Which ASD traits do you not have?

[On the Inside]

So, is being impolite supposed to be an Aspie trait? I am polite in the extreme, especially with casual acquaintances or co-workers.

 

[246819733791]

This happens to me. Or people don't understand that I've gotten a joke.

Right. I usually play along with jokes, assuming that everybody knows that everybody else is in on the joke. Then, to my surprise, somebody politely explains that the statement was intended to be a joke and then I have to explain that my statement was also meant to be a joke.... Oh dear; it happens to me much more than it probably should at this point.

 

[246819733791]

So, is being impolite supposed to be an Aspie trait? I am polite in the extreme, especially with casual acquaintances or co-workers.

I think there's somewhat of a paradoxical dichotomy here. I, too, tend to be polite in the sense that I am formal, even when I do not have to be. However, I have blundered into many situations where I shock or offend people without an intention of doing any such thing. I have an irrational but persistent feeling that I cannot make mistakes by staying calm and honest, when in truth what I think of as calmness and honesty come off as detachment and bluntness (or so I am told).

 

[Progster]

-I can create pictures in my mind, especially when the pictures rely heavily on spacial relations.
-I like fiction (as well as non-fiction)...
-and because I've read enough fiction, I am familiar enough with narrative tropes that I can usually work out characters' intentions with a reasonable degree of competency.
-I get jokes (usually), but I am often in the uncomfortable situation where other people do not understand that I am joking. I also sometimes mistakenly assume that people are joking when they are not.
-I think I am a fine diplomat, because I do not usually tend to become irrational and I try to focus on solutions rather than blame.

I don't think that it's true that people with ASD can't imagine things in pictures. On the contrary, many autistic people think in picture and not words. If it were the case that autistic people didn't see picture in their mind, then we wouldn't have memories. Many autistics are very imaginative and creative, and are visual thinkers.

 

[RidingDutchman]

Traits I don't have...
I tend to catch and enjoy humor very well. I don't really like repetition and orderliness. I suck with numbers (but not sure if this is more of a stereotype or really a thing that aspies are good with numbers.)

Right. I usually play along with jokes, assuming that everybody knows that everybody else is in on the joke. Then, to my surprise, somebody politely explains that the statement was intended to be a joke and then I have to explain that my statement was also meant to be a joke.... Oh dear; it happens to me much more than it probably should at this point.

I tend to have a very cynical and literal form of human that can be easily mistaken for making rude remarks but people never seem to mistake it for being rude. A while ago when talking about this with my girlfriend she says I make a really funny "don't mind me I'm just being silly" face when I make a joke. Didn't even realize this.

 

[granolaturtle]

1. I'm a pretty good speaker (it's one-on-one interaction where I struggle)
2. Again, I'm considered to be very verbal
3. I love humor and people have told me I'm pretty funny. Though, to be fair, it's mostly when it comes to my written fiction.

 

[Progster]

Traits I don't have...
I tend to catch and enjoy humor very well. I don't really like repetition and orderliness. I suck with numbers (but not sure if this is more of a stereotype or really a thing that aspies are good with numbers.)

I'm not good with numbers, either, and I don't have a mathematical mind. It's definitely a stereotype that aspies are good with numbers - many are, but certainly not all! I'm not very tidy, either, I think this is mainly due to executive functioning issues - I just don't get round to tidying up, rather than a dislike for orderliness.

 

[clg114]

I'm not very tidy, either, I think this is mainly due to executive functioning issues - I just don't get round to tidying up, rather than a dislike for orderliness.[/QUOTE]

Same here. You should see my desk, well actually you can not see my desk. It is covered in stuff. But you can see the sign on my desk. It says "A clean desk is a sign of a sick mind".

 

[Häxan]

I don't flap often, I am not a heavy hand flapper but my son is. There are times where I clap or tap but not so often do I flap.

I like to be touched, only by someone I trust when I am expecting it, like for instance by my children and my husband but I love massages.

I can make "normal" forced eye contact even though I hate it.

I am very chaotic in everything I do, I do not have to have thing perfectly placed or tidy as well.

