Official Welcome Thread : Jun 21, 2004 to Nov 13, 2010

[BrikHaus]

I'm going to start seeing a psychiatrist sometime in January or February, so if I get diagnosed with anything, I'll be sure to let you guys know.

I'm putting my money on something to do with pedophilia.

[Zuggy]

From what I can work out this "Aspergers" thing has to do with physical problems in the higher cortex of the brain - as in it's muddled and not connected properly - while the lower areas of the brain are too dense in connectivity. The higher cortex deals with complex stuff like social interaction, arty, poetic, and philosophical stuff (metaphor and indirect language comes under that), so these folks with Aspergers can only function on a lower level like computers like, say, doing repetitive calculations easily? It must suck to be like that, you must feel like a robot!

[fadingreminder]

I'm going to start seeing a psychiatrist sometime in January or February, so if I get diagnosed with anything, I'll be sure to let you guys know.

I'm putting my money on something to do with pedophilia.

You're mistaking me for Tines, I'm the one who cuts myself and cries and lives in an emo-poetry induced stupor, remember?

[BobBQ]

Unlike most Aspies, I gravitate towards reading and writing.

That's funny, because I was told that Aspies are often highly literate. I know I am.

It must suck to be like that, you must feel like a robot!

Superintendent of an insane asylum, more like.

[Zuggy]

I imagine if your brain is wired up that way you wouldn't be able to feel love or appreciate scenes like sunsets and the like?

[Anti-Goth]

That's funny, because I was told that Aspies are often highly literate. I know I am.

Yeah, it's tough to make generalizations about AS as a whole. Though I think it's safe to say there's a tendancy to obsess over a certain topic or hobby.

It must suck to be like that, you must feel like a robot!

Nah, not really. We comprehend our own emotions just fine; it's others' feelings and social cues we have trouble with.
For example, you notice someone's upset by their gait or a slight change in expression...someone with AS can't do that intuitively. I've had to learn to recognize things like that. So the earlier you get diagnosed, the better.

[Anti-Goth]

I imagine if your brain is wired up that way you wouldn't be able to feel love or appreciate scenes like sunsets and the like?

Um...no. Zuggy, we aren't ROBOTS. We have feelings, we just have trouble recognizing how others are feeling. Someone with AS is actually more likely to throw a tantrum, because they can't recognize it's not socially appropriate.

[EDIT: Ack! Double post! D:]

[Zuggy]

Well, I'm trying to imagine it because it's interesting, 'cause if you don't have the same level of connectivity in the higher brain it means you'll interpret things differently - so, right, you might still experience emotion, you might be swayed by something, but is there still the same capacity to express or understand that?

So, if you read a book like the Bible would it simply read like a load of gibberish to you because you don't have the capacity to recognise the philosophical/allegorical points unless it's explained in plain language?

I'm not sure I can explain what I'm trying to ask very clearly!

[V]

That's funny, because one of the DSMIV's criteria for diagnosing Asperger's Syndrome is an individual's inability to understand complex methaphors or indirect language

Well you see that's where it gets a bit murky; the thing with many Aspies is you can "learn" metaphors and non-verbal social cues; but more on a broad, abstract, theoretical level. I.e. you watch a TV show in which someone is betrayed by their own side in a war...AS person can grasp "that person would be mad". Someone is yelling in someone else's face and knashing their teeth like a dog, it can be grasped "this person is angry". Really obvious metaphors like "we just found a gold mine" (of advanced technology on a space show) etc. etc. or "she's a fire-eating bitch" (she's a very angry bitter person) etc. etc. etc. All of this on a shallow, intellectual as opposed to intuitive level. Of course, with practice, an AS person can get really good at this.

...er, sorry to be making broad generalizations; to not beat about the bush, I'm thinking of "Babylon 5" and its many Aspie fans. The idea is that you get the feeling JMS is an Aspie, because he's really smart and it is admittedly a well written political commentary.....which doesn't have the best character interactions. People speak as if making pontificating speeches as opposed to normal verbal banter (the "endless unrealistic speeches" on B5 are made fun of a lot). But say.....the "central romantic relationship" of B5, Sheridan/Delenn, is not really realistic at all and you get the feeling he's trying to script an "idealized, intellectually understood concept" of "love and relationship" rather than "actual relationship". So on an "intellectual" level B5 has lots of stuff AS could get, but "intuitively" it makes little sense. Interpersonal relations learned the same way a math formula is; at the intellectual and not emotional level.

