symptoms of asperger syndrome really defined

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social characteristics of aspergers

17-low to no apparent sense of humor; bizarre sense of humor...symptom is mild to moderate...........lol, i have a very bizarre sense of humor...also a very dry sense of humor..........however, i am very humorous at everything...how can you live like us and not have a sense of humor, lol........without laughing at myself and life's happenings, ida never made it

18- known for single-mindedness...symptom moderate to severe........yep, this is how i live...i must finish one thing first before i move on.....of course, unless the situation calls for doing 2 things at once, lol................i can multi-task, but the quality of work degrades quickly

Guilty.....most of the jokes I hear just don't make me laugh at all, they seem so weak. There are a few TV comedy programs that get through - mostly old or obscure ones. Though I liked a lot of the Monty Python stuff, which I guess is quite popular, and Fawlty Towers. The jokes I tell usually have a cynical, vitreolic flavour to them, and don't often go down very well (I tend to avoid making jokes these days, for fear of upsetting people). I often laugh when somebody says something that's not meant to be funny - usually when I appreciate their perceptiveness or say a thing that I've often thought was true but never really put into words before. And people sometimes laugh at my comments the most when I hadn't really intended to be particularly funny...I usually can see the slightly amusing side of what I've said, but I'm often astonished at how hilarious the effect can be. I often get on well with cynics because they seem to appreciate my black humour quite well.


Guilty. "One thing at a time" is like a religion to me, I have a decidedly single-track, focussed mind that can be thrown into turmoil by interruption. If I see a thing as worth doing at all, then I'm obsessional at getting it right, and if it weren't for external factors I'd shut out everything else but the task in hand. I actually get scared of starting a lot of things, because I know that once I get involved, I'll find it very hard to stop until the job is completed to my stringent standards. I also get scared that reality won't allow me to achieve those perfectionist standards, and will spend a long time in "preparation" mode, second-guessing the likely pitfalls and making sure everything I need is ready to start.

I fall under the bizarre. I used to do a lot of really harsh cynicism, but the folks that enjoyed it... well, I've changed and don't have such a negative, painful view of life and the people in it anymore. Now I do more characterizations with irony... and that cracks folks up... well, except probably for the humorless Aspies... LOL



Well, I can definitely 'lock on' and be very hard to dislodge, but I also have a totally spastic attention mode where it seems I wander from task to task and don't get any done. Drives me absolutely ape-s*** by the end of the day. It usually happens when I'm stressed by NTs.

Yes I'm guilty, not sure to what extent though. I seem to be two extremes, I either don't shut up or I hardly say a thing. I have a habit of rambling and trailing off.


Moderate at home or mild when with family out. I hold it in with friends. My tantrums can be bad, I just cry and scream and yell and if I'm alone I hit my head or something. And anything can trigger them, usually anger.


Mild, I do have a bizarre sense of humour and I just laugh at things no one else finds funny sometimes. I do have quite a dark/sarcastic sense of humour aswell, and can make a joke about serious things, whether I tell them or not depends on who I'm with of course, I tend to be as dark as I want with one of my aspie friends because he's just the same.


Mild. I'm not that good with multi tasking. Also I'm picky about things like clothes and stuff, or if I find something I want I 'm not interested in anything else, no matter how much you persuade me to look at something else similar, I've found what I want.

1-difficulty in accepting criticism or correction, this symptom is usually mild to moderate

I'm pretty bad at accepting criticism, or even people just pointing out something about me in a way that might be a criticism. Like, once, a friend told me that she noticed that I used to carry my wallet in my back pocket, and that she thinks of that as a rather masculine thing to do (I'm female). There was no explicit judgment in her statement, and I don't have any problem with having some masculine characteristics. But still, it made me feel very self-conscious and uncomfortable.


2- difficulty in offering correction or criticism without appearing harsh, pendantic, or insensitive...this symptom is usually moderate to severe

Yep. Given the option, I will avoid people rather than correct or criticize. I have found that even if I do phrase things in the nicest possible way, and do my best to emphasize the fact that it's ME with the problem, and not THEM, I still find that when I correct or criticize someone, it drives a wedge between us.


