Functionality in ASD1

[Dadamen]

@Thinx and @Karamazov You just described me in communication. Looks like this is aspie communication,

 

[Thinx]

@Thinx and @Karamazov You just described me in communication. Looks like this is aspie communication,

Yes, seems pretty common to have this type of difficulty, although there's always variety amongst Aspies of course.

In terms of learning things involving specific movements, I coped mainly by either working it out alone, based on what I had observed to be how to do it, that worked for riding my first little two wheeler, partly cos I had a bold and gung-ho attitude and risked falling off a lot, til I got the idea through trial and error.

Also swimming and driving, though for both of those I had useful specific instruction, however I find driving too complex and anxiety provoking, so I didn't ever take a test and haven't driven since I was about 25, except in scary dreams! I never got good at swimming, but I can go a long way, slowly....

Guitar was on the borders, I could eventually change the chord whilst strumming, but speeding that up a bit or doing it in a flowing way never happened. Sadly. 3 or 4 years I tried. I think perseverance is a quality I would claim.

 

[Dadamen]

Riding a bike and swimming were the pain for me when I was learning them, but now I like both activities. I ride a bike almost every day and enjoy swimming in the sea. I'm underage, so I haven't tried driving yet. I always like individual sports more than team. Among team sports I only follow soccer, but am bad at it and don't like to play it. Basketball, handball, volleyball, waterpolo I niether watch or play. Even when Croatia was in EURO cup final in handball this year haven't watched it, just looked at a result later.

 

[Karamazov]

Guitar was on the borders, I could eventually change the chord whilst strumming, but speeding that up a bit or doing it in a flowing way never happened. Sadly. 3 or 4 years I tried. I think perseverance is a quality I would claim.

I managed to side-step the chord change issues on guitar (I’ve always been appalling at that: loose an entire beat every change)
I played metal on an electric for roughly 15 years: all single note lines and double stops so no chord changes required, then switched to classical 9 years ago. Again, since it’s mostly playing two/three lines over the top of each other full chord changes are rare and the issue doesn’t arise... took nine months of playing 3+ hours a day to get my right hand fingers to co-ordinate properly though!
Still can be an issue, on a good day I can just about pull off a few grade 4/5 pieces and then the sheer focus of mind & body together has exhausted me.

Here’s a vid of me playing, it took over a year to get this short piece together enough to record it... and there’s still glitches

 

[HidinginPlainSight]

I have a hard time quantifying this one as it's hard to say how to access processing speed. I am observed as ASD1 and have been tested to have in-ordinarily high processing speed. But that is just in the aspects they were testing.

At the same time, I was late in most typical milestones that children are judged by, such as shoe tying, dressing myself and many others.(Things even kids noticed and called me a "retard" for)

I also feel as if my processing speed is not particularly well refined. I make spelling mistakes all the time, I make errors in the expression of counting nouns constantly (putting "s"s where they belong) and often misrepresent myself when speaking due to uncollected thoughts.

I don't particularly care for the word "functioning", I don't really have a better one, so I tend to avoid it all together. The idea of performing a function in society is not one that resonates with me. I don't see that as the purpose of my life and therefore, I would not use it as a standard to judge my place in said society.

 

[Thinx]

I have a hard time quantifying this one as it's hard to say how to access processing speed. I am observed as ASD1 and have been tested to have in-ordinarily high processing speed. But that is just in the aspects they were testing.

At the same time, I was late in most typical milestones that children are judged by, such as shoe tying, dressing myself and many others.(Things even kids noticed and called me a "retard" for)

I also feel as if my processing speed is not particularly well refined. I make spelling mistakes all the time, I make errors in the expression of counting nouns constantly (putting "s"s where they belong) and often misrepresent myself when speaking due to uncollected thoughts.

I don't particularly care for the word "functioning", I don't really have a better one, so I tend to avoid it all together. The idea of performing a function in society is not one that resonates with me. I don't see that as the purpose of my life and therefore, I would not use it as a standard to judge my place in said society.

