Which ASD traits do you not have?

[Datura]

Yes, often I really want to talk about something and I sometimes want to say something in a conversation which interests me, but can't because I wait for the gap which never comes; as Zurb says, NTs have a way of jumping in over the top of each other. Sometimes I get so frustrated at not being able to speak that I wave or flap my hands to catch their attention and make them stop talking so I can speak!

This is often a problem for me as well. People will usually see my frustration and then let me speak.

 

[StephF]

Just re-did the AQ, got 48 points

 

[BlackWhiteFox]

47 out of 50 points
I notice that while I don't really enjoy the company of other people, I do enjoy parties (if there is something to drink at least). I like meeting people when I drink because I forget about all the things that annoy me or make me anxious.

 

[Spiller]

I've seen a lot of thread discussing various symptoms of ASD. But as we all, know, ASD is a spectrum, and though we all share certain traits or symptoms, each person is different and will display a different combination of traits, to varying levels of severity; not all of us tick the same boxes. Take the AQ test, for example. Aspergers Adult AQ Test Quiz Online: Autism Spectrum Quotient Most of us will have taken this test at one point or another. My score was 41/50, which means that there are 9 boxes which I didn't tick. I think that there are very few people who take this test and actually tick all the boxes.

So, my question to those on the spectrum is, which boxes don't you tick, or which symptoms/traits don't you have? They don't have to be from the AQ test, but it is useful as a reference point. These are some traits I don't have:

I enjoy reading fiction (especially sci fi), and I can imagine scenes from the fiction that I read, though I do have difficulty working out the character's intentions.

I enjoy doing things spontaneously, as long as it isn't interrupting anything I'm already doing.

I don't have a fascination with numbers or dates, though I do notice patterns and certain things like number plates.

I'm not good at remembering phone numbers, unless they have a pattern in them. I'm lucky that my phone number has a pattern.

I don't talk a lot about my special interests to others, that is, unless someone asks me about them; I'm not a very talkative person. Instead, I withdraw into myself and think about them all the time when in company with others.

I don't mind different kinds of food touching each other, and I like food to be spicy and varied, not the same all the time.

Some people on the spectrum don't like travelling, novelty or changes to their routine. For me, sudden changes will upset me, but not changes which are known about and planned for in advance, such as holidays - I like going on holiday and travelling, though it feels strange at first and takes a while to adjust to a new environment. I get bored easily, I like learning new things, and sometimes I like to have new experiences - just not all the time

My AQ score was 42/50 last year, 40/50 today.
Progster, it's almost like you read my mind here, so many of these things I don't have a problem with, or much of one at least, that it was difficult, initially, to assess myself as Autistic until I'd spent some time on AC and saw that everyone really was so different.
I like math, but I'm not obsessed with numbers, though I do notice patterns. I have a visual memory and learn best by seeing things physically and written down.. verbal instruction is practically wasted on me.
I can identify my own emotions, though some, such as the anxiety I've lived with since childhood had to be pointed out to me, simply because I was so used to it I wasn't even aware of it.
I can recognise tones of voice, sarcasm often, though I miss many banter-type jokes, taking them seriously or simply not understanding, literal thinking there - through sheer years of experience I have learned to keep an eye out for this possible interpretation of others' comments. I also often stumble over turns of phrase and unfinished sentences accompanied with 'meaningful looks'..
I can see facial expressions, even if I don't know what they mean - I often catch a look and wonder for days after what was meant by it..
I live in the stories in my head much of the time, my inner world fuelled by all the sci-fi/fantasy fiction I read - I never understood that question about not understanding the motives of characters in books fully; if the character is well enough portrayed I never have much difficulty.. unless NT's are sooo much better at it, though how would I know? Certainly not from talking to people.. watching films made from books, maybe.. but I've also lived in many books that seem almost more real than the waking world. Peoples' motives in real life though, often tend to be a mystery as they keep changing their minds and opinions all the time.
I do some things ritualistically, such as getting dressed or cooking in a specific order, but I also like to be spontaneous and sometimes even purposely do ritual tasks differently just to see what it feels like - try opening a bag of crisps upside-down and soaking up the feeling of wrongness..
Talking on the phone is always a problem as I hate doing that - I don't care whose turn it is to speak, I just want it to be over! I think the AQ test doesn't take into account the things Autistics can't/don't do simply through anxiety, whether it would be a problem otherwise, or not.. or things they'd like to do if only it wasn't a problem - for example, I like to socialise, it's just my anxiety due to not being good at small talk, crowds and noise that makes it difficult, so my answer seemed wrong whatever I ticked.

