You might be an aspie if...

[kris]

someone asks for a high five on the street and you have no idea who it is because you don't recognize faces.

True story. Dude really seemed to know me. I made up some excuse about being late and hurried off. After an awkward high five.

And why is it that we can't recognize faces sometimes? I get the emotions thing, but it makes no sense to me why I don't recognize people.

Have a funny "you might be an aspie if" quip to share?

 

[royinpink]

You are so engrossed with reading your book (about autism, incidentally) on the subway that you trip and fall going up an escalator and manage to slice open your toe, and it only occurs to you to ask the staff for help with your bleeding foot because you remember the safety notice you read before, saying to contact staff at the station if you do not feel well.

This happened to me the day before last...

As for why we don't recognize faces, I believe it has to do with recognizing parts before wholes and seeing them like objects.

 

[Breaking Enigma]

This reminds me of my complete ineptitude at anything but the classic handshake. Guys always trying to do the bro shakes and hugs with me, but there's a few different ways to do it, and I never know which is correct, so my hands stumble around awkwardly trying to keep up with their motions. Its just a disaster. Then I spend several minutes pondering where I went wrong. Yesterday a guy I know tried to do a bro shake with me and I failed so bad that he joking said, "Wow, that was really cool, dude." If I see a bro shake coming on I try to change it to a fist bump.

 

[Suzanne]

I find this one to be humiliating, but because it only happened like on Weds of this week, it is freshest in my mind.

New people and those I do not feel very comfortable with, I end up stuttering and very moist mouth and forgetting my words.

With the same person: She is pretty "loud" with how she feels ie if she feels awful, she is extremely demonstrative ie eyes are drooping and tone of voice is droning and I went up to her to ask if she knew anything about Hindi resurrections? I felt false because I felt COLD to her suffering and could feel my voice very weak, trying to be sympathetic but all I could think was: wow you look pathetic in my defense, I noted that a few others who spoke to her, also seemed like: oh heck why did I come and say hi to you?

Or, after an episode of something, it gets clearer and clearer in my mind AFTERWARDS.

Thinking you are an expert at reading someone when they want to flirt with you and totally missing it when they do, which leads to rather embarrassing moment!

I am not too bad at recognizing faces now, but there was a time, I was chronic and lol all the time the person is speaking to me, I am thinking: who the heck are you? When out of the blue, I remembered and would blurt out: oh hello so and so, and would get sometimes: you didn't know who I was, did you?

Oh, just came to mind of something that happened to me when I was like: 10 or something and at an ice skating arena with my class. I was standing outside of the area, next to a male school teacher. To this day, I can see myself there and all the emotions too; I basically felt uncomfortable around him; never knew why. Well, a female skater came towards us and I blurted out: wonder why she wears tights, since they will get damaged easily ie get ladders surely? I got the: clearing of throat and silence and felt that I had just committed a terrible social blunder and honestly felt like sinking into the ground. I see now, as an adult that it was funny but actually I was being practical, which is my make up ie being practical.

 

[Epicurean Pariah]

Hello, yes I am with anyone that suffers from social ineptitude. Just thinking of this makes my head spin. Not only quantitively but
qualitatively. Exquisite and masterful blunders that even at 67 I shake my head in shame.

Perhaps an example will serve. Once long ago I had a boss who offered a fine job, an excellent opportunity. I liked the job, pay, co workers, benefits especially my boss. They were pleased with my work and avoided me, very good, right?
Upon hearing that he sold the company to a corp. but wrote into the contract that his employees would be kept onboard in the terms of sale contract we had a party not a roast for him. What a great boss.
He intended to move to Philly with his family and start a similar outfit there. So I say..
" Well, good luck, Mel, your going to need it".
Somehow I meant it to be funny, but I came off as an ingrate, I am certain. I am shaking my head, now.

 

[Daniela]

when you are trying to explain something and a lot of "aaaah..this an that ....aaaaahhmmmthis an that....and aaahm....aahm....this and this" like we do use a lot os aahms dont we? XD

 

[Progster]

someone asks for a high five on the street and you have no idea who it is because you don't recognize faces.

True story. Dude really seemed to know me. I made up some excuse about being late and hurried off. After an awkward high five.

And why is it that we can't recognize faces sometimes? I get the emotions thing, but it makes no sense to me why I don't recognize people.

Have a funny "you might be an aspie if" quip to share?

