tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7547065615486762917.post6797169090708159542..comments2024-01-06T05:28:46.111-05:00Comments on Matt Paust's Crime Time : Asshole or Asperger's?Mathew Pausthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06157135006791553019noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7547065615486762917.post-58577206484493278502017-08-21T10:53:24.831-04:002017-08-21T10:53:24.831-04:00Thanks for the kind words, Bill.Thanks for the kind words, Bill.Mathew Pausthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06157135006791553019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7547065615486762917.post-51200520225960864242017-08-20T19:08:09.613-04:002017-08-20T19:08:09.613-04:00Thank you for this, Matt. Powerful and brave. Thank you for this, Matt. Powerful and brave. Bill Yarrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13175903825323129295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7547065615486762917.post-14401073851697050852017-05-27T18:44:02.594-04:002017-05-27T18:44:02.594-04:00Aha, welcome to our little group, Tracy! ;)Aha, welcome to our little group, Tracy! ;)Mathew Pausthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06157135006791553019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7547065615486762917.post-91429533493358070232017-05-27T15:24:37.677-04:002017-05-27T15:24:37.677-04:00Very, very interesting, Mathew. I don't recogn...Very, very interesting, Mathew. I don't recognize much here in myself, but I have always had a very good memory (although the older I get the less that is true). But I have for decades preferred to be alone except for my husband and son, and even (especially) being with my family in Alabama drives me crazy.TracyKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08303342674824383688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7547065615486762917.post-90260208388642162812017-05-24T10:20:50.323-04:002017-05-24T10:20:50.323-04:00Mwah, Patti. You've moistened my eyes (There w...Mwah, Patti. You've moistened my eyes (There would be more, but I must keep a stoic face in the library). Mathew Pausthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06157135006791553019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7547065615486762917.post-60277937866301706062017-05-23T19:07:17.352-04:002017-05-23T19:07:17.352-04:00You are an amazing, brilliant, kind, wonderful fri...You are an amazing, brilliant, kind, wonderful friend. That's all there is for me. pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7547065615486762917.post-55656086591988158922017-05-22T11:55:01.167-04:002017-05-22T11:55:01.167-04:00Speaking of frankness, thanks for sharing your exp...Speaking of frankness, thanks for sharing your experiences, too, John. As to "joining" groups, I lean toward Groucho's quote about not joining any club that would have him as a member. It might well be that my symptoms, which seem more like yours than the more common ones, don't make me Aspergian. Whether I am or not, this introspection has if nothing else made me more sensitive to folks whose lives are tortured by societal rejection because of such neurological aberrations--whatever they're called. BTW, I think I sent you a cyberlink that should get you into Fictionaut.com. If you didn't receive it, let me know and I'll send it again. Mathew Pausthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06157135006791553019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7547065615486762917.post-24851431338011559142017-05-22T11:27:08.163-04:002017-05-22T11:27:08.163-04:00Years ago I read Temple Grandin's book (Thinki...Years ago I read Temple Grandin's book (<i>Thinking in Pictures: Other Reports from My Life with Autism</i> -- highly recommended!) and began to feel a kinship with autistic people as I found many similarities in my own growing up experiences. My personal perceptions of the world and I how I navigate among "normal" people seemed very much like hers. Then like you I had a similar experience of self-diagnosing myself as an Asperger's person while reading Tim Page's memoir <i>Parallel Play.</i> Page had a volatile adolescence and major difficulty adjusting to "normalcy" while growing up. His life was also plagued with substance abuse which of course only worsened his turbulent life. You might want to read his book also. Page found solace in music and found his career as a music critic. I saw a lot of myself in Page's early life and thought I might be somewhere on the Asperger spectrum, but the more I tried to fit myself into the symptoms, the more I saw I was just one of the many misfits with heightened sensitivity and keen perceptions that go beyond what anyone would consider normal. I think I wanted desperately to belong to a group, but I don't think I'll ever belong to any group. I just share traits of some groups but never truly belong. As I grow older I have recognized many Asperger-like symptoms (extreme sensitivity to noise, for instance) that have tended to change the way I interact with people and cultivated some avoidance behavior. I enjoy being solitary more than ever these days and still think of myself as a melancholy misanthrope, a nickname I gave myself in college. But I think I've been forced to cope with society at large (the "normal" ones) and found sophisticated methods (apart from outright avoidance) to deal with my differences to ever call myself Aspergian as you do.