 

[Progster]

My AQ score was 42/50 last year, 40/50 today.
Progster, it's almost like you read my mind here, so many of these things I don't have a problem with, or much of one at least, that it was difficult, initially, to assess myself as Autistic until I'd spent some time on AC and saw that everyone really was so different.
I like math, but I'm not obsessed with numbers, though I do notice patterns. I have a visual memory and learn best by seeing things physically and written down.. verbal instruction is practically wasted on me.
I can identify my own emotions, though some, such as the anxiety I've lived with since childhood had to be pointed out to me, simply because I was so used to it I wasn't even aware of it.
I can recognise tones of voice, sarcasm often, though I miss many banter-type jokes, taking them seriously or simply not understanding, literal thinking there - through sheer years of experience I have learned to keep an eye out for this possible interpretation of others' comments. I also often stumble over turns of phrase and unfinished sentences accompanied with 'meaningful looks'..
I can see facial expressions, even if I don't know what they mean - I often catch a look and wonder for days after what was meant by it..
I live in the stories in my head much of the time, my inner world fuelled by all the sci-fi/fantasy fiction I read - I never understood that question about not understanding the motives of characters in books fully; if the character is well enough portrayed I never have much difficulty.. unless NT's are sooo much better at it, though how would I know? Certainly not from talking to people.. watching films made from books, maybe.. but I've also lived in many books that seem almost more real than the waking world. Peoples' motives in real life though, often tend to be a mystery as they keep changing their minds and opinions all the time.
I do some things ritualistically, such as getting dressed or cooking in a specific order, but I also like to be spontaneous and sometimes even purposely do ritual tasks differently just to see what it feels like - try opening a bag of crisps upside-down and soaking up the feeling of wrongness..
Talking on the phone is always a problem as I hate doing that - I don't care whose turn it is to speak, I just want it to be over! I think the AQ test doesn't take into account the things Autistics can't/don't do simply through anxiety, whether it would be a problem otherwise, or not.. or things they'd like to do if only it wasn't a problem - for example, I like to socialise, it's just my anxiety due to not being good at small talk, crowds and noise that makes it difficult, so my answer seemed wrong whatever I ticked.

I agree with a lot of what you say here.

I'm not very good at verbal instruction either, and get round it by asking them to slow down or give it in sections, and then repeating it back at them to make sure I got it right.

I have constant background anxiety, but I rarely have full-blown panic attacks.

With facial expressions, I often know that they want to communicate something, but I don't know what it is. Over the years I've learnt that certain expressions mean certain things, and I know how to interpret them. Sometimes I get sarcasm, if the person makes it deliberately obvious that they are being sarcastic, sometimes I don't. If I know that a person uses a lot of sarcasm, I look out for it. If i don't know the person, and their kind humour, I find it extremely hard.

I can undertand character's intentions in books and films much better than real life. Film characters are much more predictable than real people. Also, film plots become very predictable after watching X number of films, all with the same formula. Then pattern recognition comes into play.

Yep, I have phone phobia too. Phones are a necessary evil.

47 out of 50 points
I notice that while I don't really enjoy the company of other people, I do enjoy parties (if there is something to drink at least). I like meeting people when I drink because I forget about all the things that annoy me or make me anxious.

Yes, I don't go to parties very often, but I do like the food and to have a drink - but when I stop eating I usually get bored and if it's loud it's irritating, tiring and I can't hear people speak so I don't join in the conversation or speak to people. I can't stand people smoking so I don't usually last very long before I want to go home. It's a bit pointless really.

 

[Kari Suttle]

I'm bad at math and i'm not into facts and numbers and all that. I've always found nonfiction boring as ****, though the occassional random documentary on tv or youtube can be fun to watch if the topic peaks my interest. When i get into a random topic, i will research it as much as possible though - i swear if i had the dedication to homework and writing papers for school as i did totally random topics of interest, i'd have all A's in school! I have a very photographic memory and when i'm reading ive always been able to visualize what's happening in the book.

I like to think i'm empathetic; all my life i've been judged and excluded so i try not to do that with others. I don't imagine other people's points of view easily though; i empathize not with what i think they would feel (cause i cant imagine that) but rather what i would feel in their situation. I have to either know someone who has been in a given situation before or have it explained to me. I'm also good at looking people in the eye provided i'm feeling 100% but i can't do it if i'm nervous, upset, or not feeling well. I think this is because in elementary they drilled it into us to look teachers in the eye, so it became something of a rule to me.