I have trained myself to suppress my autistic traits/stimms to appear normal but afterwards I will spend a good portion of the rest of the day in a meltdown or mental exhaustion.

I love food, exotic and strong flavors with many different textures meanwhile my son eats a very small selection of foods.

There are more things as well but here are a few.


My score was 38.

 

[Butterfly88]

I don't have a special interest.

 

[Cerulean]

Thanks everybody for sharing, even though learning about Aspergers was an "aha!" moment for me, sometimes I still feel like I don't fit the mold quite well enough, and people act like the problems I have are because I'm choosing to, not because I'm different than most people.

 

[ancusmitis]

Well, I definitely get jokes, and the bit about "literal mindedness" well...I have always thought that those deficits, if they existed, were greatly exaggerated in their importance. I'm not saying it's invalid to have those deficits, or that they definitely don't exist. But still. I may misunderstand common sayings or idioms, but only for the same reason that any newcomer to a specific community might do so.

I've also got issues with this supposed inability to multitask. My mother struggles with multitasking and she's the least autistic of any of us. For myself I can do it reasonably well. Although piling the same ridiculous number of tasks on top of each other that business crackheads try to do--talking on the phone while driving for instance--I don't even attempt it. But NT's don't seem to do a very good job at that themselves, considering the number of accidents linked to using the phone while driving.

And now I realise that a lot of the traits I don't have are ones that I question whether they are connected to autism lol. Maybe I should think a little harder about that fact.

 

[RidingDutchman]

Well, I definitely get jokes, and the bit about "literal mindedness" well...I have always thought that those deficits, if they existed, were greatly exaggerated in their importance. I'm not saying it's invalid to have those deficits, or that they definitely don't exist. But still. I may misunderstand common sayings or idioms, but only for the same reason that any newcomer to a specific community might do so.

I've also got issues with this supposed inability to multitask. My mother struggles with multitasking and she's the least autistic of any of us. For myself I can do it reasonably well. Although piling the same ridiculous number of tasks on top of each other that business crackheads try to do--talking on the phone while driving for instance--I don't even attempt it. But NT's don't seem to do a very good job at that themselves, considering the number of accidents linked to using the phone while driving.

And now I realise that a lot of the traits I don't have are ones that I question whether they are connected to autism lol. Maybe I should think a little harder about that fact.

There have been some big studies on this and the outcome of all of them: nobody can multitask. People might think they can but you are constantly having your attention either at task 1 or task 2, you can't have it at both at the same time.
Only exception is repetitive motor skills exercises when you are able to do them without thinking.
Example: if you're learning to ride a bicycle you can't pay attention to a phonecall but when you are able to ride that bicycle you can talk on the phone perfectly fine. What you can't do is have a demanding phone call that requires full attention, ride that bicycle and still pay proper attention to the road.

I don't say you can't do more than one thing at the same time, but proper multitasking in the way most people use the word is not a thing the human brain is properly capable at

 

[BethC]

I love socialising and feel like an extrovert trapped with an introverted condition if that makes any sense, and I don't just "enjoy" social chit-chat; I actively seek it out. I really enjoy meeting new people. But despite my enjoyment of these things, I often find them difficult, especially when I'm one-on-one with someone who isn't an extremely close friend

I score 29 on the AQ test

 

[Progster]

Well, I definitely get jokes, and the bit about "literal mindedness" well...I have always thought that those deficits, if they existed, were greatly exaggerated in their importance. I'm not saying it's invalid to have those deficits, or that they definitely don't exist. But still. I may misunderstand common sayings or idioms, but only for the same reason that any newcomer to a specific community might do so.

I've also got issues with this supposed inability to multitask. My mother struggles with multitasking and she's the least autistic of any of us. For myself I can do it reasonably well. Although piling the same ridiculous number of tasks on top of each other that business crackheads try to do--talking on the phone while driving for instance--I don't even attempt it. But NT's don't seem to do a very good job at that themselves, considering the number of accidents linked to using the phone while driving.

And now I realise that a lot of the traits I don't have are ones that I question whether they are connected to autism lol. Maybe I should think a little harder about that fact.