3-pouting, ruminating, fixating on bad experiences with people or events for an INORDINATE length of time........this symptom is moderate to severe

I do this. Well, not so much now, because the ONLY people in my life are my family. I don't think I've even had a conversation with a non-family member (aside from a couple of meetings with my kids' teachers) at all since the beginning of 2009. As such, there haven't been any bad experiences with people. Once in a while, experiences from long ago creep into my head, and I have to consciously make them go away.


4-abrupt and STRONG expressions of likes and dislikes......mild to moderate symptom

This would be a yes.


5- difficulty with adopting social masks to obscure real feelings and emotions...moderate to severe symptom

I suppose I can do that if I absolutely have to, but it fills me with the urge to run out of the room. (I was so tempted to quote Pink Floyd and say that it fills me with the urge to defecate, but I suppose many of you are young enough that you wouldn't get it.)

I didn't know about social masks until recently. I've always known that people don't necessarily let their feelings hang out, and I think that's fine. But it's the deception that bothers me. When people pretend to feel something when they really feel the opposite. I have been very hurt when people practically come out and say that they are adoring my company, and then suddenly want nothing to do with me. If you are truly enthused by my presence, then by all means let me know; but if you find me tiresome and annoying, then don't put on a bright smile, call me "Sweetheart" and ask for my phone number. I wouldn't never do that to someone, and don't think I'd even be capable of it.

6- low to medium level of paranoia.......mild to moderate symptom

I'm not sure. I don't think people are watching me or talking about me....if that's what paranoia is. However, based on my experience, I have come to believe that I am pretty much invisible. I mean, not it a literal sci-fi kind of way, but


7-failure to distinguish between private and public personal care
habits: i.e., brushing, public attention to skin problems, nose picking, teeth picking, ear canal cleaning, (lol) clothing arangement..........mild to moderate symptom

I don't have this at all. Well, with the exception of my lip picking. Yuck. I now realize it's a stim, and I've done my best to modify it. Since I was about 8, I've always picked at the dry skin on my lip. I now try really hard not to do it, and mostly just brush my finger over my lip rather than actually peeling skin off. I once saw someone peeling the dry skin off their lip, and was horrified to see how yucky that looks. I had always assumed that I was doing it discreetly, but seeing that made me realize how obvious it is. Still, once in a while I catch myself doing it.

I HATE it when people take care of private body stuff in front of others. Like people who blow their nose or pick their teeth at the table. Or when people clip their toe nails in front of other people.


8- RIGID adherence to rules and social conventions where flexibility is desirable................mild to moderate symptom

I'd need examples. I'm pretty sure this isn't an issue for me, but maybe it is, and I'm just not aware of it.



9-social isolation and intense concern for privacy.....symptom moderate to severe

Absolutely. I don't even like when the person at the grocery store asks if I'm finding everything okay...what business is it of theirs? Ha ha! It's true, though.



10- flash temper....symptom mild to moderate

My AS son has the temper, being a Scorpio. I don't, really. Or at least not in a blow-up kind of way. Thank goodness.


11- difficulty judging other peoples space..symptom moderate to severe

These days, I err on the side of caution, and just stay far away. I have made some pretty embarrassing mistakes, though. Some people are really touchy-feely, and I have made the mistake of thinking that it's appropriate to be close and touchy with people who seem to be like that. Turns out it's not a two way street.

12- limited by intensley pursued interests.....symptom mild to moderate

Someone else mentioned that in school they pretty much shunned anyone who didn't share their interest, and therefore kind of avoided a lot of the social hell they would have otherwise had to endure. Looking back, I was, and still am, the same way, although I certainly never thought of it in that way when I was younger.

13-Limited clothing preference;discomfort with formal attire or uniforms.....symptom is moderate to severe.

I would like to be able to wear a variety of things, but I feel physically uncomfortable in so many types of clothing, that I stick to men's jeans and women's t-shirts.

14-Preference for bland or bare envioronments in living arrangements...symptom moderate to severe

This has always been a major source of stress for me. I LOVE bland or bare environments in living arrangements, but I've never been rich enough to live somewhere where there is enough space for that. I've always had to have furniture too close together, and stacks of stuff in front of other stuff, because there simply isn't enough space for everything. One of my recurring dreams is that I discover a hidden room in my house, and suddenly have the ability to arrange things the way I like.

