Working on improving an aspie trait, when you recognise it.

[Suzanne]

I am such a slow thinker that if put on the spot, I am absolutely hopeless and then, several hour's later or days, I think: damn it, I could have said such and such.

But I have discovered ( slow again) that if I can think how a situation is going to be, I can work out my answer beforehand. I give an example of this.

When I visit my "dear dr", she ALWAYS brings up my thyroid. Well, usually, I would be stuck on how to respond; a situation of a big person, against a small, insignificant person. But, because I had actually reckoned on her asking before I went to see her, I was able to think out a reply and whoa it worked. She was disgusted when I told her I had stopped taking the medicine like a year ago, especially because it was not "authorised", but when I explained the reason why, she actually agreed that was reasonable.

Basically, I said that my thyroid had been overactive and due to meds, constantly up and down and I got fed up with it all and decided that I would stop and if I got the main symptom again, I would start taking the medicine and so, since I have not, I have not bothered to take it and thankfully, she agreed, but insisted I take a blood test. I agreed, but guess what? I have not done so.

You see, my veins are very weak, from the massive amount of blood tests I have had to have and so, I felt it is better to lay off for a while, so that my veins can restablish a flow. I would think that, as a dr, she will get the point.

I have to preempty what a person is going to say, in order to have the answer.

 

[Progster]

I am such a slow thinker that if put on the spot, I am absolutely hopeless and then, several hour's later or days, I think: damn it, I could have said such and such.

Yes, this happens to me quite a lot, too. I'm not good at thinking on my feet. There's always something better that I could have said. But once it's said there's nothing I can do about it, so best to try not to fret and move on.

But I have discovered ( slow again) that if I can think how a situation is going to be, I can work out my answer beforehand. I give an example of this.

Yes, if you know how the situation is likely to play out or follows a certain script, then you might be able to predict what the person is likely to say and it becomes a lot easier. Unfortunately in reality, people don't always follow scripts, they are unpredictable and may not say or do what you anticipated. It can throw me completely when someone says something or reacts in a way I wasn't expecting. I think that all people have these issues to some extent, but NTs are much better at dealing with it.

 

[Gritches]

Careful doing that, people are very unpredictable. I find that when I do what you describe, I'll only bother to have answers ready for questions I'll certainly be asked such as "how is med I prescribed you last month working for you?" Otherwise, every detail of a social encounter is too open-ended to predict.

Also, just as an aside, have you looked into iodine for thyroid problems? I take nascent iodine for my thyroid and it made a palpable difference. My thyroid's either overactive or underactive, I don't remember which, don't ask me ask my doctor.