XPost: rec.arts.sf.tv, rec.arts.tv   
   From: david@creeknet.com   
      
   catpandaddy wrote:   
      
   >   
   > "David Cheatham"  wrote in message   
   > news:xn0grbsor2snmeg004@news.windstream.net...   
   > > catpandaddy wrote:   
   > > >   
   > > > Actually the posting behaviors of those with ADD doesn't resemble   
   > > > the way he posts at all, they are at somewhat opposite ends of   
   > > > things.   
   > >   
   > > The posting behavior of people with ADD, and I say this as someone   
   > > with ADD, tend to be somewhat rambling mixed with strange off-topic   
   > > points.   
   > >   
   > > I know I'm often in the middle of a post when another entirely   
   > > different aspect occurs to me. I'm working hard to try to actually   
   > > start a new post instead of going off topic for a page.   
   >   
   > For me it tends to work best when I compose a response as best I can   
   > and then leave it sit as a draft for a period of time.  There is   
   > something about returning to it later that makes it easier to see if   
   > it needs fixing.   
      
   Ugh, I hate doing that. It's sitting there taunting me! TAUNTING!   
      
   > > As from what I understand of Aspergers, almost none of it should   
   > > even vaguely affect online communcations. People with Aspergers have   
   > > problems figuring out verbal clues, and facial expressions, and   
   > > stuff like that, and have to make a bunch of rules to do it   
   > > manually. (And don't really realize everyone else has it as an   
   > > inate ability.)   
   >   
   > The aspect I am thinking of, which might or might not be directly   
   > connected to the autism-spectrum disorders, is a tendency to make   
   > overly-literal interpretations of things that don't lend themselves   
   > to it.  Whatever the underlying cause, it manifests itself as   
   > overly-rigid interpretations.  That's what appeared to me to be   
   > taking place in Friday's discussion.   
      
   Rereading it, I agree. It's not just a compulsion to post the same   
   objection over and over, but an apparent lack of understanding that   
   sometimes TV shows handwave that sort of issue all the time. (A   
   superpowerful entity that could solve any later problems we run across?   
   We'll, uh, send him on a trip to another galaxy.)   
      
   People can say that's stupid and bad writing, but they really should   
   know about it.   
      
   I was actually responding more to the '...You know, these days   
   Asperger's is the new ADD. Every retarded action is attributed to it,   
   even though Asperger's doesn't even begin to describe what's behind   
   RT's inability to grasp the concept in question here.'   
      
   I know a lot more about ADD than Aspergers, and I just wanted to jump   
   in about that. (Because, heh, I have ADD and saw an interesting thing.)   
      
   > > Now, I have seen some people with Aspergers who did appear to have   
   > > some issues online, but in almost all cases it appeared as slight   
   > > OCD to me   
   >   
   > An apt observation; in fact, they both occupy a similar space on the   
   > Anxiety-spectrum disorders, and may in fact overlap.   
   >   
   > > People with OCD should be cut some slack if they don't seem to want   
   > > to stop posts that annoy other people. It can be a 'compulsion'   
   > > that they really can't do anything about, and have trouble   
   > > recognizing they're doing it.   
   >   
   > Agreed.  And the compulsions one is aware of and cannot stop are even   
   > more painful.   
      
   I don't actually know much about OCD, either. But my mother has been a   
   special ed teacher my entire life and I've seen many people with it.   
      
   And I've seen an awful lot of people who think complusions are just   
   something people *want* to do, so I wanted to make sure that a)   
   compulsions aren't really 'optional', that's what 'compel' means, and   
   b) often people with OCD don't realize what they are doing is   
   complusive.   
      
   When I see people talking about OCD, I usually try to make an analogy   
   to having to pee. Usually, when you 'have' to pee, you don't actually   
   have to pee. And, strictly speaking, you *never* have to pee. Your   
   bladder will eventually explode and you will die, but you cannot, under   
   any circumstances, be forced, by pressure in your bladder, to urinate.   
      
   Now, try telling yourself that the next time you really need to go to   
   the bathroom. Inform yourself that, factually, it is impossible to   
   start urinating without the consent of your brain. And hence you can   
   stand there and hold it as long as you want. (You'll be safe medically   
   if you don't keep drinking, and you'll probably start feeling really   
   really sick first even if you do.)   
      
   Yeah. Try telling yourself that the next time. Keep telling yourself   
   you really don't have to go. That it's a trick. You don't have to go   
   until you want to drink something else. You're stronger than it!   
      
   ...you just got up and went, didn't you? That, my friends, is what a   
   psychological compulsion is.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)