I didn't know this thread existed!
I've gone and searched for some stuff to help some of you guys understand what people with Aspergers, such as myself, go through on a daily basis and found this.
A study made by Attwood and Gray.
"Figure 1: Discovery criteria for aspie by Attwood and Gray
A. A qualitative advantage in social interaction, as manifested by a majority of the following:
peer relationships characterized by absolute loyalty and impeccable dependability
free of sexist, "age-ist", or culturalist biases; ability to regard others at "face value"
speaking one’s mind irrespective of social context or adherence to personal beliefs
ability to pursue personal theory or perspective despite conflicting evidence
seeking an audience or friends capable of: enthusiasm for unique interests and topics;
consideration of details; spending time discussing a topic that may not be of primary interest
listening without continual judgement or assumption
interested primarily in significant contributions to conversation; preferring to avoid
"ritualistic small talk" or socially trivial statements and superficial conversation.
seeking sincere, positive, genuine friends with an unassuming sense of humour
B Fluent in "Aspergerese", a social language characterized by at least three of the following:
a determination to seek the truth
conversation free of hidden meaning or agenda
advanced vocabulary and interest in words
fascination with word-based humour, such as puns
advanced use of pictorial metaphor
C. Cognitive skills characterized by at least four of the following:
strong preference for detail over gestalt
original, often unique perspective in problem solving
exceptional memory and/or recall of details often forgotten or disregarded by others,
for example: names, dates, schedules, routines
avid perseverance in gathering and cataloguing information on a topic of interest
persistence of thought
encyclopaedic or "CD ROM" knowledge of one or more topics
knowledge of routines and a focused desire to maintain order and accuracy
clarity of values/decision making unaltered by political or financial factors
D. Additional possible features:
acute sensitivity to specific sensory experiences and stimuli, for example:
hearing, touch, vision, and/or smell
strength in individual sports and games, particularly those involving
endurance or visual accuracy, including rowing, swimming, bowling, chess
"social unsung hero" with trusting optimism: frequent victim of social
weaknesses of others, while steadfast in the belief of the possibility of genuine friendship
increased probability over general population of attending university after high school
often take care of others outside the range of typical development"
Sounds a lot like me: stubbornly opinionated, thoughtful, desperate for friendship and positive reinforcement and all that.
I don't really believe most of the "official" studies because they're too one-note.