15- excessive talk...moderate to severe symptom

I don't think I talk very much, although there are exceptions. It drives me nuts when other people (like my family) feel like they need to say every single thing that comes into their head.

16-tantrums

Nope. I don't have tantrums.

17-low to no apparent sense of humor; bizarre sense of humor...symptom is mild to moderate

I see humor in a lot of things, but I don't always show it. I think what passes for humor in popular culture (like Hollywood comedy movies) is pretty strange, and I generally don't find it funny. I mean like humor based on people being stupid and having bad manners. I rarely feel the need to start guffawing inanely at something that is intended to be funny, but is really stupid.


18- known for single-mindedness...symptom moderate to severe

Well...I can't multi-task to save my life. However, if I'm working on a task that I'm not particularly interested in, I feel no great compulsion to finish it before embarking on something that I am interested in. Which probably explains why holding down a job has never been my forte.

wow wanda!...thanks for that introspective look


social symptons cont.

19- often percieved as "being in their own world"...symptom moderate to severe...........to me, everyone is in their own little world..it is up to each little world how much it wants to share with other little worlds..................in my youth this would probably describe me somewhat, but not as i got older

20- discomfort manipulating or "playing games" with others......symptom moderate to severe...............i really dislike when someone plays mind games with me with the intent to embarass or belittle............i'm a straight shooter and want the details without all the puff........i can easily spot someone with ulterior motives and i can play mind games that make them look like amatuers, lol...don't play with me unless it is for fun, otherwise, i'll eat you alive

I don't know how I'm perceived in that way - nobody's ever said anything about it to me one way or the other as far as I remember. Though I'm definitely very "in my own world" compared with the socialites I've noticed. I do share some of my world, but normally only the tip of the iceberg. Occasionally I meet somebody with whom I can converse for hours, swapping mini-lectures, and it's great when that happens, but it's rare. I have to feel naturally intrigued by what they're interested in, the interests have to overlap enough to make it possible, I can push myself a little but not greatly.


Yep. And I'm proud of it. The slightest whiff of anybody being less than sincere and straight with me and I reach for the sick bucket. I guess I can't be sure that I don't unwittingly manipulate or play games myself, but as far as I know I'm pretty clear of it, and I'd feel bad about myself if I thought I did, unless it was against a definite enemy, and even there it would feel distasteful, and I'm also discovering that most enemies aren't 100% evil.

Oh, very much so. It's moderated a tiny little bit since growing up, as I now know that I HAVE to at least appear to give my attention to whoever wanders into my proximity and starts blathering away.... but don't even think I'm happy about it if I've been absorbed in what I was doing.



Severe... and even on the few occasions when I've tried, not only do I feel slightly nauseous, I'm lousy at it. Now, if it comes to messing with someone's mind straight out, using their own words and actions to show what two-faced, lying, double-dealing, deceitful belly-crawling scum they are... well, THAT I'm pretty good at. I don't do it much anymore, because--like Tough Diamond--I've learned that people are mainly just bumbling idiots and not evil. But as a teenager and 20-something? I was one mean MFer.

I'd call that being straight, rather than messing with their minds, as long as you genuinely believe in the truth of what you're saying at the time. Though it tends to do more harm than good in most cases, even when it's correct. I still find it a big strain trying to give carefully-measured criticism with great care to avoid pushing the other guy's ego into a corner. But I've found that anything else is rather like when I used to bite my Matchbox Series cars because they wouldn't do the right thing. Of course the cars weren't smart enough to know how to behave properly. I think with people there's a lot of misunderstandings that I could clear up if only the negative emotions didn't override my patience, but simply bottling anger when I'm not ready to is just as futile as letting it rip. Anyway, I'm going off topic so I'd best shut up.

thanks everyone, we are close to the end of the social characteristics of aspergers, lol...thank god huh?, lol

i know this tedious as i spoon feed it, but there is a method to my madness and we are better off discussing it little by little....after these last social stmptoms, we will move on to the physical manifestations of our condition

