Psychiatrist: "AS or BS?"

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I find that I understand colloquialisms when I hear them, but tend to avoid using them (and in fact avoid most forms of artistic expression) in my own speech because I invariably get them wrong. It's hard enough even when I stick to the facts without trying to be cute. I know what it is that I'm trying to say, but for some reason my brain does word-substitutions on the way to the mouth and I end up saying something quite different. The most obvious example is when a coworker came back from a vacation in the Ukraine. Thinking of Chernobyl, I meant to ask him "are your genes glowing?" but what actually came out was "did your pants catch fire?" If I have something important to say then I prefer to write it...

Personally, the way I talk is a blend of beling overly formal, using big words, slang, strange word arrangements, made up words, and verbing nouns.

Sometimes I overplay, but mostly it's is just that I say things the way that they are thought.

My friends and family are used to it, but I still get comments. Some are just stating how weird it is, and others are telling me they love me for it.

Er maybe you just need to see someone who is less language challenged?

She may have responded with hostility because what was a compliment also was a little patronising and perhaps premature (have you been seeing her a while?) Its an NT thingy.

I heard once that the majority of people who receive counselling don't want to get better and that the odds are not in their favour so perhaps she was digging to see what the possibilities were. . .

She may have also been monitoring the meds - looking for an 'angry' reaction perhaps.

What is the point for you in seeing this therapist/what do you want from them?

Maybe you should ask her how she will know if you are getting 'better'. That should answer all your questions about whether you should be seeing this person. Like you wouldn't buy a car without checking it out first right?

Dunno. Maybe try it out for a bit longer. If its not for you then don't do it.

Er, sorry about the jumps in my message, I have scatterthought.

I would be inclined to ditch the Shrink. Many of these Counsellors, Psychiatrists, etc have their own Ego needs which must be met through their interactions with their clients.

I take an automatic dislike to people who vilify my use of language on the basis of using the 'wrong' words for the occasion, ie, sounding more intelligent than they do, or sounding from a higher social class than they are from. I have lost count of the numbers of times that has gotten me into trouble.

What has been at all disillusioning is much the same experience even on the so called Aspies for Freedom forum. Worst of all, the Mod, Amy, instantly deletes posts that violate her rightthink, as part of the most devious concealment of controversy and consensus manipulation. So I have to contend with the dim bulbs who are harmonious with Amy's social blueprint.

I'm African-American and here down South, it's expected of me to speak, well, like an African-American, not even using correct English much less words that have more than two syllables. So from other black people, I get, "Are you from here?" or "Why are you talking white?". And from some whites, they act astounded at how smart I am....as if they're looking at a Gorilla that knows sign language.

I've never spoken slang and often get asked dumb questions to see how I'd respond such as, "Do you know what a G-string is?" or "Have you've ever heard of someone getting juiced?" I've never considered my particular use of English to be so special, just me speaking in an educated, correct matter. I have a degree in journalism so that especially makes me sensitive to using the right words.

Why do people think it's cool to speak like they're dumb as rocks? I'm not just talking about black folks either. It seems universal in the US to use the simplest language to look "cool".

Callista wrote: It also makes me seem more intelligent than I actually am.


Yes, I have this problem, too. My college teacher kept hinting that I was plagiarizing everything!
Eloquent when writing a paper and in response to something that I am knowledgeable about, but not very "quick on my feet". In fact, many times a "social dud". That seems inconsistent and puzzling to some.

I don't know if it makes any difference, but I'm a white male from the south, and that reminds me of the reactions I get from everyone else too - I'll start talking, people will listen for a moment, turn to each other and snicker after so many big words, and say "well, ain't we special?"

There was the day from elementary school where everyone had fun with the fact that I was not familiar with a pair of slang terms for male and female genetalia, which left them spending the rest of the day asking me "do you have a co** or a cu**? hey, I'm talkin' at ya! do you? do you?" After two hours of it, I thought I would go insane, and, adding it all up in my head, I realised the best response would be to say "neither!" (I was, of course, wrong, and things only got worse from there.)

But the worst was one hellish day in High School I'll always remember as the Jock-Strap-Day, where for some reason everyone got stuck on asking me what a jock-strap was, and having the time of their lives because I didn't know and didn't care. That day reached its "high point" with half the class at lunch taking turns throwing food at me and shouting "jock-strap boy" while the teachers pretended not to see anything and tried to keep from laughing themselves. That ended with one kid shouting "hey jock-strap boy, here's you a cherry!" and splattering a cherry from his fruit-cocktail on my shirt and ruining it: one of my teachers couldn't stop laughing then. Lunch ended moments later and I cut class and spent that time alone (the teacher didn't seem to notice, either, because I never got in trouble for it), but that was one of the lower points of my entire "wonderful" school career.

