Perseveration: A major downside of Asperger Syndrome

04/01/14 • 44 min

Perseveration is perhaps one of the biggest downsides to Aspergers. It can affect the ability to thrive in life, both by alienating friends and by putting brakes on certain workplace interactions that play a role in career progress. Unfortunately, on the Aspie's side of an interacton it can be hard to detect perseveration is occurring, and the result can be an unforseen burst of anger from the other party in a conversation. As a result social interaction can become even more worriesome and energy-draining going forward, because of the need to steel oneself for the potential of unexpected negativity or anger on the other side without an easily understandable cause.

Previous Episode

Aspiecast Episode 3: Sarcasm as a Verbal Crutch

In this episode of the AspieCast, I mention how I subconsciously ended up relying on my ability to come up with sarcastic statements as a means to avoid the intense helplessness I felt whenever I didn't know what to say or how to react in certain situations that involved other people. Anytime that I couldn't find a reason to escape the situation physically, sarcasm was the only thing that seemed easy to do whenever I felt that I was supposed to engage.

If you are also an Aspie and have similar experiences or other methods you used to get around the feeling of not knowing what the right way to engage in a conversation is, please do send your feedback to [email protected]. Also, even if you aren't an aspie but someone you know or care about has asperger syndrome, please don't hesitate to chime in as well.

Thanks!

Next Episode

AspieCast Episode 5: The positive aspect of being able to see complex connections

In episode 5 of the AspieCast, I mention what I believe to be an Aspie trait that has positive ramifications, namely the ability to sense connections between intangible concepts. I always thought everyone could see the same connections that I could see, but over time I have come to believe that the average NT person may not have the same thought flow that enables this.

I mention a made up example of a pair of intangible concepts that an Aspie might be good at finding a connection between, and also some examples of the connections that I have been able to see and implement in my career.

I also mention that this advantage - the ability to make connections between concepts that others may not sense - is confidence building and career enhancing, but at the same time can result in overconfidence which, when coupled with aspie style interactions, can add negativity to interactions with others.

I have come to love the TV show "Monk" because although the main character, Adrian Monk, is not given a description as an Aspie in the show, his interactions with his friends and colleagues is highly Aspie-like. The show's main premise is centered on Monk's ability to make connections that others can't see, and thereby solve complex crimes as a detective working in San Francisco.

There are more aspects of the show Monk that I'll be touching on in future podcast episodes, primarily because I believe the show to be very uplifting and affirming of life with an affliction such as Asperger Syndrome. If you haven't yet watched an episode, look it up on the internet or visit a link I just created to Amazon:

videos.aspiecast.com

As always, please feel free to email me at [email protected] with your comments, suggestions, and most especially any life experiences you would like to share.

Thanks!

Steven Michael