are we really slow?

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I hate when I get called slow because I wonder if I really am or if its just a different speed that isnt slow. I don't mean this just socially but in all areas of life. Like are we considered slow in all areas of life....or am i just being paranoid?

Who cares what "we" are considered. How much credence do you give to the opinions of others?

ruveyn

Everyone is different. In fact, I often feel intellectually superior to the dolts around me, but at times I feel extremely slow, mentally, and I do not know why.

Actually it may be the opposite. If a class isn't fast paced or intellectually intense enough, I tend to lose focus rather easily.

The term 'slow' is just a slightly impolite way of saying 'different' and most normal people are very afraid of 'different' people so donb't worry about words to much.

Well I don't know about you or anyone else. But I am slow.
I have very belated reflexes and everything.

Sometimes I am slow moving....

On the other hand, I am sometimes considered to have a quick wit. It isn't so much that I am truly funny, but it seems like my brain has indexed every joke that I have ever heard, and will quickly present it for quick access given the proper cue. This works better for quick puns and one liners, actually presenting a longer joke in a funny way or doing standup comedy isn't something that I would consider myself good at.

I'm fairly quick to pick up on routines and programming myself to perform repetative tasks quickly. I can pick up new concepts quickly as long as someone has the patience to step me through them the first time and answer any questions that I have.

I'm slow also. I try to think before I act or react. Lots less problems that way.

I don't consider myself slow, but sometimes I watch video recordings of myself and it sure looks that way =/

Because we lack common sense, social skills, our emotions are below the age level.


I'm slow. Everyone says I'm not but I think I am.

When I was a little kid I remember hearing the terachers talking to each other and to my parents about me being 'slow' and how I needed some special help but I don't think I ever got that special help, at least I didn't see or feel anything different was done after meetings.

I agree that it is frustrating to be stuck with a label whose connotations may be negative or obscure, just to give a person something to call you. It's irresponsible to describe someone with a name that might have another less accurate or more unkind meaning to another person. It's too general, calling someone slow. In what context? Driving? Walking? Talking? Thinking? Eating? Sex? It could go so many directions!

Jim Ignatowski: "Psst! What does a yellow light mean?"
Bobbie: "Slow down!"
Jim Ignatowski: "Whaat... dooes... aaa... yel-low... liiight... mean?"

But speaking for myself, I am slow. I wish I could use the term without it being understood as reflecting upon my intelligence. I just know that if I simply tell someone I'm slow, I get the usual nonsense about how I shouldn't put myself down. But I'm not!

When I have a conversation, I need more time to think in order to respond accurately (as to my actual viewpoint) and intelligently. I don't consider myself a stupid woman as such, though I do not function well at many things others do. I don't perceive things others consider obvious. There are some things, jokes and other subtleties, that it has taken me years to understand. Really, years after hearing a thing, it will click. I remember thinking recently, "Wow, it took me 15 years to figure that out." Forgot what, but still. I often ask a person to repeat themselves only to finish processing what I heard the first time just before they repeat it. I hate having to call people because I can't even begin to know how they are responding to me if I can't see them, and they tend to get very impatient with me which makes me slower. I need very specific instructions for things if I've not done them before, or if another person wants me to do something (I don't like being called on mistakes, which I find most people assume to be caused by indifference or laziness). You can imagine how long I take to follow a recipe. I have to read and reread the instructions so many times! Sometimes I think the only thing I do quickly is forget stuff.

^ A lot of that stuff sounds so much like me. I also physically move slowly often which I think is due to delayed/destracted thinking. As a child one of my mom's favorite phrases in regards to me was "Mitharatowen has only one speed - Medium-slow." because she was always telling me to hurry and I did! But it was never actually faster apperently...

My reactions to physical things are much slower than most people. If something is moving fast, I may not even be able to see it. Eg I may not see a ball tossed my direction until it has already bounced off of my chest and is laying on the floor - at which point I will then raise my arms to catch it XD waaaay too late.
I also have a tendency to freeze up when startled which doesn't help.
There was an occasion several years ago where my sister jumped out from around a coner and went "BOO" and I stood there with my hands splayed out for at least a full 5 seconds before I screamed

I have very quick reflexes - but if I have to think what to do, I can be very slow. I think it's due to a combination of executive dysfunction & processing delay. As long as I can know precisely what to do, I have no problem doing it quickly. If necessary, I practice physical motions until they feel natural. For intellectual things, I prepare myself - write things out & memorize them, instead of talking extemporaneously. (Memorization is a great tool for me. Once I have something memorized - either information, or physical motions - I can use bits of it in a multitude of situations.)

Well at least I am slow! My life does certainly pass by in pure slow motion. Concerns almost everything no matter if its about thinking or taking an action. Quite annoying. I wish I was faster so I could do things effective, but I cant.....

Well, AS does involve a delay in social skills. So technically you're slow in that area. You have to remember, though, that most people are slow at something; it doesn't make you all that unusual to have a big weakness like that.

AS doesn't involve global delay, though Kanner's might.

And then there's the weird cases in between, like mine, where you have some delay in the areas of self-care skills, matched with an unusual aptitude for learning, that doesn't fit into any category easily...

Meh. But no, AS doesn't involve being overall "slow". You will have some areas (social definitely, maybe others) where you are; but typically the autistic brain will also have some very noticeable strengths. The way we develop, we don't seem to do everything at the same level at all--some things are way faster than others.

The only time "slow" is a problem is when people expect you to do something you can't do yet. Generally if you need an accommodation, extra tutoring, etc., it'll be in those areas; because if you're slow but so is everybody else, it doesn't particularly matter because the world's structured to take that into account. It's not the actual skill level that matters, but the difference between your skill level and the mainstream.