Ask an aspie anything you want

[PadmaVonSamba]

Seriously, why shouldn't heightened responsiveness to one's social environment translate into heightened responsiveness to any environment?

That would suggest, conversely, that as one becomes more aware, one develops aspergers or autism, and of course this is not the case.

[PadmaVonSamba]

I am an aspie, which is probably why I am interested in Buddhism. Ask me anythjng.It could be about my condition or my interest in the teaching or anythjng at all.

So, how can I get my son to talk on the phone, and turn on the shower, and say peoples names, and speak in full sentences, and answer "yes" and not "no" when he means "yes"?

You are the expert. Please give me some useful answers.
thanks.

[PadmaVonSamba]

At what point do you consider aspergers / autism to be a disability?

[undefineable]

Seriously, why shouldn't heightened responsiveness to one's social environment translate into heightened responsiveness to any environment?

That would suggest, conversely, that as one becomes more aware, one develops aspergers or autism, and of course this is not the case.

I meant 'responsive' in the 'neurotypical' sense of having a brain that selects important events in one's environment to perceive and then respond to with actions, rather than 'responsive' in the autistic sense of having a brain that just throws every little detail at the perceiving subject and unsurprisingly fails to always get 'round to a consistent pattern of active response.

[PadmaVonSamba]

Seriously, why shouldn't heightened responsiveness to one's social environment translate into heightened responsiveness to any environment?

That would suggest, conversely, that as one becomes more aware, one develops aspergers or autism, and of course this is not the case.

I meant 'responsive' in the 'neurotypical' sense of having a brain that selects important events in one's environment to perceive and then respond to with actions, rather than 'responsive' in the autistic sense of having a brain that just throws every little detail at the perceiving subject and unsurprisingly fails to always get 'round to a consistent pattern of active response.

I thought you were suggesting that one becomes ("...translates into...") the other.

[undefineable]

I was trying to say I don't believe that autistics are better than others at navigating their physical environment. I suspect that it's the *dynamic* environment -both social and otherwise- that autistic brains struggle to process, which could leave them with more time to work on the *static* environment (if such can be said to exist on a Buddhist forum - well, you know what I mean ).

For example, although I've never had the typical autistic problem with traffic (shared with other animals to judge by typical roadkill, it seems ), I remember first perceiving *moving* traffic (rather than a series of still images successively jumping forward as in old stop-motion animation) at the age of 18, though by that time shortsightedness was developing anyway - While I still had '20-20 vision', my brain was so full with every tiny detail of what I saw that there just wasn't room for fancy stuff like movement or facial micro-expressions

I mention this because, as I mentioned elsewhere, I was recently surprised to hear that 'building up a mental picture' is often used as a metaphor for visual perception - For me, it feels more like 'all the details all at once'. It's almost the opposite of a normal sensory disability like blindness.

I've had more time to post recently, as I've had to stop working for a bit (owing to the complications of a brain tumour removal op). However, I think Music has already answered your original question as best as any 'aspie' can; that might be why he hasn't replied again.

[David N. Snyder]

I would like to add that there are some people who talk so much, and mostly useless things, that it makes other people crazy. There are others who like to be laughed at and are therefore always trying to be humorous and funny. There are those who want to dominate others, There are those who feel frightened because there is no other human to socialize with them. These are all different behaviourial patterns. Why are these not considered "disorders" that need to be "cured". If someone is shy, and dislikes company, it doesn't mean he hates the human kind. That would make the Buddhist ascetics as anti-socials! From the perspective of Buddhism, such fundamental characteristics are acquired by individuals based on causes and conditions. It is an individual's Alaya-vijnana that decides his nature. And Alaya consciousness is not a permanent soul.

I think you bring up some good points in your posts here. Introversion is not necessarily a bad thing. Many people in society see it as a terrible thing and it certainly could be, if it is a handicap or disorder to the level that one does not get out of the house, get a job or go to school, but some amount of introversion can be a good thing as it allows us to turn inward and do some "soul-searching" (so to speak). You don't find too many out-going extroverts in caves meditating on a 1 to 3 year long retreat!

I think there was a poll here or at Dhamma Wheel and also at e-sangha where people reported their personality types and by far the introvert types (such as INTJ) were the most frequent. George Carlin would say, "why do I keep getting these ads for classmates dot com? If I want to know where the captain of my high school football team is, I'll just look out the window -- he's mowing my lawn." A certain amount of introversion can be healthy for this self-introspection and also for doing things like studying and earning degrees or getting ahead in your career while others are out partying.

So hopefully, aspies can improve their condition, while not going full circle to another disorder of too much extroversion, but rather a healthy amount of introversion (and not feel bad about being introverted).

"For a sociable person there are allurements; on the heels of allurement, this pain. Seeing allurement's drawback, wander alone like a rhinoceros."
The Buddha (Sutta Nipata 1.3)
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html

[viniketa]

Balance between 'introversion' and 'extroversion' can be difficult even for so-called 'normal' folk. Sometime extroverted personalities 'hide' deep insecurities. David N. Snyder's quote, above, is apt. Don't be fooled into thinking the 'life of the party' personality is the ideal.

[undefineable]

Introversion is not necessarily a bad thing. Many people in society see it as a terrible thing

It decreases one's earning power unless one develops specialist skills and knowledge, though I take your later point about the need to act introverted for short periods in one's youth in order to maximise one's earning power.

if you're American, there's the added problem that societies founded by revolutions (i.e. the USA, the old USSR or -up to a point- France) end up framing certain personality types (introverts in this case) as born 'enemies of the state' (i.e. intrinsically anti-American etc.) because of the rigid principles needed to sustain their 'revolutionary spirit'. Other cultures tend to be more concerned with just getting on and surviving.

INTJ

If that's the most common personality type here, that's interesting, as I believe it's also the most common among aspies. I'm INFP, which has given me problems in dealing with my autism, and I can see how an INTJ would feel quite snug as an aspie atleast.

So hopefully, aspies can improve their condition, while not going full circle to another disorder of too much extroversion, but rather a healthy amount of introversion (and not feel bad about being introverted).

There are extroverted aspies - They tend to be unpopular for obvious reasons. Really 'going full circle', as you put it, would be like a hell-being taking immediate rebirth in the god realm - Not really feasible

[undefineable]

Balance between 'introversion' and 'extroversion' can be difficult even for so-called 'normal' folk. Sometime extroverted personalities 'hide' deep insecurities. David N. Snyder's quote, above, is apt. Don't be fooled into thinking the 'life of the party' personality is the ideal. :

I can't see extroversion as intrinsically better than introversion