Is this a "me" thing, or an ASD thing?

[music.forlife7]

I am not sure if that bothered me so much before, I was never really into sports, but now as I picture a basketball game in my head, the imaginary shrieking of sneakers in my head is really overwhelmingly loud.

I don't like to play sports, but I enjoy watching them.

 

[christianmother27]

When I was just starting in school they put me in the accelerated reading class, because apparently I was one of only a few kids who could read by kindergarten. I used to have a book in every room at home and remember what page I was on in each one, and the greatest rule breaking I was occasionally allowed was reading at the dinner table. Ohh, reading at the table. So perfect yet so prohibited.

We had some kind of program in school where you had to read a little flap book (it was like four pages, 2 of which was the reading) and then you had to answer some questions on the reading at the end. I completely finished it all if not the first one of the first... and there was a BUNCH of those. There was supposed to be so many that you didn't finish them in the year. The first few levels were laughable they were so ridiculously easy to read. My favorite thing from school was when they let us go to the auditorium for some kind of reading event... and I got to spend the next two hours reading. Pure bliss. I used to love spending my Saturdays eating tomato soup and reading!

Is there anyone else who can't stand writing with a fine-point ballpoint pen - or anyone else doing the same - because of the noise it makes? But medium-point pens are fine.

I like writing with I guess they're felt tip pens, but not the little ones. I like the ones that have the thick tips and the whole tip is writing area. I don't like the way sharpies or dry/wet erase markers smell. But the one thing I absolutely cannot stand and makes the hair on the back of my neck raise up is when people erase but the eraser is almost gone and the metal occasionally hits the paper. ZOMG that sound is like what people say as fingernails on chalkboard to me.

 

[music.forlife7]

As an aspie, I find it hard to explain things to other people. Sometimes I trip over my words and I have trouble describing things or explaining things.

 

[christianmother27]

The empathy thing... Sometimes I am really way overly empathetic: example watching Law & Order: SVU and they have a child molestation episode I have been in tears by the end. Yet like today my son fell down the steps and started crying and I laughed >_> I mean I comforted him too but for whatever reason beyond my comprehension I thought it was funny. And then feeling neutral... the real life shooting stuff that happened lately I feel nothing. I think I should feel something because people are sad but the saddest I got was when I saw a picture on facebook of Santa with his head in his hands and a toy dropped to the ground and the school in the background with the flag at half mast. But the actually other images and such... nothing. Am I a freak or is this potentially related?

 

[LikeyouToMe]

Unless I am very heavily into a subject, I find it stupidly hard to read about, take interest in or learn about something I'm not too fond of. Even with something like photography, I love taking photos but the learning how to use the camera, reading word heavy text is so hard and I trail off after only a paragraph or so then I can't actually get my eyes to stay on my one line and they just go all over the shop (meaning I can't keep them in one place and they go where they want kind of thing haha).

It's like I just want to be able to do the things i enjoy, like drawing and taking photos but I want to be able to do the end product and it stresses me that I can't be as good as other people. May be with my depression and anxiety, being that I can't do it straight away, I thne put myself down and give up because "I'll never bee as good as them"???

God knows, all I know is, I hate it and wanna be good as somethnig god damn it :{ :{ :{ :{ :{ :{ :{ :{

 

[King_Oni]

Unless I am very heavily into a subject, I find it stupidly hard to read about, take interest in or learn about something I'm not too fond of. Even with something like photography, I love taking photos but the learning how to use the camera, reading word heavy text is so hard and I trail off after only a paragraph or so then I can't actually get my eyes to stay on my one line and they just go all over the shop (meaning I can't keep them in one place and they go where they want kind of thing haha).

It's like I just want to be able to do the things i enjoy, like drawing and taking photos but I want to be able to do the end product and it stresses me that I can't be as good as other people. May be with my depression and anxiety, being that I can't do it straight away, I thne put myself down and give up because "I'll never bee as good as them"???

