most annoying symptoms?

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This post poses three questions that are related:
1 - Which of your Aspie symptoms/traits do you consider the most bothersome to yourself?
2 - Which one do other people notice or tease you about the most?
3 - Which one used to give your more trouble, but you have found ways of compensating or overcoming to make it less annoying?

1 - For me, background noise, especially loud noise, is the worst. I'll give you 3 short examples. First, I work in an open warehouse type building with a handful of other people, and during the summer, it is unbearably hot (average temperature last month was 92 degrees, and very humid). We have 4 or 5 large, noisy fans set on the walls to compensate for the heat, since the building is not air conditioned. There is also a go-kart track next door with loud cars running pretty much all the time after 10 am, and people welding or grinding in the other end of the building, so I find it hard to concentrate on anything involving serious thought. All the other people in the building leave 2 hours before my shift ends, and I have to decide whether to turn off the fans to eliminate the noise and make it unbearably hotter, or to cope with the noise, which is a actually painful to me. I can't stand wearing earplugs, so that is not an option.
Second example: when I am at home, I can't work on the computer (writing, balancing checkbook, etc.) if the TV is on, or if my girlfriend is on the phone, or if there are neighbors outside or in the hall.
Third: I once went on a trip with my girlfriend and her family; eight of us were packed into their van, and they had the radio on, and most of the people were talking; I think there were at least 3 conversations going on. I was trying to at least follow the conversation nearest to me, and participate, but I couldn't isolate any of the conversations nor the music, so I ended up literally holding a pillow over my ears and staring out the window.

2 - There are actually two that people notice the most about me that they comment on: The oversensitivity of my eyes (I can't go anywhere without sunglasses), and my lack of facial expression. I can't count the number of times people at work tell me to "cheer up" or "smile", and sometimes they ask more than they should if I understand something, since I apparently look confused. I have also had college professors ask me in front of the other 79 students in the class if I understand what he/she just said, which is very embarassing.

3 - The two things that used to give me the most trouble, but which I have managed to overcome, at least partially, are my routines being interrupted, and people stopping me and asking if I am lost. The first I am overcoming by having a mental checklist of important things I need to do (sometimes I write them down, too) that way, I can move on to something else important when I can't do what I planned on doing. The second I have overcome by chosing a point on my mental map and looking determined to get there. I have learned that if you look like you are on a mission and in a hurry, or that you look you belong there, people assume you are, so they don't question you.

The problem I have with your 3 questions is, getting everything seperated out and I have come to the conclusion it can't be done. See, when I look at AS, if that's all there was to this thing called me, then cool, I could do the 3 question test. It isn't alone and I was raised and devoleped more as the years passed and they blended into this thing, I call a me. So what the hell is what anymore, I just don't know. I'll try to do what you have asked and make comments.

1 Light sensitivaty and spacitial change. Overwhelming, it hurts, light. Spacitial, overwhelming, panic attacks, non issue for the most part with panic attacks, med and time fix for this one. I have pressure in my eyes. Which is which? I don't know. Eye doctor doesn't know why it is and why I have optical migrianes. No pain, just weird vision trouble, it's like being blind in one eye and it migrates to the other and then is gone. Think looking at a dim star and you have to look to the side of it to see it. Are the two related or is it AS? I just don't know.

2 They don't tease any more. What they notice? Hell I don't know and I don't care. I go to the councilors now and I turn off the lights as soon as I walk in. He knows why and it's cool. If he did mind, I would leave or keep my sunglasses on and they want to see your eyes. Tough luck. I don't bend, fold, or mutilate anymore. Their problem not mine.

3 really hard to answer and has changed over time. Why it has changed is a blend of what I tried to explian in the start. In the case you use for yourself, routine. My sleep pattern is all over the place. Complex PTSD, AS, BP, to much caffine or all of the above? No clue anymore and I go with the flow.

Yes I'm thinking of getting botox injections in my forhead so other ppl won't think i'm mad or worried. I hope the botox cures my migraine headaches. I don't care about the wrinkles as I don't have many. I'm going to try to see if my insurance will pay for the botox if it is for migraines.

Sorry I can't do the whole 3 part thing, but to answer your question 1. ~ my most annoying symptom is a feeling of disconnection, of being separated from people, of losing interest in the world. The feeling comes, I separate, go into my little AS box, then come out again and start feeling connections with people, the world around me, until I disconnect again. It's hard for friends/family to cope with this too, as to them it must look like I 'blow hot and cold'. I know it hurts people.

