You know you're autistic when...

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Trogluddite
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25 Oct 2018, 10:28 pm

Lysander wrote:

When it's a common occurence that you realize years or decades later what someone was actually trying to say or what they intended, because you remember basically everything that ever happens even when you don't understand.

Oh yes. I've been trying to clear a 40+ year back-log of them since my diagnosis a few years ago! People think I'm kidding when I repeat back to them something that was said decades ago. They don't get that I remember the exact words used, not just the gist of the conversation. Of course I do, that's the whole point; I never understood the gist to begin with, it was an unsolved riddle, and I'm not letting go until I've solved it, dammit!

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OrdinaryCitizen
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25 Oct 2018, 10:59 pm

Trogluddite wrote:

Your a savant then?

dragonsanddemons
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25 Oct 2018, 11:21 pm

...you get badly startled by loud/sudden noises multiple times on a daily basis.

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Trogluddite
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25 Oct 2018, 11:49 pm

OrdinaryCitizen wrote:

Your a savant then?

I wouldn't call myself that. It's quite hard to predict exactly what will catch in my memory, but sounds and words which I do memorise stick very well - in total contrast to my terrible episodic memory and short-term memory. I was a precocious reader as a child, and I think quite possibly hyperlexic, though I'm too old to confirm that now. That may have some bearing on it - hyperlexia is associated with an early talent for word and phrase memorisation that exceeds the ability to locate meaning in the words.

None of this is clinically confirmed, I should add; just my own impression from the times where there has been a reliable source to check against, and a few little experiments of my own. Rather than having a better memory per se, it may just be that my memories are constructed more in words than in meanings or images (my ability to form mental images in my mind's eye is not good).

A splinter skill, maybe? A little aspect of my mind that is augmented rather than diminished by autism, but not one that I can easily call up on command. To be honest, I wish I could forget most of it; very little is ever particularly useful, and it gives my mind too many things to start looping in my head when I'd rather just chill out or I'm trying to sleep.

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MrMacPhisto
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26 Oct 2018, 12:57 am

When a situation comes up, you start overthinking everything and start thinking about the worst case scenario. Then when the situation comes up you look at the situation and think ‘actually what was I thinking this situation isn’t as bad as I thought.’

Trogluddite
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26 Oct 2018, 1:09 am

^^ And when precisely the same situation comes up again. You catastrophise just as badly the next time; and the next time; and the next time.

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SaveFerris
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26 Oct 2018, 4:57 am

Trogluddite wrote:

OrdinaryCitizen wrote:

Your a savant then?

I wonder if it's a trauma thing , you remember it well because maybe it traumatised you in some way. I do this to some extent.

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26 Oct 2018, 9:54 am

You know you're autistic when you regularly assume to know more about people when you really don't know them at all.

Trogluddite
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26 Oct 2018, 10:52 am

SaveFerris wrote:

I wonder if it's a trauma thing , you remember it well because maybe it traumatised you in some way. I do this to some extent.

That is something I've been wondering about recently. I don't think necessarily trauma in the sense of a very frightening thing that might give someone PTSD, but maybe just things that gave me a lot of anxiety at the time because I didn't properly understand the situation. I do have a lot of trouble letting go of puzzles like that, and memories are reinforced by recalling them. I wonder too, if it has to do with masking - making a big data-base in my head of unusual social things in the hope that I'll recognise them next time (ha ha, fat chance!) I find it interesting that depression is often characterised by better recall of upsetting memories rather than happy ones; but does the depression change the memory recall, or the other way around, or a bit of both? Is having that "passing data-base" due to being hyper-vigilant and anxious socially something which drives my depressive episodes; a coping mechanism that can be very useful sometimes, but has a horrible unintended consequence?

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SaveFerris
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26 Oct 2018, 6:22 pm

Trogluddite wrote:

SaveFerris wrote:

I wonder if it's a trauma thing , you remember it well because maybe it traumatised you in some way. I do this to some extent.

You sound like you're playing it down as you don't want to offend people with horrific PTSD.

Have you read the info on this thread viewtopic.php?f=3&t=368699

Quote:

Abuse, sexual assault, violence, natural disasters and wartime combat are all common causes of PTSD in the general population. Among autistic people, though, less extreme experiences — fire alarms, paperwork, the loss of a family pet, even a stranger’s offhand comment — can also be destabilizing. They can also be traumatized by others’ behavior toward them.

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Prudolph
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26 Oct 2018, 6:43 pm

As a child you had an obsession with faeces and using them as face paint......

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IsabellaLinton
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27 Oct 2018, 2:46 pm

You know you're autistic when you are familiar with The Onion but nonetheless you read this article five times, rapt with shock and concern, before realising it's only a joke.

Sometimes I am JUST. THAT. GULLIBLE. :roll: :oops:

(for shame)

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Trogluddite
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27 Oct 2018, 3:39 pm

SaveFerris wrote:

You sound like you're playing it down as you don't want to offend people with horrific PTSD.

Have you read the info on this thread viewtopic.php?f=3&t=368699

Thanks for the link; a lot for me to chew over there. It's not so much that I was worried about offending, more of a measurement problem. It's not the first time that I've spoken about some aspect or other of my behaviour, and got the reaction that I'm underplaying, being dismissive, or being flippant. I've accepted my personal "normal" and messed up explanations for too long now, I suppose; I'm often oblivious to why other people think that what I tolerate is extreme, even if it's obvious that they clearly are worried about me. I only figured out recently that it probably makes me seem like a right ungrateful sod. I guess that's another "you know you're autistic when..."

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naturalplastic
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27 Oct 2018, 3:42 pm

IsabellaLinton wrote:

(for shame)

So...

Are you pro Charlotte, or are you pro Anne?

IsabellaLinton
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27 Oct 2018, 4:06 pm

^ naturalplastic

I also know I'm autistic when I forget to affirm that I'm pro-Emily after writing such a post
I actually adore Charlotte, but none can surpass Emily. (Anne is a very distant third).

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CockneyRebel
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27 Oct 2018, 10:02 pm

You realize that you forgot to have a shower or a bath a third day in a row.

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