I'm also somewhat better at reading people than the stereotype seems to imply I should be. I would imagine its cause i'm a girl and cause i was raised by a mostly loving mom with anger issues who could be emotionally abusive at times. I can read an expression as annoyed or mad but i'm usually bad at figuring out the degree of the emotion, especially anger, and whether its at me specifically or something else. Annoyance or upset-ness i can guage fairly well but anger i can't tell the degree at all. Its all the same to me and is very anxiety provoking. Its not fun to deal with cause i've had supervisors that for all i know they're just serious, strict people by nature in the workplace but to me i'm always concerned that i've done something to anger them cause to me they just look annoyed.

 

[Bellatrix]

I don't have any overriding interests, or 'obsessions'. I'm interested in lots of things, like Byzantine history, geography, physics...

I also don't need to stick to any pre-arranged routines. I often do things spontaneously.

 

[donn]

35/50, though God knows it would have been much, much higher ten years ago.

The biggest thing that stands out to me, in contrast to everyone else's posts, is that, not only do I get sarcasm, but I'm very good at it. However, it appears that dry wit, wordplay, and irony were the first social pattern I deliberately studied. I've confirmed with my parents that I was a very serious and direct child, and can actually remember the very first time I pulled off a joke in the style of the British comedies we watched. My relief was immense, and I thought, "I did it! I pulled it off!" Being a middle child with two lovely, outgoing sisters, this became a way to get attention and helped me seem less intense to NT's, so I worked on it for most of my life. I'd actually forgotten, till I came here, that learning to do this was a specific goal of mine at one point.

Similarly, although I'm bad at body language, I went through periods of very carefully studying people's emotions and psychologies, based on what they say and the specific facts I can gather. In its own way, I've found this eventually has made me better at understanding what people are trying to communicate, since I lack many preconceived notions NT's bring to the conversation. I can walk people through their emotions about their own relationships or work or hobbies or whatever else, but it's much more limited when they are talking about how they relate to me.

Between the two of these, my social anxiety is much smaller than what it once was, since I have confidence that I can perform well in most social situations that I actually care about. Intellectual or witty conversations make me feel at ease, along with playing psychologist, but I try to have a specific goal for small talk - that way I can know if I have handled the situation well. I do have an underlying pressure that I *must* keep the conversation flowing, otherwise I feel that any hiccups in the situation must somehow be my fault.

 

[Mia]

26-31 gives a borderline indication of an autism spectrum disorder. It is also possible to have aspergers or mild autism within this range. My score was 28.

Definitely have no difficulty with some things, like socializing, I'm all right at it, but not as comfortable anymore. Dislike the phone, answering it, talking on it.
Lots of pauses and 'space' in my conversations these days which seems to make people uncomfortable, that need to fill the spaces is no longer there.
Don't have any obsessive interests, although I have much general knowledge about many things, more in depth knowledge of certain things.
Don't really like to travel as much as I used to, although that's likely a function of age. Would rather be at home, finding it more disruptive to even go on vacations in winter.

 

[Progster]

35/50, though God knows it would have been much, much higher ten years ago.

The biggest thing that stands out to me, in contrast to everyone else's posts, is that, not only do I get sarcasm, but I'm very good at it. However, it appears that dry wit, wordplay, and irony were the first social pattern I deliberately studied. I've confirmed with my parents that I was a very serious and direct child, and can actually remember the very first time I pulled off a joke in the style of the British comedies we watched. My relief was immense, and I thought, "I did it! I pulled it off!" Being a middle child with two lovely, outgoing sisters, this became a way to get attention and helped me seem less intense to NT's, so I worked on it for most of my life. I'd actually forgotten, till I came here, that learning to do this was a specific goal of mine at one point.

Similarly, although I'm bad at body language, I went through periods of very carefully studying people's emotions and psychologies, based on what they say and the specific facts I can gather. In its own way, I've found this eventually has made me better at understanding what people are trying to communicate, since I lack many preconceived notions NT's bring to the conversation. I can walk people through their emotions about their own relationships or work or hobbies or whatever else, but it's much more limited when they are talking about how they relate to me.

Between the two of these, my social anxiety is much smaller than what it once was, since I have confidence that I can perform well in most social situations that I actually care about. Intellectual or witty conversations make me feel at ease, along with playing psychologist, but I try to have a specific goal for small talk - that way I can know if I have handled the situation well. I do have an underlying pressure that I *must* keep the conversation flowing, otherwise I feel that any hiccups in the situation must somehow be my fault.

For me, sarcasm and humour in general, is very patchy. Sometimes I can get it, sometimes I don't. I can recognise a sarcastic tone of voice when the person is making it really obvious that they are being sarcastic, but I don't pick up on more subtle sarcasm.

26-31 gives a borderline indication of an autism spectrum disorder. It is also possible to have aspergers or mild autism within this range. My score was 28.

