Danielismyname wrote:
Ok, I'll show you how I diagnosed him:
No facial expression other than a smile, and said smile is used inappropriately
a monotonous voice
can only talk about his interest; when the lady brought up his mother, he had a long pause, and he began to fiddle with his hands (there's a few more instances of this)
socially inappropriate and rude comments, even though they aren't intended to be rude; interrupting too
He appears like someone with run-of-the-mill Asperger's.
I would also like to add:
Flat emotional effect, or at least it is suppressed when he's placed under the pressure of an interview. He said he wasn't surprised, but I'd bet he was. I'd bet he went into the competition not really knowing what to expect of the outcome.
Choppy speech and difficulty pronouncing words in a sentence that he'd properly pronounce if just saying one word, and certainly he would properly spell in writing. I also do this, but it was worse when I was a teenager.
Saying "we" when he probably meant "I", thereby confusing the reporter. I mix up pronouns (I, we, you) a lot, too.
Interpreted literally the question about what his mom said, and didn't know. Most people would automatically know, or would think to ask mom and remember what she said, or at least be smooth about making something up that probably fits the truth reasonably. I freeze on questions like this, too. Yesterday I froze on the question of whether I would like to get some coffee.
The subway sandwich thing threw him for a loop. Why did she throw that in there? I bet that didn't make any sense to him, and he didn't know what to do with it. The NT response to that question would have been something to the effect of saying that he eats the sandwiches, rather than freeze up and interpret the question literally. The literal answer is "No, I ate at the dinner provided at the contest." which wasn't what the reporter was looking for. It was a product placement, and I'd bet he came away thinking the intent was a little dishonest, if he thought about it afterward.
I've had an interview over the phone (I called into a talk radio program) and I found that sound feeds can be riddled with delays, echos, and crosstalk from other channels, and this made me overwhelmed and probably sounding stupid on the other end. I didn't get on the air.
As for the youtube comments:
"I want to beat that [expletive] up"
"Homeschooling does that"
"He is a ret*d/idiot/moron/antisocial/smartass"
"He needs to go to school to learn social skills
Wow, they really don't get it, do they? I've been called antisocial and ret*d. People will come up with mean things to say and do seemingly without reason. Does it make people feel bad or look bad when a seemingly "ret*d" person outdoes them on something? His parents need to help him with whatever social skills he can learn before having him interact with peers, or else he won't learn anything useful from it.
As for the reporter:
She's definitely NT. Smooth talker, hides her irritation well, (though I caught onto a bit of condescension in the "brain food comment?) and doesn't miss a beat despite not always having her facts straight (His name, facts about his food consumption).
_________________
A boy and his dog can go walking
A boy and his dog sometimes talk to each other
A boy and a dog can be happy sitting down in the woods on a log
But a dog knows his boy can go wrong
Last edited by sgrannel on 07 Feb 2009, 4:13 am, edited 3 times in total.
06 Feb 2009, 10:20 pm