God knows, all I know is, I hate it and wanna be good as somethnig god damn it :{ :{ :{ :{ :{ :{ :{ :{

Not sure if you discussed it somewhere, but that kind of trouble focussing might be a sign of AD(H)D even. I can identify with it a lot.

I doubt it's all in "reading the manual" to be good. Sometimes it's just seeing it from a different perspective that pulls you over to make great things.

 

[Flinty]

I like writing with I guess they're felt tip pens, but not the little ones. I like the ones that have the thick tips and the whole tip is writing area. I don't like the way sharpies or dry/wet erase markers smell. But the one thing I absolutely cannot stand and makes the hair on the back of my neck raise up is when people erase but the eraser is almost gone and the metal occasionally hits the paper. ZOMG that sound is like what people say as fingernails on chalkboard to me.

Felt markers sound fine on whiteboards and such but horrendous on paper. Squeaking is better than scratching, I guess.

People still use pencils?!

 

[Dusty285]

For:
LikeyouToMe
LikeyouToMe is offline
Nothing is ever easy. For art and drawing and painting I would refer you to 'Deviant Art' and 'Elfwood' (free versions) and suggest you read the comments posted with the images. The artists often have a lot to say, the rest of the comments sometimes give even more insight or express how many others only try and wish to do the art well. You might learn something about art and creating an image; you might find you are in the middle of a big group who want to do better. These art forums might also give you something to compare your work to.

Sometimes doing something well requires a lot of boring practice; sometimes it requires a teacher or mentor or both. Some things can be learned from a book or '"how to" on the Internet, some things not. Using art as an example, do not post for "How to draw good art?" Post for "How to draw a curl of hair?" . . . in Anime?" One little item at a time; then start putting these things together. Be patient. Work on self-discipline. You do not need to try to read a long book. You need to try to learn to read one full sentence and then one short paragraph. I wish you blessings and luck.

 

[HelloDizzy]

I can't stand most fantasy movies and books and I read non-fiction only. Is this common with the rest of you?

 

[Flinty]

I can't stand most fantasy movies and books and I read non-fiction only. Is this common with the rest of you?

Loosely speaking, yes. I don't read books that often, but it has to be either non-fiction or comedy.

 

[King_Oni]

I can't stand most fantasy movies and books and I read non-fiction only. Is this common with the rest of you?

For a big part... yes. Especially books, movies... not so much. A big part has to do with not being able to imagine what I'm reading (but fantasizing and creating things from scratch is less of a problem).

Rarely do I read fiction. Mostly of what I read, is a movie adaption already so I have a imaginairy reference.

I don't have problems with fantasy themes and substance as much, but I really need to be in the mood for anything non-fiction.

 

[Iskios]

Hi all, I'm new here
I rarely watch TV. I have a lot of movies and documentaries and so forth that I'd love to watch but...
I don't recall when was the last time that I pressed the turn on button of the TV.
Although it may be because I prefer to spend my time with my PC..
Is anyone like me?

 

[kasmanaft08]

I rarely watch TV. I have a lot of movies and documentaries and so forth that would love to watch but...
I don't recall when was the last time that I pressed the turn on button of the TV lol.
Maybe it's because I prefer to spend my time with my PC though..
Is anyone like me?

I can't stand watching TV normally to be honest. Most people I've known who do this have no selectivity to what they're watching and are just zoning out to anything simple. That, or just having it around and on for background noise.

I like some shows, but it's better for me to just watch them online by the show- I'll go through a single series of something and knock it out (and get a bit obsessed with it, if I'm honest). I usually just get DVDs for that, I'll watch the same stuff over and over anyway. My TV is just a big DVD player, really.

There are some people who have found it weird that I had no interest in getting Sky/Satellite/or any sort of subscription. I just wouldn't use it.

 

[Divrom]

I can't stand most fantasy movies and books and I read non-fiction only. Is this common with the rest of you?

It's true for me. I never read fiction. Just can't. It really feels like it's reading another language.

