Okay, so I'm starting to think I have asperges.
I'm a writer, that's my job, but I have a very strange 'thing' with words.
I learned to read at 2 years old
I learned to write at 3 years old
I wrote my first 'book' (in the sense of with a stapler) at age 4
And I never forget anything I read...literally it jams in my brain and it won't ever go.
I remember reading books meant for 6-year-olds at the age of 3; my first memory of reading was at nursery school, and the book was speckled pink in colour, and it told the tale of a hippo in a flowery apron who put a pie in the oven for a family reunion.
I can't seem to forget these things; I was at a dance class (I'm not a kid anymore) and these two women were talking about a book which I'd read, and they were saying how a certain quote in the book had really reflected on their lives or something, and I couldn't help it - I just barged into their conversation and quoted it word for word. From that moment on I got the 'asperges' label from my fellow students.
I didn't barge in to show off - I literally leapt forward and that was it! I actually couldn't help it.
My mum says I've always been gifted with words, but I think it's beyond gifted. It isn't good. It's weird - it's like I CAN'T FORGET.
Every quote, every book, every story. Never leaves my mind.
But I'm not incredibly gifted with anything else: I mean, I didn't walk until I was 16 months old, I can't do maths...I hate sport, I'm very bad socially.
But this is so weird. I wrote 75,000 words in 7 months (of a novel). And I'm not saying this to try to sound clever, I'm just think I'm a stupid wordsmith freak.
Also, I'm really selfish, but not intentionally.
I keep my family awake until sometimes 7:00am, not because I want to...my heart is broken from how guilty I feel. I just walk up and down, writing words in my head. I can't stop.
I have no friends, either. I remember ever gramatical thing, every word. It's not just a good memory, it's really scary!!!!!!!!!
I hated mixing with other kids as a child, and my mum taught me at home because everyone thought I had anxiety.
As a little one, I'd always say "read books! Read books!" after a family argument (and this is at age 1, my dad said).
It's like I'm an overgrown garden of words, growing like weeds.
I CAN'T HELP IT.
I don't have any friends, either...except my parents' friends and they're like aunties and uncles really.
Is this asperges or something? IS IT NORMAL????????????
P.S. I spend most of my days just writing words in my head, locked in the bathroom, and maybe I have a kind of OCD where I have to touch certain objects 6 times...oh, and emetophobia.
It's just that asperges seems kind of likely.
I'm a writer, that's my job, but I have a very strange 'thing' with words.
I learned to read at 2 years old
I learned to write at 3 years old
I wrote my first 'book' (in the sense of with a stapler) at age 4
And I never forget anything I read...literally it jams in my brain and it won't ever go.
I remember reading books meant for 6-year-olds at the age of 3; my first memory of reading was at nursery school, and the book was speckled pink in colour, and it told the tale of a hippo in a flowery apron who put a pie in the oven for a family reunion.
I can't seem to forget these things; I was at a dance class (I'm not a kid anymore) and these two women were talking about a book which I'd read, and they were saying how a certain quote in the book had really reflected on their lives or something, and I couldn't help it - I just barged into their conversation and quoted it word for word. From that moment on I got the 'asperges' label from my fellow students.
I didn't barge in to show off - I literally leapt forward and that was it! I actually couldn't help it.
My mum says I've always been gifted with words, but I think it's beyond gifted. It isn't good. It's weird - it's like I CAN'T FORGET.
Every quote, every book, every story. Never leaves my mind.
But I'm not incredibly gifted with anything else: I mean, I didn't walk until I was 16 months old, I can't do maths...I hate sport, I'm very bad socially.
But this is so weird. I wrote 75,000 words in 7 months (of a novel). And I'm not saying this to try to sound clever, I'm just think I'm a stupid wordsmith freak.
Also, I'm really selfish, but not intentionally.
I keep my family awake until sometimes 7:00am, not because I want to...my heart is broken from how guilty I feel. I just walk up and down, writing words in my head. I can't stop.
I have no friends, either. I remember ever gramatical thing, every word. It's not just a good memory, it's really scary!!!!!!!!!
I hated mixing with other kids as a child, and my mum taught me at home because everyone thought I had anxiety.
As a little one, I'd always say "read books! Read books!" after a family argument (and this is at age 1, my dad said).
It's like I'm an overgrown garden of words, growing like weeds.
I CAN'T HELP IT.
I don't have any friends, either...except my parents' friends and they're like aunties and uncles really.
Is this asperges or something? IS IT NORMAL????????????
P.S. I spend most of my days just writing words in my head, locked in the bathroom, and maybe I have a kind of OCD where I have to touch certain objects 6 times...oh, and emetophobia.
It's just that asperges seems kind of likely.
From what you are saying here, it is clear that you do have SOME sort of mental instability, but seeing as how I am not a psychiatric specialist, I do not feel qualified to make any diagnosis. Maybe you have it, maybe you have something completely different. That is not for me to say.
If you feel that you need psychiatric help, then go to a clinic. You don't need to be diagnosed with AS to request cognitive behavioral therapy or to even see a therapist at all. If these problems are affecting your life, I would reccomend that you do go and see a psychiatric specialist.
Don't go looking for a diagnosis. A diagnosis won't solve your problems and niether will slapping a label on yourself. Look for a treatment.
People's brains tend to allocate their memory to things that they find interesting.
Since you enjoy reading, your brain treats this information as high priority and you never forget it.
I never forget anything technical, but the best I'd be able to do after reading a novel would probably be a 4000 word summary of the plot. (without any direct quotes)
Because of this, I'm brilliant at maths, science, and IT, but only just managed to scrape an A for English in high school.
Reading about AS symptoms is really like looking in a very big mirror, a mirror that has neither stains nor scratches to mar it's surface...
I'm eighty percent sure that AS checks out for me, to be honest; it's not only the words 'thing' - that was what set the ball rolling- but as we looked at signs, it seemed to fit me oh-so-perfectly.
As for geting a label: I don't know. But my dad has schizoeffective dosorder and reccomends it. He KNOWS.
:)