asperger's vs. weirdness. help?

[paper_airliner]

i get the feeling most people, including psychologists, can't draw a firm line between people with asperger's and people who are just unsocial, strange, have unusual interests and talents, etc

Comments

[simoriah]

I think the difference is in the intent. While NT's almost "try" to be weird, for AS it is a natural by-product of our way of thinking. Even as you get older and realize that "X" is considered weird to the rest of the world, it is normal to you, and there are days when you feel comfortable doing it. At least, this is the way it seems with me.

I started thinking of all this when I finally self-diagnosed in late May of this year. Then I realized why everyone was laughing at me at work, and I shut up for a while. Everyone noticed and while I finally started opening up again I made sure to try to reserve my crazier opinions for my friends, who accept them better.

Like, I finally figured out in late May, it is not normal to mention that I:
- have friends who are tree-sitters (extreme environmentalists)
- accept a bottle of rain, however romantic to you, as a normal anniversary gift
- be obsessed about details in songs and music (and nobody else obsesses over the lyrics quite like me)
- Not have cable TV but have a fully tricked out phone
- Am ok with listening to the same SONG for 6 hours on end (to be fair, it was "Stairway to Heavan" by Led Zeppelin)
- Find it fun to look up directions to different towns on google maps (ok that was a by-product of being bored at work and not being able to go anywhere else online)

[mouse_vicious]

I have issues distinguishing between acceptable and unnacceptable honesty too. So if I'm not trying to be weird I am for sure an aspie?

[old_cutter_john]

Well, yeah, but she just joined the community five weeks ago, and she's still trying to figure all this out.

[mouse_vicious]

That's not what I meant at all, I was questioning it because I didn't believe it to be the case. Sorry if it came off as offensive, I should know myself by now that weird isn't a very useful describing word yet it is what gets said to me the most and is the subject of the OP.. Figuring out how and why I am acting "weird" is just one of the factors that would help me socially, whether I am genuinely aspie or not.

I wrote why I am here when I joined, basically it's what old cutter john says here: 'see whether the issues and experiences that we discuss are meaningful to you and whether you get anything out of being here.'

The lady below isn't linking paganism and aspergers:
'So my "normal" is different than most (then add in the AS)'
As I understand her she's just stating her opinion that weirdness can be subjective and that challenging authority is a common trait of people on the autistic spectrum.

Both of us are new to this and this is probably why we are still grappling with the small details before we can confidently view aspergers as a whole.

[simoriah]

Both of us are new to this and this is probably why we are still grappling with the small details before we can confidently view aspergers as a whole.

Very true on my part. Keep in mind that I have nobody else around here in NJ that I can bounce ideas off of on this subject. Oh, sure I got a few friends I suspect, but I am no phychologist and I sure would never tell anyone what I think; certainly it is not my business to do so.

[simoriah]

Depending on your definition of "weird" (it can be subjective). But as a whole if you do things without the express purpose of "challenging authority" or "challenging a norm" then yes you could very well be an Aspie. I am new to this too so I am still way learning. But for example, people think I am weird since I am Pagan. Not that I wear a huge pentacle on my neck or anything but I am just not Christian. Therefore my thoughts on nature/sex/marriage/ almost anything are different. Most people cannot accept this. So my "normal" is different than most (then add in the AS).

[simoriah]

I'm sorry, I still don't understand your thought process with how being weird and not following the norm makes one an Aspie.

Please do not get this twisted. I did NOT say this, ever. I would not say it. I was merely answering the original post with my opinion based on my life experience. The NT's I met that were so-called "weirdos" came to be for mostly 2 reasons: 1. The family they grew up in was "weird" or different, or encouraged individualistic behavior or 2. They wanted to make a statement. To me, aspergers seems HIGHLY different than people who are "weird" just because they want people to look at them. Again, what do I know?

Notice I always quote "weird" since I believe "weird" is a different definition for everyone. To me, caucasian midwestern Christians who proudly boast to be part of the "American Cornhole Association" http://www.playcornhole.org/ (for people who thought I was being dirty) - now that is weird. But I am from suburban NJ.

[mouse_vicious]

Paganism sounds interseting and that's a good way of showing weirdness is subjective lol.

[simoriah]

My point exactly. And there are Pagans that I do look at and go, "Wow now THAT is weird." All depends on your point of reference.

Believe me there are plently of people out there who look at me as a non-Aspie since I am not "weird". And I tell them, "You did not know me as a kid."