However, I don't mind with movies. I can get absorbed in a movie.

 

[Mitch]

I'll go through a single series of something and knock it out (and get a bit obsessed with it, if I'm honest).

That sounds very familiar to me. Every time I discover a new show that I like (not to many I'm afraid), I go through the episodes way to fast.

 

[Bay]

It's true for me. I never read fiction. Just can't. It really feels like it's reading another language.

However, I don't mind with movies. I can get absorbed in a movie.

It's the same for me.

 

[ravendragonwing]

Funny, I only read fiction, I abhor reading non-fiction, boring!!!
I especially love fantasy/sci-fiction.....

 

[Dusty285]

Yup! Almost no TV. Sometimes the news broadcasts but except for specific stories or coverage of specific events, usually most of what passes for news registers for me as useless drivel and I turn the TV off again. When I am bored to tears I might watch some documentarys, but they are all just more of the same. Once there were a lot of short and medium length videos of art and science and explorations, but not anymore. Not in my market, anyway.

I live with my computer. I read some news that is silly as often as not but I can 'click' to the next story when it gets too bad. I always read some of the 'comments' that are attached to computer stories almost in all forums. Gives some idea of what people are thinking. Skip and ignore the flame fights: that is mostly deliberately caused and/or edited by the forum creators for entertainment of the readers and is useless. Comments like those in this forum, comments following an article in a financial forum (Seeking Alpha), can be quite interesting and informative. Personal Email sometimes ties up a lot of time writing and editing responses; just like this 'Reply.' Reading about the stock markets is a hobby that ties up a lot of time. I 'follow' over 400 people on Twitter, names and organizations that are the shakers and movers, not anyone that I know personally. I set up the screen to scroll down and scan for interesting items to 'click' and open the attached documents. It's all very real and very timely. (I had in-depth Bin Laden story 4 hours before the President announced it.)

Before there were computers I read non-fiction stories and books that were anecdotal history; stories by individuals who were 'there' about what they did and what they saw. There is a lot of historical fiction, also. It often reads like a documentary, keep in mind that it is actually fiction. The events did happen, descriptions of places are reasonably accurate, the history is good. The characters are fictional but for well-written books it is a virtual reality. A way to experience things that otherwise are impossible, like being in Paris during the 1790's and being part of the revolution as an ordinary citizen; being a kid on a wagon train between St Louis and California and being there by accident when critical events happened so there is a first-person observer experience. Books are really so much better than movies or TV. Except for some newer books like Harry Potter that were mostly a preliminary rendering of the movies. But watch a movie like "Red October," then read the book. Wow!! The book is so much more!! And then there are the sci-fi kinds of books. The original books for "Game of Thrones" can swallow me up. Vastly better than the TV series, but the TV version is great for visualizing that world. And it all goes on, but enough.

 

[music.forlife7]

Is it common for people with autism like us to think that people without it are perfect? I mean, I used to be slightly jealous of this girl in my school. She went to my private education school and she was the only one without a disability, she was popular, she was a model, dancer, and went to an expensive salon to get her hair done. Then later I learned that her father died when she was at a young age, so I got to know her better and realized she's a good person. I Just wish I could contact her again. I'm not jealous of her anymore, because I know that comparing myself to others won't get me anywhere. I'm glad I'm myself, even if I am on the spectrum.

 

[HelloDizzy]

Is it common for people with autism like us to think that people without it are perfect? I mean, I used to be slightly jealous of this girl in my school. She went to my private education school and she was the only one without a disability, she was popular, she was a model, dancer, and went to an expensive salon to get her hair done. Then later I learned that her father died when she was at a young age, so I got to know her better and realized she's a good person. I Just wish I could contact her again. I'm not jealous of her anymore, because I know that comparing myself to others won't get me anywhere. I'm glad I'm myself, even if I am on the spectrum.

My best friend is jealous of NT's and he has some kind of Autism. But he's jealous to the point that he can't be happy or function.