A little Blue.
I have been studying up on Asperger's Syndrome and I feel almost worse than I did when it was just ADHD I was dealing with. For all that I am a mild case in comparison with many others in the spectrum, it still presents issues that I am not yet certain how to approach.
I have dealt with the social skills problem my whole life. I addressed it head on, taking classes in improv, working Ren Faire and Dickens, forcing myself into dynamic social situations where I had to keep on my toes, but where I would look like a doofus only for a few minutes at a time if I failed horribly. I accepted the fact that in every group I would be peripheral, the weirdo, the freak, the oddball, tolerated for my good nature and humor, but rarely taken seriously or considered a friend by most. I have found friends, really amazing, patient people who have been my lifeline through everything, who have slogged through my inept socialization, my tendencies to get sucked into whatever I am doing, my horrible inability to keep in touch with people without prodding, etc. But I am still the person people edge away from and it still hurts a little.
The clumsiness was treated by a patient Sensei and many years of martial arts, where I learned to keep my body more or less under my own control. That it was ten times harder for me than it was for others was a fair balancing for how much easier I found physics, English, etc, than others did. (I absorb information like a sponge, can come up with theories and ideas as easy as breathing and then forget them again as quickly. LOL)
The sleep issues continue to plague me and I am not sure quite what to do about them.
The fixating on things is the hardest part. My OCD is my enemy and my friend, depending on circumstances. When it comes to needing to do something obsessively, its great, but when the obsessive becomes dominant the compulsion is nearly unbearable.
I am also so sensitive to sounds, that Jane's tendency to tap or thump, while she is working or playing, drives me bat-spit crazy. I can block out whole conversations, but cannot tune out the irritating noises that make me irritable and cranky. I love that I can hear the individual musical instruments in a symphony, I hate that I snap when someone is tapping their pen on the table.
I need coping strategies for the stuff I haven't mastered yet. Sigh
I have dealt with the social skills problem my whole life. I addressed it head on, taking classes in improv, working Ren Faire and Dickens, forcing myself into dynamic social situations where I had to keep on my toes, but where I would look like a doofus only for a few minutes at a time if I failed horribly. I accepted the fact that in every group I would be peripheral, the weirdo, the freak, the oddball, tolerated for my good nature and humor, but rarely taken seriously or considered a friend by most. I have found friends, really amazing, patient people who have been my lifeline through everything, who have slogged through my inept socialization, my tendencies to get sucked into whatever I am doing, my horrible inability to keep in touch with people without prodding, etc. But I am still the person people edge away from and it still hurts a little.
The clumsiness was treated by a patient Sensei and many years of martial arts, where I learned to keep my body more or less under my own control. That it was ten times harder for me than it was for others was a fair balancing for how much easier I found physics, English, etc, than others did. (I absorb information like a sponge, can come up with theories and ideas as easy as breathing and then forget them again as quickly. LOL)
The sleep issues continue to plague me and I am not sure quite what to do about them.
The fixating on things is the hardest part. My OCD is my enemy and my friend, depending on circumstances. When it comes to needing to do something obsessively, its great, but when the obsessive becomes dominant the compulsion is nearly unbearable.
I am also so sensitive to sounds, that Jane's tendency to tap or thump, while she is working or playing, drives me bat-spit crazy. I can block out whole conversations, but cannot tune out the irritating noises that make me irritable and cranky. I love that I can hear the individual musical instruments in a symphony, I hate that I snap when someone is tapping their pen on the table.
I need coping strategies for the stuff I haven't mastered yet. Sigh