The one thing you can just do which nobody understands...

[Mytrice]

I love music and I always have done.. I practice for several hours a day despite having quite a large amount of other work to do and I also enjoy learning about music theory because of the logic behind it.
Now I'm studying music at a high level and take theory clases with other people, they are always amazed at how I can just know things without evening having to work it out. I just seem to be able to think in the circle of fifths and harmony and whatnot. On the other hand, I really don't understand how they can't grasp how to do things I can do immediately, so it is often difficult not to be accidentally rude.

What are the things that you find you can just do while other people have to struggle and look up the answer? I'm curious.

 

[Axeman52]

I'm also very into music and seem to have an ability to recognise and separate individual parts within an arrangement a lot easier than other people do, and often end up getting frustrated with people for not being able to work out their parts from a recording and having to show them, because I perceive that as me doing their work for them because they didn't make enough of an effort - except sometimes they actually did make a big effort, and they just weren't able to work it out with the level of accuracy I expected from them.

It doesn't matter how many times people tell me "most people just hear a piece of music as the sum of its parts, and can't separate them and analyze them individually in the same way that you do", I never seem to manage to take that into consideration when I'm actually in a situation where I'm working with people who are struggling with these things.

Music Theory classes at university were strange for me too - It was like I already knew all the theory, and how to apply it to music, without even realising it, and the classes just served as a way of giving a name to a thing I already knew, so that I could discuss it with others in terms that would make sense to them. I guess I just subconsciously noticed a lot of the conventional patterns within music through listening to it or something like that, because I never took the time to formally study theory before then.

 

[AsheSkyler]

The one thing I do that baffles people to no end is how I can get sidetracked into something and not eat for 16 hours. The other thing that baffles them is my rotating sleep schedule that cycles through over a course of a few months where I can go to bed and get up at wildly varying hours compared to where I was in the cycle the previous month or week.

 

[ZackSkylar101]

Out of cool things I have found out I can do recently (I sort of knew bits of it before, but it's developed into something cool) is that once I have drawn out some anatomy I can remember all of the details to what I have drawn and what everything is. Then from there, if I get multiple images of all of the same things then I can stack these on top of each other and place them mentally in front of me. From there I can manipulate the image taking out features and emphasising features and rotating them to look at them from all angles (I use my hands to help with visualising this as I find the movements helps me to get the flow of the structures correct). I can zoom in and zoom out, and overall I just have fun with it

It's been reasonably helpful for studying, and other people have to do it in other ways and can find it tricky, and hopefully it will end up being more helpful in the future (I have sort of started to use it to mentally place the anatomy I have learnt of other people I am looking at where it should be, which has come in a bit handy for knowing where I need to put my stethoscope and things like that, so hopefully I can work a bit more with that.)

 

[RaphaPower]

I love music and I always have done.. I practice for several hours a day despite having quite a large amount of other work to do and I also enjoy learning about music theory because of the logic behind it.
Now I'm studying music at a high level and take theory clases with other people, they are always amazed at how I can just know things without evening having to work it out. I just seem to be able to think in the circle of fifths and harmony and whatnot. On the other hand, I really don't understand how they can't grasp how to do things I can do immediately, so it is often difficult not to be accidentally rude.

What are the things that you find you can just do while other people have to struggle and look up the answer? I'm curious.

I can just focus on something like cameras for instance is what im interested in right now and youtube videos. I like study everything and practice and some people can't do that or don't want to do that? Anyway I just think cameras are amazing since my girlfriend an aspiring photographer showed me how cool they are. You do music? Could I hear some of your stuff?

 

[Cali Cat]

I can write. I never studied it beyond the usual English classes everyone has to take in school. I was reading and writing at the 12th grade level in 6th grade. I attribute my writing skills to my early reading abilities (I started reading when I was four years old). I sort of absorbed the ability to write. I just understood grammar without really knowing how it worked. I also developed a wide vocabulary from reading and watching TV (especially BBC programming), and I could spell better than anyone in my elementary school (I got an award for it). I never put much effort into studying spelling either, but I had a very good memory as a child, and I learned to sound things out. Again, though, I could do it without really knowing how I did it. It's as much a mystery to me as it is to anyone else.