Yes I see what you mean about functionality in society. In the thread, I didn't mean in society, I meant just, how we are, what we can do, and how the way we do actions or activities may be affected by being ASD 1, things like slower processing, which still may be of good quality, and the way I couldn't easily use both sides of my brain to help me carry furniture.

I worked around it though, and I was super-patient with my friend who was not at all patient with me, but has ADHD so that'sa different challenge. We all have strengths as well as challenges.

 

[Thinx]

I managed to side-step the chord change issues on guitar (I’ve always been appalling at that: loose an entire beat every change)
I played metal on an electric for roughly 15 years: all single note lines and double stops so no chord changes required, then switched to classical 9 years ago. Again, since it’s mostly playing two/three lines over the top of each other full chord changes are rare and the issue doesn’t arise... took nine months of playing 3+ hours a day to get my right hand fingers to co-ordinate properly though!
Still can be an issue, on a good day I can just about pull off a few grade 4/5 pieces and then the sheer focus of mind & body together has exhausted me.

Here’s a vid of me playing, it took over a year to get this short piece together enough to record it... and there’s still glitches

Wow that's a great video. You have done well to be so skilled. I love the sound of guitar, mine sounds good even when I play it, it's a nice one. I got a smaller size they call it a parlour guitar, as my arms fit it better. Every so often I try again...

 

[Karamazov]

^ yeah, parlour guitars do tend towards a sweeter timbre than concert one’s.
I’ve got a parlour as well, but I find it harder to play (deeper neck)... so it tends to just hang on the wall.
I tend to make a groaning-humming sound whilst playing without being aware that I’m doing it, that recording is one of the cleanest I’ve made.
I’m hoping it’s to do with the relative familiarity of the different pieces in question.

What do you play when you do?

(Am I dragging your thread off on a tangent?)

 

[Thinx]

^ yeah, parlour guitars do tend towards a sweeter timbre than concert one’s.
I’ve got a parlour as well, but I find it harder to play (deeper neck)... so it tends to just hang on the wall.
I tend to make a groaning-humming sound whilst playing without being aware that I’m doing it, that recording is one of the cleanest I’ve made.
I’m hoping it’s to do with the relative familiarity of the different pieces in question.

What do you play when you do?

(Am I dragging your thread off on a tangent?)

Playing guitar is relevant I guess, as it's inevitably multitasking, and involves left and right brain., even without trying to sing at the same time. I try to play simple versions of songs I like, I m always amazed if it sounds anything like the song. I was trying to do one called The Book of Love most recently. By Peter Gabriel. The book of love is long and boring, No-one can lift the damn thing, It's full of charts and facts and figures, And instructions for dancing...

 

[Thinx]

Riding a bike and swimming were the pain for me when I was learning them, but now I like both activities. I ride a bike almost every day and enjoy swimming in the sea. I'm underage, so I haven't tried driving yet. I always like individual sports more than team. Among team sports I only follow soccer, but am bad at it and don't like to play it. Basketball, handball, volleyball, waterpolo I niether watch or play. Even when Croatia was in EURO cup final in handball this year haven't watched it, just looked at a result later.

Yes I notice most people have said they can't do team sports, that's true for me too, and I guess team sports require fast processing and intuitive communication skills, which I don't have. I used to like trampolining at school, aswell as swimming. Yes I like cycling too, always have done.

 

[Karamazov]

Playing guitar is relevant I guess, as it's inevitably multitasking, and involves left and right brain., even without trying to sing at the same time. I try to play simple versions of songs I like, I m always amazed if it sounds anything like the song. I was trying to do one called The Book of Love most recently. By Peter Gabriel. The book of love is long and boring, No-one can lift the damn thing, It's full of charts and facts and figures, And instructions for dancing...

Interesting: I’d never thought of it as multitasking before!
Although that would explain why it took 9 months of pattern picking exercises on the chord sequence |:Em-G-Am-B7:|Em|| to get to the point where I could control both hands well enough at the same time to start learning grade one pieces!

