What does AS look like?

Cognitive Characteristics:
  • Susceptibility to distraction
  • Difficulty in expressing emotions
  • Mental shutdown response to conflicting demands and multi-tasking
  • Generalized confusion during periods of stress
  • Low understanding of the reciprocal rules of conversation: interrupting, dominating, minimum participation, difficult in shifting topics, problem with initiating or terminating conversation, subject perseveration
  • Insensitivity to the non-verbal cues of others (stance, posture, facial expressions)
  • Perseveration best characterized by the term “bulldog tenacity”
  • Literal interpretation of instructions (failure to read between the lines)
  • Interpreting words and phrases literally (problem with colloquialisms, cliches, neologism, turns of phrase, common humorous expressions)
  • Preference for visually oriented instruction and training
  • Dependence on step-by-step learning procedures (disorientation occurs when a step is assumed, deleted, or otherwise overlooked in instruction)
  • Difficulty in generalizing
  • Preference for repetitive, often simple routines
  • Difficulty in understanding rules for games of social entertainment
  • Missing or misconstruing others’ agendas, priorities, preferences
  • Impulsiveness
  • Compelling need to finish one task completely before starting another
  • Rigid adherence to rules and routines
  • Difficulty in interpreting meaning to others’ activities; difficulty in drawing relationships between an activity or event and ideas
  • Exquisite attention to detail, principally visual, or details which can be visualized (”Thinking in Pictures”) or cognitive details (often those learned by rote)
  • Concrete thinking
  • Distractibility due to focus on external or internal sensations, thoughts, and/or sensory input (appearing to be in a world of one’s own or day-dreaming)
  • Difficulty in assessing relative importance of details (an aspect o the trees/forest problem)
  • Poor judgment of when a task is finished (often attributable to perfectionism or an apparent unwillingness to follow differential standards for quality)
  • Difficulty in imagining others’ thoughts in a similar or identical event or circumstance that are different from one’s own (”Theory of Mind” issues)
  • Difficulty with organizing and sequencing (planning and execution; successful performance of tasks in a logical, functional order)
  • Difficulty in assessing cause and effect relationships (behaviors and consequences)
  • An apparent lack of “common sense”
  • Relaxation techniques and developing recreational “release” interest may require formal instruction
  • Rage, tantrum, shutdown, self-isolating reactions appearing “out of nowhere”
  • Substantial hidden self-anger, anger towards others, and resentment
  • Difficulty in estimating time to complete tasks
  • Difficulty in learning self-monitoring techniques
  • Disinclination to produce expected results in an orthodox manner
  • Psychometric testing shows great deviance between verbal and performance results
  • Extreme reaction to changes in routine, surroundings, people
  • Stilted, pedantic conversational style (”The Professor”)

Social Characteristics:

  • Difficulty in accepting criticism or correction
  • Difficulty in offering correction or criticism without appearing harsh, pedantic or insensitive
  • Difficulty in perceiving and applying unwritten social rules or protocols
  • “Immature” manners
  • Failure to distinguish between private and public personal care habits: i.e., brushing, public attention to skin problems, nose picking, teeth picking, ear canal cleaning, clothing arrangement
  • Lack of?trust in others
  • Shyness
  • Low or no conversational participation in group meetings or conferences
  • Constant anxiety about performance and acceptance, despite recognition and commendation
  • Scrupulous honesty, often expressed in an apparently disarming or inappropriate manner or setting
  • Bluntness in emotional expression
  • Discomfort manipulating or “playing games” with others
  • Unmodulated reaction in being manipulated, patronized, or “handled” by others
  • Low to medium level of paranoia
  • Low to no apparent sense of humor; bizarre sense of humor (often stemming from a “private” internal thread of humor being inserted in public conversation without preparation or warming others up to the reason for the “punchline”)
  • Difficulty with reciprocal displays of pleasantries and greetings
  • Problems expressing empathy or comfort to/with others: sadness, condolence, congratulations, etc.
  • Pouting,, ruminating, fixating on bad experiences with people or events for an inordinate length of time
  • Difficulty with adopting a social mask to obscure real feelings, moods, reactions
  • Using social masks inappropriately (you are “xv” while everyone else is ????)
  • Abrupt and strong expression of likes and dislikes
  • Rigid adherence to rules and social conventions where flexibility is desirable
  • Apparent absence of relaxation, recreational, or “time out” activities
  • “Serious” all the time
  • Known for single-mindedness
  • Flash temper
  • Tantrums
  • Excessive talk
  • Difficulty in forming friendships and intimate relationships; difficulty in distinguishing between acquaintance and friendship
  • Social isolation and intense concern for privacy
  • Limited clothing preference; discomfort with formal attire or uniforms
  • Preference for bland or bare environments in living arrangements
  • Difficulty judging others’ personal space
  • Limited by intensely pursued interests
  • Often perceived as “being in their own world”

 Work Characteristics:

  • Many of the manifestations found in the categories above can immediately translate into work behaviors or preferences. Here are some additional ones:
  • Difficulty with “teamwork”
  • Deliberate withholding of peak performance due to belief that one’s best efforts may remain unrecognized, unrewarded, or appropriated by others
  • Intense pride in expertise or performance, often perceived by others as “flouting behavior”
  • Sarcasm, negativism, criticism
  • Difficulty in accepting compliments, often responding with quizzical or self-deprecatory language
  • Tendency to “lose it” during sensory overload, multitask demands, or when contradictory and confusing priorities have been set
  • Difficult in starting project
  • Discomfort with competition, out of scale reactions to losing
  • Low motivation to perform tasks of no immediate personal interest
  • Oversight or forgetting of tasks without formal reminders such as lists or schedules
  • Great concern about order and appearance of personal work area
  • Slow performance
  • Perfectionism
  • Difficult with unstructured time
  • Reluctance to ask for help or seek comfort
  • Excessive questions
  • Low sensitivity to risks in the environment to self and/or others
  • Difficulty with writing and reports
  • Reliance on internal speech process to “talk” oneself through a task or procedure
  • Stress, frustration and anger reaction to interruptions
  • Difficulty in negotiating either in conflict situations or as a self-advocate
  • Ver low level of assertiveness
  • Reluctance to accept positions of authority or supervision
  • Strong desire to coach or mentor newcomers
  • Difficulty in handling relationships with authority figures
  • Often viewed as vulnerable or less able to resist harassment and badgering by others
  • Punctual and conscientious
  • Avoids socializing, “hanging out,” or small talk on and off the job

Physical Manifestations :

  • Strong sensory sensitivities: touch and tactile sensations, sounds, lighting and colors, odors, taste
  • Clumsiness
  • Balance difficulties
  • Difficulty in judging distances, height, depth
  • Difficulty in recognizing others’ faces (prosopagnosia)
  • Stims (self-stimulatory behavior serving to reduce anxiety, stress, or to express pleasure)
  • Self-injurious or disfiguring behaviors
  • Nail-biting
  • Unusual gait, stance, posture
  • Gross or fine motor coordination problems
  • Low apparent sexual interest
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Sleep difficulties
  • Verbosity
  • Difficulty expressing anger (excessive or “bottled up”)
  • Flat or monotone vocal expression; limited range of inflection
  • Difficulty with initiating or maintaining eye contact
  • Elevated voice volume during periods of stress and frustration
  • Strong food preferences and aversions
  • Unusual and rigidly adhered to eating behaviors
  • Bad or unusual personal hygiene
  • Technorati : Asperger’s Syndrome

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