Do You Feel Like An Alien?

[ImAnAspie]

I arrived on this planet in 1967. Ever since I was little, my sister has always thought I was an alien. I used to look up at the stars at night and wonder if "they" were coming back to get me. I didn't know why I was placed here. I've come to the conclusion I was placed here either to learn, for protection or for punishment. I think I was placed here to learn but if the lesson I'm supposed to be learning is to be more sociable, then I'm not doing very well. It feels more like I've been placed here for punishment.

 

[Saragrl]

I used to feel like an alien too. I became huge into astronomy when I was little because of those feelings, hoping I would find who I was if I spent long enough at my telescope. I remember nights when my hands and feet were completely numb from the cold.

 

[The Penguin]

Yea I feel I don’t connect with most people. I also find most people are zombies since most of them want to follow what everyone else is doing. I decide I will be a penguin and say as a penguin.

 

[adamindeltona]

Oh yes, same here too. I've always felt like I'm not of this world. In fact it has become a long running joke within my very small circle of good friends that I'm an alien here on earth trying to fit in. Silly humans! ;-)

 

[Shannon Beech]

Do I feel like an alien? Yes I do. I felt this way since I was very young and would even say it at times that I was an alien. However, I've come to the point now where I believe just because I am an alien doesn't mean I have to be alone either.

"To make friends, one must first show themselves to be friendly." This saying has been on my mind a lot more recently. I think the problem with a lot of Aspies is after trying multiple times and failing to connect socially we give up after a while. In the same way that we like to accuse NT's of not understanding or accepting us, a lot of us do the same thing to them.

What I mean is instead of saying when you encounter something you don't understand, it doesn't matter to me or it's not important because I don't understand it try asking about it more. Why is this important to you? You may find that something you thought wasn't important actually is. I think and this is true of people with/out AS. Being successful lies means thinking outside of yourself. Most people go through the world with themselves at the center of it and this is true of both normal people and Aspies. Sure, not everyone is going to understand and some people aren't going to want to take the time to try to explain things to you. However, some will and those people make it all worth it. Nobody wants to be alone, at least not all the time, NT or Aspie.

I talk to myself a lot. And I believe this is part of an innate desire to connect with people.maybe I'm an alien, but if ET can make friends here so can I. If I'm an alien then I'm guest, so I'll make the first move and try to understand you, and perhaps with time, you'll understand me too. I am sir, we will never completely understand each other. But, friendship and love is not coming together because of what similar. It's coming together in spite of what's different.

I'm not at a point yet where I can just go out and talk to strangers. However, I am getting better at talking to those with similar interests. And that's better than sitting home alone.

Yes I'm an alien here, but I don't have to be alone.

 

[Etzelaire]

Always, and it's quite simple to explain. The rules most people accept to shape their life do not appeal to me and I reject them, but I do so in silence because it's not useful to live by my own guidelines.

 

[Jakob Burto-Sundman]

I have just come into my diagnosis but I have also felt like this my whole life. I started to have a mental illness because of that when I was young. I have described it as "being of the world but not of it." I don't even have to read the whold article to get the drif and Idea. I couldn't have anyway in one day. Sensory overload and all that. But with this community I now understand I am not alone.

 

[Misfate]

I feel like an alien, but not for the reason that I can't comprehend others. When it comes to empathy, I am above average in putting myself into the perspectives of others, analyzing how they feel the way they do, and adjusting accordingly. What I lack is how I express that empathy; when trying to comfort a friend with my monotonous voice and lack of facial expression, It can seem to them as if I "don't give a ***k" about how they feel, which often withdraws me from such situations.

 

[SonoranPrincess]

I understand.
I need to take control of this and internalize it before I develop a substance abuse problem even further - I use my pills and alcohol to cope with being said alien, and even at this moment I'm pissed my boyfriend won't get me tequila or more wine (I'm not old enough to buy yet but in 10 months I'll be 21, God help me.)

