Am I the only one like this?

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My girlfriend's friend recently told me that a lot of people might look at me as very intimidating, because they think I'm so damn smart...and no, she wasn't being sarcastic.

I've told my Dad that I may come off as arrogant because I see myself on a mental level of comprehension that those I deal with on a daily basis could never, ever understand.

Am I the only one like this, or is it the same way for all of you folks?

Few people have thought I was arrogant but I don't know how many more people think that.

So basically this is all pretty much normal for Autistic folks as they get older is what you're saying?

I've never been told that I seem arrogant, but I've had people tell me that they didn't speak to me at first because they were intimidated by my intelligence. I don't see myself as being on another mental level, but a lot of the time, I'll be trying to explain something to someone, and they'll get confused by things that I see as basic, so I know I'm above average in intelligence.

Can you explain things to people that make perfect sense to you which even grown adults can barely seem to comprehend?

If so, then yes...you're on another level, mentally.

And I understand about being frustrated trying to explain what we see as simple...that is indeed utter hell.

If I have the time, and if the person is willing to listen, I can break a good number of things down into concepts that a small child can understand. I work as a teacher, so it's a skill that I've had to develop.

You are far more understanding than I, then.

If I'd have to break it down to that point--and for a grown adult--they've already lost a lot of respect in my book.

"No one is smarter than you"

Hmm, I do understand that sentiment, I used to feel that way. These days I find it's not as simple as me being intelligent and everyone else being thick. Each individual is different and has a number of factors influencing their interests and knowledge. For example, I had almost no knowledge of geography, sport and politics growing up, in comparison to my knowledge of subjects that interest me like literature and psychology. I grew up in a single parent home, just me and mum, and she didn't drive or take me on many holidays, she had no interest in sport and didn't buy the paper or watch the news. So I wasn't exposed to those subjects and by the time I was in my late teens it was a noticable deficit. I used to worry people would think I was stupid, even though I was an A student and known for being "brainy", because I would have trouble naming the towns in my county or explaining socialism. I've made it my business to learn about geography and politics, to a reasonable level that gets me by, but I still couldn't care less about sport! I did extremely well in school but struggled at university because the learning style was so open and I found it difficult to understand what was expected of me. I took 6 years to get my degree, instead of 3, but did rather well in the end. In contrast to that, my two female friends - who don't read any of the books I do and rarely think about the "big questions" - completed their degrees within the normal amount of time but didn't do quite as well as me.

Everyone is different. Not having the prerequisite knowledge on a subject to grasp what someone is telling you shouldn't make you someone people can't respect. Has the shoe never been on the other foot?

I have to ask, also: are these subjects anyone could understand? Give me an example of a concept you try to explain. Are we talking string theory or recording on Tivo/Sky Plus?

In fairness, my areas of knowledge are history, toys, and economics.

I used to be very much into politics, and now I no longer am pretty much at all--with the exception of liking a few former Presidents and still despising Communism with a passion.

However, one thing I can do with ease now is discuss economics without even bringing politics into it whatsoever.

These days I hear people whine like crazy about "the economy", and when I try to explain to them why they shouldn't worry as much as the news tells them to, it's like it all completely falls on deaf ears. I make every single example of this stuff via history, and also injecting some basic facts, and it almost seems like it's just beyond them completely.

Every time I even hear political discussion now, it honestly sounds to me like little more than some kid in a driveway banging two action figures together...I'm not making this up.

It all just seems so amateurish to me now....talking with most people. Maybe I just don't think they offer me a challenge anymore or something...and if I think they sound idiotic to me, I guess the tone of my voice lets 'em know it, whether or not I realize I do that.

Yes, I have been told that I am perceived as intimidating because of my intelligence.

Ever since I was very young I have known that I am abnormally intelligent, but it seems strange to me that other people would perceive me as intimidating because they are so intimidating to me.

I often drastically overestimate people's knowledge about subjects. It's hard for me to believe that things I see as obvious are often difficult for others to understand. And when I try to explain something I try to explain it in the most simple way possible and then when they still don't understand it I'm so confused as to why they don't understand.

I guess part of it is due to our Autism, we're able to take the emotional aspect out of it, whereas they're not able to...which helps us see it a lot more clearly.

I don' know...maybe I'm just growing exhausted of dealing with the same people over and over again who just don't understand, & I'm beginning to come off overly arrogant because of it.

Part of what may intimidate folks is that I'm very sure of myself on this stuff.

No, they don't intimidate me, but depending on who it is I try my best not to piss them off. Then again, we're Autistic, so that's likely beyond possible.

They don't need intellectual understanding, they have intuition. You're more intellectual, they're more intuitive. Intellectual is usually called intelligent/wise and intuitive is usually called clever. In my case, I'm more "intelligent" than everyone around me but I'm an idiot compared to them in what counts to get by, so it balances out or they even are ahead of me.

I'm a little confused here, Greentea--please do elaborate.

Intelligence is not a straightforward, one-dimentional thing. Meeting a person who seems above average intelligent on one or two particular subjects and who can impress me with the detailed knowledge of their particular fields of interest, does not intimidate me at all, it just bores me. I would quickly find someone else to talk to. Hearing all about the history of the British Navy or the rise and fall of Alexander the Great, is not very interesting in a social setting.

A classmate of mine at high school was thought of as highly intelligent, and what gave him that label was his knowledge about very many different subjects, anything from music to psychology to physics, and he could talk about these things in an interesting way at almost all levels without seeming to show off or to be arrogant about it. He could meet people at their level and find something to say about it that would interest others. He was also intelligent in the field of human relations and socialising, and that is the most important thing to NTs. Intelligence isn't just about being extremely good at relaying facts about a particular subject. It is also about understandig social settings and being able to navigate through most kinds of social circumstances in a smooth and intuitive way. This is what defines an intelligent person to an NT.

I used to think that I was cleverer than other people. I was very badly wrong.