Recently, I have had a number of experiences that have increased my general frustrations as a highly verbally-oriented Aspie. While I realize that may people on the spectrum are visually-oriented, I am not one of them. I was diagnosed with NLD before being diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, and the article on NLD on Wikipedia reads like my biography. (I do realize that some researchers consider NLD to be a subset of ASD; I actually endorse this opinion and in any case I've since been diagnosed with ASD as well.) I am also prosopoagnosiac and that has its own set of frustrations. When I tell people that I never forget a name, but can't remember faces, the inevitable reaction is always something to the effect of "Gee, I'm the exact opposite!"
What bothers me is that as the wider culture becomes increasingly visually-focused and less attuned to the written word, I am starting to feel confused and alienated. For example, I was an early adopter of the internet; I had an email address in the pre-web days of local BBSs. But I miss the days of text-centric websites. It bothers me that email, a format I embraced specifically because it was non-realtime and afforded me the opportunity to collect my thoughts into a properly-structured form, has largely been supplanted by the text message, a format that demands immediate attention, generally in the form of incomplete sentences and inane abbreviations.
A few days ago, I had to take part in the filming of an ad for an event in which I am taking part. Aside from the general discomfort of being behind the camera, I was bothered by the insistence on trying to sum up what for me was a very complex experience into three-sentence sound bites. In fact, I found the experience so frustrating that I had a meltdown in front of the camera crew.
Today, I was asked to make a chart of some data at work. I complied, but it took me longer than it would probably have taken most people. I have always found charts and graphs extremely confusing, and have always preferred to take in data through expository prose.
The point of all of this is that I'm interested in hearing from others verbally-focused types out there, and hoping to learn what some of your strategies are in dealing with a world in which we are most assuredly in the minority.
12 Feb 2014, 3:27 pm