Repeatedly asking questions like that seems to provide hours of non-stop entertainment! Do NT kids get "stuck on stupid", or what?



Anyway, I wish I could hear more people talk like you seem to, nirrti_rachelle.

On the other hand, one of the beautiful things about NT southern diaect is that one is encouraged to talk veeeery sloooooowly, and say absolutely nothing, and if it comes out "plumb stupid", that even works in your favor! I have a lot of fun imitating "normal" southern American English in conversation, in small doses. (I don't know what to make of it, but when they imitate me, they use a bad British accent; I was born and raised in Ohio before moving to the south. I guess that's just a way of saying "well, he don't talk like me, I reckon he ain't from around here! One of them-there FOREIGNERS!")

Now, at long last, we understand the true cause of Aspergers: Mineralogical malnutrition, not enough lead in our water! Although, outbreading may also be a factor.

LOL! Thank you for a new perspective, I never thought of it that way before

Ow! Have you considered (1) moving north or (2) learning Russian and just pretending you are from a foreign country?

I have seen the same psychiatrist for more then five years and even before discovering AS I felt something wasn't right. Unfortunately, I could only bring myself to hint at it at the time. Discovering Asperger's has given me a bit of a bit and I have attempted to explain to my parents that perhaps it isn't wise to continue to see someone for so long without notable progress. I should further be noted that my shrink was completely incorrect in his ideas about AS (my psychologist also is misinformed about AS). A further complication is without local friends I have formed this "bond" thing based on our conversations on my interests that makes it more difficult to sever ties. It will certainly be necessary to sever those ties very soon however.

nirrti_rachelle, Yagaloth, all that stinks. I never had to deal with stuff like that too badly. Very fortunately I was mostly ignored, and eventually most people (well by late elementry school, I never completed convention high school) were nice to me. I went to a suburban Catholic school for the most part, I don't know if that has anything to do with anything. It had all of the crude and incomprehensible banter, but people stopped teasing me about 6th grade or so. Fortunately, I was home schooled and put in this an alternative program thing for most of HS. People STILL thought I was weird ("why don't you talk more?") but with less people and more people with "issues" it was easier to get along.

Regarding speaking and writing: I gave the speech to my dad's wedding and it got this response like I never have seen before. I didn't think it was really that interesting (it was predictable). But the restaurent owner said it was "the best he had ever heard" at a reception, and all these people thanked me. It was very embarrasing. People said it was well delivered too but I thought I was terrible. I started well, but then I opened my eyes and noticed there were people in the room and my words started stumbling. I am aware I am a capable speaker, and enjoy reading out plays and things dramatically, but in public I have a tendacy to fall apart when I notice the people around me.

Well, my first few days on a job a couple years ago, a co-worker asked me why I talked so strangely, and I told her I was from Belgium, and that I had to learn English from the sailors when my family stowed away on a steamship to America, and peel potatoes to keep from being thrown overboard. I said that America was a great country, because we didn't have electricity or shoes back in the "old country." She believed me when I said it, and I felt terrible about it later because she was actually the nicest person I worked with there

School in Ohio was actually worse in some ways. Kids everywhere are born deranged, sadistic, bloodthirsty monsters, and just learn to hide it better as they get older. That probably sounds more bitter and cynical than I mean for it to, though: rather, that's simply the fact as I see it, when I think of it at all; I won't lose any sleep over it, and I can even laugh at it, like a solved puzzle that surprised me be being easier than I thought it would be.

And, do not feel bad for me: through most of my school years I was not a nice person, so I make a poor martyr. I wanted to a nice guy, but I also wanted to be liked, and I was only capable of being one or the other, and nice always "got the boot". I regret that, if for no other reason than because of how little I got for the price I had to pay for it. And so I would like to think that I learned some valuable things from the whole experience.

Best wishes,
y.

http://www.FoolQuest.com/cliquebusters.htm

AaronAgassi

http://www.FoolQuest.com/cliquebusters.htm

That would take the prize for the worst designed web page I've seen in a long time.

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8. You can express your individuality and do good readable web design.
Check out http://www.csszengarden.com/
Everything you do that obscures your message, they do in a way that clarifies it and helps the reader follow what you are trying to say. Good design rules are there to make things easier on the reader, not to push the writer into some nasty place of conformity.

Asked and answered.