Comments on: What world are we talking about here?

By: Corpsebride

Corpsebride — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 22:39:57 +0000

This article cracked me right up. You have a great sense of humour.

Ritualistic repetitive movements? Playing tennis, that’s repetitive, not to mention the audience members who rock side to side and turn their heads left, right, left, right. Members of the clergy performing the same ritualistic words and motions numerous times in one week. Nail biters, thumbsuckers, pencil chewers. You get the picture. We all do it.

As for going into “your own world.” We all do that too if it means thinking our own thoughts while staring into space and not engaging others. I do it all the time. I was at a meeting with a fiend recently and she mentioned at the break that she got a bit bored and “went into her own thoughts.” Her words.

Next time someone accuses you of being in your own world, tell them if they were not so effing boring you might be more willing ti listen to them.

By: codeman38

codeman38 — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 19:34:23 +0000

On the topic of moving 'up' the spectrum, I think one of the best rebuttals I've seen to that whole concept is Zilari's unsent letter to her psychiatrist. On the topic of being 'in one's own world'... yes, I can understand its use for when someone really is daydreaming or otherwise retreating into private thoughts, but you're right, that seems to be a false assumption on the part of the NT writer in this particular case. I am quite well known for retreating into my own thoughts, but my behavior in that situation is notably different from what's described in those quotes, and I'm generally quite calm; when I'm doing things like stimming, that's usually because I'm trying to deal with the external world!

By: chris

chris — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 01:05:30 +0000

I’m so happy to have found this blog :) (errr…. this is natureloverchris from ASA if you remember me)

I can also actually be more aware when I appear “lost in my world”. It’s not a phrase I like. One of the replies said there’s nothing prejorative in the phrase, but I’ve certainly had it used as such.

It’s odd, because I just came across a post in a different group that really annoyed me. The poster was talking about choosing her type of mental illness. “I would also like be autistic so I wouldn’t connect to people and their emotions and end up hurt, I would prefer to be in the closed world of an autistic.”

By: andrea

andrea — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 21:03:41 +0000

My mom would complain at me, “You’re always off in your own little world!”
At which point I would wonder to myself, “Whom else’s world would I be in?” Duh!
I think a lot of that whining on her part was her narcissism — I wasn’t paying attention to HER, or I wasn’t acting appropriately for her to show me off to others.

Maybe NTs are actually a bit jealous of being able to focus and think so deeply about something, dunno. Frankly, the daydreaming & hyperfocus is something I would never want to lose. Therein is where I am able to corral the confetti of miscellaneous thoughts that otherwise swarm about me in the wind tunnel that is being involved in the everyday sensory world, and I can put those thoughts together into mosaics of new ideas.

(I have no idea if I rock when I’m doing this.)

By: M

Mon, 03 Jul 2006 07:51:12 +0000

Straightforward projection in my case, which I hadn’t really questioned until now. When I look like the autistic kids I see (in terms of odd movements, or lack of response etc) I’m daydreaming, and very much in the world inside my head. The identification is made, and so the assumption is also made. I wouldn’t make that assumption for stimming though – I’d probably be looking for what was exciting/upsetting the person then.

We’re back again to ‘NTs are these weird people who are deluded enough to think they can mind-read’ aren’t we?

Because of personal projection I also wouldn’t see it as a negative thing; I’m usually very content while daydreaming, and think daydreaming is very important (only way to stay sane in long meetings), so I’d see being off in your own world as positive.

By: natalia

natalia — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 12:36:07 +0000

PS: Must be that they say you are lost in a world of your own becos THEY can’t find YOU, but they assume the reverse.
I am pretty sure i have said this of autistic people before, back when i didn’t realize…

By: natalia

natalia — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 12:33:10 +0000

all i know is, i can be a lot more disconnected from the stuff happening around me without doing anything that looks autistic. like just reading or drawing or being online or something.

By: Rose

Rose — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 10:46:44 +0000

LB—we sound like twins. I think I’ll have my husband read your post so he knows I’m not the only one who is like that, and he’s not the only one to suffer.

Ballastexistenz once again uses divine logic. It took me a while to see the simplicity of , “Okay…what world are they in?”.

By: bethduckie

bethduckie — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 10:25:29 +0000

The moving ‘up’ the spectrum thing is just odd. There are people who consider Boy has moved up the spectrum because he’s made very good progress, but I just call that very good progress. He isnt less or more autistic than he used to be, he just has more years of experience, education and maturity to draw from. Of course he’s going to be more capable at eight than two…

On the other hand I know Asperger’s autistics who seem to have far more issues with sensory sensitivities, for example, are they somehow more autistic than my ‘classic/’low functioning’/ Kanner/ insert label of choice’ diagnosed boy?

By: LB

LB — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 16:52:22 +0000

I tend to become so focused and that bothers my husband because he will claim that he was standing right next to me and talking to me and I will not have even seen him or heard what he was saying. Not confidence building for him I’m sure. I told him if it is important to make sure he really has my attention and not just assume (lol). But sometimes because of sensory issues I need to become totally relaxed and choose not respond until I feel like I have quieted down. I am not unaware though – it is more of a coping thing. I used to do some pretty “strange” things when I was a kid too – but I didn’t have a label of AS (wasn’t available when I was a kid) so I was just weird. Weird gives you alot more latitude though to possibly being very eccentric or creative. Once people get a certain label though than others put their notions onto each behavior. If they think negatively about a label then their attitude about the behaviors can reflect that. Being in your own world could be a good thing if someone was thought to be a genius.