RE: OT: IT and Asperger's

You may be aspergers and not realize it...
Thing is, asperger's isn't always a disability nor even that striking of an
issue. I know of at least 3 men who have lived most of their lives unaware
they're extremely AS because they found places into which they fit well and
they mask the unsocial aspect with personality preferences. They hide their
quirks well enough by keeping to themselves, and hide their social skill
issues by being extremely skilled at what they do. They call it a spectrum
because it is not a cut and dried situation. There's varying degrees of it,
like there's varying degrees of stupid. Only when the situation is extreme
enough or the circumstances highlight it, does it go from "different" to
"problem" or "diagnosis." Most Aspies are extremely intelligent people with
very logical minds and I find, very high standards and ethics. They're the
kind of people you would count lucky to have as friends if you had the
patience and tolerance for the less attractive aspects of our personalities,
such as the difficulty showing sympathy, not faking more interest in your
fascinations, not asking the right "I like you" questions, blunt candor,
strange ruminations, long winded rants, and other patience-trying quirks
that we seem to share.
I think the thing that bugs others most about me, for instance, is my lack
of conversational boundaries. "People just don't SAY those things!"
In my case, I was 34 before I figured out why I just can't keep a job no
matter how hard I try to please.

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-linux@slg.org [mailto:owner-linux@slg.org] On Behalf Of Eve
Kotyk
Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2008 7:28 PM
To: linux@slg.org
Subject: Re: OT: IT and Asperger's

Yes, thank you. Though not in the IT business, I completely understand the
frustrations of constant distractions in the work place, disparagement for
those who have the ability to focus deeply and being resented for not
accommodating meetings where every stupid idea is given equal attention. Who
does understand the nutty standards of social interactions that are based on
nothing more than 'you have to be cool because of the clothes you wear' or
the pop culture things you advocate.' I'm not sure we have as many Aspergers
people in the IT sector as this article suggests. I do think many IT people
think for themselves and do not necessarily buy into an extrovert view of
the world. A view that says whatever happens we have to remain a group and
adjust our thinking to fit group think. Is it possible that many IT people
are just very bright people who don't tolerate fools readily? Is it possible
they'd rather focus on the integrity of systems then the chaos of social
interaction?

You caught me on a bad day. :-)

E
Received on Fri Apr 4 00:40:26 2008