The Asperger's Ramble.

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I am back to my normal self now. I went through a shutdown recently but I am out of it and I am ok.

I wanted to ask if anyone else here experiences rambling / tangential speech? I find I can ramble about my special interests (which are: my medical conditions, Asperger's, and anything to do with science) and I often go off on tangents that lead to other rambles.

Is the rambling / tangential speech I experience part of my Asperger's?

Also I won't do small talk at all to anyone, and I will miss all the social cues that the other person displays while I'm talking.

I am a mixture of extroverted and introverted. Is that possible with AS? Because I like my own company, and I need to have a lot of alone time to recharge (I spend a LOT of time alone in my bedroom not talking to people). But when I am with people I know, I will talk a lot to them, usually rambling about my special interests.

My support worker at university said that she will help me learn about the social cues because apparently my social skills are actually very poor.

Yes, that's an AS thing--a lot of people on here refer to it as "monologing".

Glad you are OK.

Yes, I think these things are related to AS, and I do think it is possible to be a mixture of introverted and extroverted whether you are AS or not. Some people just tend to be more middle of the road. I am definitely introverted (get my energy from within), but I am not at all shy around people I know well.

Yes, as near as I can tell, rambling and tangents are rather common among folks on the spectrum. I used to do it a lot myself, but in recent years I've felt compelled to 'self-censor' myself or rather force myself to be more concise and stop going on lengthy rants. Not because I do not enjoy it, I enjoy rambling a great deal! But I found that other people were sometimes annoyed at it, even though I didn't mean to bother anyone with it, so I slowly stopped doing it.

As for feeling more extroverted among people you know... that makes perfect sense to me. I'm like that as well. It's because the people you know really well are kind of part of your 'comfort zone' at that point, so there are a lot less inhibitions.

Yes, rambling on about things - especially special interests - is very common with AS, and so is not wanting to do small talk.

I can relate to the introverted/extroverted thing too.

I am getting a lot of practice learning to cut myself off in therapy.

I find that when I bring up a topic I end up infodumping everything I can about that subject, often reciting past conversations or writings on the topic near-verbatim until somebody manages to stop me. That is, I feel like I go off on scripts, and then the scripts trigger associations to other scripts, which trigger associations to other scripts until someone stops me, I forget what I was trying to talk about entirely, or I manage to work my way back to the original topic.

I spent 30 minutes in therapy today going over a past event that featured harmful gossip while trying to explain that gossip frustrates and confuses me, and I thought it was really strange that one of my Paratransit drivers told me that other riders talk to him about the other drivers. I've never mentioned other drivers, as usually I either talk to the drivers about shared interests or I read a book. Without shared interests I can't really talk to some at all.

I also ramble on about my special interests and cannot read the social cues of others as to when to stop. Sometimes I wonder if I'm just ignoring their social cues because I'm over-excited about getting the opportunity to talk about my interests. I'm still trying to figure that one out.

I know how to 'fake' small talk when forced into the situation, but it makes no sense to me and I feel panicked and ridiculous when doing it. As soon as I get through the few sentences I've memorized for my arsenal, I go blank and the conversation completely drops off. It's so awkward and feels like a total waste of time!

SteelMaiden, I'm glad you're feeling better now.

I can completely identify with all you've said. I ramble and go off at tangents. If the other person isn't as chatty as me, I feel like I've done all the talking (but that's after the event, so not something I was able to stop, before talking too much). When I'm with an equally chatty person, I'm at my most content. I'm what they call here a 'blether' and will talk to anyone, just not more than one or two at a time.

As for the introvert/extrovert thing. I'm the same, spend a lot of time on my own and need to. I think the definition of introversion will show that you are actually an introvert, because you re-energise, by being on your own. The fact that you're chatty means that you're sociable and doesn't mean you're an extrovert too, although you probably are a bit of both.

The people I know seem to act somewhat like I've chosen to do it, as if I've made a conscious decision to bug them. Of course I don't mean to, but it happens.

I believe so; this is a daily occurrence for me.

This sort of thing happens alot with me and it has gotten me yelled at by many people. I tend to ramble and stuff. I don't always know when to speak my turn, either, so I'll seem rude cuz I cut people off. I don't want to annoy people. I sometimes wish it were "that easy", which is what people say when something is supposed to be easy, or instinctive.