Is Aspergers just extremely high latent inhibition/focus?

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My idea is that Aspergers is basically a result of extremely high latent inhibition/excessive focus. First I will list some characteristics and then go through them one by one:

-Social Interaction
-Restricted and Repetitive Interests/Behavior
-Odd Speech Patterns

Social Interaction: People with high latent inhibition have a very focused mind and block out more stimuli (external and internal) than people with low latent inhibition. This could explain why people with AS do not pick up on social cues; their mind does not notice them. It could explain why they have difficulty relating to people and lack empathy. If someone (an aspie) is intensely preoccupied with a subject of interest and someone tries to talk to them about something else they may have a very difficult time responding to them. Their minds do not shift to the topics that other people are interested in and they appear to lack empathy, be distant, rude, etc... This could also cause attentional problems (due to high latent inhibition/shutting out the external environment), making socializing difficult. People often socialize about things that they notice in the environment. An over focused Aspie would find this very difficult. Humor also seems to involve seeing the big picture, which someone with high latent inhibition would find difficult.

Restricted and Repetitive Interests/Behavior: This does not need as much explaining. Aspie's minds find something to focus on and stay focused on it, blocking out distractions.

Odd Speech Patterns: Another case of not noticing due to high concentration/latent inhibition. Aspie's may not notice that they speak in a way that is strange or my be so preoccupied with their excessive interests that they just don't pick up on normal speech patterns.

I associate Asperger's more with overstimulation to the point where the data is meaningless than understimulation.

Unfocus => Low latent inhibition
Hyperfocus => High latent inhibition

My ASD reminds me of that concept a little.

Sometimes the ADHD makes it worse but usually my ADHD helps by "overseeing" stimuli; I'm too distracted from distractions to be aware of more distractions.

Lack of connectedness => latent inhibition

It varies according to where and how we are directing our focus and depends on how much interruption there is(more interruption, harder to redirect focus).

Yes, but what I mean is focused stimulation. This would mean that the person is very stimulated by their area of interest. In order maintain this level of interest they must block out a great deal of stimuli.

Which isn't what I'm saying. I'm saying overstimulation by everything. Incredibly low latent inhabition, the inability to block out the sound of the clock ticking, and the feeling of the chair that I'm sitting on and every tiny detail in the world surrounding me, but there is so much data that it can't be proccessed and I don't know what's relevant and its just overall too much. Even when I'm working with a special interest I notice the mundane details that others don't.

Right, but what I'm saying is not that you block out details in your area of interest. I'm saying that Aspie's are able to become incredibly focused on their area of interest, but have trouble shifting that focus and interest to other things/people/etc...making it incredibly difficult to relate to and empathize with others. I think what you are describing has more to do with irritability than low LI and that is a characteristic than can occur in people who are very focused.

This state of hyperfocus is not easy to reach when I am around other people in a social setting, when I am overstimulated by sensory stimuli that are not filtered out by my brain. When I am hyperfocusing on a special interest, I block out all these sensory stimuli and devote all my attention to the subject, but I cannot become hyperfocused around people, except in extremely rare occasions when I am allowed to go on and on and on about my special interest. Around people, the problem is not hyperfocus, but complete and utter unfocus, which lets in all the sensory stimuli and clutters up my brain and makes it suck at working. Even when my brain works well, I do not internally think and feel like others, so I still do not empathize easily with others, as they do not empathize easily with me.

My social problems are caused by excessive processing, not blockading, of sensory stimuli.

I think it is more difficulty focusing as a result of hypervigilence and nervousness due to the fact that Aspies have difficulty relating to other people. What is described as overstimulation is probably nervousness due to repeated difficulties with fitting in and socializing with other people. I think these difficulties originate from an extremely focused mind that is totally absorbed in an area of interest and therefore cannot shift interest to other people and their interests and randomness. Certainly it is not as easy to focus when a person is not relaxed. I believe I have Aspergers and this is how I interpret it.

I do not believe that my constant hearing of every teeny-tiny noise at Walmart, where I am not required to fit in and socialize with other people, is caused by nervousness.

In a way I also feel as though it is a little bit like being a drug addict. When I cannot study/work on an area of intense interest I am irritable, nervous, etc; kind of like when a drug addict cannot get his fix. I think that is what people mean by the feeling of overstimulation; it is really irritability due to not being able to focus on your area of focus. The clock ticking, a vent running, the cars honking outside, it feels irritating and annoying because it is almost like being in a state of withdrawal when you cannot do what you are so intensely interested in. That is the cause of the feeling of "overstimulation" rather than low LI.

This is what I was trying to say except written up better.

When I was saying mundane details, I don't mean details about my special interest, I mean the feeling of my clothing, the sound of the clock ticking, the typing of my keys, little uncomfortable parts of my body, other people around me, what other people are doing, the brightness of the lights, the inconsistancy of lighting, the dryness of my mouth. Everything is incoming and I need to cope with it all. And because so very much is incoming, its overwhelming, always. Even sitting on my own in my apartment is overwhelming in some ways, I just have ways to cope.

Then on top of this there is a complete lack of being able to filter what's relevant and what's not. My sense don't treat the conversation I'm participating in any more important than the one on the other side of the room. I try to focus on only thinking about what I'm trying to talk about, but even so, I will end up making comments about what other people are talking about because its just as important in how I'm perceiving sensory information as what I'm listening to now, its not "what I'm listening to" and "background noise", background noise only means noise that I'm not actively focusing on, because everything is processed the same. It feels like I have no filters that others have. When it comes to perceiving facial expressions - I can do it, at least somewhat, on paper, but when you get to putting me in a real life environment there is so much that I can't tell the different between different emotions at all - I approximately get positive or negative, nothing more.

When it comes to focusing on my special interests, it doesn't feel like I'm hyperfocused. I still notice all those other things, they just are irrelevant or only relevant as negative things that need to be fixed so I can get back to what I want to be doing. It's almost a defense, giving me something that I care about enough that I can get a break, because I can say this thing is more important than others. And when focusing on something I'm interested in, I notice all the tiny details others wouldn't notice and have that cause me to come out ahead in some manners.

I'd absolutely not say that I have high latent inhibition. I'd say I have abnormally low latent inhibition.

Edit: And to make it clear and explicit, I do not perceive any less incoming information when I'm focusing on a special interest, and they still frustrate me. I do not "hyperfocus" to the point where I have less sensory input or any better ability to filter out what's relevant.

I do not believe that the feeling of overstimulation is like the feeling of nervousness or irritability. I have felt nervous and irritable, and these feelings are not like my default state of overstimulation, and certainly not like sensory overload. I get sensory overload from getting up in the morning, then have to perform some repetitive activities on my computer to reset my brain to start the day. I do not feel nervous or irritable while brushing my teeth or hair, but I do feel overstimulated from being conscious instead of unconscious, as I was while sleeping.

Yeah, I definitely start out "calm" usually (as calm as it gets while I am awake) and become overstimulated because a higher number of stimuli target my senses than I am cognitively able to process successfully while managing other necessary cognitive processes.

Upon over-stimulation, I feel overwhelmed but not nervous. I do get annoyed with myself and get annoyed with the stimuli and then I may become quite leary or irritable... I try not to.