Tag: Aspergers

Aspergers2 Comments

I’m Willing To Admit The Link Between Autism &Asperger’s, But…

RJ Walters

I have been on the fence about folding Asperger’s into the Autism Spectrum as I see only disadvantages to us Aspies by doing that. Especially since, to the public, Autism is seen as a young person crouching in the corner twitching and babbling. Many Aspies are in fact are in the upper echelons of IQ and can do many things better than most others (called NT for neurotypicals). Maybe some day Autism will finally be understood as a spectrum as wide as humanity itself, eliminating the Aspie label would not have the negative consequences it does now. But, I don’t … Continue reading I’m Willing To Admit The Link Between Autism &Asperger’s, But…

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“Favorites” Sunday

RJ Walters

For the next few Sundays I am going to be looking back at the 10+ years of RJsCorner to resurrect some of my favorite posts from the past. I mean those posts where I swell up when I read them again. The first of those favorites is what this post is all about.

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Aspies & Empathy

RJ Walters

It’s time that I put out another post about Asperger’s Syndrome and why I say I have Aspie traits. It is often said that Aspies don’t have empathy. With this post, I want to try to convince you that is not true using some things I have learned and with some personal examples. That is what this post is about.

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Aspergers, Having My Say, Personal Favorites2 Comments

Autism In The Elderly?

RJ Walters

When I got a recent comment from one of my regular viewers I realized it was time for another post about Autism. This one is about senior citizens who are autistic but are generally undiagnosed.  A recognized statistics is that there are over a million of us that are autistic in the Baby Boomer generation alone. Even if those million were suddenly officially diagnosed to be autistic it is very doubtful that any but a small percentage of them would even accept that fact.  It is kind of like another area that I am familiar with and that is hearing … Continue reading Autism In The Elderly?

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Aspie Trait #2 – We are honest to a fault

RJ Walters

   We Aspies are usually brutally honest and speak our mind. Our allegiance is to the truth, not people’s feelings. Most people learn not to tell the truth all the time. Sometimes white lies need to be said so as not to hurt friends’ feelings. But white lies just seem immoral or at least illogical to many of us Aspies. Of course, being brutally honest is not the way to make friends at least at a casual level so many of us lack those kinds of friendship growing up. I realize that I sometimes hurt people’s feeling here on RJsCorner by … Continue reading Aspie Trait #2 – We are honest to a fault

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Aspie Trait #1: We Don’t All Have The Same Traits Or Severity

RJ Walters

I thought as part of the RJsCorner rework I would add a weekly snippet about Asperger’s Traits.  I want to emphasize here that I am not an “expert” on this condition but I have apparently lived with it most of my life and I have also done quite a bit of study on the topic over the last few months. Since everyone seems to like numbered lists that will be the format these posts will take. The numbers are only the order of presentation and have nothing to do with priority. Let’s get started. It hasn’t always been so but Asperger’s … Continue reading Aspie Trait #1: We Don’t All Have The Same Traits Or Severity

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I Am Just Not a “Niche” Guy…

RJ Walters

  For my weekly bio post I thought I would talk a little about my blogging processes in particular but more generally about my thought processes which due to Aspergers is probably different than yours. Many of the more successful blogs around the Internet are niche blogs, that is they concentrate on one particular topic. Many that I read are of the retirement genre. Their readers pretty much know what they are going to get when they go to their sites. As they say like-minded people like to congregate together, especially during these trying times so they don’t want any surprises and … Continue reading I Am Just Not a “Niche” Guy…

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Being Interrupted …

RJ Walters

   Here is another post pointing out some of my neurodiverse characteristics associated with Aspergers Syndrome. If you interrupt me when I am in the middle of something I may smile at you and pretend everything is okay but on the inside I am beginning to boil. Hopefully you will let me return to my task and finish what I was doing. Stopping in the middle of a task creates a panic in me that is hard to justify. I just need to finish what I am working on or come to a reasonable stopping point. My working memory is … Continue reading Being Interrupted …

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Part 10 – My Venture Into Asperger’s – Closing Thoughts For This Series..

RJ Walters

  This is Part 10 of 10 of My Venture Into Asperger’s. This post is primarily about my closing thoughts of what I have learned about myself and the Asperger’s Syndrome in general. When I discovered that I might be an Aspie I searched the web for info about this condition and found that I share many characteristics with the neurodiverse population.  Before I get into personal details about this topic lets look at the idea of neurodiversity from Wikipedia: Neurodiversity is an approach to learning and disability that suggests that diverse neurological conditions appear as a result of normal variations in the human genome. This portmanteau of neurological and diversity originated in the late … Continue reading Part 10 – My Venture Into Asperger’s – Closing Thoughts For This Series..

