Placement Service a Boon for People with Asperger's {denmark}

[hifiguy]

5. I don't know

The best therapist I ever had (I was initially seeing her for depression), who eventually gave me my dx said that I was ever-so-slightly "off" - just enough to clue neurotypicals that I was clearly not one of them. I have never, ever been able to read people unless I have known them for a very long time and even then signals sometimes get crossed.

The therapist told me that she couldn't even begin to imagine how complex and sophisticated my coping mechanisms had to be to successfully get through college and an elite law school. Actually, it wasn't so much those things as it was my deliberately distancing myself from anyone I didn't want to deal with. I had few friends, which was fine with me, and held myself aloof from anyone who sent off the sort of vibes I had learned to distrust. The academic part was easy; I've always had an ability to focus and concentrate on complex materials and draw connections between disparate concepts.

I have never been able to overcome my awkwardness in social situations - it's at its worst with those I meet for the first time unless it's someone I meet at a trade show or get-together related to my avocation. Then there's a common ground to talk about to get through those first few awkward minutes. In a job interview I answer questions "yes" or "no" and sit there like a stuffed owl because I don't and can't know what the hidden agenda is, and there is ALWAYS a hidden agenda.

Very much agree about the game-playing and multiple layers of socially acceptable dishonesty and the dominance games, though. I just do not allow myself to be put into those situations anymore. Nothing good ever comes of it and it isn't worth the psychic stress.