University! How do I explain Asperger to people my age?

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OldFashioned
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08 Jun 2011, 1:38 pm

It's too complicated to explain it myself, I can't even express myself properly and people always think its super complicated when i explain stuff which is easy to understand to me so I had an idea. Since I will be going to a new school (It's Uni level but it's not a uni, it's an elite higher education school or whatever you call it. There are no dorms no societies and such.) I will meet people and this time I want to try a different approach and tell them up front I have Aspergers. Any video resources I can show them? Suggestions? How do I start the year without messing it up again and having no friends at 20?

I really want friends and above all a girlfriend.

Maybe if people know that I am not weird by choice they will accept me.



zero312
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08 Jun 2011, 2:35 pm

Going up to people and saying that you have aspergers might not be best course of action. It will cause them to think of you differently and it might cause them to avoid you altogether. Should try to get to know the person first until your relationship with them reaches a certain point that you can reveal it to them.



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08 Jun 2011, 2:38 pm

zero312 wrote:
Going up to people and saying that you have aspergers might not be best course of action. It will cause them to think of you differently and it might cause them to avoid you altogether. Should try to get to know the person first until your relationship with them reaches a certain point that you can reveal it to them.


But my relationships never reach a certain point. I don't even know what to ask once I'm over the 'Which course are you taking/what's your name/where are you from' point...



musicislife
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08 Jun 2011, 2:38 pm

I wouldn't really bring it up until you're really comfortable with someone. Though once you get to the point of explaining AS to them it can get a little hard. How I explained it to my friends in college was basically saying that I'm normal, my brain is just wired differently, so the way I process stuff and think different from most other people.


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08 Jun 2011, 9:09 pm

I also don't know where to go beyond the basic questions. I am graduating next year, and have a total of 0 friends. I just don't know how to interact with people. I don't think I would just randomly tell people I have autism though. I might tell a friend I have it once I am their friend, but not beforehand. I don't think it would make it any easier for me to talk to them, and would probably just lead to an awkward silence.



Aerith
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08 Jun 2011, 11:36 pm

Learn to interact with people the way one learns anything else:

Watch carefully and then try your hand at it. If at first you don't succeed, kill yourself. Erm. I mean, try again. Right. <_<


Normally, I just casually let people know that I'm incredibly weird and if I offend them, I probably don't mean to do so. That's it, really.



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09 Jun 2011, 3:04 am

OldFashioned wrote:
It's too complicated to explain it myself, I can't even express myself properly and people always think its super complicated when i explain stuff which is easy to understand to me so I had an idea. Since I will be going to a new school (It's Uni level but it's not a uni, it's an elite higher education school or whatever you call it. There are no dorms no societies and such.) I will meet people and this time I want to try a different approach and tell them up front I have Aspergers. Any video resources I can show them? Suggestions? How do I start the year without messing it up again and having no friends at 20?I really want friends and above all a girlfriend.Maybe if people know that I am not weird by choice they will accept me.


I assume you mean a selective school with a twining program with a local College where you do the first year of a university degree in school? If that's the case then your fellow students will be on the far right hand side of the IQ bell curve.

My wife's niece is enrolled in an elite selective school here in Victoria. Apparently the most popular show is the "Big Bang Theory" and the character called Sheldon is the prototype of what kids think an academic should be (an overly bright nerd in academia who is funny and cool).

Given that Sheldon's character is supposed to be an Aspie it might be something in your favour. Perhaps the kids you'll be studying with will carry a similar schema over Aspies being kids in an "elite" higher ed school - therefore why not just use him as an example of Aspergers?



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09 Jun 2011, 8:18 am

No no, I already did some Uni, this is like a university but it isn't one as there are no societies no dorms etc and only one subject is taught.



cyberdad
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09 Jun 2011, 9:23 pm

OldFashioned wrote:
No no, I already did some Uni, this is like a university but it isn't one as there are no societies no dorms etc and only one subject is taught.


So what about the Sheldon idea?



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09 Jun 2011, 11:14 pm

OldFashioned wrote:
How do I explain Asperger to people my age?


Like you would to a child. I am not joking, you would not believe how many people I have told about Aspergers and they still could not get their heads around it.

OldFashioned wrote:
Maybe if people know that I am not weird by choice they will accept me.


:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :roll:


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11 Jun 2011, 4:15 am

Talk to them like children? 'Me smarter than you - you think me weird but I better than you - get it? Me not understand your social conventions and emotions - me too advanced for you.' Maybe they will get it...