AspieSaurus

I saw a blog post on PsychologyToday earlier today that I wanted to share. While not directly related to Asperger's Syndrome or autism, I thought that this link would be especially helpful for those on the spectrum. Even if you follow my previous advice for making new friends, it can even more difficult to maintain your newly formed friendships. Maybe the advice in this article can help:

Eight Tips for Maintaining Friendships

There are a lot of myths and misunderstandings surrounding Asperger's Syndrome and autism. Here is a link to an article that outlines some myths and facts about Asperger's:

12 Common Myths About Asperger’s Syndrome

People with Asperger's syndrome usually don't have the best social skills and making friends in college can be difficult even for NTs, and may seem almost impossible for aspies. There are some things you can do to make it easier to form social connections with other students at your college.

If you're like me, you might be tempted to just get away from campus as soon as you can when you're not in class (especially if you commute). Why would you want to stay there when you don't have to be there? But if you want to make any friends, you almost have to be on campus for at least some amount of time when you're not in class.

Most colleges have student lounges all over campus. A good way to make friends is to become a regular at a specific lounge and talk to the students there. You might find that people with certain interests tend to congregate in certain lounges. For example, gamers might all sit together in a certain area playing video games (if your college provides TVs for students. Sounds weird, but mine does) and other types of games. If you see someone who seems to have a common interest with you, go up to them and start a conversation about the topic. They might want to talk or they might not, but you will never know unless you take the risk.

If you do decide to talk to someone, try to keep the conversation a dialog rather than a monologue. If you keep going on and on about your interests, as aspies tend to do, and don't allow the other person to contribute to the conversation, they will get bored very quickly and will become annoyed with you.
This blog post from PsychologyToday might help you to make sure that you are not boring the person you are trying to talk to: Eight Tips to Know If You're Being Boring.

You also might want to join a club. Colleges usually have many student clubs that meet on campus. It shouldn't be that hard to find something you're interested in. There are usually clubs for every interest from anime to computers to religion. Clubs can be a great way to meet like-minded people with similar interests.

You can also make new friends in your classes. Classes that require you to work closely with other people, such as those that include labs, while intimidating at first, can be a great way to form relationships with other people. Classes that require discussion amongst students, such as English classes that focus on reading and discussing literature or your own original work (such as fiction or poetry writing classes) are also good if you want to make friends in classes. Certain classes that focus on physical activity, such as sports or fitness classes, may also provide an environment that makes connecting with other students easier. Asking classmates questions pertaining to classes, even lecture classes that don't allow much socializing opportunities during class time, can also help break the ice and lead to conversations about other topics.

If you aren't on social networking sites like FaceBook, it may be beneficial to create a profile. Even though FaceBook does seem pointless, it does make it easier to keep up with friends. Especially if you don't like talking on the phone, FaceBook can allow you to keep up the appearances of actually wanting to talk to people. It is also usually easier to talk to people online via social networking sites, instant messengers, and email rather than on the phone before you get comfortable around them.

Even if it doesn't seem that important to you to make friends, having social connections can greatly help you in finding a job later.

Sorry I haven't really been updating much. Spring semester just started and I have classes every day now.

Anyway, I thought I'd post a video about how students with Asperger's Syndrome make the transfer from high school to college. The video about Marshall University specifically (not my school), but should be helpful for aspie students no matter where you choose to go to school. Personally, I don't take advantage of any special needs services at my school, but some students might find that such services are helpful.

The video is almost ten minutes long.

This video contains information about women who have Asperger's Syndrome, including the experiences of a female aspie.

In 2012, the American Psychiatric Association may be doing away with the diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome from the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). Pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) may be removed from the next edition of the DSM as well.

The proposed changes to the manual are meant to eliminate the different labels associated with autism spectrum disorders, and instead focus on the severity of a person's autism, with labels such as "most severe" and "less severe."

Some reasons the APA cites for combining all forms of autism into one broad diagnostic category are that a single spectrum is more reflective of the symptoms of autism, the separation of different conditions within the autism spectrum is inconsistent and variable, and that individuals are already often diagnosed by the severity of their symptoms rather than with a specific condition.

Some possible problems with this proposed plan to remove the diagnosis of Asperger's is that it may discourage some people from seeking a diagnosis, as some more high functioning individuals who would otherwise be diagnosed with Asperger's may not want the label of autism. It may also complicate the decisions regarding who gets government benefits, as some states will provide benefits for autism, but not for AS.

I don't really have an opinion about this either way. I don't really see Asperger's as any less stigmatizing than autism, and I don't think that this plan would really deter anyone from seeking a diagnosis. If someone's symptoms are severe enough that the really see benefits from getting a diagnosis, they shouldn't care what that diagnosis is. And as far as government benefits go, this could possibly help more people get help from the government. Of course, they could always say that only those with more severe symptoms get benefits.

The APA will also solicit feedback from the general public before any final decisions are made.

Source: No More Asperger’s Syndrome? | Psychology Today

A ten-minute documentary about autism. This video includes interviews with neurotypical and autistic individuals about how they see autism.

When you first find out that you have (or may have) Asperger's or High Functioning Autism, you may find that you want to learn how to better blend into neurotypical society, as nothing could be worse than having people see you only as your "disability" rather than as the individual you are. One easy solution is eye contact.

Eye contact comes so naturally to most NTs that they don't even think about it, but for an aspie, making and maintaining eye contact can be difficult or extremely uncomfortable

Neurotypicals expect that the people they are trying to communicate with will maintain eye contact with them, and they tend to get upset or unsettled when there is no eye contact being made. They tend to see the lack of eye contact as a sign of dishonesty or disinterest.

While simply making eye contact won't make you appear completely "normal, it can make you seem a little less "strange" to NTs. If you make a conscious effort to make and maintain eye contact, you will be able to communicate a lot more effectively and you will be able to more easily be part of society as a whole. It might take some practice at first to become comfortable with eye contact, and you will need to learn how to look into someone's eyes without seeming like you're "staring" (too much or too intense eye contact can make NTs just as uneasy as too little. I know, it's confusing).

You may want to practice eye contact while talking with someone you are very comfortable with (if any such person exists), such as a parent, sibling, friend, or lover. This will be much less intimidating than trying to look a stranger in the eyes.

If actually making eye contact is too difficult or uncomfortable, one alternative that I've found to be useful is looking at the other person's nose. When I look at a person I'm speaking to, though I can usually make eye contact now (after starting to make a conscious effort to do so a few years ago), my natural inclination is to look at their mouth (that is, after all, the part of their fact that is doing the most movement) if I'm looking at their face at all. If I think about it, I simply move my gaze up about an inch to their nose if for some reason I don't feel comfortable actually looking at their eyes. They usually won't be able to tell that you aren't actually looking at their eyes.

Here is another video from YouTube. This one is about depression and anxiety, and how they relate to Asperger's.

Here is a video about girls with Asperger's Syndrome that I found on YouTube, which focuses mostly on the social aspects of girls with AS. It is all text with music and pictures.

The purpose of this blog is to share resources and insights relating to Asperger's Syndrome.