21- difficulty in forming friendships and intimate relationships; difficulty in distinguishing between acquaintance and friendship........symptom moderate to very severe.......i have had only a few close friends (NT's) in my life........i have mini friendships, but most break over time........i have always gotten along with females way better than males, so the intimate relationships have never been a problem (heheheheh)...........i never had a problem distinguishing friends from acquaintances, because 99.9% are acquaintances, lol

22-difficulty with reciprocal dispays of pleasantries and greetings....symptom is moderate to very severe...........i have always been awkward at meeting people and extending greetings for the first time...or i do it in a very awkward manner......sometimes i do very well......but i would say after about 40, it all disappeared and i nary have a problem with it now

No gripes here - I've enjoyed taking part in this venture so far.


My sister is the only person I know who could be called a life-long friend, and we rarely see each other. Everybody else either left me or I left them, or the friendship just seemed to fizzle out by itself. I have a string of failed partnerships with women, they often last a few years. Even my current marriage looks set to collapse - we've been together over 10 years, which looks like a colossal achievement on paper, but we've only lived together for 2 or 3 years, the rest of the time it was just weekends. Even now we spend most of our time in different rooms, and there are serious conflicts that aren't getting solved.

I've almost never been completely friendless - there's usually been at least one person I hang about with regularly, often female, in which case it's nearly always become sexual. Between the ages of 16 and 30 I had a number of friends, though only one or two lasted right the way through that epoch, and even they blipped in and out over the years.

When I was younger I thought I knew the difference between friends and acquaintances, but these days I'm not so sure......I guess I used to measure it by the frequency of meeting, but these days I'd measure it by the amount of sharing and mutual nurturing, and I don't see myself as doing very well in that respect. A lot of the sharing is music and frankly I don't feel all that fulfilled or that I really get very far in fulfilling my fellow musicians - my perfectionism keeps getting in the way for one thing. When I perform with other musicians then I feel a strong bonding force, but bands usually split up as fast as relationships, only with less heartache.

I don't mean to belittle the quality of the company I've had (and still have), but it's always felt very chimeric.....I tend to think that I've made very few inroads into intimacy - not sexual, that part has always been great fun - it's the platonic sharing of my humanity with others that seems to be lacking (if that makes any sense), I sense I've sometimes been able to give quite a lot in that respect, but I'm still hopeless at receiving, at leaning on others and asking for their support. I guess I'm just too independent for my own good.


I tend to do this very mechanically and simplistically, and at work I can forget who I've said hello to, as if I see greetings as a weird distraction from real life....yet on the other hand I often think people rude who don't say hello when they pass me. Saying goodbye can scare me, I tend to feel I'm likely to offend by walking off without giving out some kind of social signal. It all probably looks fairly normal from the outside, but inside me a lot of it is still difficult and I feel I'm still having to put more effort in than I should need to, to get it right and to seem as if it's second nature to me. But when it's somebody who always arrives or leaves according to the same pattern every day, I'm comfortable enough with the syntax I've learned. Like anything else that I repeat frequently, I become good at it and it ceases to bother me.

I don't like exchanging small talk.....for some reason if anybody asks me a question, then after I've answered it (if I ever finish answering it!), I have a mental block on saying "how about you?" - even when I remember to say it at all. I quickly run out of small things to talk/ask about, I often forget what they've told me when it seems like very small and insignificant stuff.....so if their relative is ill, I'll be the one who forgets to inquire about the relative's health. And I can't stand these insincere, dutiful things like "give your wife my best wishes." I got criticised once for always saying "are you allright?" every time I met anybody in a group of people I lived with....I just said that it made sense to me to do that, because it gave them the chance of saying if they had any problems I might be able to help with. Maybe they thought it was a meaningless greeting like "hello" and maybe they thought I should use keep using different ones so it didn't get boring.

I don't really hold with pleasantries, though I've been called a pleasant person and I suppose I mostly show a fairly pleasant demeanour towards people, I "make the effort" to some extent. But it's limited, probably because if I did it any more intensely then I'd feel too insincere. If I happen to notice something about them that I genuinely like, I'll often say so if I'm not feeling shy. But I'm not likely to search hard for stuff just so I can say something good about them. If I'm going to search for anything it'll be common interests, experiences and philosophies, and ways we can be of mutual help to each other, but frankly I keep forgetting to even do that, though I think I really ought to. I'm still a very shy person deepdown, although I tend to hide it well.

