Simple Aspergers research project - Your reply requested

Post Reply New Topic

I've been doing research into Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) lately, and to quickly summarize, every person generally has one dominant referencing system... either visual, auditory, or kinesthetic.

I'm an aspie, and I noticed something interesting (a pattern) in myself, and I've asked others and gotten the same result. I'm now trying to ask a broader sample to see if this is a viable theory or not.

This is not scientific or anything, but please don't scroll down to read the replies, until you've replied yourself. I'd like to not influence your reply with "group-think".

So, here's the questions... it would be great if you could reply to this. It'll help me out with my theory. This is specific to Asperger's Syndrome... not the entire autism spectrum, so please only reply if you have Aspergers. Thank you.



1) When you are asked to spell words (as in, imagine you're in a spelling bee), do you SEE (or visualize) the word in your mind's eye and then spell it out? Or do you HEAR (internally in your mind) the word and then spell it out?

2) Think about this question... if you are inside your house looking at your front door, which direction does the door open (swing)? Left or right?
2a) Were you immediately able to answer that question, or did you have to think about it a while? Immediately means, under 5 seconds or so.
2b) Did you have a clear image in your mind of your front door while answering that question, or was the image "fuzzy"? Yes, that's a subjective question.. so think of it this way.. was the image in your mind clear, like watching a TV? That would be clear. Less than that would be fuzzy. If you had NO image in your mind, let me know that also, and describe how you answered #2 then.

That's all! Please reply in the following manner....

1) answer
2a) answer
2b) answer

I appreciate you taking the time to do this little exercise. If we get quite a few responses, I'll be happy to share my theory, but I don't want to influence the answers, so I'll hold off a little until we get some replies.

thanks!!
Eric

1) Hmmm, hard. I'd say I tend to hear it, but I've never been in a spelling bee, so I don't know how I'd do it under pressure. Whenever that's happened, 've heard it.

2a) Under 5 seconds, I think, but I wasn't really focusing on answering the question. I could do it within that time, and did when I bothered to answer the question. I knew the answer, but articulating it takes longer.
2b) I can see it clearly, not fuzzy. The door swings...right.

1 Hear
2a Immediate
2b Fuzzy

1) I hear it, and then I visualise it.
2a) Immediate.
2b) Clear.

1) half and half

2a) immediately, left

2b) clear

I've attended a NLP course here, I found it VERY interesting, I also got to attend a lesson held by Robert Dilts, one of the first things they had has doing was compiling a questionaire to detrmine the dominant system. Mine was LARGELY visual, and I guess this would be case with most ASD people, as, as many studies have pointed out, we tend to rely a lot on the visual component instead o the verbal one (I'm not dx'ed tough). I've also been in therapy (shortly) and on SSRI's , but without a doubt NLP stands out compared to both, it actually enabled me to see a path for a happy and fulfilling life, it changed me for the better.

1) Hm. Both, actually- I hear the word, then I visualize what it looks like written/typed.
2) Door handle is on the left, it swings in, so going to the right.
2a) Saw it immediately.
2b) Clear.

1. See it in the form I consider correct
2a. Under 5 seconds, although 5 seconds seems like a long time to be "immediate"
2b. Clearly

1) Neither. I hear the noise and then remember the hand movement that goes with it. Technically, I can take a dictation without understanding what I'm writing. On some instances (at school) I did. I passed tests with flying colors without understanding a single word. (Yeah, serious problem with processing spoken language.)
2a) I saw immediately the way the door opened, however I had to think a while about which side is the left and which side is the right. I always had difficulties with that.
2b) clearly

1) Both, instantaneously. My mind is like a movie, I can see everything in my mind, and all the images have corresponding sound.

2) Swings in and to the right
2a) Immediately
2b) I saw a perfectly realistic image of my entire entry hallway, complete with windows, doorknobs, light switches, shadows, and that annoying stain on the carpet.

I should probably mention I can easily draw entire spaces, highly detailed and nearly to scale, completely from memory.

1) Hear it, but I see the individual letters as I am spelling it out
2a) Immediately
2b) Clearly

1. See the word as I believe it to be correctly spelled, and read it aloud from that mental image.

2. a. Had to think about this for a while. Question was confusing for me as (i) I use my back door rather than my front door, (ii) the front door is actually two doors which open in opposite directions, and (iii) I have difficulty telling right from left.

2. b. Yes, once I had decided to think about my back door I had a very clear image of it.

HAHA!! Well, you all have pretty much blown my theory!

My theory was that aspies are primarily auditory... or auditory is the dominant referencing system in the majority of people with aspergers.

Based on your responses, it seems there is a healthy mix of visual and auditory. Again, this was in no way scientific, but just a survey to prove or disprove a pattern that (I thought) I observed.

I'm actually extreme... I am so far auditory, I don't visualize much at all. When I answered the door question, I could not visualize my front door at all even. Everything in my head is fuzzy, and I process almost everything through 'hearing' it in my head.

Thank you very much for replying everyone. You've helped me a little further on my "discovery of me" journey.

Feel free to continue replying or discussing this topic... it's REALLY interesting! I'm an Internet Marketing guy, and I've been using NLP to create persuasive web page copy, and recently, sneaky, ninja-like subliminal video scripts to sell products online. But I find the psychological topics of NLP fascinating... one of my "obsessions" I've had for the last few years.

1) I see it. Then, I unconsciously write it with my finger. Apparently, I've been doing that for years and no one ever told me. I write what I see with my index finger, usually on my leg or thumb. It looks like I'm stimming, but I'm actually writing the word I hear/see in my head.

2a) It was pretty fast, tho not instant. My brain enacted the scene in my head of opening the door. Split-second, I would say.

2b) The door itself was fuzzy, but I was focused on the knob. The doorknob was crystal clear, probably because that's what my mind was fixed on (that's what my hand had to move to make the door open).

I'm dxed with AS, I have rather typical Asperger's (the guy) AS but whether I have AS/HFA/some strange form is autism for the year of 2009 is unclear sooo

I'm going to answer anyway, because I could be, right?