 

[Hedgehog Instigator]

I can infer information. I can often make complex concepts understandable. I'm great at making yarn. And I pick up words quickly.

 

[Athelstan]

I can quickly solve complex mathematical problems in my head, but I have little ability to show the work on paper. That was one of my biggest downfalls in school. They require you to "show your work", but I had no ability to do so. They answers just happen in my head. And they are correct, but I still failed for lack of work. They can't even use the excuse that I cheated or used a calculator because I proved it time and time again. But that's not an issue anymore. These days people are just left in awe.

I also just know what words mean based on how they are used. My brain quickly processes the sentence and makes sense of the word I haven't previously heard or studied the definition to. It's rare that I don't know a word these days, however.

 

[Hedgehog Instigator]

I can quickly solve complex mathematical problems in my head, but I have little ability to show the work on paper. That was one of my biggest downfalls in school. They require you to "show your work", but I had no ability to do so. They answers just happen in my head. And they are correct, but I still failed for lack of work. They can't even use the excuse that I cheated or used a calculator because I proved it time and time again. But that's not an issue anymore. These days people are just left in awe.

I also just know what words mean based on how they are used. My brain quickly processes the sentence and makes sense of the word I haven't previously heard or studied the definition to. It's rare that I don't know a word these days, however.

sadly this ability was punished out of me, now I'm crap at math, because when I told the teachers IDK how I got the result they put me in remedial for 8 years.

 

[epath13]

I've had people surprised how much I can do, how many different things and how intelligent I am. I have hard time accepting their opinions or complements, in my mind there's always "no, no, no, not good enough. There's still a lot of room for improvement and improvement of improvement... " I've just read some info about perfectionists, that sometimes, they end up never achieving anything because they never reach the desirable level... I hope it's not going to be me!

 

[clg114]

I've had people surprised how much I can do, how many different things and how intelligent I am. I have hard time accepting their opinions or complements, in my mind there's always "no, no, no, not good enough. There's still a lot of room for improvement and improvement of improvement... " I've just read some info about perfectionists, that sometimes, they end up never achieving anything because they never reach the desirable level... I hope it's not going to be me!

There is always room for improvement, you should learn and improve as long as your alive. That's the spice of life.

 

[May Black]

Learning foreign languages and my ability to understand the logic in grammar and being able to deduct it from sentences without having to actually learn rules as such.

My memory is ridiculously good.

 

[abby normal]

The one thing I do that baffles people to no end is how I can get sidetracked into something and not eat for 16 hours. The other thing that baffles them is my rotating sleep schedule that cycles through over a course of a few months where I can go to bed and get up at wildly varying hours compared to where I was in the cycle the previous month or week.

FINALLY somebody else with this problem!

 

[Elle]

My sister and I both have aspergers but in very different sorts of ways. She's incredibly artistic and can master anything she tries, shes a tattoo artist who can also do graphic design, painting, drawing, and she learned to crochet basically overnight. Ive always been jealous of that, but I really just discovered my knack recently. I always hated math with a firey passion. But going back to college after a 4 year break and having to take a statistics course, Ive discovered how much math makes sense to me. I glide through my high level courses now and even switched from a psych major to a statistics major.

And oh my gosh, AsheSkyler and abby normal, I am in the same boat. Doctors say its unhealthy for me, but I honestly cant function on any sort of normal schedule... I work as long as I need and lose track of time, sleep in an often bi-modal format 3 to 4 hours at a time and its never at the same time of day. The problem it poses for me is my school schedule... trying to sleep around school and keep any sort of structure is so hard, the college ended up granting me an accomodation to miss more class days since I can still keep up with the course on my own.

 

[abby normal]

My sister and I both have aspergers but in very different sorts of ways. She's incredibly artistic and can master anything she tries, shes a tattoo artist who can also do graphic design, painting, drawing, and she learned to crochet basically overnight. Ive always been jealous of that, but I really just discovered my knack recently. I always hated math with a firey passion. But going back to college after a 4 year break and having to take a statistics course, Ive discovered how much math makes sense to me. I glide through my high level courses now and even switched from a psych major to a statistics major.