Last edited by ToughDiamond on 18 Jun 2009, 2:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Mild-moderate. I am forever in a day dream, I space out sometimes. And sometimes I just do my own thing even when there are other people in the room, it could be a classroom situation and I'm somewhere completely far away, daydreaming and listening to music on my headphones whle completely forgeting about anyone else.


I'm not sure, I can do it, but it feels forced and I'd rather people be honest with eachother. So I think I'll give that one rarely-mild


Yes, but I'm not sure to what extent. When I do make friends it's usually them that make me, and I just follow. I have trouble distiguishing between acquaintance and friendship, so if I meet someone and we've been speaking for a while, they might see us as friends and I still think we're only acquaitances, and that shortens the friendship, because I'm still being a bit distant when they want us to go eachothers houses and stuff.


Very much so. I do say hi to people of course, but I don't do much small talking, I usually wait for the other person to start. And I don't really greet people with hugs/air kisses like many people do, it feel un-natural to me. And I often don't know how to reply to a compliment, I just go awkward, even though I should really compliment them back i just don't because I have nothing to say back.

23- "Serious" all the time........symptom mild to moderate.........lol, yes this is me, mr.stoneface.i appear to be serious all the time because of my somewhat lack of facial features....however, as i do take life very seriously, i know when not to, and it is OFTEN, lol.............if i couldnt laugh at life, ida never made this far...no frikin way

24- constant anxiety about performance and acceptance, despite recognition and noteriety...........symptom moderate to very severe.......yep, i always wanted to do my best with only 75% of the parts upstairs in the head, lol............being a perfectionist and autistic is a REAL BAD combination, rofl............as i aged this tamed down a lot, but i always obsess about it...did i do it the right way???...should i have done it that way???..............however i am good at analyzing all the data before i make a decision, especilaly the REALLY important ones

Yes I'm very serious-minded a lot of the time, though I didn't like it when I realised I was like that, and made a continued effort to lighten up. If I have a task to perform that's in any way difficult then I'm usually very serious about it. But in between tasks I can get quite flippant. Especially if I get sucked into a teamwork situation where I don't understand what the others are on about, I can go into clown mode very easily. But these days I'm wary of annoying people by doing that. Overall I strive for a light, relaxed way of doing things, and I feel I'm at my best when I can be like that, though I keep slipping into serious mode again, as soon as there's a reasonable intellectual challenge to focus on. It's hard to control which attitude to adopt, work or play mode.


Very much so. I often can hardly believe it when people tell me the quality of my work is very good, or if I happen to notice a relatively poor standard in other people's results compared to what I thought was my own pathetic attempt at the same task. I really tend to labour a task, and do whatever it takes to get a perfect result. Of course there's often a trade-off with labour time, so it speed is a criterion then I just get left behind. And a lot of the imperfections I find myself ironing out are trivial things that nobody else gives a damn about. I often feel a strong sense of pride and confidence in my ability to perform well, but it's easily shaken at the slightest evidence of failure. I seem to need a constant stream of good achievements to reassure myself that I'm not losing my abilities.....if I get a great result then I feel either mildly elated or just normal, but it might only be a few hours before I'm starting to doubt my powers again. I'm an "excellent-achievement junkie." What an asset for an employer or partner who takes the trouble to understand how I tick!

