Odd Quirks And Your Exlanations
Names: I can never remember people's names. I have to repeat them in my head several dozen times, and even then, it's just luck if I remember.
Explanation: I never really call people by their names to their faces. I don't know why, but it feels weird/uncomfortable, and a bit unnecessary. So people usually don't know when I don't know their names. If people do ask whether I know their names, I just tell them "No, I'm really bad with names. Sorry."
That's the only quirk that I bother explaining. I have a lot of others, I just don't know how I'd even begin to explain them... things like my inability to make small talk, my difficulties understanding sarcasm, my problems speaking loud enough so that people can hear me, and my social awkwardness in general. I just let people figure those out for themselves, even though they probably just assume that I'm stupid or rude. But if anyone has explanations that they think might work, then I'd love to hear them!
And I'm also the same with wondering, "Why does this seem weird to everyone? I've done it all my life." But the problem I'm mostly having was that my mom only told me, I think, a couple years ago that she thought I had AS, and so I'm like, "Huh?" And now I'm totally paranoid. Pretty much everything I do in public, I think, "Is this weird? Does this look weird? Am I acting weird? Ought I not to have said that? Why is she looking at me like that? WHAT AM I DOING WRONG????" It's insane. I've stopped listening to music in public because I'm afraid my breathing will be too loud because I can't hear myself breathe when I've got the earbuds in. *rips hair out*
Is there any DIY treatment/cure for paranoia? ^^
I think a lot of people occasionally have problems remembering a certain word -- those "oh, it's on the tip of my tongue" moments. So, unless it happens quite frequently, it's probably nothing to worry about (although it can be really annoying when it happens!).
I sometimes worry about people watching me, too, but I generally like to assume that no one's paying any more attention to me than I am to them. And if you're looking around frantically, constantly worrying what people are thinking, then that's probably going to look a bit odd, I think...
And I'm also the same with wondering, "Why does this seem weird to everyone? I've done it all my life." But the problem I'm mostly having was that my mom only told me, I think, a couple years ago that she thought I had AS, and so I'm like, "Huh?" And now I'm totally paranoid. Pretty much everything I do in public, I think, "Is this weird? Does this look weird? Am I acting weird? Ought I not to have said that? Why is she looking at me like that? WHAT AM I DOING WRONG????" It's insane. I've stopped listening to music in public because I'm afraid my breathing will be too loud because I can't hear myself breathe when I've got the earbuds in. *rips hair out*
Is there any DIY treatment/cure for paranoia? ^^
I think a lot of people occasionally have problems remembering a certain word -- those "oh, it's on the tip of my tongue" moments. So, unless it happens quite frequently, it's probably nothing to worry about (although it can be really annoying when it happens!).
I sometimes worry about people watching me, too, but I generally like to assume that no one's paying any more attention to me than I am to them. And if you're looking around frantically, constantly worrying what people are thinking, then that's probably going to look a bit odd, I think...
Um...okay...that didn't really help, or answer my question, but...okay... Thanks?
And yeah, it happens pretty frequently...
And I don't look around frantically. I do all the fretting in my head.
I always stim by rocking or spinning. I have one of those computer chairs on wheels that spin and I spin back and fourth on it and rock back and fourth on it all the time. With the chair with legs I always lean back on the back legs and rock. I just finished a year in college and I couldn't help but stim in pretty much all my classes. I would try to keep myself from doing it as not to distract or annoy others but I can't help it. I do it without even thinking.
I usually don't have to give people an explanation but if I do I just tell them that it feels good and helps me focus.
I also have to cover up faces on magazines, posters, and other things becasue it bothers me if it looks like the faces are looking at me and watching me. This especially goes for in the bathroom. I just hate it. When it is a face I can't cover up I try to move out of view of it.
Nobody knows I do thins because I do it inconspicuously so so far I have not had to explain it to anyone.
Another thing is that I like when things are lined up and/or parallel. Say there are two pencils on a table, I will have to make them parallel. Or it there is a stack of magazines then I will have to straighten them out.
I just tell people that it is more organized and looks better that way.
I think it helps me to articulate my thoughts more accurately. If I'm moving my hands around I don't speak as disjointedly or awkwardly as I would be otherwise. There aren't as many lulls in the conversation or discrepencies in my comprehension of the idea I am attempting to convey. They sort of keep things going.
Of course, I don't give people that explanation when they comment on or ask about it.
I know that they don't really want a longwinded aspie explanation of my discrepentices in comprehension or my inability to vocally articulate my cognitive understanding with a suitable degree of accuarcy. Why would they care about my discrepencies in comprehension? We've just met and my explantion is far more indepth than they care about.
If I told them that (while moving my hands in a strange flowy motion) their eyes would glaze over and they wouldn't want to talk to me again. Plus, my day-to-day vocabulary would be considered more than a bit odd if I talked like I thought.
They wouldn't care about my 'discrepencies in comprehenion,' they'd just find someone else to talk with who isn't such a weirdo.
That's another quirk of mine: a large and regularly utilized vocabulary.
The way I typically deal with the questions about my hand motions is by laughing and using motions that are purposefully over-dramatic. Then the other person usually laughs and the conversation moves on.
I guess I'm making fun of myself in a way, but not in a mean fashion. Its more like having a sense of humor about my own excentricies. I try not to take things too seriously and I think that helps me feel less stressed about my oddities and others to feel at ease about their own insecurities as well.
A sense of humor helps with alot of things.
I'm the same exact way with any eccentric things I do, unless it's putting a bind on the friendship. The only thing I've really had to explain lately is why I always seem apathetic. At work I hand flap a lot when it's busy and make noises with my mouth, just laughing it off seems like a perfect explanation. But sometimes I like to explore myself and think, why am I so used to having this habit that everyone else finds odd? For me, finding out why I do something noticably odd is simply step one in stopping it. If you know why you do something, you're already half way to not doing it anymore if you choose to do so.
OMG, I'm the same way with not being able to articulate my thoughts and "discrepancies in comprehension" and the big vocabulary. But one problem I have is that I'll be trying to think of the perfect word to complete my sentence, and I'll KNOW that I know this word, and it just never comes to me. It feels like a disability... It's like there's a glass wall in front of the word...
And I'm also the same with wondering, "Why does this seem weird to everyone? I've done it all my life." But the problem I'm mostly having was that my mom only told me, I think, a couple years ago that she thought I had AS, and so I'm like, "Huh?" And now I'm totally paranoid. Pretty much everything I do in public, I think, "Is this weird? Does this look weird? Am I acting weird? Ought I not to have said that? Why is she looking at me like that? WHAT AM I DOING WRONG????" It's insane. I've stopped listening to music in public because I'm afraid my breathing will be too loud because I can't hear myself breathe when I've got the earbuds in. *rips hair out*
Is there any DIY treatment/cure for paranoia? ^^
Haha, oh wow. I used to be the same way. The first 2 or 3 years of knowing about AS was a giant paranoia fest for me. I evantually just had to put myself in the mindset of not caring what people think to a certain extent. Just get used to being stared at every now and then, and find a large network of weird people to be friends with. Every now and then when with friends, I might be the one who seems most normal.
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