Aspergers or loner/slacker/arrogant!

[Tiggsy]

Two things happened to me recently...

1) I sat an online exam for my industry. It was a case study, as it began I realised I had revised the wrong case study so was screwed. I scored 90% and passed. It was the latest in a long line of industry exams I have sailed through with no revision at all while others have failed them after repeated study courses, etc. I'm no genius.....but I have gained a reputation for being able to do this.

2) Saw a TV show where a character was a bit "rain man" - read up that the director based it on himself with no idea what aspergers was and then, when people pointed out the traits, he looked it up and though maybe he was himself.

So I looked it up and a lot of it hit home. So, at 38...could I have got this far without knowing and what should I so now? If anything?

Here's the stuff pro aspergers:

As a kid I was put in remedial classes for spelling/reading at secondary school.....yet sailed through GCSEs with zero revision. To this day (as above) if I read something, I'll pass any test on it. I havent revised anything in my life ever. I also sucked at sports (i'm ok now - although do well at things were my size is a fall back to mask abillity...like basketball) but as a 10 year old I remember being beaten in the "basic PE skills" test by Andrew who was the class idiot that would fall off his chair if he didnt pay attention (he is prob in an institution today!)

Hobbies....I've had a lot but have taken them all to extreem degrees. Having a motorbike became touring every track in the UK (over 30 track days a year). Having a fish tank became having a GIANT marine aquarium that was one of the best in the UK. Playing poker had me going semi-pro and ending up on late night TV playing pros. Likewise, stand up comedy open mic ended up with me on ITV. The list goes on, all these hobbies were just taken to stupid extreems, I cant "just have a fun hobby" !!! It has to consume my time, at the expense of all else.

Social.... no friends (and not fussed) I have people I'm friendly with. But no "mates" as it were, never had the need. And I'm rubbish at small talk. I used to give seminars for work and would be almost sick if I had to "mingle" before the event. Same at the stand up gig.....I'd be great on stage but not speak a word of it all night!


Names and faces....I have been to clients houses (people had already seen two or three times) yet when they open the door I wont know if its them! I just cant remember faces! or names, I played on basketball team last year....I still only know about 4 peeoples names. And if we train/play without coloured bibs I will often pass to the wrong person!

If I'm on a table with strangers (like a wedding or something) I have nothing to say - if my wife leaves to go to the loo I sit there like a lemon!

And this one drives me nuts...I miss sacasm in people. Just the other day someone said something and I agreed without thinking....someone else had to say "he's joking" before I realised it was sarcasm. Annoys me because I am an intelligent, sarcastic wise ass who's done stand up....how do I miss it when aimed at me???

Ticks - I tap/jig my foot without realising - drives my wife nuts!

Authority - HATED working for others (doing told what to do) I dropped out of 6th form after 2 weeks, quit jobs until I got into sales and was left alone by the boss....and set up my own Ltd co by the time I was 25.

BUT.....on the flip side. My job is sales and I'm good at convincing people to do something. Although its more through a combination of rousing monologues and Darren Brown style mind tricks than traditional sales skills! So not sure if this goes against the condition or not?

Also, socially...when in certain situations of comfort I appear supper confident - like giving a seminar, or doing stand up??

So..... arrogant loner who can pass tests or should I get a sharp suit and head to Vegas to hit the black jack table?

And how does one go about getting "checked" and is there a need??

Just seen the other thread here with the self test:

Your Aspie score: 138 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 69 of 200
You are very likely an Aspie

Where's Tom Cruise when you need him?

Edited by Tiggsy on Saturday 1st September 02:06

Edited by Tiggsy on Saturday 1st September 02:14

Edited by Tiggsy on Saturday 1st September 02:18

[anonymous-user]

Are you a good driver?

[VinceFox]

Do you wear your shirts buttoned right up with no tie?

[hondafanatic]

How many toothpicks are on the table?

[Tiggsy]

I'm more the mark Zuckerberg or bill gates type than the I aint getting on no plane fool type. Means i earn more but would suck in a meet the fockers reboot.

[VinceFox]

I was being sarcastic, btw.

[craigjm]

Aspergers is part of the autistic spectrum and you may be somewhere towards aspergers on that spectrum but not to an extent where it really impacts on your life. Everybody is autistic to some extent and would fall on the far minimal extreme of the autistic spectrum. Only those with more extreme behaviour would be further along it and many of those years ago at school would have just been labelled slow, odd or weird etc. Do you really want to find out for sure? you could go an get diagnosed but then you have to think about whether you would actually want that label as society loves a label and once you have one you cant really take it away.

[Defcon5]

VinceFox said:

Do you wear your shirts buttoned right up with no tie?

I have noticed a few people dressed like that lately, think it looks rather daft myself

[VinceFox]

Defcon5 said:

VinceFox said:

Do you wear your shirts buttoned right up with no tie?