Social acceptance - Deepdown I think I'm very anxious about that, and would probably feel a lot better in an environment where others were constantly reassuring me that I was accepted, cared about and needed. I only knew life to be anything like that a couple of times, and it was great while it lasted. But mostly I think I've learned to be an island and to shut out that feeling, so that consciously I don't care what most people think of me - their views are "not important" to me, stupid NT mainstreamers going round in pointless circles. So as long as I can shut them out and carefully choose who I try to get it together with, I don't have to feel much social anxiety.
. Crikey, I didn't know that till I started typing just now. I must have known it for a long time, in a sense, otherwise it wouldn't have tumbled out like that, but I never expressed it before, not even to myself. You people are loads better than a shrink, I can talk to you about anything

13-Limited clothing preference;discomfort with formal attire or uniforms.....symptom is moderate to severe

What I used to wear was jogging bottoms and polo shirts, now I can't wear these clothes and I wear some decent trousers and shirts suitable for work in an office area (lucky me) but I've never been able to wear proper shoes, I can't stand ties (it doesn't look smart or professional in my opinion so I truly can't understand them) and I've worn a coat of some sort for a stupid number of years. I don't like wearing colours, pictures, logos, stripes or anything that I deem too... fashionable... I guess...

So yeah, I feel limited in what I wear and if I'm not wearing what I'm comfortable in I can feel a bit uncomfortable in the privacy of my home, and agitated when in public.


14-Preference for bland or bare envioronments in living arrangements...symptom moderate to severe

I like things looking plain, means it's all nice and simple, and the way I've got my furniture set up makes it convenient too


15- excessive talk...moderate to severe symptom

This one is tricky

I'm generally quiet, I talk when spoken to rather than make conversation, if people talk about a subject that I'm knowledgeable on, then it's not quite so hard for me to join in, but I'd rather listen and correct people - much simpler

the reason why I say it's tricky is because I replay conversations and/or events, going through what I wanted to say or other things that I could have said or done instead

I can also talk to people that I'm yet to talk to about something in my head. Now you'd think this would make me prepared to talk to this person, but I don't always say what I've already said to them in my mind, but conversations can still turn out the way I predicted them to go in my head making talking to some people pretty pointless (my mum for example, I don't need to talk to the majority of the time because of how predictable she can be)


16-tantrums.....mild to moderate symptom

I wouldn't say I have so many tantrums now... just outbursts of the purest hate and rage towards people that insult and wrong me


17-low to no apparent sense of humor; bizarre sense of humor...symptom is mild to moderate

I don't need to understand a joke to laugh, all it takes is other people to start laughing and I may uncontrollably start joining in, if I do get the joke, I'd usually laugh - unless if I'm in a mood where laughing is just banned, so telling jokes when I'm in such a mood is not going to always cheer me up.

As far as a bizarre sense of humour goes... it's hard to say as I am in a family that enjoys having a good laugh in their conversations, so humour is something I've grown up with. Although humour, criticism and bullying can all be mistaken for one another, which may sometimes depend on my mood... I don't know, another tricky one I guess


18- known for single-mindedness...symptom moderate to severe

It's easiest to work on one thing at a time, although multi-tasking isn't always too difficult... I can leave things hanging, but it may play on my mind if I don't get it done sooner rather than later, prioritising things isn't a problem, as long as I'm not tired that is...

I am, however, VERY single-minded when it comes to jobs, as I refuse to do something that I don't enjoy, and there is not much out there that I enjoy - this is where voluntary work comes in for me so well as I can choose to do what I want rather than have to do what some one else wants me to do


19- often percieved as "being in their own world"...symptom moderate to severe

A few people have said that I live in a world of my own, but I consider it an insult as it can be more of a case of single-mindedness or down to my interests of gaming, I am pretty sure of myself when it comes to distinguishing the difference between what is real, and what is fantasy, and let's face it, dragons ARE REAL... they're just not as mythological as we get in worlds of fantasy (I'm actually referring to lizards, most accurately – The Comodo Dragon – just to be awkward)


20- discomfort manipulating or "playing games" with others......symptom moderate to severe

I hate mind games, not that I necessarily loose... twisting of words... it's just a battle of wits... and not many people that I've met have those, and when they do have some wits about them, it's rarely something they would/can use against me


21- difficulty in forming friendships and intimate relationships; difficulty in distinguishing between acquaintance and friendship........symptom moderate to very severe

Very difficult, people will normally have to approach me, and I can be very uncomfortable talking to random people that just randomly talk to me, espesially when it comes to random subjects... how many times can you say the word random in one sentence?