I once didn't recognise my best friend who I saw every day at school, after she had a haircut. Once, someone sent me a photo of myself which they had taken without my knowledge and I didn't even recognise myself lol!!

 

[Spiller]

As for why we don't recognize faces, I believe it has to do with recognizing parts before wholes and seeing them like objects.

Exactly this! I've been pondering this for ages and you nailed it. At first I thought mild prosopagnosia, but that didn't fit comfortably - I see little bits of details, nose, lips, skin pores and marks, the plane of cheek and jaw.. after I've seen that face a few times I see it as a whole, but change the hair, wear sunglasses - anything at all and I've no hope of recognition - I didn't recognise my own (now ex-)wife once, before I found out about AS, that didn't go down well!

Greeting hugs and handshakes: I met a female friend of a female friend for the first time recently and she put her arms out to hug as I put my hand out to shake, then she changed to a shake as I changed to a hug - we had a fine few moments of swapping gestures at each other before I managed to grab her hand as it passed and give her one-armed hug at the same time. I cringed inwardly then and just try to imagine it was insignificant when it comes to mind now..

 

[Epicurean Pariah]

when you are trying to explain something and a lot of "aaaah..this an that ....aaaaahhmmmthis an that....and aaahm....aahm....this and this" like we do use a lot os aahms dont we? XD

D, hmmmm yup, I kinda write like I talk, keepin it folksy and not too heavy. I do that with the intent of indicating that the following word or phrase has had another level of thought involved, in order to be more precise.
I had a prof or TA I can't remember, that gave dual grades on papers, one for content and one for style. I was writing "A" content and "D,C" style. Sure I could improve my style but not without turning this into a chore. I'm just having fun and trying to find a younger Asper that I can pass a gift on to, in the hope I can change a life.
What are your aaah interests? EP

 

[kris]

You are so engrossed with reading your book (about autism, incidentally) on the subway that you trip and fall going up an escalator and manage to slice open your toe, and it only occurs to you to ask the staff for help with your bleeding foot because you remember the safety notice you read before, saying to contact staff at the station if you do not feel well.

This happened to me the day before last...

As for why we don't recognize faces, I believe it has to do with recognizing parts before wholes and seeing them like objects.

I walk around all the time with my nose in my kindle.. I know I shouldn't do that but I do it anyways. I've definitely done stupid stuff while doing that.. walked into trees and the likes.

I think you're on to something with that parts of things concept... can't see the forest for the trees.

 

[kris]

This reminds me of my complete ineptitude at anything but the classic handshake. Guys always trying to do the bro shakes and hugs with me, but there's a few different ways to do it, and I never know which is correct, so my hands stumble around awkwardly trying to keep up with their motions. Its just a disaster. Then I spend several minutes pondering where I went wrong. Yesterday a guy I know tried to do a bro shake with me and I failed so bad that he joking said, "Wow, that was really cool, dude." If I see a bro shake coming on I try to change it to a fist bump.

YES! I think as a girl, I avoid most of that but sometimes guys try to do random fist bump / bro stuff with me and I'm always so confused and it gets really awkward.

 

[kris]

I once didn't recognise my best friend who I saw every day at school, after she had a haircut. Once, someone sent me a photo of myself which they had taken without my knowledge and I didn't even recognise myself lol!!

I also often don't recognize myself in photos lol.. I could never find myself in class pictures growing up. I've also had people tag me in photos on facebook that I didn't know were taken and being really surprised that was me.

 

[kris]

Exactly this! I've been pondering this for ages and you nailed it. At first I thought mild prosopagnosia, but that didn't fit comfortably - I see little bits of details, nose, lips, skin pores and marks, the plane of cheek and jaw.. after I've seen that face a few times I see it as a whole, but change the hair, wear sunglasses - anything at all and I've no hope of recognition - I didn't recognise my own (now ex-)wife once, before I found out about AS, that didn't go down well!

The more I think about it, the more I agree with that... that guy yesterday was wearing huge sunglasses so he was reduced to "fat white guy with curly short hair".. oh well.. high fives!

 

[Epicurean Pariah]

YES! I think as a girl, I avoid most of that but sometimes guys try to do random fist bump / bro stuff with me and I'm always so confused and it gets really awkward.