For example, we've all seen AU Eva stuff with a "perfect relationship" between Shinji and Rei, right? Shinji in a tuxedo, Rei in an evening gown, having the "perfect relationship" of giving cute little gifts, smiling at stuff, etc. Intuitively you can tell "this is kind of poorly written, and not the way actual people behave" but that's because its a "relationship" as understood on an intellectual level.....while an actual, screwed-up real live intuitive "relationship" is "Asuka and Shinji sit down watching TV eating junk food; Asuka calls Shinji an idiot for dropping the remote, Shinji says he's sorry, Asuka says she thinks he's pathetic for always appologizing.....when inwardly, Shinji's just happy to get attention from another human being for once, and Asuka, while revolted at Shinji's weakness, is also kind of attracted to that he's this totally selfless guy who never tries to push her around and basically accepts her bossiness unconditionally (okay, I'm generalizing with a bad example here). Is this a perfect relationship? No. God no. And "on paper", intellectually, it can't really be understood what makes it "work". But...it does seem more like an intuitive, flawed, "real" relationship than the Rei/Shinji shippiness which is based on a shallow, intellectual understanding of "interpersonal relations".


Long story short, I've seen lots of Aspy people develop knowledge of "metaphors and social cues" on an intellectual level....to varying degrees of success depending on time and practice.

[Mr. Tines]

@Asperger's
I happen to know a teenage girl with the syndrome -- she is unreasonably brilliant (top of the class in arts and sciences), musically gifted, sporting (karate black belt) and heavily involved in amateur dramatics and roleplaying games.

She says the best thing about Asperger's is that she is immune to peer pressure.

You're mistaking me for Tines,

I'm not that sort of dirty old man. But then I do spend a lot of time on /a/...

But seriously, I'm just too old for any of this stuff to have been looked for when I was a young'un, so I can't tell if my extremely high ASQ is meaningful or not.

[Anti-Goth]

Aha! I finally figured it out, guys! :P

Seele 08:Keel::
Reichur. Katsuragi::
V:V::
Sailor Star Dust:Shinji::
Anti-Goth:Gendo

Epic luuuuulz!!

[UrsusArctos]

Anti-Goth:Gendo

[Gendo]Indeed?[/Gendo]

[Anti-Goth]

[Gendo]Indeed?[/Gendo]

~(*3*)~ *SWOON!*

[UrsusArctos]

Now you know why Gendo's my avatar!

[yokuchi]

Now you know why Gendo's my avatar!

Because Gendo has magical pimpin' powers and makes all who stand before him swoon and bow down to his grand pimpness. (The only thing he's missing is the pimp cane)

[UrsusArctos]

No, because I feel the way he does...he's actually on the same plane as Shinji.

[yokuchi]

No, because I feel the way he does...he's actually on the same plane as Shinji.

Seriously, all pimpness aside, I actually agree with you.

[BrikHaus]

That's funny, because one of the DSMIV's criteria for diagnosing Asperger's Syndrome is an individual's inability to understand complex methaphors or indirect language

Well you see that's where it gets a bit murky; the thing with many Aspies is you can "learn" metaphors and non-verbal social cues; but more on a broad, abstract, theoretical level.

This is always something I've wondered about. The DSMIV was saying that someone with AS may not understand when someone is using non-direct communication, such as sarcasm. For example, I disliked the movie Alien vs. Predator but if I said, "It was awesome," then someone with AS would take me at my word and not realize I actually meant the opposite of that. But now for my question. People with AS can learn to read social cues and whatnot, and perhaps even sarcasm, but do they actually comprehend the relevence/significance of these actions? Or do they just train themselves to recognize these actions so they can better interact, while never truly understanding what it is they are recognizing? Sorry, that question was probably very badly worded. I guess that's something to ask about when I do my psychiatry rotation later this year.

[BobBQ]

"Wow. You're good at bullshitting. Your English has improved. You can even say 'Of course.'"

"Of course!"

[BEsERk EVA01]

@Asperger's
I happen to know a teenage girl with the syndrome -- she is unreasonably brilliant (top of the class in arts and sciences), musically gifted, sporting (karate black belt) and heavily involved in amateur dramatics and roleplaying games.

She says the best thing about Asperger's is that she is immune to peer pressure.

I must say, that is one thing I desperately need-immunity to peer pressure. Especially at school, dammit. I'm enviously green.