I have noticed a few people dressed like that lately, think it looks rather daft myself

Dont get me fking started.

[Halb]

VinceFox said:

Dont get me fking started.

tts.



Not many jokes in the OP, you need to rewrite your material.
Also do you need 3 or 6 fish fingers?

[VinceFox]

Halb said:

VinceFox said:

Dont get me fking started.

tts.



Not many jokes in the OP, you need to rewrite your material.
Also do you need 3 or 6 fish fingers?

Ive taught teenagers for over ten years now. All the tribes that have come and gone and the brevity with which theyve existed has stopped being a novelty some time ago. It's compounded by the belief of each one that theyre doing it newer, better and edgier than anyone else before and that theres no way their look will ever go out of fashion. What i have noticed is that the tribe styles have become weaker in the last few years, hipster being one of the worst.

[Halb]

At least looking like a nerd is not as bad as looking like you've taken a dump in your trousers.
Saw a lad on the treadmill yesterday, who se shots kept falling down.
Wanted to kick him really hard...in the face...repeatedly...but they don't really like that sort of thing at my gym.

[VinceFox]

Level with me halb, youre not a hipster are you?

[Halb]

VinceFox said:

Level with me halb, youre not a hipster are you?

OK, I'm not too sure what that means...someone who shoots from the hip with his magnum instead of from the shoulder?

[TheEnd]

It's the new dyslexia, all the cool kids have self-diagnosed Aspergers these days.

[jaybirduk]

Q. Have you recently got caught for hacking into a government server?
A. Invoke aspergers defence.

[Tiggsy]

swerni said:

How's your concentration span?

Personally I got bored about a third of the way into your post and lost interest ( another tell tale sign)

I once was sent on a couple of day analysis as I was bored in the role I was in and we wanted to see what else I could do.

The report conclusion was in bullet form, they said if it was too wordy I wouldn't have read it

I hate meeting strangers and if I feel I have nothing in common, like you, sit there like a lemon.

I get bored very easily and when I was younger would just walk out of parties or pubs because I'd lost interest.

Quite funny considering I've been in corporate sales for 23 years.

Depends, if it's something I'm into I'll be up till 4am studying it on the internet! If its something that bores me I zone out in seconds. I work in an industry where the top people earn millions and I've often tried to figure out why I dont put as much attention into work as I do looking up nonsense on my latest "hobby"! I'd be rich!

[King Herald]

Tiggsy said:

.....As a kid I was put in remedial classes for spelling/reading at secondary school.....

.....Social.... no friends (and not fussed) I have people I'm friendly with. But no "mates" as it were, never had the need. And I'm rubbish at small talk.....

.....Names and faces....I have been to clients houses (people had already seen two or three times) yet when they open the door I wont know if its them! I just cant remember faces! or names.....

.....If I'm on a table with strangers (like a wedding or something) I have nothing to say - if my wife leaves to go to the loo I sit there like a lemon!.....

You sound like me, except I don't have any of your smart traits.

[Tiggsy]

King Herald said:

Tiggsy said:

.....As a kid I was put in remedial classes for spelling/reading at secondary school.....

.....Social.... no friends (and not fussed) I have people I'm friendly with. But no "mates" as it were, never had the need. And I'm rubbish at small talk.....

.....Names and faces....I have been to clients houses (people had already seen two or three times) yet when they open the door I wont know if its them! I just cant remember faces! or names.....

.....If I'm on a table with strangers (like a wedding or something) I have nothing to say - if my wife leaves to go to the loo I sit there like a lemon!.....

You sound like me, except I don't have any of your smart traits.

It does seem like people with these traits either fall under the "will never marry and live alone for ever" banner or the "end up running Microsoft/facebook" banner.

[GarryA]

At work we also have an online exams to keep your competencies in date - at my level you are given 4 days to complete.

I complete the tests every year within 4hrs. No one else has even done it in 2 days.

I don't have many friends, I don't socialise at all, I am more than happy in my own company.

I can only speak to people if they are interested in things I am interested in, there is no room for gossip / chit chat.

If I am interested in something then I go at 110%, if I am not interested then I show 0%

I am an emotional vacuum, I can switch off from people at will,

I can remember things very easily, I can rebuild engines from memory after taking them apart once, I can recall every job I have been to at work over the past 11 years, I read information and instructions at work and recall them at will, when I joined my department I was at a higher level than the the people that had been there for 6 years after 8 months.

I have OCD, I have to have everything perfect when we do a job at work, although to my benefit my teams turn out some awesome work which has seen us gain contracts worth £1M + off the back of it which no one else has managed to do.

I have a major problem with people above me who are not on my wavelength, I also cannot, absolutely not, work with idiots.

I probably have something up with me but 30 years ago I suppose no one really bothered to look for things.