Kris, hand shakes and fist bumps are simple cultural memes, and change with time and circumstances and do not mean a thing. Social convention is meaningless if you do not intend on being a social maven. To be frank, I find that the general public is about as interesting to me a chimpanzee behavior is interesting to the general public.
I had a friend in Saigon the surprised me that in her culture kissing was not inculcated into their culture and their criteria for civilization or humanity was based on hairiness. Caucasians were the brutes because we are hairy, negroes were more advanced and the orientals were at the apex. Don't get too involved in what the majority reports. If they had their act together the world would not be a whirling **** storm, would it? You know what and who makes you happy, avoid the rest and enjoy the feast of opportunity every day.

 

[Slithytoves]

As for why we don't recognize faces, I believe it has to do with recognizing parts before wholes and seeing them like objects.

Great point. I think context is part of it, too. We're great compartmentalizers. When I see someone out of the context I associate with them, I may not recognize them even after they've spoken. Everything becomes clear if they happen to mention where I know them from.

 

[Berianireth]

I'm not sure if this is typical, but I know that aspies usuallly have some degree of cognitive disinhibition. So I suppose I'll share. We were all supposed to view a great optical illusion in class where you see a yellow grid with dots at the corners of each grid until the flashing in the background stops and then you can see a white grid with yellow dots just outside of it. Only immediately I'm nearly knocked backwards out of my chair because I see a flashing background, yellow dots, and white grid. All at once. 0.0

 

[Epicurean Pariah]

I'm not sure if this is typical, but I know that aspies usuallly have some degree of cognitive disinhibition. So I suppose I'll share. We were all supposed to view a great optical illusion in class where you see a yellow grid with dots at the corners of each grid until the flashing in the background stops and then you can see a white grid with yellow dots just outside of it. Only immediately I'm nearly knocked backwards out of my chair because I see a flashing background, yellow dots, and white grid. All at once. 0.0

B. I'm hip. It hasn't happened more then a few times but I have almost knocked out.
For the life of me I can't remember the class, but the prof was using an over head projector to show visually and illustrate his points. The slides were of some of the classic optical illusions. And a few new to me illusions. He talking about " you can't trust what you think you see" off goes the slide of the faces/ base classic illusion. A 100 faces are blinded by blinding white light on the screen. Must of been a psycho class, anyway.His silhouette continues to speak and the screen is blazing glare. " the human eye visual receptors, cones can not see red and blue simultaneously." Here comes the slide, get ready. Red and blue alternating stripes wiggling back an forth with intermittent flashes of blinding glare he gets the slide where he needed. I am telling you this slide shimmered like it was a thing alive. The thought of it could induce a painless migraine with aura. For give I can rant, must be old age.

 

[Epicurean Pariah]

I don't like it when people try to give a cool handshake, because I never know what is going to happen. I just present a formal handshake and hope that they take the hint not to try to grab my hand at a weird angle and do things with it. Even worse for me: European-style kissing on the cheeks during hellos and goodbyes. It's a nightmare, because I don't know the exact procedure.

113, what you need is a t shirt that says.....
WARNING/ DANGER Official US gov. Anthrax experiment.

 

[AsheSkyler]

All of my "you might be an Aspie if..." ends up being a matter of comorbids or nerdiness. You might be overly-analytically OCD if you can't loosen up enough to think of an "you might be an Aspie if..." statement.

 

[Berianireth]

B. I'm hip. It hasn't happened more then a few times but I have almost knocked out.
For the life of me I can't remember the class, but the prof was using an over head projector to show visually and illustrate his points. The slides were of some of the classic optical illusions. And a few new to me illusions. He talking about " you can't trust what you think you see" off goes the slide of the faces/ base classic illusion. A 100 faces are blinded by blinding white light on the screen. Must of been a psycho class, anyway.His silhouette continues to speak and the screen is blazing glare. " the human eye visual receptors, cones can not see red and blue simultaneously." Here comes the slide, get ready. Red and blue alternating stripes wiggling back an forth with intermittent flashes of blinding glare he gets the slide where he needed. I am telling you this slide shimmered like it was a thing alive. The thought of it could induce a painless migraine with aura. For give I can rant, must be old age.

That's too funny. I had another interesting moment back in one of my cell and molecular neuroscience seminars where a researcher was giving a talk on auditory learning theories, and he did a demonstration with tones that were supposed to lead you to conclude that an ending tone was higher/lower than those that had been played before. I could not hear any difference, and apparently there wasn't one. But I was the only person that did not raise their hand.