Why Is it a Symptom When I Do It?

[NateSean]

I've lived in Salem for five years and I still don't know where "central" street is. When a tourist asked for directions to Central Street, I was puzzled. When she told me she was looking for the Pirate Museum, the directions flew from my mouth. Same when she asked me where the Witch's Dungeon Museum was located.

In my hometown of Bennington, I was the same way. Ask me the street name and I drew a blank, but I could tell you how to get to specific places and sometimes, the name of the street popped up as one of the directions.

My mother is the same way. When you give her directions, you need to remember the landmarks and the things she'd be likely to notice.

The difference is that when she tells you that aspect of herself, you might think, "Oh, that's just her individual trait." but when I do it, it's a symptom of Asperger's.

Do you ever feel like you're just being unfairly singled out?

 

[Beverly]

I don't but only because most people don't know I'm an Aspie so, when I do Aspie things, they see it as just on of my quirks or eccentricities - as something I'm fully aware of and could change in a heartbeat if I wished to change it. We know that's not true but let them think that if it pleases them.

I am the opposite with directions, maybe because I've traveled so much but, for me landmarks and lefts and rights don't work. I need road names or numbers and north, south, east or, west. Besides where I live now, the only landmarks would be Wal Mart. (it's Arkansas so they are everywhere.) and spooky looking trees. (plenty of those around here, it's be a great place for a horror movie forest to be filmed.) Well my Iron gate, but Mooch, Hal and Bubba have those too and, two of the four of us will probably get you shot for buzzing at the wrong gate without an invitation. (not mine though if I don't know you, you will be turned away.)

 

[Ste11aeres]

Who was it that told you this trait of yours was a symptom of AS?

 

[clg114]

I've lived in Salem for five years and I still don't know where "central" street is. When a tourist asked for directions to Central Street, I was puzzled. When she told me she was looking for the Pirate Museum, the directions flew from my mouth. Same when she asked me where the Witch's Dungeon Museum was located.

In my hometown of Bennington, I was the same way. Ask me the street name and I drew a blank, but I could tell you how to get to specific places and sometimes, the name of the street popped up as one of the directions.

My mother is the same way. When you give her directions, you need to remember the landmarks and the things she'd be likely to notice.

The difference is that when she tells you that aspect of herself, you might think, "Oh, that's just her individual trait." but when I do it, it's a symptom of Asperger's.

Do you ever feel like you're just being unfairly singled out?

I'm the same way about in town locations. In the town that I live in, you can stand on the corner of 7th & 7th or drive down North North Street. I'm a big user of MapQuest when I need to find something in town. I can find my way around in the back country much better.

I do not feel like I'm being unfairly singled out. It's more like I'm being ignored, which is fine with me. Nobody pays any attention to me unless they need something. Then it's "Where in the hell are you?" !!!

 

[Major]

In my sociology class in college I was told depending on which part of the US you are from will determine if you are more likely to give directions using address or landmarks as well as time vs distance. I don't think there is anything wrong with either way.

 

[AsheSkyler]

I tend to memorize street names and time spent driving to it. People here keep trying to use trees as landmarks. Trees don't make good landmarks in Alabama. They're EVERYWHERE! Well, except for where we've had tornadoes. They're more like bushes in those places.

 

[Beverly]

I tend to memorize street names and time spent driving to it. People here keep trying to use trees as landmarks. Trees don't make good landmarks in Alabama. They're EVERYWHERE! Well, except for where we've had tornadoes. They're more like bushes in those places.

here it's trees, Wal Marts and, Baptist churches, unfortunately there are hundreds of all three so, they aren't much use. "Past Walmart, across form the Baptist church, behind two hickory, one Sweet Gum and, an oak tree." ARGGH, useless since I will pass at least three Wal Marts, Ten Baptist churches and, hundreds of each type of tree before I even get to the correct Wal Mart, then there are at least two more Wal Marts and three more churches amid all of the trees.

Now, Take 71 north, 32 bypass east onto 32 east, 380 north.... there we go, I got this.

 

[Dryope]

Yes, the more I learn about ASD the more I see NTs doing the same things. It's like I'm learning about human nature and I see that a lot of my quirks are not autistic, they're just human quirks. The only things that are really "autistic" about me are the panic I get when I'm overloaded, the extra few seconds it takes me to think through some social situations, and the constant fear of open-ended conversations. Oh, and the constant anxiety, but surely that's not specific to ASD!

Even hyperfocus and perservation aren't specific to us. Though it is our special superpower -- with the downside, for me anyway, that I can only care about one thing at a time. I was learning the mandolin and now I'm painting...goodbye mandolin! I hope to care about you again soon.

 

[AsheSkyler]

here it's trees, Wal Marts and, Baptist churches, unfortunately there are hundreds of all three so, they aren't much use. "Past Walmart, across form the Baptist church, behind two hickory, one Sweet Gum and, an oak tree." ARGGH, useless since I will pass at least three Wal Marts, Ten Baptist churches and, hundreds of each type of tree before I even get to the correct Wal Mart, then there are at least two more Wal Marts and three more churches amid all of the trees.

Now, Take 71 north, 32 bypass east onto 32 east, 380 north.... there we go, I got this.

Are you in my back yard or something?

