals to smelly humans.

OMG I actually do that.