Very cool, if true

There are a fair number of theories which point towards geeks being further along the aspergers/autism scale than non-geeks.

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kellibunny.livejournal.com

Oh i would definately agree. i have 3 exes now that fit that description and knew right away that they were different (in good and in negative ways)... and yet, i'm still attracted to geeks.

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That's because Geeks are great. We may require more effort, but it pays off.

Nerds, on the other hand...

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kellibunny.livejournal.com

yes. *smile*

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Me too.

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Apparently lots of fans read lists of symptoms and conclude that they/their friends have Asperger's. I'm dubious about this: I have a friend whose son has high-functioning Asperger's and it really doesn't sound like the kind of thing that you suddenly realise you have when you're an adult... it reminds me of a girlfriend who told me she was allergic to cheese.

So naturally when I cooked for her (me being vegetarian) I worked hard at avoiding dairy generally and didn't use any cheese.

Then I discovered the exceedingly large lump of very delicious Parmesan imported directly from Italy in her fridge, and she said "Yes, I seem to be okay if I just eat a little bit of very intense cheese."

Thought but did not say: "Ah yes, the American definition of an allergy - not a serious, potentially life-threatening condition, but a dietary preference backed up by medical fakery."

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Actual Aspergers is pretty damned unlikely.

Tendencies in that direction somewhat moreso - aspergers seems to be part of a scale of human expression.

Did eating more than a small amount of cheese make your ex feel ill? It may well be that she did have cheese-related problems, but not at the same level as a full-blown allergy.

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Did eating more than a small amount of cheese make your ex feel ill?

Don't know. Since she'd claimed allergy, I never served her cheese except in the form of grated, in a bowl, to be added optionally, and I never saw her eat more than a little. She may well have had some kind of reaction to cheese that she identified as "an allergy", but a real allergy is nothing you mess around with by only eating small quantities.

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"Cheese related problems"?

Somehow this makes me laugh..

Possibly reading too much Fforde..

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wolfieboy.livejournal.com

I would hope that you might give a little more credit to someone who says "They don't trust their own judgement in this." I've read many papers as well as a book on it. But I'm not a professional and while an argument could be made, it would still be an argument. I had *something* but since I've been able to mostly adjust, the point is moot.

I have had two psychiatrists and one neurologist diagnose me as ADD. I take meds for that. The meds take care of my ADD problems and the socialization ones are pretty much unaffected. But as I said, I've developed excellent coping mechanisms.

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It's actually the case that some lactose-intolerant people can eat hard cheese (and yogurt, I think) without any trouble, because of the enzymes contained therein.

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akicif.livejournal.com

I'd very much doubt that - or at least the part after the "because", anyway. Any proteins in hard cheeses are far more denatured than those in soft cheeses, and as denaturing a protein seriously changes its shape, the odds of geting any enzyme activity are minimal to say the least.

Of course, it's not impossible that there's less lactose in hard cheeses....

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google reveals that you're right (it's because hard cheeses contain no or very little lactose), and my explanation was bogus.

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I have a friend whose son has high-functioning Asperger's and it really doesn't sound like the kind of thing that you suddenly realise you have when you're an adult...

I sprt f agree on this.. yet half of the US seems to have sddenly discovered they're ADD - which in this country is still regarded as something you get diagnosed with alomst exclusively in childhood. So maybe it's all fashions i diagnosis. Alternatel;y, it's a way to get free speed on prescription.

(The fact that so many people seem to think they're Asperger-ish when it DOESN@T give you acces to any euphoric drugs - to my knowledge - seems to point to people getting something out of the diagnosis even if it's worong.)

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redshira.livejournal.com

I have a friend whose son has high-functioning Asperger's and it really doesn't sound like the kind of thing that you suddenly realise you have when you're an adult

No, but you might suddenly hear of it, do some research into it, and realise what it was that had made life so difficult, and why it was you'd always felt different, been told you were behaving inappropriately, etc etc - as I did. It wasn't until about a year ago when I met one of my now-closest friends, who has AS herself, that I'd even heard of it. It's made my life much easier to understand and manage since I found out.

It does seem to have become something of a trendy thing to say you have, which is deeply irritating because it means that people think they know what it's like to live with an autistic-spectrum condition and it can be easily dimissed (eg my brother, when I tried to explain some Aspie traits, telling me "Oh, that's just absent-mindedness, I get that, everyone gets that"); it also means that many people who genuinely do have it, but who have learned to cope after a fashion, are disbelieved.

As to the allergy thing: she would probably have been more accurate saying she has an intolerance to cheese. My girlfriend and I are allergic to mushrooms and will NOT touch them; they won't kill us, but we will get migraines, feel/be sick, and in my girlfriend's case even a tiny, undetectable speck of mushroom will cause a nosebleed. I'm nitpicky, yes, and I hate people using the word "allergy" when "intolerance" will do. I have many food intolerances but only that one allergy.

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redshira.livejournal.com

Also, I am a fool who should have gone to bed by now, judging by my inability to close a simple html tag.

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I'm nitpicky, yes, and I hate people using the word "allergy" when "intolerance" will do.

Exactly.

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opusfluke.livejournal.com

Right- If I take penicillin I am violently sick. My Beloved Supervixen can not take penicilin as her throat will close up and she will die unless injected with adrenalin. To this end I am allergic as it's better to be safe than sorry, she is EXTREMELY careful. My immune system is hyper: blue cheese also makes me vomit as does live yogurt (though I can eat it in coked foods and processed also makes me sick but this might be a conditioned reflex). I leave you to decide which of us is intolerant and which allergic.

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I have mediocre social skills, but I've learned to fake better ones quite well.

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How is a fake social skill different from a real one?

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Miss Manners calls the fake sort "etiquette". Good stuff. Use thickly for best effects.

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See, though, I think of "social skills" as consisting of a set of complicated rules; people who have social skills have internalized these rules and can apply them without thinking about it. If you are "faking social skills", then, you must also have some grasp of these rules; so what's "fake" about it? What's the missing piece that a person who truly has good social skills has?

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There's a different between mechanically following the rules and knowing how the system works.

(nearly) Anyone can follow a recipe - far less people seem to be able to just grab some ingredients and make a delivious meal.

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Now we're getting into the Chinese room argument. I wouldn't say that a person who can cook from recipes but can't cook a great meal without one is "faking" cooking skills -- I'd just say that such a person has some cooking skills, but isn't a great cook. Would you?

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"Faking it" is obviously a bit of hyperbole, but I don't think we've reached a Serlean catastrophe - there's an external observable difference between someone who can follow rules (even internal rules) and someone who can be creative with them.

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Actually this is very near the root of the original question. i would say you (Andy, not K) have learnt some (not all) of your social skills by close observation which most/many people simply "had" instinctively. This is not the same as being "not socially skilled". Whether learnt/instinctive is better or worse - is a whole other argument. (Take sex. Most people who refuse to learn any sexual technique from past relationships , reading books, watching vids, talking to girls etc, are crap in bed. is "instinct" always best? Of course some people no doubt are naturally born afficianados de les sheets..)

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Some people seem to do the right thing in any circumstances just naturally. Whether it's really natural or they too consider themselves to be fakers, who knows? They'd be too polite to say, and I fake it too well to ask.

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