Dollar Stores and definitely churches here. I grew up in the Baptist & Methodist region, but some areas you can't half find either one and instead have lots of Church of Christ & Church of God buildings. And most of them are brick or stone, so it's really no use to hear "turn by the brick church". All in our own motley of trees.
The odd one out is somewhere around here is what looks like a church but it has Korean or Vietnamese lettering on the side. But it doesn't make too good of a landmark because everybody says "that Chinese church". I can't read anything but English and maybe blunder through some European languages, but Chinese looks way different from Korean and Vietnamese!

 

[Beverly]

Are you in my back yard or something?

Dollar Stores and definitely churches here. I grew up in the Baptist & Methodist region, but some areas you can't half find either one and instead have lots of Church of Christ & Church of God buildings. And most of them are brick or stone, so it's really no use to hear "turn by the brick church". All in our own motley of trees.
The odd one out is somewhere around here is what looks like a church but it has Korean or Vietnamese lettering on the side. But it doesn't make too good of a landmark because everybody says "that Chinese church". I can't read anything but English and maybe blunder through some European languages, but Chinese looks way different from Korean and Vietnamese!

Only one state between us but, not much changes when you cross Mississippi to the other side, no matter if you are going east or west and, I can't fathom anyone actually wanting to go through LOUSYana at all. (Just kidding, southern joke there.)

 

[camerartus]

I've done similar things and I'm NT.

 

[Harrison]

I give and receive directions the same way a sat nav delivers them, except I include landmarks at junctions. I've always seen routes like that, and in my job now it is a boon as any delay could have serious consequences.

 

[NateSean]

Who was it that told you this trait of yours was a symptom of AS?

It's not that anyone literally told me that, it was just the most recent example of a perfectly normal behavior that people who knew me would readily attribute to Asperger's, as if that made them an expert.

Another example is of a time when I told my aunt, (Who just had to tell everyone she met that I had Aspergers, because it made her feel better about her own son who was bipolar) that I had a difficult time talking to girls (in a romantic fashion) growing up. Without missing a beat, she said, "it's because of your Asperger's."

It's like, no it wasn't, because if she had shut up for five seconds in stead of interrupting me she would have heard me say that it was because I felt that no one had ever taken the time to teach me such. But no, in her eyes it was a "symptom" of Asperger's. Not magically having the ability to talk to someone of the female gender.

 

[BlueConundrum]

I have had that happen, though not with directions and not with AS (as I don't have an official diagnosis yet), but with depression and a couple of other things. My mother used to do this to me and it drove me up the wall. If I got irritated with her for any reason at all, it was because of my depression, not because she was giving me a reason to be irritable.

 

[I am Matt]

I've lived in Salem for five years and I still don't know where "central" street is. When a tourist asked for directions to Central Street, I was puzzled. When she told me she was looking for the Pirate Museum, the directions flew from my mouth. Same when she asked me where the Witch's Dungeon Museum was located.

In my hometown of Bennington, I was the same way. Ask me the street name and I drew a blank, but I could tell you how to get to specific places and sometimes, the name of the street popped up as one of the directions.

My mother is the same way. When you give her directions, you need to remember the landmarks and the things she'd be likely to notice.

The difference is that when she tells you that aspect of herself, you might think, "Oh, that's just her individual trait." but when I do it, it's a symptom of Asperger's.

Do you ever feel like you're just being unfairly singled out?

I'm just realizing that a lot of people must have the same issue with not knowing streets. To this day when I drive, I use gps on my phone to get there and then if I have to get there multiple times, I just follow the exact same route. When someone tells me about something happening on *insert street* they lose me unless they're talking about a restaurant or something I can visualize.

 

[Progster]

I don't have diffculty with knowing where places are. As long as I've been there myself, I know the route. I can see the route in my mind's eye, a bit like Google Street View. The thing I find difficult is translating this into verbal language so that another person will understand it.

 

[NateSean]

If I got irritated with her for any reason at all, it was because of my depression, not because she was giving me a reason to be irritable.

I sometimes wonder if it's a control thing. I know everyone reacts to their diagnosis differently, so I hope no one reacts angrily when I say this, but from day one in my life it has always felt like a matter of someone else trying to get a rein on me. They can't change my mind or my way of thinking, so they come up with a blanket label and it gives them a feeling that they always have the answer with me.

Do you ever feel that way with your mother?

 

[Beverly]

Oh my EX mother has a one answer fits all for me all right - according to her I wasn't baptized in her religion so, I'm being influenced by demons and, if I would pray and get baptized, I'd be instantly cured. Needless to say, I was quite happy when she and my EX father disowned me and, I have no desire to ever see or contact them again.

I'd probably have divorced my parents had they not disowned me first. I've got a better family now and, blood has nothing to do with whether a person is my family or not.

 

[Harrison]

I'd probably have divorced my parents had they not disowned me first. I've got a better family now and, blood has nothing to do with whether a person is my family or not.

I did that, Walked away and never looked back.

Years later, when I was diagnosed, I realised she was probably an aspie so I made my peace with her in the beyond.

 

[SocOfAutism]

I sometimes wonder if it's a control thing. I know every reacts to their diagnosis differently, so I hope no one reacts angrily when I say this, but from day one in my life it has always felt like a matter of someone else trying to get a rein on me. They can't change my mind or my way of thinking, so they come up with a blanket label and it gives them a feeling that they always have the answer with me.

I'd agree with this ^. My best friend is smart, but doesn't do well in school. Once she told me that I was a "smarty pants" like her sister, who also did well in school. This bothered me, because her sister is kind of a jerk. I had this same feeling about it. Like she'd just brought me down by slapping a quick label on something about me.