^^^^^ that's what keeps me stable (making reference to a different topic)

1.
My "...one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus" definitely, this bastard makes me do one thing and only that one thing at the expense of doing everything else (as in, I won't actually do anything else).
2.
My verbal impairment, I can never say what I'd like to as the "correct" words never exit my mind; those that do aren't what I want to convey.
3.
My verbal impairment I guess, I’ve learnt to adapt by typing/writing.

nerves procrastination, social nerves, social depression, low mood

1) The worst thing for me is light and heat, both of which I am sensitive to. I keep the windows at my place completely covered over like I'm a vampire. Bright sunlight just seems so glaring and intrusive.

2) It's very hard for me to sit still. I'm always engaging in those "self-stimulating behaviors" like leg-shaking and such. This drives other people crazy. I also have problems with Dermatilomania (compulsive skin picking).

3) I grew up with an unusual walk. Like most most Auties, I walked on tip-toe as a child. This was a constant source of hurtful teasing all through school. But for some reason, my gait changed as I matured. I mostly walk neurotypical now.

deadlines, emergencys, LOUD noises

Procrastination I have that problem too! I always wait to the last minute to do important stuff. I wonder if that is what they mean by time management impairment?

1. Most bothersome to myself - the compulsive collecting. I can't afford it & I haven't got room for all the stuff I collect either, but I get the urge & just HAVE to do it....

2. Most noticeable to other people - got to be the meltdowns/tantrums. Say no more!

3. Used to be the most bothersome - my poor timekeeping. Throughout high school, uni & most of my jobs continually being late has got me in trouble. I am just lucky that my current boss has a more relaxed attitude to this issue.

Last edited by shopaholic on 18 Sep 2007, 8:47 am, edited 1 time in total.

1. My inability to do two things at once. For example, I worked as an editor for a while, and if I had to look through a piece for two specific repeated errors, I had to look through the whole thing twice, once looking for one error, then again for the second. There was no way I could skim through and look for both.

2. The inability to hear what people are saying to me over even a moderate amount of background noise. I can hear their voices getting more and more impatient every time I say, "Pardon?" or, "Sorry?"

3. My inability to make and keep friends. I always thought I was just a bit strange, and that I wasn't trying hard enough, and that if I just put that bit more effort in I'd get invited out like everybody else seemed to - but since I worked out that I have AS, I put a lot less pressure on myself. This is me, this is how I am, and if they don't like the real me, then we're never going to get on anyway, so why pretend?

Welling I'm skipping college algebra because this is just too interesting to me. #1 worst habit I guess....

I can relate to almost everything you all said. I have horrible migraines, people always tell me to smile (why?), I am either late late or too early. Ugh. One extreme to the other. I have a horrible temper that just seems to go off before I can get a hold of it. Usually it involves the school system treating my aspie daughter like crap and I have to stand up for her constantly. Anyway, I can't stand people. Period. I try to make friends but really I haven never gotten close to anyone but ONE girl from High school. I don't hang around anyone and I get into those moods where I get depressed and just want to give up. I guess the biggest thing is I just plain feel I belong on another planet. If you all figure out where that may be please let me know.

Hmmm...

Walking equinus
Knee shakes
The monotone

I don't overstim easily, the pain tolerance comes in handy and as soon as people know I work as a software tester most of the rest of it gets dismissed because I'm "a computer geek".... but wearing boots all the time is sweaty in the summer, the shakes are a pest in company and the flat voice tone is a pest in meetings at work......

chrisc

The number one symptom I'd like to get rid of: short term memory loss.
I learned to make notes, and write down procedures as I went through them. I worked in an office, and would get a phone call, I'd talk to the person, have a decent conversation, then turn back to what I was doing on the computer, and COMPLETELY forget who I had just spoken to!! !
It's BLOODY frightening!! !
The same for learning where something is inside a computer program, click here, open that, look for this file, and so on. Someone would walk me through it, I'd do it all week, come in Monday morning, and TOTALLY forget what and where I needed to click!! !
I'm convinced that if you asked one of my co-workers from those days, they'd politely describe me as a high functioning ret*d!! People would look at me like I was daft!!
So my work around is to write things down, or re-arrange things so I can find them again much easier.
Number two symptom: background noise. I'm presently in the process of purchasing a used auto from a chap who is having it fixed up. I go to the shop, and the service man is Swiss. With a german accent of course. And he speaks very quietly. We go out into the shop, he says "you see this mmmm, vell dat means mmmmm, and I recommend mmmmmm. BLIMEY. SPEAK UP MATE ! !

I agree with the short term memory loss. It's like my brain determines on a piece by piece basis, which information is important enough to go into long term memory (so I don't forget it for years) and which information is unimportant enough to discard immediately. There is no in between.

It's like, someone will introduce themself and I won't even hear their name. My brain just assumes we'll never talk to this person again, so we don't need to process that data. Usually when I determine that I will most likely need to refer to this person by name in the future I have to embarassingly ask them their name again - and even then as soon as I walk away the name is usually gone again!

Now, what was the question again?