Definitely have no difficulty with some things, like socializing, I'm all right at it, but not as comfortable anymore. Dislike the phone, answering it, talking on it.
Lots of pauses and 'space' in my conversations these days which seems to make people uncomfortable, that need to fill the spaces is no longer there.
Don't have any obsessive interests, although I have much general knowledge about many things, more in depth knowledge of certain things.
Don't really like to travel as much as I used to, although that's likely a function of age. Would rather be at home, finding it more disruptive to even go on vacations in winter.

I don't travel as much as I used to either, both for economic reasons, and because I don't seem to have as much energy as I used to have, and that makes my AS harder to deal with, too.

 

[JuniperBug]

I feel like I don't have a special interest but, instead, become fixated on an idea, place, food, routine, or person for an extended period of time. A few months to over a year...

I sort of wish I did have one though...I feel like I'd feel smarter if I knew a lot about something.

 

[Progster]

I feel like I don't have a special interest but, instead, become fixated on an idea, place, food, routine, or person for an extended period of time. A few months to over a year...

I sort of wish I did have one though...I feel like I'd feel smarter if I knew a lot about something.

I think that special interests don't have to be long-lived, they can be short term, too. Though year is quite a long time for a special interest to last. I'm sure that these count

 

[Ylva]

I sort of wish I did have one though...I feel like I'd feel smarter if I knew a lot about something.

It would never feel like you knew a lot, though, because the more you know the more aware you are of the limits of that knowledge. It's like when someone says "so, you read a lot/watch a lot of movies?" and you feel compelled to say no because even if you go through a book a day or ten movies a week, you will always know the vast amount of books and movies that you may never have the time to check out.

 

[clg114]

It would never feel like you knew a lot, though, because the more you know the more aware you are of the limits of that knowledge. It's like when someone says "so, you read a lot/watch a lot of movies?" and you feel compelled to say know because even if you go through a book a day or ten movies a week, you will always know the vast amout of books and movies that you may never have the time to check out.

You are right. I have worked with electronics most of my life. When people comment about it, I tell them that I know just enough about electronics to realize what I do not know about it.

 

[ItalianAspie]

Never get sarcasm, sometimes get humor. I have an obsession with electrical engineering thus leading me into owning a commercial electrical contracting company. Hand flapping and finger wriggling a whole host of other traits

 

[psychotopsy]

I am fascinated with numbers but not with dates. And I don't collect information. I don't have the energy for it. (41 on the AQ test)

 

[unsurewhattoname]

I scored 43/50 when I did it when undergoing diagnosis. I'm not one of the verbose people and people can very get words in. It's the other way round, where I can't get a word in should I want to speak, which luckily I never do. I also like the theater; the audience is quieter, other than laughing and clapping. Museums are full of people and I just find them too loud. I'm not as inflexible - if told in advance, a change to my routine doesn't bother me. It's just if it's spontaneous that it bothers me. I tend to know what's polite and what's not, and I do understand jokes. That's all I can really remember.

 

[Shawn D]

I understand sarcasm when it's obvious, like tone of voice or logic dictates they must be the saying the opposite of what is true, and I can apply it. I also understand irony.
It's much more confusing when the sarcasm is based on opinion, like when someone says they like something, but really don't.

 

[marcadam]

I scored 42/50, I'm self-diagnosed but when I think back through my childhood and life more generally it puts things in to perspective. I have never felt like I fit in, I always feel like the odd one out in any type of social setting. I am currently having a really bad time of things at work, I'm a manager for a care agency that provides support to people with LD/ASD. I love working with the clients, but the relationship with my boss and some staff has become very difficult. I'm currently off with stress and depression, when I went to see my GP if asked him if I could get tested for AS, he gave me a funny look and said, but you're talking to me just fine...... doesn't really work like that. I really feel that I've been carrying a monkey around on my back my whole life, and the effort required to interact with people is really, really draining.

I also have sensory overload: my clothes need to fit correctly, I can't wear any jumpers made from yarn (natural or synthetic), certain noises drive me nuts especially people eating. I also struggle to walk on synthetic carpet barefoot and clothes tags, drive me absolutely nuts (non of my shirts or t-shirts have a tag for too long). I often get told off for over talking people on the phone. I also obsess about things, mainly technology and I've frequently been told I keep repeating myself about things.

I'm not sure if I do have AS, but it sure would explain a lot.

 

[jayster]

I score 39/50 on the AQ test.
My most un-asd traits are eye contact and humour, which I learned about very young for survival reasons; you are much less an appealing victim if you can look 'em in the eye.