And oh my gosh, AsheSkyler and abby normal, I am in the same boat. Doctors say its unhealthy for me, but I honestly cant function on any sort of normal schedule... I work as long as I need and lose track of time, sleep in an often bi-modal format 3 to 4 hours at a time and its never at the same time of day. The problem it poses for me is my school schedule... trying to sleep around school and keep any sort of structure is so hard, the college ended up granting me an accomodation to miss more class days since I can still keep up with the course on my own.

it's like the world and me are on separate schedules.

 

[Elle]

it's like the world and me are on separate schedules.

I agree with that one. Its currently almost 5am here, and Ive been awake since 7pm... and with class at 2pm I have no idea when I plan on sleeping next but that doesnt bother me.

 

[Spiller]

rotating them to look at them from all angles (I use my hands to help with visualising this as I find the movements helps me to get the flow of the structures correct). I can zoom in and zoom out

I also can imagine and manipulate 3D objects in my mind and I use my hands to do it.. not in public though, as people look at me weirdly.
I can also think two opposing concepts at the same time; I think, from years of having no-one to talk to, so no second/differing opinions, I learned to create a 'shadow me' who automatically considers the opposite of any idea I have, that way I have two differing opinions, so I can either choose the best, or discuss and come to a compromise.. works for me, though I do seem to spend a good deal of time apparently talking to myself

 

[radasp]

We can do exceptional things because our brains are visual; we think visually, we remember details visually. That means we have a vast library of info to work with. No, I'm not sure about math/music (which are aspects of the same language) but I suspect that Aspergers who are math/music talented are actually processing music and math visually. We are unaware that much of this is taking place because we are Intuitive - which means that our thinking is mostly unconscious. It's nonverbal. How this plays out depends on the individual. Despite testing very high on verbal aptitude tests, I think in pictures. That means that I have to translate my visual content into words, so it can be very frustrating and difficult to express what's going on in my brain. Visual processing / memory are SO MUCH MORE DENSE with information than typical brains that "run on" words. Word language is very general and non-specific - that's why Neurotypicals seem so "empty." They miss seeing SO MUCH of what we see.

 

[Elle]

We can do exceptional things because our brains are visual; we think visually, we remember details visually. That means we have a vast library of info to work with. No, I'm not sure about math/music (which are aspects of the same language) but I suspect that Aspergers who are math/music talented are actually processing music and math visually. We are unaware that much of this is taking place because we are Intuitive - which means that our thinking is mostly unconscious. It's nonverbal. How this plays out depends on the individual. Despite testing very high on verbal aptitude tests, I think in pictures. That means that I have to translate my visual content into words, so it can be very frustrating and difficult to express what's going on in my brain. Visual processing / memory are SO MUCH MORE DENSE with information than typical brains that "run on" words. Word language is very general and non-specific - that's why Neurotypicals seem so "empty." They miss seeing SO MUCH of what we see.

I have a very hard time in a traditional classroom setting at university because of visual processing. I do process math visually and will miss anything the teacher erases too quickly or fails to write down. My notes are written in a manner that is perfectly appealing to my brain and organized a specific way. When I do homework I write down absolutely every step. One teacher said it was simply for muscle memory like neurotypicals, but I don't agree. I 'see' numbers in my head much like how I think in pictures, and writing them down perfectly feels to me like an artist completing a painting. Also, for classes like Biology, I can remember study guides for days after I glanced it over. During tests I recall an answer's position on the page- I feel like I looks insane sometimes, closing my eyes and using my fingers like there's an invisible touchscreen in front of me, as I 'look' through my memory.

 

[DarkAscent]

My mental arithmetic skills are very fast, faster even than some of those of my maths teachers who always somehow look baffled when I blurt out the answer before they've worked it out. I don't know how I work out answers so quickly. It's almost as if the answer appears instantaneously in my mind.

And my long term memory and ability to recall some memories in vivid details from so long ago, before I started to speak. That baffles a lot of people too.