In regard to the correctly published Asperger traits known so far (there are tons of myths), I embody just about all of them. I have one characteristic ability however that seems to be more advanced than even most neurotypicals have and this trait is something aspies are not supposed to be good at doing. It’s the ability to read an emotion by viewing only the eyes. I received an excellent score on Simon Baron-Cohen’s¹ Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test. According to the experts, this isn’t supposed to happen. Unfortunately, I have no way of knowing how long I’ve had this ability. It could be that I mastered the skill of decoding facial expressions through trial and error over the decades of my life or maybe there is some other unknown reason (like spiritual discernment?) for my being able to do this.
I can only guess that people might think I’m not reading their non-verbal message correctly since I don’t respond the way people typically do. That should be expected because I don’t think the same way most people do. There is no way for others to know and/or understand this given that they’re most likely not going to be motived enough to put forth the effort that’s needed in order to do so and, even if they were motived enough, intelligence levels are another factor.
I shall pass along the forth paragraph of a great post² titled Aspie mutants will rule from a blog I came across, since I think this could possibly be one explanation for my ability to read eyes:
This Aspie ”true mind” knows what it’s doing; the wonderful plasticity of the brain is allowing a routing around the different functioning of the amygdala to utlimately develop the emotional connections to social cues that the neurotypical world takes for granted. The more often an Aspie can follow her true mind, the quicker this can happen. Taking the “long way home” is a great benefit; the aspie high intelligence is coupled with atypical solution focus, highly visual/spatial thinking, and flexible reasoning: this allows for amazing insights that the neruotypicall—socially bound as we are—may lack the chops for.
I find it interesting that most neurotypicals incorrectly read my emotions when my emotions are not intense. I can only guess that what has caused me to doubt what I was decoding from someone’s eyes, in a face-to-face situation, has come from not knowing NTs love to play games.³ I first became aware of this when I read:
Now, you probably find this incredible. “Why would they play games like this with people they purport to like?” Well, most NTs love the game of socialization. Not only that, they assume everyone else does, too, so they don’t think of it as offensive to play the game with one another. Moreover, they are so deep into the game that few are aware of it. But really, it fuels their interest in attending gatherings. They get a rush from the game, like a good set of tennis.
This vital insight is a direct quote from a wonderful article on WrongPlanet.net titled Can Aspies Make Friends and Have Dates? It’s truly stated that few are aware of playing this game. My daughter (an NT) didn’t even realize it until after I explained this to her; then she agreed with me and is now able to notice this going on at social gatherings. She was stunned over how easy it is to not see this and how easy it is for me to see it. I described it to her as it being like watching actors go on stage and perform a play. It’s a totally different scene when a crowd exists as compared to one-on-one contact.
The more I study about Aspergers, the more convinced I become (along with many others) that Aspergers is not part of the autism spectrum. To claim Aspergers is high-functioning autism causes tremendous confusion. If all the wrong information about Aspergers that has been allowed to already root itself into society does not change, then you can be sure that it’s going to take a very long time and a lot of money wasted before there is hope for the world to better understand the ways different minds function. Since honesty, impatience, and a love for money don’t usually mix well, most likely the truth about Aspergers will have to come from aspies who are critical and independent thinkers.
[Edit added on 12-7-8] → Since the precedent has been set by those who claim Aspergers is high-functioning autism without there being sufficient proof to back up such a statement, then there is no reason others cannot claim the opposite by saying Aspergers is not autism.
¹Simon is Sacha Noam Baron Cohen’s cousin (the actor who played the role of Borat in the film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan).
²I don’t agree with 100% of the post, but then rarely does anyone agree with 100% of what another person says when he or she is saying a lot. Personally, I believe it’s misleading to give the impression that Aspergers AND autism are evolutionary. I’d rather term them as being ‘revelationary’.
³This love for social game playing is an extremely difficult concept for most aspies to comprehend.
