The world's worst prison state . . . . .

[Elok]

Yeah, nobody ever claimed we have no sense of humor AFAIK. Some of us take things literally so we might not always get jokes others make, but in many ways we do vary significantly from Mr. Spock. Honest. Like, did you know I can have sex more than once every seven years?

[loinburger]

An Aspie has sex more than Speer???

[Wezil]

My brother is an Aspie and quite frankly, he's no fun at all.

[Elok]

I wasn't going to go there. I just set you up to go there so I can still claim the moral high ground.

Xpost

[Wezil]

But he probably gets laid more than Speer.

[Wezil]

Sure Elok, just butt in there. I don't mind.

[loinburger]

I wasn't going to go there. I just set you up to go there so I can still claim the moral high ground.

Xpost

Fortunately, I already ceded the moral high ground at the dickgirl debacle

[Wezil]

I like a man that knows how low he has fallen.

[Al B. Sure!]

What other dumb stereotypes about people with aspergers have you come up with?

google asperger and sense of humor and you'll see tons of references to aspergers having no sense of humor, though many of those are aspergers sites saying basically what gives with the stereotype?

You (and some others here) have a problem understanding that perceptions, even false or unsubstantiated, can still be common and powerful. We've had this discussion before where you denied the existence of another common misconception and my response was identical: google it and see how many people talk about it.

[Lorizael]

What happened to people with aspergers having no sense of humor? Was that just an incorrect stereotype?

Is this post intentionally ironic?

[Al B. Sure!]

Is this post intentionally ironic?

Multiple psychiatrists and therapists immediately dismissed the idea (like within 10 seconds of speaking to me) that I have aspergers, despite my mother's repeated insistence to them.

I don't know what the criteria is for determining aspergers but it's clearly not: taking things literally, a lack of understanding of nuance, the compulsion to blab on about topics that interest me, inability to respond to social cues and interact meaningfully with others, inability to form close friendships, and a dislike of being touched.

Whatever I have may seem like a stereotype of aspergers but it's not

[Al B. Sure!]

I knew I wasn't speaking out my ass:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome

Children with AS appear to have particular weaknesses in areas of nonliteral language that include humor, irony, and teasing. Although individuals with AS usually understand the cognitive basis of humor, they seem to lack understanding of the intent of humor to share enjoyment with others.[18] Despite strong evidence of impaired humor appreciation, anecdotal reports of humor in individuals with AS seem to challenge some psychological theories of AS and autism.[37]

Elok either was misdiagnosed or he's one of those that challenge the traditional psychology.

[Elok]

If they dismiss any suggestion after only ten seconds with the patient in question, they're lousy shrinks and you should ignore them.

[loinburger]

Elok either was misdiagnosed or he's one of those that challenge the traditional psychology.

If AS is anything like every other psychological condition, then 99% of the cases "challenge the traditional psychology." It's not like the flu or something where you can say "no fever? not the flu." Instead, any given symptom is expressed by maybe 75% of the people with the condition, meaning that almost everybody fails to express several symptoms.

[Elok]

I should also mention that I'm what they call "very high-functioning," which means I pass for normal pretty easily for short periods of time among non-psych majors. Also I catch on to certain social realities more easily--for example, I understand intuitively that it's absolutely impossible for a woman to "hypothetically" ask you if you would like to have sex with her. I hear some people have problems with that.

[C0ckney]

[Lorizael]

If they dismiss any suggestion after only ten seconds with the patient in question, they're lousy shrinks and you should ignore them.

That was my thought.

[Al B. Sure!]

Nah I don't have it. I don't imagine I could have worked so much in customer service and management/supervisory roles if I had aspergers.

Is this typical? Or are these people extreme?

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Only on 'poly could a man diagnosed with Aspergers be one of the funniest posters on the site.

[Al B. Sure!]

I took this ****ing long test, albeit it's self-reporting:

http://www.rdos.net/eng/Aspie-quiz.php

and got this result:

Your Aspie score: 28 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 168 of 200
You are very likely neurotypical



Yeah I'm no Aspie.

[Elok]

Take another internet quiz, and it'll tell you that you've got morgellons, schizophrenia or, if published by Cosmo, that you simply need to "put more zoom-zoom in the bedroom."

Anyway, as Loin said, psych diagnoses are ultimately just convenient groupings of symptoms that tend to come together in certain oddballs. Not everyone has every aspect and certainly they can't describe a person's whole personality. I, for example, have no obsessive interests AFAIK, and to call my math skills "savant abilities" is a real stretch (though those are only found in something like 10% IIRC). I do have very picky tastes in food, I'm somewhat face-blind, don't like being pawed and have a poor sense of tact, among other things. Whereas my father will eat just about anything and has multiple things that he won't shut up about if you get him started. And he's much more aspie than me. Both of us have a sense of humor, albeit his is more unconventional and often falls flat.

Now, I had a stats prof in college who was blatantly autistic. He actually got excited while discussing the different permutations of the letters in the word "Mississippi." While I didn't really know him personally, I don't believe he would recognize a joke if the ghost of Groucho Marx rose from his grave and hand-delivered a pie to his face. But to make a long-winded explanation short: there is no "typical case" of Asperger's.

Also, I can do customer service just fine. All you do is act polite and apologize as soon as they get pissy. The important thing is that under no circumstances should you swear in their hearing, no matter how swell you think you're getting along, because that's simply unprofessional.

[Proteus_MST]

.... The important thing is that under no circumstances should you swear in their hearing, no matter how swell you think you're getting along, because that's simply unprofessional.

With other words ...
no job for people with Tourette syndrome

[The Mad Monk]

...we are not all Bobcat Goldthwait.

[Elok]

Coprolalia (babbling swear words at random) is actually only one symptom of Tourette's, and not even an especially common one IIRC. I think mostly they twitch a lot.

[loinburger]

Obviously anybody with Tourette's who doesn't have coprolalia is challenging the traditional psychology

[The Mad Monk]

"Twitch" doesn't really do it justice. It implies that the action is involuntary, which it isn't. The best description I've come across is that it's like an itch that absolutely refuses to go away until you scratch it -- except that, in this case, you're not scratching, you're exhibiting a tic of some sort.

It's better than involuntary tics, because you can resist for awhile, so as to avoid embarrassment out in public for example, but it depends on how bad it is, and that varies by person and over time. Stress only makes it worse, as does focusing on it. Holding off makes it worse as well, once you give in. You always give in, eventually.

AFAIK, tourettes sufferers never tic in their sleep.