Another diagnosis-related question

I honestly despair at some of the popular cliches about people on the Spectrum sometimes.

When NT people read body language they are not using some sort of innate psychic ability that people on the spectrum do not possess, they are merely reading audio visual cues & inferring probable causes & outcomes. For most NTs, doing this comes naturally so it is only the interpretation of such signals that is innate, rather than the ability to perceive them at all.

For many people on the spectrum, interpretation of subtle audio visual cues is an artificially acquired skill that improves with age & practice. At least this is the conclusion that I came to regarding myself after I was diagnosed two years ago at age 55. It hadn't really struck me until then that I was using pattern matching algorithms in my head rather than somehow just 'knowing by instinct'. As with all acquired skills though such as 'Driving a Car' or 'Riding a Bike', it's awkward at first but once mastered it becomes second nature & you take it for granted.

There isn't a 'One Size Fits All' algorithm either, people have specific very personal 'Tells' (just like those in playing Poker) which give away changes in emotional state & once you learn to recognise them, it usually provides a good early warning of potential trouble.

I can't remember exactly how or when I acquired the skill, but I assume it was probably at Secondary School during the many years I was horrifically bullied, since I have always been far better at identifying negative signals than positive ones. I still have problems with positive signals though & tend to think more in terms of "Well If they don't actively dislike me, then they must like me to some degree". Potentially I just need more data to refine the algorithm, but I haven't had that many positive relationships in my life so it's difficult to be sure.

Someone performing professional assessments should be aware of this, as was the person who diagnosed me. I can remember discussing with her that I had previously thought I couldn't be on the spectrum precisely because I could read body language, but had become increasingly aware that what I was doing was quite different to other people, i.e. I was using pattern matching rather than intuition. Since being diagnosed though, I stopped believing cliches beginning "All Autistic people are ....".

I have spent most of my life working in computing though, so I see everything as 'Data' .

I honestly despair at some of the popular cliches about people on the Spectrum sometimes.

When NT people read body language they are not using some sort of innate psychic ability that people on the spectrum do not possess, they are merely reading audio visual cues & inferring probable causes & outcomes. For most NTs, doing this comes naturally so it is only the interpretation of such signals that is innate, rather than the ability to perceive them at all.

For many people on the spectrum, interpretation of subtle audio visual cues is an artificially acquired skill that improves with age & practice. At least this is the conclusion that I came to regarding myself after I was diagnosed two years ago at age 55. It hadn't really struck me until then that I was using pattern matching algorithms in my head rather than somehow just 'knowing by instinct'. As with all acquired skills though such as 'Driving a Car' or 'Riding a Bike', it's awkward at first but once mastered it becomes second nature & you take it for granted.

There isn't a 'One Size Fits All' algorithm either, people have specific very personal 'Tells' (just like those in playing Poker) which give away changes in emotional state & once you learn to recognise them, it usually provides a good early warning of potential trouble.

I can't remember exactly how or when I acquired the skill, but I assume it was probably at Secondary School during the many years I was horrifically bullied, since I have always been far better at identifying negative signals than positive ones. I still have problems with positive signals though & tend to think more in terms of "Well If they don't actively dislike me, then they must like me to some degree". Potentially I just need more data to refine the algorithm, but I haven't had that many positive relationships in my life so it's difficult to be sure.

Someone performing professional assessments should be aware of this, as was the person who diagnosed me. I can remember discussing with her that I had previously thought I couldn't be on the spectrum precisely because I could read body language, but had become increasingly aware that what I was doing was quite different to other people, i.e. I was using pattern matching rather than intuition. Since being diagnosed though, I stopped believing cliches beginning "All Autistic people are ....".

I have spent most of my life working in computing though, so I see everything as 'Data' .