No. I think I manage to blend in fairly well.. I've developed a bunch of set responses that I use. Once people get to know me a little bit, they do notice that I am different from others my age. Most people don't know what AS is though.
Most people don't see it. Some won't even believe it after I tell them (one of the social workers I had, and with social services they only started believing it after they had a course about it). "No, not you, can't be. You're not rigid enough, you're too talkative; You've managed too long without needing help." etc.
But auties know. Twice I've been asked about it, indirectly but yes. A man who wanted to get himself diagnosed asked me, he recognised it. (He did not get a dx, in the preliminary talk his psychiatrist (not specialised in as) told him he could not be autistic because he felt hurt by his divorce. And a woman in the street asked my opinion of her son. She said I looked in a different way at her son, not judging. How did I see him. She told me he's diagnosed with pdd-nos/mcdd. She's got a lot of traits too.
And then there's this man at the last job I had. We got ill together. Tried to get back to work toghether. Failed both. Half a year later he told me he was autistic, and I told him I was on a waitinglist for a DX. We sort of recognised each-other also.
But 'ordinary' people. No. They do notice I'm different and that's it.
But I thought it was on an instinctual level.
When I worked with autistic (so-called LFA) children in 2001 I think they knew I was on their spectrum.
The mother of a severely autistic boy recognized it immediately in me and told my mother that after my diagnosis.
One of my friends, who knows I've got AS, thinks I ought to tell it to more people, because she saids that some people find me quite strange and that they would understand it better if I told them about it. I don't know yet. I'm not embarrassed for it or anything, but I am afraid they are going to pity me, or treat me differently.
Yeah, it is interesting, isn't it? The mother told me that she saw it in the way I was standing, moving, avoiding eye contact and my hand gestures. At that time, we had never even spoken to each other, but recently she told me that she suspects that she has AS herself.
I think you might be right. I 'feel' more comfortable around another autistic persons. There's no peer group pressure. Most of the autistic ppl I meet are themselves, nothing more and nothing less. They are direct. Tell you what really interests them. Listen to you when they're interested. It's so calm. Also with 'lfa' (Oh I hate all these pigeon-holes). For me it's on a pre-verbal/non-verbal level.
People I know usually have no idea until I tell them. I fit into the weird nt stereotype easily and so that is how i'm judged.
Although my mother once told me that when I was about 4 I ran away from home. Although I remember the incident quite well and I just wanted to go for a walk while my parents were asleep and forgot my way back. Anyway a woman found me who was an Autism specialist and suggested to my mum that I might be Autistic. My mother ignored her advice. It's odd to think what my life would have been like growing up 'Autistic', instead of finding out age 15.
I can spot someone on the spectrum very well. I think most people who are knowledgeable in the area can. Its very distinctive I find when meeting an Autistic, that could be more because my life is surrounded by nts.
Things that I notice are; a person looking much younger than they are, you can see the person thinking (i'm not implying nts don't, just its distinctive about an Autistic) almost like an aura around them and intense eyes.
Please note-i'm not saying every Autistic has the same traits, or these are what defines how Autistic a person is or that if these are not traits that you yourself do that I think lowly of you , these are just some that i've found quite common amongst the people on the spectrum that I have met.
People have always told me that I'm 'weird'- even those who hardly know me. I also seem to get picked on a bullied by people - including complete strangers I've never seen before - than my NT peers. ------------------ I doubt that they could actually identify me as aspie.
I can identify fully with this.
Most people can't tell right away unless they obeserve me like everyday or catch me when I am really nervous.
99 is average. I don't understand what is so bad about that... The average seems to be always the most comfortable place to be in society; everything's geared to the average.
99 is not telling a thing. The intelligence profile will thell you much more. And then your average score can seem a lie, because your profile turns out to be anything but average.
On Saturday I was told by a lovely old Irishman I was chatting to that I looked far to young to have fifteen-year-old twins!
He thought I was 37 - and he has a forty-year old daughter for comparison. I had to show him the pictures before he would believe I'm fifty and also have three children in their mid-twenties, and two six-year-old grandsons! I, of course, am
not at all getting a big head about this - I blame the 'beer-goggles' effect!
A little off-topic, but my mum gets that all the time, people being surprised that she has four children - ranging from 23 to 30. It's a gene she passed down to my little sister and me. She has some AS traits though I think. Seems to be an AS thing. It's annoying when you're young, but as you get older, my mum tells me it's a blessing.
I'm sure that passes for witty in your social circles. Second grade homophobic ***.
Chris, what is wrong with you?
Give that question some serious thought: what is wrong with you?
Eek - I've just been scrolling past all Guess Who's posts for the past few months, so I've completely missed all this stuff. I honestly thought he'd dropped the homophobic thing.
Ah well, people never change.
People don't tend to spot that I'm aspie- most of the people I meet don't know what Aspergers is, or their knowledge of it starts and stops with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
Lack of empathy alert. That guy strikes me as DOGmatic (perhaps with a loud bark).
Concentrating too closely on Dog: the Hard Liner to think about the opinions of our friends.
Now I am sorry I shared that. Yes, he is a hard liner.
brought the world certain political witticisms, some possibly original, such as
Ellen Degenerate
I'm sure that passes for witty in your social circles. Second grade homophobic ***.
Chris, what is wrong with you?
Give that question some serious thought: what is wrong with you?
Drive by in your CARma and he'll chase after you.
Lack of empathy alert. That guy strikes me as DOGmatic (perhaps with a loud bark).
Concentrating too closely on Dog: the Hard Liner to think about the opinions of our friends.
What guy GuessWho.
Are you referring to someone real? or is this an association joke?
I don't get it.
It does not make homophobic things funny.
Maybe tit was better to make a post about DOGmatics somewhere else without the other postings attached?
I know a guy who has some strong political opinions and some creative, possibly original, but objectionable political witticisms.
The ones that are OK to share are:
Washington Com.Post
New Age SewAge