Is it just me or is it an Asperger's thing?

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I've just recently been diagnosed and now AS has become my new "obsession". All I've been doing is reading, talking, and thinking about it.

I'm finding that I keep analyzing everything I do and everything I think. Is this common?

Here are the things I've been wondering about:

1. Certain things annoy the crap out of me. Especially people eating. I hate people crunching. I share a space with other people at work and I can identify who someone is without seeing them by the way the are crunching. I'm am so sensitive to the sound that I have to leave my office. I also can't tolerate wrappers crinkling. I don't go to the movies often just because of this.

2. I freak out when I get in line somewhere and people are not lined up orderly. I hate it when they don't move up or if they leave a space.

3. Sometimes I don't participate in conversations, but other times I will go on and on.

4. I don't like it when people bug me at work, I really want them to leave me alone so I can get stuff done.

5. I don't rock back and forth or flap my hands (my Dr. asked me about this), but I do the following:
Stand on my toes then back to my heels, back and forth
Move my toes back and forth and make a "cracking" sound
Rub my thumb and middle finger together
Wring or twist my hands
Tear paper or labels, fold them, twist them, etc.

Are these considered "Stims"?

6. I have conversations in my head, constantly.

7. I have a little trouble driving, I can only drive on roads I'm familiar with. I have trouble merging, I get confused and can't figure out where to go.

8. I have a dry sense of humor. Usually I keep it to myself because people don't get it.

Just wondering if any of these are typical or if I'm just related everything I do to AS?

Wow...I knew I'd find like-minded individuals here! You have somehow neatly summed up most of what's going on in my head! Well, like you, I've been over-analyzing everything since I found out...but like you, I don't know whether that's AS or just me. But my Aspie boyfriend keeps bringing me back to Earth when I ask him about it. He says he doesn't know why I think about it so much - I've always been like that, after all.

It has been a relief to find this forum and find others who think like me.
Just to clarify, the "conversations in my head" aren't like hearing voices but more like I am "scripting" potential conversations.
I suppose I'll get used to the diagnosis sooner or later and move on to something else to think about.

Yeah, I know what you mean about "potential conversations" - I do that too. Yeah, I figured I'd get used to it too. But having to "come out" about it to university has kind of kept it in the priority list for me. I expect you'll get over it.

This sounds so much like me!

I have no problem with people crunching, I don't like it, but it's not a problem.
At work I hate when people won't tell me exactly what to do, cause if they do I have no problems solving the task.
The rest fits me pretty good, and I am also VERY interested in AS (to the point where it will be considered an obsession).

5. I would define those as stims.

Looking forward to see some good posts from you.

No, its not unusual to obsess on the Disorder when you're diagnosed and want to learn as much as you can about it (especially if you're DXd as an adult). That fascination will kind of stabilize after awhile, but may never really go away - after all, its been a part of who you are for a long time and now you know why, its hard not to analyze everything you find yourself doing and ask "Do I do this because of the Autism?"

Personally, I believe if you're talking about an alternate brain function that actually causes you to experience reality in a way slightly skewed from what the majority are experiencing, then its hard to imagine how that wouldn't in some manner or another affect literally everything you do and who you become as a personality. You develop in response to the reality you perceive.

There's ongoing debate here as to whether one can 'outgrow' AS or learn social skills to the point of being inmistakable from the Neurotypical. The very term High Functioning indicates we're capable of it to some degree, but I think its a tad foolhardy to think no one ever notices that we're different. It often shows through, even when we think we're flying under the radar.

And yes, all the little behaviors you mentioned could be considered stims, if they help soothe, and divert anxiety.

Everything you've described, as far as I've heard, is fairly typical of Aspies!

I thought I would be able to relate to some of the things you've written, not all of them.Well, I don't mind driving on unfamiliar roads.

Wow, I can relate to a lot of this.

I can relate to:
1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8.

Like others have said, I think it's pretty aspie-typical.

Looks like your "5 year mission to seek out and explore strange new worlds" has found it's "Home Planet"

1. I don't have this--but I have other sensitivities. I'm sensitive to what I consider loud noise (my partner is a sound designer, and has a very different idea about what is loud.) A conversational hubbub in a large room drives me completely crazy.

2. Ditto.
3. Ditto. The words, "I think," "Well, what happened to me," "In my view," are probably some of the most frequent in my vocabulary.
4. Ditto. Had to tell a colleague of mine, "please don't just walk into my cube." Now there is this agonizing, "Can I come in?" exchange. I can't win!
5. I have a bunch of motions, but rocking while seated or rocking from heels to toes are definitely common, as is fiddling with things, generally.
6. Ditto.
7. I'm not bad on driving. I just don't like it.
8. My sense of humour is certainly at right angles to reality. Fortunately many of my friends get it.

Welcome to the wonderful worlds of our brains!

1. I can’t stand people eating with their mouths open, other than that I’m o.k.
2. I don’t mind how people line up but if you try to get in front of me without my permission I may fly off the handle; I get VERY nasty.
3. Yes. I hate small talk but I can talk for hours if it’s one of my areas of interest.
4. Yes.
5. Yes.
6. Yes and yes.
7. No.
8. I think people get it but just don’t appreciate it.

I, also, have this same problem. In my first month (that I discovered Aspergers) I took every aspie quiz I could find over and over even though I kept getting the same scores. I dived into an ocean of information about AS and swam in that for several weeks (didn't get any of my work done).

Although it has receded a bit, I still overanalyze myself to the degree that I've become very self-conscious. My whole life I've always carried the 'weird' label as a compliment as I'm very comfortable in my uniqueness. But finding out why people think that I'm weird is still quite an eye opener. Behaviors that I didn't realize that I was doing.

I think it will wear off eventually and I'll go back to normal when I'm not thinking about it every 0.3 seconds (and when my assessment is finally complete).

Yep, i can identify with that. I got very self conscious about it. I avoided things i felt i shouldnt be doing. Some of this stuff when i look back at it is stuff i should have done anyway. I didnt talk to people about certain things because in my mind i was thinking its what 'they' do. I avoided anything that came up that could have become a 'special interest'. Turns out i never had one of those in childhood either. I tried not to tell jokes cos i dont know if theyre the right ones or the ones 'they' told. I got mad whenever i tripped on anything, sometimes going so far as to pick up whatever it was and throwing it out the window, but hey, throwing stuff out the window is another trait, right!? I would get depressed over that (another trait) which turned to self loathing (another one!) and more depression (yep). Its funny how sometimes being aware of something can cause it to happen quicker.

When I was told there wasnt a cure i remember muttering something like "i bet a bullet to the head would do it". But muttering is of course a 'trait' and so the spiral downwards began. 10 years later it hasnt really gone away. I still feel inferior to everyone else. Theres a hope that i dont really have it and im hanging onto that but sometimes ill read something or remember some mistake i made when i was younger. And that causes mood swings which is... yep thats right! ANOTHER trait!

Anyways my views on your questions

1. no one likes a loud eater
2. used to bother me when i was younger but now i wouldnt even notice if someone told me! if it REALLY bothers you then its more likely to be an OCD thing
3. i for the life of me cannot join a conversation when i know nothing about the topic (like cars) but otherwise im ok. SHOULD i know something about cars? im not sure.
4. its a stereotype of ASD but i think many people like to be alone to get their work done. depends what the 'bugging' is
5. i rock on my heals if im really bored or if its cold but i dunno if i do it any other time. lots of people fiddle, ive noticed. especially when theyre on the phone.
6. i think thats what they call 'self-talk', its a perfectly normal thing
7. how long have you been driving for?
8. its another stereotype but i dunno about it