Central Coherence: what does it mean to you?

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Occasionally, I've come across a theory of Aspergers (and autism in general) about the "weak central coherence theory". Although I was diagnosed with ASD almost 11 years ago, it's only in the last few years that I really got a handle on what this was all about.

It strikes me as ironic though, because on the one hand I'm led to believe that I have clinical difficulty with discerning between relevant and irrelevant facts - which I can totally recall doing on many occasions - but on the other hand, I'm really good at logic puzzles like "determine which of the following shapes/numbers/elements does not belong in the sequence or group..." - no problem, better than most NTs. Surely, that would involve separating relevant from irrelevant elements. But then I thought, it must be because I'm processing it from the ground up, instead of top-down, i.e. sensory integration to determine context.

Yet there's another dimension to this central coherence theory; it either takes place in a spontaneous situation, or a planned one.
In the case of spontaneous situations, I definitely trip up more than the average person; like many an Aspie, I have difficulty discerning between relevant and irrelevant aspects of my immediate environment, i.e. I walk into a room full of sculptures and art, strange-looking furniture, people chatting and serving themselves appetizers from trays, etc, and invariably I will filter out the right elements to respond accordingly; I'll focus on some aspect of the artwork or whatever, when I'm ignoring some cue. Or whatever spontaneous situation where I'm at a sporting event, or a party or gathering - my senses won't work in unison to discern what's the number one area of focus and where/how I should direct my response. Sometimes, but not consistently.

In the case of planned situations, like a school or work assignment, I was frequently accused of "colouring outside the lines". The teachers frequently gave me criticism in high school that I didn't address the essay question directly, I gave a history assignment report that was outside the scope of the assignment, etc. These were not spontaneous, yet the boundaries of the assignments were ambiguous. The same thing tripped me up in the working world later on - I got better at it with intense focus, practice, and asking the right clarifying questions (as "obvious" as the answers might have seemed to an NT), and that helped. But on the odd rare occasion, I still trip up where others would not.

I can recall a comment that I read several years ago on another online source, from an Aspie, that said "People with Aspergers have no trouble thinking outside the box - because they don't know where the box is to begin with." That comment rings very true for me, I can't think of a more apt way to summarize the CC theory.

Anyone have any insights into the apparent limitations of CC theory and what strategies you used to deal with it?

This really reminds me of filling out any type of applications. It's like I'm supposed to know how to answer ambiguous questions, though I have no clue what to put. If a job application asks what your last job was, that's simple. If it is then followed by the amount of experience I have, I start to have many answers I could put down. Since it is followed by the previous question, I think they're related even if they're unrelated. I'm using that as an example, though I know there are many ones closer to what you're discussing.

Maybe I'm used to things being organized into categories, whereas many people making the application might not neatly categorize things. So for me everything is clearly organized in my mind, so when things are disorganized on the application, it causes chaos. I have a false assumption that they're organizing it the same way, when clearly I have not a clue what they mean.

I've noticed all types of people having these sorts of issues in uncomfortable or unfamiliar environments. For some, they look to others around them and mimic their behavior. This is kind of off topic, but an old friend said she didn't know how to smoke. The first time she smoked, she said she had to analyze how everyone else did it before she could.

I can't help you with this because I am still looking for my box. However, it does seem to explain some things about me.