 

[Progster]

I also tried and failed to learn the guitar. I just don't have the coordination. I never tried singing while playing, but I don't think I could do it. I don't type fast either, very slow, and have a knind of 'typing dyslexia' where I get all the letters jumbled up and in the wrong order if I try to type any faster. Also, my handwriting is really bad.

 

[Thinx]

I also tried and failed to learn the guitar. I just don't have the coordination. I never tried singing while playing, but I don't think I could do it. I don't type fast either, very slow, and have a knind of 'typing dyslexia' where I get all the letters jumbled up and in the wrong order if I try to type any faster. Also, my handwriting is really bad.

Yes all of that applies to me too. Although I worked on my handwriting a lot and it's OK if I write slower than I want to. Do you play any instrument?

 

[Thinx]

Interesting: I’d never thought of it as multitasking before!
Although that would explain why it took 9 months of pattern picking exercises on the chord sequence |:Em-G-Am-B7:|Em|| to get to the point where I could control both hands well enough at the same time to start learning grade one pieces!

Yes I easily took that long. But my teacher I worked with for 2 years gave me some simple 2 or 3 chord versions of songs to learn, Beatles songs etc, that was what I wanted. And sometimes it sounded good, especially playing along with him... for obvious reasons. I can't quite get my head around changing the strings either, a friend helped me but I ve forgotten again. I expect there's guidance on u tube.

 

[Progster]

Do you play any instrument?

No, not really - as I explained, I tried to learn the guitar as an adult, I took lessons for abut a year and a half before giving up.

 

[Karamazov]

Yes I easily took that long. But my teacher I worked with for 2 years gave me some simple 2 or 3 chord versions of songs to learn, Beatles songs etc, that was what I wanted. And sometimes it sounded good, especially playing along with him... for obvious reasons. I can't quite get my head around changing the strings either, a friend helped me but I ve forgotten again. I expect there's guidance on u tube.

I used the “WikiHow” article to get my mind around that particular issue: and I bought one of those little string winding devices which speed up the process of coiling the sting around the pegs (getting those to hold themselves on without knotting is pretty difficult and frustrating, but I bloodymindedly force myself to do it properly).

How to Change Classical Guitar Strings (with Pictures) - wikiHow

Only thing I do differently to this is I do two loops on strings 6 and 5, three on 4 and 3, and four on 2 and 1. (Savarez yellow card 520j strings are excellent, btw. Only available online at the mo... [there’s a court case ongoing over their distribution through street shops in the UK])

 

[Dadamen]

Just as you say, slow processing is a problem for me too. On this forum I can just accept my self-diagnosis of ASD 1 (Asperger's). People here describe me while describing themselves.

 

[sport]

I read the very interesting posts some hit me especially right and left brain things could speak early and good but the processing things was slow could not put 2 two separate things to gather.The result was like 2people not working to gather.

 

[Rasputin]

I was interested when people who are ASD 2 and others were discussing functionality, especially when people were contrasting their challenges IRL as opposed to their verbal skills online, and people were discussing many challenges to how they can practically function as opposed to apparent verbal and thinking abilities. @Ella Spell posted a visual test result showing a skewed picture of attributes, which seemed relevant.

I self diagnose as ASD 1, and I have a skewed experience whereby verbal and thinking processes, whilst having some challenges, such as slow processing, seem more functional than some areas that require physical coordination or other elements of functionality than verbal. Struggling to express this, hence the thread, as I wonder what others would say about how this works for them? I know there's plenty on here very handy and physically skilled so it's clearly not not necessarily about a thinking / doing split, exactly, and I can get good at 'doing' things, particularly if explicitly shown the movements involved.