The best way for me to make friends is for us to just get to know each other over time, when we meet each other so often, whether it's passing by or a place that we are at a lot of the time (college or something).
So far friendships have failed miserably (literally) throughout my life and the only relationship I've been in has knocked me down some and still affects me quite sorely.

So as trusting as I can be with people, I really don't feel like I can trust anyone at all
I seem to have an easy time getting along with people that give me the time of day, but to call anyone a friend... well... I still say I have none


22-difficulty with reciprocal dispays of pleasantries and greetings....symptom is moderate to very severe

'Hi' with my slow wave of the hand is about as far as my greetings go, or something similar at least, I'd make a pathetic host, and putting me on centre stage to make a speech would be an absolute disaster – podiums are evil... especially if you've watched police academy


23- "Serious" all the time........symptom mild to moderate

My facial expression can be blank quiet often, leaving people thinking that I'm being serious or being a miserable git, it can be some what annoying listening to people telling me to cheer up or 'smile' when inside I do feel happy, it's just not enough to make me show it on the outside

I'm not serious all the time, I can just get caught up with what I'm doing, thus meaning I don't want to be messing about or the likes, oddly enough people don't always seem to realise that when I'm doing something, I would rather I was left to it rather than be messed about or slowed down.


24- constant anxiety about performance and acceptance, despite recognition and noteriety...........symptom moderate to very severe

Well I'm constantly trying to perfect what I'm typing - spelling must be good, grammar... reasonable, and what I say – accurate and relevant, not that I feel I succeed. If what I type doesn't seem relevant when I read it, I may end up typing whole paragraphs again, sometimes near enough the same as before.

Even as I type this up, I want to make sure I'm doing near on everything correctly, while at the same time, being unsure what to say a lot of the time, unsure if I should even be on this website (purely because of the lack of diagnosis) unsure if anyone is even going to read and give a damn about what I have to say or respond in a fashion that is not going to simply make me feel worse about myself or embarrass me in some way through a mistake I've made or something...

Now if you don't mind, I have to read through this entire post for the hundredth time to make sure It looks right

(This has taken me over 3 hours to type and perfect to satisfactory I hope there arn't many more you're going to add autisticmind, although I do look forward to any more you do post )

13-Limited clothing preference;discomfort with formal attire or uniforms
To some degree, more limited by the type of clothes I like than the individual clothes. I like baggy clothes that don’t feel or are tight in any way. Sweat pants and T-shirts. I like black, grey, blue and green. Definite hate of formal attire.

14-Preference for bland or bare envioronments in living arrangements

Not really. As long as there is no colours that hurt my eyes (bright white and sharp yellow, for instance) I don’t give it much thought.

15- excessive talk

Not really and not generally but it depends on where I am. If I’m with relatives, acquaintances or the like, I tend to be so quiet they forget that I’m there.I usually only speak if spoken to or if I have something to ask.
At home I can talk a lot (sometimes even about non-obsessions!) but I also like to be quiet and by myself quite a lot.

16-tantrums

It’s been known to happen.

17-low to no apparent sense of humor; bizarre sense of humor

Depends. There are a lot of jokes and several sitcoms I like, and a lot I don’t like as well. I find many forms of humour dumb or not funny. I get sarcasm but not irony. I have a sense of humour, but I’m basically a serious person. Sometimes I think something is a bit fun though I might not laugh or even smile, even though I might enjoy it. Sometimes I only smile on the inside. Jokes can make me laugh but I very rarely experience belly laughter.
Maybe the view of Aspies not having a sense of humour is due to how we show it (or don’t show it)

18- known for single-mindedness

I can't multi task. I am practically unable to get into something that I'm not interested in, I feel no drive whatsoever and no amount of reward can entice me into it. I simply can’t. I can’t focus, I’m just losing track of it all the time, checking the time, mentally snoozing. And I like to get really into one thing instead of leaping from one to subject to the other. I once took a one year course with classes 3-4 days a week, 4 lessons each time. The course had 6 subjects and we had 2 subjects a week and finished them with an exam in each, before we went on with the next 2 subjects. That was a perfect way for me to learn. Not too long time, so I still had spare time, only 4 lessons a day and only one subject a day. (Of course if I had hated the subjects then 4 lessons a day had been hell.)