most annoying aspergers myth!

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That we are great at math . . . my grades proof that is a blatant lie!

(I don't know if this one has been mentioned - haven't read the whole thread)

That we're all obsessed with trains. They're interesting to me, but it's not an obsession.

The one that drives me berserk: that if their spouse has AS, then all and any of their negative traits, including being an abuser, are caused by AS.

I love the sound of footsteps on a gravel road.

I also love the smell of skunks. Is that weird?

People have probably mentioned this, but it's the one where we supposedly have no emotions. Or, that we lack empathy- like a psychopath. Most of us have empathy for others- we just don't know how to show it or process it the way a neurotype would. Or, any empathy we do have is clouded by strong emotions.

Not necessarily a myth, but I hate that the entire concept of "coping mechanisms" is almost completely unknown to most people. Almost all of the lists of usual Asperger's "signs" out there are for diagnosing children. Therefore, even if you had crushing problems as a child, but learned to cope with (or even outright overcome) those issues as an adult, people will assume you either can't have AS, or are "very high functioning." I'm tired of hearing it. Considering I wasn't diagnosed as a child, I have NO IDEA if I'm "high functioning" compared to others on the spectrum... because at this rate, as a young adult, I have learned how to deal with and control many of my problems. I can't be measured anymore, and even if I could be, so what? No matter where I fall on some arbitrary scale, that doesn't change the fact that I struggled and worked damn hard to appear as "high functioning" as I look today! Nor does it discount all the issues (sensory, social, etc.) I STILL deal with, but that I'm able to hide from others.

I don't think I can see much empathy in people's eyes when they look at me in public as if to think, ''who let that thing out of the looney house??'', even though I'm just standing or walking with an ordinary posture and wearing stylish clothes that make me blend in, and just kind of minding my own business. I may look a little shy or vulnerable but people don't need to be insensitive and make me feel that I'm a bad person by being a shy person, when everybody knows that shyness is quite common. When I look at somebody who looks a bit vulnerable but is otherwise just an ordinary person doing nothing unusual to the norm, I try to think how they might be feeling; ''maybe he's having a bad day and might not feel like making eye contact with everyone'', ''maybe she's not very well and might have a splitting headache or something'', ''maybe he's on his way from a job interview and is feeling nervous'', ''maybe she's just had a break up from her partner and is feeling all upset or even angry'', ''maybe a loved one is in hospital and he's feeling worried or sad''.....

There could be a million reasons why one could be looking vulnerable or unsociable or awkward, but sadly most people only pick out the ''oh she's weird'' reason, which is find very insensitive and unempathetic.

all mental no physical