An example for me of how this difference can manifest, would be, my friend wants me to help carry an item of shelving. We pick it up, but I realise it's heavier than I thought. I have to put it down, and my thinking is telling me that I can manage it if we lay it down and carry it longways instead of vertical. I intuit that will spread the load. But my friend is getting frustrated and calling out instructions. Albeit my friend has full on ADHD so that's part of the challenge here. My friend starts grabbing the item and dragging it and calling out orders of where I should stand etc but I can't respond easily because I can't tell if they know what I meant about it being too heavy upright, hence I want a slower, clear verbal interaction (but somehow we did soon lay it down and I could help carry it that way, as I had thought.)

However, thinking about this typical incident I was realising how what I seemed to need was for the process of carrying the item to stop, and a verbal exchange to take place, where I said my suggestion, and my friend understood it and then the carrying recommenced, I needed words to be involved. Stress clearly also played a part. We got there anyway, because I can allow for the ADHD and they had heard my suggestion.

I'd be interested if anyone's got thoughts about this or examples about practical functioning issues and how it relates to thinking or verbalising?

I am still discovering things about myself relevant to my ASD1 diagnosis, but I'll comment. I don't have a deficit in my verbal or cognitive skills. I have a cousin who has ASD1, and he did not speak until he was past the age of 3. In my case I was speaking before the age of 1, and I have an incredible memory from a very early age to present. My deficits are:

Limited range of interests (for example music), lack of some social skills or lack of interest participating socially (e.g. games), difficulty experiencing or lack of awareness of some emotions myself or in others (e.g. sadness), poor awareness of social cues, literal verbal interpretations which lead to misunderstanding, low level of empathy or understanding of feelings due to high orientation towards logic, difficulty making emotional connections with others, unable to multitask effectively, black and white thinking, poor motor skills (e.g. in typing), and sensory input issues with light and sound. Difficulty managing anxiety during conflicts, maintaining eye contact, smiling for photos, etc. Overly serious in pursuing special interests. I am just off enough that I frustrate the hell out of neurotypicals who can not tolerate individual differences.

My.strengths however are advanced verbal and analytical skills, natural orientation to solving problems, highly intuitive and creative in solving problems, very rapid learner able to grasp abstract principles and apply them, fantastic memory and ability to recall, and abilities to maintain focus on tasks for extended periods of time. Strong commitment to completing projects that I start. Good pattern recognition and decision-making skills.

I am sure there are other issues and strengths, but those are ones that immediately come.to mind.

 

[Thinx]

I am still discovering things about myself relevant to my ASD1 diagnosis, but I'll comment. I don't have a deficit in my verbal or cognitive skills. I have a cousin who has ASD1, and he did not speak until he was past the age of 3. In my case I was speaking before the age of 1, and I have an incredible memory from a very early age to present. My deficits are:

Limited range of interests (for example music), lack of some social skills or lack of interest participating socially (e.g. games), difficulty experiencing or lack of awareness of some emotions myself or in others (e.g. sadness), poor awareness of social cues, literal verbal interpretations which lead to misunderstanding, low level of empathy or understanding of feelings due to high orientation towards logic, difficulty making emotional connections with others, unable to multitask effectively, black and white thinking, poor motor skills (e.g. in typing), and sensory input issues with light and sound. Difficulty managing anxiety during conflicts, maintaining eye contact, smiling for photos, etc. Overly serious in pursuing special interests. I am just off enough that I frustrate the hell out of neurotypicals who can not tolerate individual differences.

My.strengths however are advanced verbal and analytical skills, natural orientation to solving problems, highly intuitive and creative in solving problems, very rapid learner able to grasp abstract principles and apply them, fantastic memory and ability to recall, and abilities to maintain focus on tasks for extended periods of time. Strong commitment to completing projects that I start. Good pattern recognition and decision-making skills.

I am sure there are other issues and strengths, but those are ones that immediately come.to mind.

Sounds like you have issues with communication at times, and in unstructured interactions, but plenty of upsides too. Would you say you are a thinker and practical? You said you can apply ideas?

This is a limitation area for me, not sure if partly through lack of useful education, and also some dyspraxia, but probably the inability to multi task, and left brain right brain disconnect, are most relevant. How are you in those areas?