quote:
Any ideas on best ways family could have helped you more or recommendations for kids around 12-13 who are on the spectrum or would have been labeled Asperger’s years ago?

Social cues! For autistic people, they straight up don’t understand them…like AT ALL! This isn’t such a big deal when you’re a little kid because kids are allowed to be a little weird without too many consequences. However, once you get to br a teen, it’s a massive social barrier. I literally had to teach myself how to interact with people by copying the mannerisms of characters on tv. I had to interpret people’s words and actions as I would watch a sitcom because that was the only way I had to make sense of it. It only kinda worked.

The other thing is task sequencing. Often times, I get stuck in these weird logic loops like a computer program that is malfunctioning. A common example:
A. I want food. I don’t have any fresh food in the house. I have to leave the house for food.
B. Before you can leave the house, you have to shower.
C. You need to have clean clothes to change into before you can shower.
D. Clean clothes are In laundry room outside.
E. Outside is anywhere other people can see you. Your neighbors can see you in your backyard or carport going to the laundry room.
E. You cannot leave house without shower.

Then, my brain like shuts down with the human equivalent pf a 404 File not found error. I can be trapped in a loop like that for literally hours until I finally figure out how to make some food out of what’s available or figure out some kind of way to “override” the program and get my clothes out of the laundry room. It’s not laziness, it’s an issue with how my brain sequences tasks.

1 Jump to Post ...

Report Post Jump to Post

Posted by LemmyLives

Texas

Member since Mar 2019

7202 posts

Posted on 10/28/23 at 5:42 pm to kingbob

quote:
D. Clean clothes are In laundry room outside.

Not meaning to make fun, but your post made me laugh for many reasons, having a laundry room outside is one of them. 404 was a close second.

I might be have something, but I'm too old to worry about a diagnosis. The only people I mention this to is to women I am trying to seriously date, so they understand why I communicate the way I do. Basically, I can be talking about the Arkansas/LSU game at 1PM, and by 1:03, I'm somehow talking about black holes and nobody knows how I got there, because the context is all in my head, and until I got older, I didn't realize how it impacted other people, including at work.

Now, that results in work emails that are entirely too long, and OT posts like this that are also way too long, because I'm trying to add context I think people need. I now write work emails and don't send them for at least an hour, so I can read them like a normal person might and edit.

I developed coping mechanisms, first at work, and later in my personal life, because I wanted to be successful. Since I'm not diagnosed, I don't know what wires may be crossed upstairs, but it doesn't matter. Shopping lists, calendar invites sent for social get togethers, etc., became a part of my life a long time ago. You try calling me on Teams with no warning, FOAD. You'll get a calendar invite for sometime at my convenience in reply. I just don't like people in general, and it shows, as many here can attest to.

1 Jump to Post ...

Report Post Jump to Post

O-T Lounge - Replies to Post

Return To Board

Page 1

Return To Board