Nerdy, Shy, and Socially Inappropriate

I’ve learned to recognize the signs of withdrawal. The first is a sudden heavy sleepiness.

If I sit down to write an essay for English class with the idea that I will either produce the perfect essay or I will produce garbage

makes it harder for the top down system to intentionally “pay attention” to something. Difficulties with attention can make it hard to concentrate, especially on activities that aren’t intrinsically interesting. People who struggle with attention may also find it hard to finish what they start, focus on one thing a time, stick to a schedule, be on time for activities or block out environmental distractions.

Even the simplest decisions can tie me up in knots. In part, this is because my poor natural decision-making skills have led me to develop some less-than-helpful workarounds when it comes to decision making, including:

an Aspie, this is a familiar occurrence. It happens when someone asks me what I want to eat or what my favorite color is or where I want to go on vacation. In my head, these questions have an infinite number of possible answers and I don’t know how to begin narrowing the possibilities down.

In other words, if you’re autistic, you’re probably somewhat clumsy and you probably always will be, but no one really knows why.

I’ve never liked the feeling of water spraying on my face (oddly, I’m fine with having my face underwater).

can make out entire conversations. In restaurants, my brain automatically tracks conversations at all of the nearby tables, making it a challenge to concentrate on what’s being said at my own table.

was being funny, but sometimes Aspies do take on another person as a special interest. If that person is a celebrity, the Aspie can safely spend hours learning about and admiring that person from afar.

Yet, when I’m alone, I rarely feel lonely. If I were writing the thesaurus entries for alone, the synonyms would include: authentic, free, individual, indulgent, open, peaceful, protected, pure, quiet, rejuvenating, solitary.