In Exile

I scored two points. Facial expressions, as well as facial recognition, are areas of particular difficulty for me. Happy and sad are easy enough but it simply isn't true to say that more complex emotional expressions look the same on everybody, at least not to many of us with ASD. For example, the three pictures illustrating disgust did not look the same to me and all three pictures illustrating contempt looked totally expressionless to me. It's been explained that I don't see a face as a singularity but rather as a collection of components - hair, complexion, face shape, eyes, etc. - which is a harder assimilation process just for recognizing people, let alone for recognizing expressions. (I hope this description makes sense to others with AS/ASD). An application like this could be made useful for someone like me but it would need to be much more granular, e.g. by showing what within a person's expression distinguishes surprise from fear or contempt, etc. This would be a step forward from the assessments I've had previously, which have sought only to measure my difficulty rather than to offer help with it! Even then, as Sa and Indiscreet say, real time doesn't allow for leisurely study of facial expressions, especially for those of us with an aversion to eye contact.

If you did invent "Aspergic", kudos to you for its popularity on the internet!

Asperger's Syndrome doesn't have a corresponding adjective in the way that "autism" has the adjective "autistic." It also doesn't have a shortened noun form like "an autistic." So, the only proper description is to say you "have Asperger's Syndrome" or "have AS." I'm not keen on those descriptions because to say I "have" AS sounds to me like it is a condition I have acquired. That's why I don't mind people saying I am an aspie - it's the only noun (albeit informal) to describe AS in terms of who or what I am, rather than what I have. (The term "Aspergic" is a made-up word and an unsatisfactory one, etymologically. I hope it never makes it into the dictionary. "Aspie", on the other hand, doesn't pretend to follow any etymological rules).

Good call, Aeolienne. Rolling Stones, made in England from 50% rock, 50% roll.

The average UK dress size is 16 so I'm not surprised. LancsLad, I don't know the history between you and SmileyK so I'm only going on your first post in this thread, in which you tell SmileyK "what is relevant in your life." It might not have helped SmileyK to hear what has made you fit and slim. People have various motivations for wanting to lose weight. Depression and low self-esteem are motivations that are no less valid than any other. For you, it's about physical health; for many people, it's about mental health.

Well, I don't want to be made a pariah just for saying size 8 is fine so... Smiley, what anyone here thinks is irrelevant; it's what your doctor or dietician thinks that is important.

Smiley, please help us here. Are you a size 8 or is that just what you want to be?

LancsLad and Justine, you are better informed than me about Smiley's weight history. Perhaps you have concerns about how she got there or where it might lead in the future. I respect that. It isn't good to lose weight too quickly. But now that Smiley is a size 8, I think she should be encouraged to stay right there. It's a good, normal, perfectly healthy size. I wasn't comparing it against size 10 or 12 but I dare say Smiley is happier as a size 8. Really, there's nothing wrong with that.

Ask a simple question... sheesh! Smiley, size 8 is great. Keep it right there.

Me too! I scored 6. My hands are female, though.

I was confused by the whole section to do with "community". Despite the note explaining what was meant by "community", I still wasn't clear about how to interpret it. Is it supposed to mean only the people with ASD you know personally; or including people who communicate with one another online, such as on this forum; or the entire ASD population? These are obviously very different definitions. If it was supposed to mean the whole ASD population, I think the term "community" is misleading, implying some kind of collective voice, consciousness or social bond that is illusory, just as it is when people talk about the gay community or the Asian community. I have AS but I don't feel part of an AS community beyond the screen in front of me. Honestly, I don't know what it is supposed to mean.

By a combination of getting used to it and organizing the Metro interface, I've pretty much tamed it now. The key is to place shortcuts either on the Metro interface or the desktop (or both) to help overcome the absence of the Start menu. So, I've added a folder icon on my desktop to take me straight to all my files, plus a shortcut to the Control Panel. I feel like I've regained control of my laptop now!

Yes, it's completely different. I wish I had taken the time to understand that before loading it onto my laptop. It is totally NOT user-friendly for laptop or PC users. It seems to be designed with tablets in mind so for computers that don't have touch screens, it's really, really clunky. I'm going to call the Dell support people on Monday to figure out how to get Windows 7 back.

Is anyone else using Windows 8? I updated from Windows 7 to Windows 8 and now I wish I didn't. I thought it would just be another Windows update but it's completely different and I neither like it nor understand it!

In the interests of balance, I should have added that there is, of course, a possibility that this man's interest in you has indeed waned. If so, this could be just a personal chemistry thing that is unrelated to his AS, or it could be a consequence of a strong desire for personal space and solitude which is common among aspies. The trouble is, we don't always want space and solitude but if we fail to keep up friendships and relationships during those periods, we find that when we want companionship or love, the people from whom we seek those things are no longer there.