<br /><br />Nevertheless, I'll always have a deep sympathy for all those who see themselves as falling somewhere on the Spectrum. Thanks for this raw and frank essay and also for letting me know of yet another memoir I need to read. Knowing of others who grew up in a similar plight makes all of this silent suffering all the more bearable. We are never truly alone, are we?J F Norrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7547065615486762917.post-14318408041251119552017-05-19T12:13:54.101-04:002017-05-19T12:13:54.101-04:00Thanks so much for your kind words, Christine. Bef...Thanks so much for your kind words, Christine. Before I learned about Asperger's and realize I'm Aspergian, I might have said something like "I'm sorry" about your daughter. Now I know that the sorry ones are those who do not understand. And I've no doubt your daughter grew up in a loving home and escaped the anxiety (and worse) so many of us have experienced from rejection and ridicule. Mathew Pausthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06157135006791553019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7547065615486762917.post-80263999624330149572017-05-19T11:56:34.693-04:002017-05-19T11:56:34.693-04:00The neurological vulnerabilities of someone with A...The neurological vulnerabilities of someone with Asperger’s make them especially sensitive to ambiguity and unpredictability, which are typically overwhelming. Their counter-reaction is to seek orderliness, certainty and uniformity. To do that they focus on facts in the present moment, they take ideas and words exactly at their most usual and basic sense, and they avoid figurative or metaphorical thinking. The world of Asperger’s is an orderly one. Facts, rather than presumptions, are a priority. Doubt, uncertainty, and vagueness are avoided. Literal speech, focusing on things exactly as they are while leaving out figurative explanations and assumptions, is a hallmark of Asperger’s. Matt, this is my daughter. I'm very educated in the world of those with Asperger's. I do hope you keep writing because you are so great at it. and I hope to see more of you on FB. You don't need to hide. We are your friends and friends accept you as you are.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05844865745821375201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7547065615486762917.post-43744614177438816782017-05-19T11:43:29.292-04:002017-05-19T11:43:29.292-04:00Love ya, Lezlie. (And many's been the time I e...Love ya, Lezlie. (And many's been the time I envied your skill with words.) Mathew Pausthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06157135006791553019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7547065615486762917.post-64346108148984398962017-05-19T11:36:48.301-04:002017-05-19T11:36:48.301-04:00I have always been in awe of your facility with wo...I have always been in awe of your facility with words. We go all the way back to 2010, where we spent many long days and evenings baring our souls on Open Salon. I have witnessed your most severe meltdowns there -- you losing your shit with obnoxious bloggers who loved to start shit storms. But I have always admired the way you express yourself in writing and secretly wished (and I remember privately imploring you to lighten up) I could write so well. This is a very brave and eloquent essay which provides insight that I wish all those other bloggers of yesteryear could see. Great job, Matt. Kudos.L in the Southeasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00507728733789934250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7547065615486762917.post-64425616602235576222017-05-19T11:25:27.967-04:002017-05-19T11:25:27.967-04:00Takes one to know one, Roy. Thanks.Takes one to know one, Roy. Thanks.Mathew Pausthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06157135006791553019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7547065615486762917.post-74794404675518754962017-05-19T11:16:54.906-04:002017-05-19T11:16:54.906-04:00You're still daMan Matt Paust. 'kin yes.You're still daMan Matt Paust. 'kin yes.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01675298377129670840noreply@blogger.com