Asperger's & Autism Forum

It's been two years since I was diagnosed as autistic and since I joined this forum.

I'd like to think I'm settling down into accepting it and working with it. I've gotten past the compulsively-tell-everyone-about-it phase and can now do it on a need-to-know basis only. I'm getting better at finding ways to work around my severe-lack-of-focus times and getting better at getting enough sleep so it happens less. I'm not embarrassed to stim anymore.

But I swear ... I still think that everyone who has the slightest little quirk must be on the spectrum, too.

I try to be aware of it and keep it to myself. It's now a running joke between me and my wife: "Did you hear what X said?" "Yeah, he's on the spectrum."

We laugh, but in the back of my mind, I'm concerned about the trend. I can't be right about everyone I think that about. So, how do I get rid of this thought pattern?

I'm guessing that, since autism is now a familiar context for me, it's easy to frame my observations of...

I mentioned having some personal issues in dealing with a TrueCrime YouTube channel previously. Basically the channel is a TrueCrime channel mostly with women.

There aren’t too many males in there but they do glorify those who come in. There is one in particular who came in recently who they constantly refer to and give special treatment to - the woman who runs the channel mentions his name constantly and asks him questions whilst not paying too much attention to anyone else. She takes his opinion as gospel as if he is an expert.

He is not attractive and is quite the attention seeker. (He makes snide/childish comments and they spend minutes at a time laughing at them. I don’t find anything that he says to be funny, for ex, he will say “woo woo, let’s all get a woo woo out of ...”).I’m not sure why he is glorified.

Anyhow I am acknowledged but not glorified or obsessed over.

I do get a little irritated as I participate every morning and feel that I should be just as valuable to...

I realize that if you do, you might not want to admit it.

I live vicariously through other people, I guess you could say. Anyway, I have lived in a number of different places, and don't keep in touch with the people I knew back then. But I often look them up on the Internet to see what's going on in their lives.

Now, I never harass anybody, in fact I never even contact them. I only see what they have made visible to be seen, say on a public Facebook page. It's just that I'm curious how their lives are turning out. For an autistic person like me, it's less draining than actually being in touch with them. And I'm a lousy friend, so they aren't missing much.

Anybody else do this?

Extreme cognitive styles map onto genius that autism is. And psychotic spectrum disorders such as bipolar, schiztypy, schizophrenia are disproportionately disgnosed in highly creative individuals.
The genius-madness debate is asking whether creative individuals are at a greater risk for developing mental illness then their noncreative peers.
A professor at UCLA dubs the Mad Genius Paradox as extraordinary creative individuals are more likely to exhibit psychopathology.
High productivity is associated with both intelligence and with high creativity, whether a schizotupal or autistic nature.
The normal process of demyelinatiin that begins in mid-forties leads to a weakening of executive networks that are neuroprotective. Myelin function impacts processing speed, so a highly intelligent person has a propensity to mental illness and may experince symptoms in this age range.Nash and Newton were both autistic and schizophrenic, proving that true genius represents an overdevopment of...

So I can only sleep in one of two positions. I sleep on my stomach with one leg sticking out at an angle. I hold a pillow under my arm on the side that the leg is sticking out. It doesn't have to be a particular pillow, but I have one I have beaten into shape over the years that I prefer. The two positions differ by which leg I favor.

I can't sleep in other positions. On my back or on my side, forget it. I can't sleep on planes or buses. The only time I can remember sleeping in a different position was because I was exhausted. But if I am merely tired, I need to get into the right position.

If I do that, I am usually asleep in a few minutes.

Is this something folks here can relate to?

I'm not looking for advice. I'm looking for people to relate to.

I met this man who seemed lovely. He asked me for my number and wanted to know all about me. He would text me a lot and we'd have great, weird conversations about things. We would meet up with friends and go out places.

He seemed to really like me. Other people thought there was something there.

But looking back. There wasn't. He didn't want to spend time with me at times. I'm not pushy or clingy, but I felt like he can't have been in love with me because he didn't long to spend time with me. Not like how my other friend is with his girlfriend. He just wants to be with her all the time. This guy didn't seem to want to be completely in my life.

However, this man that I grew to love is an aspie... so I cut him some slack. I figured he needed his space. I need space myself at times. So if he said "no" to spending time with me, i didnt take it to heart. Because we would spend time together at a later date. It's not...

In mulling over why some people complain a lot, yet don't act on very appropriate advice, I am reminded of a model of behavior change I heard about in graduate school. Called the "Stages of Change Model," it defines readiness to implement change. Originally applied to smoking cessation, and later to alcohol abstinence, it might also apply to people with autism who view themselves as stuck and not able to do anything about it.

The six stages of change in this model are the following:

Precontemplation ("not ready") – "People are not intending to take action in the foreseeable future, and can be unaware that their behaviour is problematic"
Contemplation ("getting ready") – "People are beginning to recognize that their behaviour is problematic, and start to look at the pros and cons of their continued actions"
Preparation ("ready") – "People are intending to take action in the immediate future, and may begin taking small steps toward behaviour change"
Action – "People have made...

I am a single 49 year old father of a two year nine month old boy. He has some very peculiar traits and I'm hoping that maybe someone can help me.

He is:

1. Very intelligent. The smartest child that I have ever come across and he is routinely acknowledged by strangers as being extremely intelligent

2. His vocabulary is enormous. Far beyond children much older than him. He has been talking non stop forever.

3. He is and always has been extremely social and friendly.

What he does:

1. Repeats things over and over and over and over again. Seems pathological.

2. Fixates on one thing. He's been on Cows for months. As I sit here he is repeating "Lets make gravy, lets make gravy".

3. The repeating seems to get worse the more that he is tired.

4. He holds his hands in a stiff way all the time. He bends his wrists in and holds his fingers straight.

5. He doesn't always like to make eye contact .

6. He doesn't like to be touched and doesn't like blankets on him.

7. He doesn't...

Aloha All,
I am curious at what age different children (or not children) were diagnosed with autism. I've read that they are trying to really put an emphasis on early detection, however, the age of diagnoses spans anywhere from before 1 year of age to as late as 50+.

I'm 31 years old and I never dated. I don't socialize with women that much and I never asked any woman out. I try to take care of myself physically. What could be the problem? For the neurotypical here and aspie women, what could be holding me back?