forum How do you write from the point of view of character who aspergers?

Started January 18, 2018 by @itskayhere

tune

Her Name is nadine and she is really into science and math. She is a "normal" person and she just so happens to have Aspergers. Like I can write her from someone else pov but no her's

I find that with Aspergers I just get really fascinated with certain things, my attention focuses on one particular train of thought for ages. Someth=imes there is a struggle to understand sarcasm, and I tend to find I get tired (sometimes very overwhelmed or scared) when in big groups. Many people with Aspergers have a tick that they do when they are overwhelmed, like chewing things, flapping hands etc.

I have Aspergers and it's pretty much the same as how @"lucy " described hers. I get lost in thought sometimes, I have trouble making eye contact (this changes from person to person for no apparent reason. Eg, I might be able to make eye contact perfectly fine with the cashier at the supermarket but I cant make eye contact with the cashier at Kmart). I get easily overwhelmed, particularly by loud noises, big crowds or long/stressful social events. Also, a large percentage of people with Aspergers also have ADHD so that may be something you want to explore with Nadine too.

So in summary, basically just write the same as a normal pov but in social situations Nadine is probably going to start feeling anxious, wishing she was home etc. and occasionally she might go off talking about something shes really passionate about for a particularly long time and she may struggle to make eye contact.

Keep in mind though, every person with Aspergers is different so if this doesn't feel right for your character then ignore me and try and find something else that fits Nadine better.

Also, personally, I'm hyper-aware of all of these traits so I often feel embarrassed or anxious after socializing/one of these things occurs.

Sorry that was quite long but I hope it helped :)

Thank you @"lucy " and @patience for your help, it made a world of a difference. :)

As an aspie, I often think more in memories or colors, especially when I am tired or distressed. I am a very visual/ artistic person though so I assume that's not how it is with all of us. If she's a sciencey mathy person maybe have her rationalize things in numbers like X amount of seconds or turns of the Earth or something? IDK if that made sense, but hopefully that was helpful! best of luck
-M

As an aspie, I often think more in memories or colors, especially when I am tired or distressed. I am a very visual/ artistic person though so I assume that's not how it is with all of us. If she's a sciencey mathy person maybe have her rationalize things in numbers like X amount of seconds or turns of the Earth or something? IDK if that made sense, but hopefully that was helpful! best of luck
-M

Thank you @m this made total and complete sense. The is what I was looking for, how her minds works thanks again.

@Patience

Ah, wow, I saw this topic and I'm like "Wow, something I can actually help out on!" but then it turns out you got it pretty much covered. But one thing I'd like to add is this: physical contact. I don't know what it's like for you, but I normally can't have people touch me unless I initiate the contact. It makes me jumpy most of the time and sometimes I can get incredibly anxious. And I know that it hurts my family's feelings and that makes it even worse. There's also days where I just want no one to touch me at all.