 

[SonoranPrincess]

Please avoid alcohol! It's horrible for us. An Aspie in rehab is not a pretty sight...I've had first hand experience.

 

[Progster]

I've never thought literally that I was an alien, before my diagnosis I always thought of it as watching TV, because it seemed to me that there was some sort of screen between me and the other people preventing me from connecting and joining in with their conversation, laughter and emotions. To me watching TV and socialising were the same thing. I've since learned that I don't even watch TV in the same way as other people do, as they get much more information from the characters' interaction than I can, and that they also form emotional attachments to the characters, which I don't.

 

[StephF]

Yep, deffo. I am number six hundred and fifty three

 

[Ylva]

To me watching TV and socialising were the same thing. I've since learned that I don't even watch TV in the same way as other people do, as they get much more information from the characters' interaction than I can

This is where I have found TV Tropes useful. I get much more out of tv now.

 

[Keith]

I've never thought literally that I was an alien, before my diagnosis I always thought of it as watching TV, because it seemed to me that there was some sort of screen between me and the other people preventing me from connecting and joining in with their conversation, laughter and emotions. To me watching TV and socialising were the same thing. I've since learned that I don't even watch TV in the same way as other people do, as they get much more information from the characters' interaction than I can, and that they also form emotional attachments to the characters, which I don't.

Reminds me of how I have to provide commentary on every TV show I watch, regardless of whether someone is in the room.

 

[IrishAspie]

Never crossed my mind I could be an alien but I was convinced for a long time(years infact) that I was adopted or fostered and on more than one occasion searched my parents house for proof. I even tried to catch them out by asking questions about where I was born etc. to make it worse there is not a single photo of me as a baby and I'm pretty slim while my brothers carried quite a bit of weight.

 

[tree]

My father said that for a long time he supposed he was adopted. That his parents couldn't really be his real parents. That's feeling alienated, if not precisely an alien.

I felt quite alien when I spent several months, as an adult, in the company of my mother, sister, and cousin.
They kept saying I was too quiet, that I was invisible.

That wasn't fun.

 

[IrishAspie]

My father said that for a long time he supposed he was adopted. That his parents couldn't really be his real parents. That's feeling alienated, if not precisely an alien.

I felt quite alien when I spent several months, as an adult, in the company of my mother, sister, and cousin.
They kept saying I was too quiet, that I was invisible.

That wasn't fun.

Nothing worse than people telling you to be like them, next time turn around and say Your too loud, talk too much about nothing and you all lie constantly ...just kidding don't do that unless you never want to speak to them again.

 

[ImAnAspie]

Yes, but where would I find one this time of night?

 

[Spiller]

I've always felt like an alien.
I certainly don't relate to being Human - I'm not a member of the society I live in, I'm never aware of the popular trends in clothes, TV, interests and having Aspergers may mean I'm genetically and physiologically different also.
From as young as I can remember, I've seen other people relating to each other in ways I couldn't understand or hope to copy. I've been unable to act or talk like others and appear to have become more or less invisible to most people, they often don't seem to see or hear me - in fact, on the occasions when someone does acknowledge me it's always a shock, I'm always surprised they are aware I'm there.
I'm quite capable of functioning in this world in terms of living independently, driving, running my own business.. but I'm unable to function sufficienty well around others to maintain friends or any kind of social life.
I feel like an observer from another place and I want to go back there!

 

[DC1346]

Do you tend to feel like you are outside of the human species? As if you do not quite understand how they communicate, how they chitter-chatter and laugh constantly and have no hesitancy about going out and doing menial things?

YES! We look like them but we are not them ... or they are not us. We walk among them and observe but do not entirely understand why these others are so illogical and so messy with their emotions and passions.

Is it possible that we are more evolved?

Temple Grandin was once asked,“What would happen if the autism gene was eliminated from the gene pool?"

Her reply? "You would have a bunch of people standing around in a cave, chatting and socializing and not getting anything done.”