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Part 9 – My Adventure Into Aspergers – What To Do??

RJ Walters

This is Part 9 of 10 of My Venture Into Asperger’s.  This post is primarily about my what should I do with my new found knowledge. After about two months of studies I am convinced that I exhibit in some degree Asperger’s Syndrome characteristics. That conclusion brings up the question “Now What??” What do I do with this new found information?  I am seventy year old today, do I really need any professional pronouncement of its validity? There is no cure for Aspergers as it is not a disease but instead neurological traits. One of the books I read during this study was from … Continue reading Part 9 – My Adventure Into Aspergers – What To Do??

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Part 8 – My Venture Into Asperger’s – Myths..

RJ Walters

  This is Part 8 of 10 of My Venture Into Asperger’s.  This post is primarily about myths that have grown up around Asperger’s and Autism in general. Since the source is rather long I have edited it somewhat and  will for the most part let it stand by itself..  Myth:Asperger’s Syndrome only affects children: Therefore adults can and should grow out of it with time.Many people have a tendency to think that Asperger’s Syndrome only affects children and that adults can and should be capable of growing out of it. Such thinking has evolved in parallel with the idea that all children with … Continue reading Part 8 – My Venture Into Asperger’s – Myths..

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Part 7 – My Venture Into Aspergers – The Aspie Quiz

RJ Walters

  This is Part 7 of 10 of My Venture Into Asperger’s.  This post is primarily about the Aspie Quiz. After studying this condition for a good while I took the Aspie Quiz. The Quiz is a pre-diognostic tool to help determine if you might be autistic.  The quiz is a group of 50 questions that are rated on a scale of 1 to 6. The answers to the questions are grouped in various categories including: Talent, Perceptions, Communications, Relationships, and Social skills. After completing the quiz I was given the results as shown below. It took some time to really determine what … Continue reading Part 7 – My Venture Into Aspergers – The Aspie Quiz

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Part 6 – My Venture Into Asperger’s – Body Language

RJ Walters

  This is Part 6 of 10 of My Venture Into Asperger’s. As usual I will start out with a personal story and then show how that links into Asperger’s. This post is primarily about my body language. I have never thought too much about body language. I know I am told that it is a very significant part of communications but I just don’t see how that is? Since I am now deaf and the auditory world no longer exists I no longer can read the tone of a conversation and I know that is a problem. It is like many conversation here … Continue reading Part 6 – My Venture Into Asperger’s – Body Language

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Part 5 – My Venture Into Asperger’s – Eye Contact

RJ Walters

This is Part 5 of 10 of My Venture Into Asperger’s and it is a biggie for me. As usual I will start out with a personal story and then show how that links into Asperger’s. This post is primarily about my struggles with eye contact. To most people eye contact, that is looking into the eyes of the person you are talking to, is a normal process. To me it is quite painful and it always has been.  It is as though I am looking into that person’s soul and that is just someplace I don’t want to go. Whenever I do … Continue reading Part 5 – My Venture Into Asperger’s – Eye Contact

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My Venture Into Asperger’s – Arrogance and Criticism..

RJ Walters

   This is Part 4 of 10 of My Venture Into Asperger’s. As usual I will start out with a personal story and then show how that links into my study of this syndrome. This post will among other things be about my struggles with criticism. As a young boy I had troubles fitting in to the group mode. I always felt like I just didn’t belong. Because I had a low self-esteem in those years I  compensated by just being by myself most of the time.  I couldn’t understand the behaviors of my peers so I withdrew from them.  As I grew older … Continue reading My Venture Into Asperger’s – Arrogance and Criticism..

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Feminine vs Macho…

RJ Walters

   This is Part 2 of 10 of My Venture Into Asperger’s.  In my previous post I reported how I was a late-bloomer in the relationship field. This time I want to talk about feminine and ‘macho’ things. Even as a young child macho was a very negative trait to me.  Simply speaking I hated it.  I’m sure the word macho means different things to different people so to the right is the definition that I use. IN my mind macho is almost synonymous with being a bully. There is nothing manly about it. I knew being a boy I was supposed to be macho but the … Continue reading Feminine vs Macho…

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Caught Between Two Worlds….

RJ Walters

This post is part of my continuing study of the Autism spectrum and particularly Asperger’s Syndrome. I am stuck between two worlds in my life.  I am a deaf man who lives almost exclusively in the hearing world but neither the hearing world or the deaf world considers me a homeboy.  I am seldom around other deaf people so I can’t speak for them but since almost 80% of us deafies are like me in that they went deaf later in life ways maybe I do.  One of my goals via this blog and a few other forums, is to help the … Continue reading Caught Between Two Worlds….