Getting asked, "Isn't that Normal?"

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I was once telling a man at my Clubhouse who was at least 25 years older than I was that there were some people that I feel more comfortable around than I do others. He callousley asked, "Isn't that normal?" If I told him that despite the fact that I was born in Canada that I feel more comfortable around the British, he probably would have tried to offer to call to get me some "Help"

I was teased about my Accent during my Early School Years by the boys on my bus. They were either Canadian or American. The Teachers told them to knock it off, and the British kids, who were few and far between gave me the respect that I didn't get from my fellow North Americans. That's when I also started reaching out to the British. Mostly Londoners.

I think the man that I was describing my disorder to would have unserstood me better if I told him that part of my Past Story.

I'm proud of my Accent, now and I haven't talked to that man for a long time.

Yes I can understand, not only do I get told that about myself, "Oh what you do is normal, it's not like you're different than anyone else with that..." and get the same thing with Dylan. "Oh he's perfectly fine, he doesn't look autistic. He seems to like being around people, if he was autistic he wouldn't." Ugh those people annoy me. And my in-laws are that way. "Oh he's just perfectly normal, you're just trying to find something wrong with him."

Yes, that happens all the time to me, because I have a very hard time articulating the way I think and perceive things. Apparently I come off as somewhat weird but otherwise normal.

So I've started asking people questions, because I'm not entirely sure what's normal and what isn't. Such as:

Isn't the smell of sugar <b>awful</b>?? (most people say they cannot smell it).

Ugh, that perfume has such an awful taste!! Yech! Why does she wear it? I don't want to taste her perfume!! !!

Are you sometimes surprised to see that you have a body?

Do you associate people with colors, shapes, numbers, etc?

When you see a color, do you feel like it reaches out and grabs your eyes, making you forget everything else, even if it is, say, a red-pink peony halfway down the block?

Can you tell when you've *really* fallen for a guy because you shake, tremble, or shiver a lot of the time?

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Once I start asking questions like these, they quickly agree that these things are not...exactly normal....

I am having a hard time persuading the father of my fourth child (the one I think may be AS) to pursue a diagnosis. He thinks that he is fine, or that it is so mild as to not need looking into. However, I think he (the child) actually has more symptoms than I did..

Now this is news to me, not so much for the fact that I can smell sugar too (I don't find the smell offensive), but the fact that this post seems to indicate that there are some people who CAN'T smell it.

I can't smell sugar - it is completely odorless for me. However on a couple of occasions I came across food that had an absolutely repulsive smell for me, while other people were enjoying eating it.

Yes, i can smell sugar too, i thought everyone could. It doesn't have an strong smell like for instance ketchup, but i sure can smell it.

For example, you can smell the difference between a non-sugared and a sugared cup of tea, just by the smell of it.

I also don't find the smell offensive. Except for blond sugar, as we in Belgium refer to as "kiddiesugar", that one really smells bad.

me too, alfonzo

V

Sure sugar has a smell, although this smell is stronger the more there is.

NTs don't realize that sugar has a smell?!

The example that I always use when I get the 'well isn't that normal?!' line is my territorality - I am VERY protective of my house (well, everyone is . . . you work for a police department, you know people get upset when someone is in their house who isn't supposed to be there) - well, yeah, but I get upset when someone comes in my house if they are supposed to be there - I had to stay drunk at that dinner party I had even though the only people there were people I like to be around (ok - that is a little strange, seeing as how you invited them all over) - yeah, well, I can't be in the house when my house keeper comes because I'll have a panic attack (ok - that is a little strange) - oh, it gets better, I am totally obcessed with anything that could be wrong with my house - like when my washer broke and leaked a little water on the floor - I didn't sleep until I got that fixed and also when my air conditioner broke - I check it 4-5 times a day and listen to every little noise it makes if I'm home . . . and you know how my neighbors house has a water leak that is draining into my yard? Well, currently I am obcessed about what I would do if it started flooding my house - yeah, I know it has been going on for four days and we got two inches of rain today and it hasn't flooded the house, but you never know . . .

Generally, by this point they are looking at me like a strange bug and usually say something like 'Wow - I had no idea . . .' and I say 'you had no clue I was such a good actor, did you?!'

Then I go into what it is like not to see in 3D and they come all unhinged . . .

I don't understand this. Everyone can experience not seeing in 3D very easily by closing one eye. Not a big difference, if you ask me.

I don't see any difference at all when I close one eye - my problem always came in with driving and the fact that I have a lot of difficulty telling where things are in my visual field . . .

I have found, though, that my blue glasses help a lot with that . . . my hypothesis is that, since they filter out yellow light my brain gets confused by yellow light . . .

I also have a huge problem with motion and telling where things are in space - I feel like there is a big piece of clear glass in front of my face that I am seeing everything through . . .

Anyway, I read about someone else who felt pretty much the same way and they realized that the problem is that they don't see in 3D . . .

So, I guess, that to really experience what that is like you would have to close one eye for like three months or something . . .

I see a difference, but only to a certain distance (rather short). I think that this is to be expected. Further objects are seen at the nearly same angle by both eyes, and therefore the image is effectively two-dimensional. However, when I started wearing glasses at age 12 I had a distinct impression that they "flatten" things. I can no longer verify this, as my eyesight worsened since that time and without glasses I see now such a blurred imagery that there is no sense of talking of 3D vision at all. This issue is of secondary importance for me, as I believe that my mind relies more on z-order (what hides what), apparent sizes and shadows than bi-ocular vision to determine positions of objects.


No doubt!

I had the exact opposite experience with my glasses - when I got them everything suddenly had depth - I'm still getting used to that . . .

It is interesting that we are seeing things so differently . . .

I can achive that effect you talk about with depth on cue... its weird because it makes it seem like everything is in focus.

it scares me sometimes if i don't realize i'm doing it however, because it makes people look like giants when i logically compare them to things closer to me.

it's kinda like that video effect whenere the charicter is moving close whilst the backgroudn moves away... it has something to do with how the camera's feild of view is set up. Imagine if your world did that.

Perhaps if your brain is taking in more of an angle than it should, it could be hard to predict exactly how far away something is. Kinda like how you can't really tell how far away the moon is because from our point of view, it's angle isn't changeing enough for our eye's to percive a diffrent view from one to the other.

Exactly - I've always said I see the world like one of those 1st person video games - I have that little attachment to my physical body - I mean, technically, I know the hands that I see typing are mine and I know that I control them - but other people seem to worry so much more about their physcial body and feel more connected to it than I do . . . if I one day woke up with claws, instead of hands, it would irritate me, but it would not surprise me terribly . . .