I think that the "literal mindedness" applies more to kids than it does to adults. Having ASD means that you have developmental delay, that your brain doesn't reach certain milestones as fast as an NT brain does; you are a bit slower to develop things like theory of mind, or metaphorical thinking, but that doesn't mean that you won't or can't catch up and develop these skills by the time you are an adult. I think that by the time they reach adulthood, most people with ASD, at least those at the milder end of the spectrum, will be aware of the existence of metaphors, sarcasm, idioms, etc, and will know how to recognise them and not take them literally. Personally, I understand most common idioms, I can usually recognise when a metaphor is being used (but still struggle with sarcasm and some forms of humour), but I don't always know what the metaphor means, it doesn't always make sense. If someone tells me that the moon is a silver coin in the sky, I know intellectually now as an adult that the moon isn't really a silver coin, but as a small child I probably wouldn't have understood it.

As for multitasking, I think the main difficulty lies in switching from one task to another. I get engrossed in a task and find it hard to switch my focus of attention quickly to a different task. I need a transition period between the tasks to adjust to the change, and get flustered and overwhelmed when I suddenly have to switch. I'm also slightly slower than most people to react to new stimili, and if, for example, someone speaks to me when I'm focused on something, I don't hear them... then people think I'm hard of hearing, or something.

 

[unsurewhattoname]

I think that the "literal mindedness" applies more to kids than it does to adults

I'm still pretty literal. I know non-literal things exist but that doesn't mean I'll detect them.

 

[clg114]

I'm still pretty literal. I know non-literal things exist but that doesn't mean I'll detect them.

Me too. If I answer Joes phone and someone on the other end says "is Joe there?", my first instinct is to say "yes" and hang up. A question was asked and I answered it, conversation over. Experience has taught my that that person wants to talk to Joe, so I give it to him. When someone says "it's a piece of cake", my first instinct is to think "I want a piece of cake" and look for a cake. Time and experience teach us to understand all of this.

 

[Progster]

Me too. If I answer Joes phone and someone on the other end says "is Joe there?", my first instinct is to say "yes" and hang up. A question was asked and I answered it, conversation over. Experience has taught my that that person wants to talk to Joe, so I give it to him. When someone says "it's a piece of cake", my first instinct is to think "I want a piece of cake" and look for a cake. Time and experience teach us to understand all of this.

Yes, we learn to understand these things intellectually, or through experience. In the example I gave earlier of the metaphor of the moon being like a coin, I first picture a coin in the sky, but I know that a coin can't really be in the sky because that's just not physically possible, it's not logical. So I know that I need to treat it as a metaphor. First the literal image comes, then the intellectual understanding that it's a metaphor and not meant to be taken literally.

 

[NovaScotia Aspie]

I have learned through experience what is socially acceptable and what is not . It likely has made me much quieter , I don't say socially inappropriate things anymore and am very aware of other people's feelings .However ,just about every other trait or characteristic associated with AS has my name on it .

 

[Jones]

i scored a 38.
i am extreamly fussy with foods, i grew up on plain tasting food as i didnt like too much taste. i hate my food touching
i like books i can find fact in fiction
i am useless at remembering dates, probably terrible actually but i like maths quit alot
i get confused with noise unless i choose it, i cant concentrait in crowded places, i get told im ruid and get in peoples way when all im trying to do is stay out there way.
i can talk about my interests for hours, i get quit deep in them but i dont have a particular special interest, more so i change interest then bleed it dry until im board
i focus on things to the point i wont go to the toilate or eat or clean unless i finish what im doing or really really have to
i like spending time with people but only when i am convinced they like me which is few and far between, if not i become extermely uncomfertable and paranoid. i find it hard to connect with other girls especially.
i find patterns in alot of things unfortunatly
i make intense eye contact then avert my eyes when i notice and normally need recovery time after socialising.
i take comfert in my quiet life but still yearn for people contact.
i think im good at empithising, i try to relate but sometimes i think i may be being ruid, i run over the conversations with people i have in my head afterwards obsessively
i stare off and blank out alot normally worrying and connecting dots on why i should worry
i get frustrated often and feel misunderstood in work and education places