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Recent content by Shawn D

  1. Shawn D

    Driver license

    I didn’t get my license until I was 19, and that was out of necessity. I needed to help my widowed grandma run errands. As a teenager, I was always excited by the prospect of having a car (I really liked Bonnevilles), but the notion of driving gave me anxiety and I had no interest in learning...
  2. Shawn D

    Visual snow anyone?

    Wow! I had forgotten all about this. When I was a child, I remember looking into my room at night and seeing what was like television static juxtaposed over a 3-dimensional world. I said I could “see the dark”. I thought I was the only one.
  3. Shawn D

    Anyone on the spectrum suffer through this too?

    For some reason, I decided to buy some white clothes for Summer. My white jeans are already stained. Literally, within an hour of wearing them for the first time, I stained them. I have two small children, but it’s a running joke in our house that I am why we can’t have nice things.
  4. Shawn D

    Do you have/suspect you have alexithymia?

    Oh, yes. As a child, I could never tell if, when someone seemed angry, whether it was because of something I did or because of something unrelated to me. When I was in 3rd grade, I had weekly group therapies at school where we talked about “warm fuzzies” and “cold pricklies”. I was just a...
  5. Shawn D

    Childhood quirks.

    I had many “quirks”. -Whenever I got a new pair of shoes, I had to wear them to bed the first night I had them. -I couldn’t stand wearing wool. Still can’t. -I had an imaginary friend named Barnaby. -I screamed a lot, sporadically. Even as a teenager. It was like a release. -Around 8 years of...
  6. Shawn D

    Is forgetting a lot an Aspie trait?

    My short term memory is horrible. I have to put everything on a list in an app on my phone, or out my brain it goes. This may be related to the whole "videographic memory". I can remember things by using imagery in my mind of being in a specific place. I associate the task I need to do with...
  7. Shawn D

    Name an ASD "super power" or talent you have no use for

    This is also my primary "super power". I can remember the most random, useless crap, but can't remember someone's name or for what I walked into a room. I am in the habit of spouting off factoids at odd times, usually when something in a conversation has jostled one from the depths of my memory...
  8. Shawn D

    Is Asperger's hereditary?

    There are several people in my family with Asperger's on both sides, though undiagnosed. At least one of my grandfathers, possibly an uncle, two of my cousins, one of their sons, and my dad. One pattern I've noticed among aspie families is that the oldest tends to be the aspie, though I've seen...
  9. Shawn D

    Making Connections

    I am constantly making obscure connections between seemingly unrelated things. It's automatic and frequent. It's one of the reasons it's hard for me to engage in casual conversation with NTs. They'll say something and I will instantly think of something else entirely that, in mind, pertains to...
  10. Shawn D

    Self Diagnosis; Why the Controversy?

    I can't afford to seek a professional diagnosis. It's hundreds of dollars and requires involving family in the process, since, as an adult, they go off childhood anecdotes and observations. Do you always need a "professional" to tell you you have anxiety, depression, an eating disorder, or...
  11. Shawn D

    Morbid Curiosity

    When I was in high school, I was obsessed with serial killers. I read books and watched documentaries and movies based on them. I also, begrudgingly admit that my morbid curiosity drove me to look up some pretty disturbing videos online.
  12. Shawn D

    Making people uncomfortable

    I find so much of my tendencies to be paradoxical, including my approach to boundaries. I prefer to be alone, I don't like being touched very often, and I don't like pushy, nosy people. Conversely, I, too, struggle with personal space. I'll tend to just sort of maneuver my way in to where I want...
  13. Shawn D

    How Do Aspies Progress Beyond Social & Emotional Immaturity?

    I've also always felt like "the younger sibling" in social situations. Never on the same level as my same-aged peers. I've almost always gravitated toward kids/adults who are much younger than me, or even much older. As a child, my best friend in 1st grade was a college student who lived in my...
  14. Shawn D

    How Do Aspies Progress Beyond Social & Emotional Immaturity?

    I also feel extremely uncomfortable around emotional/crying people. I don't know what to do, so I just "freeze" and just want to exit the situation. As far as hugs, it's always awkward for me. It's particularly difficult when my brothers-in-law or sisters-in-law tell their kids to hug me (don't...
  15. Shawn D

    Born in the wrong decade

    Let's try this again...
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