5-4-12 Unheard of TV reference

[Dezziemonster]

Based on this strip, I wonder about the possibility of Ronnie having Asperger's. I'm not making any assumptions; I just wonder because of his difficulty with reading/relating to people. Anyway, this strip is really interesting.

I thought the thing with Asperger's was you do things without regard for what other people think. Ronnie seems to be overly sensitive.

Not necessarily. Asperger's can manifest in other ways. Specifically, someone with Asperger's is likely to have difficulty reading non-verbal communication, and could misinterpret certain signals that the average person would be able to. It also entails a lack of empathy with your peers. Seeing as it's a high-functioning form of autism, I could see how (if Ronnie did have Asperger's) he might have gotten offended when Jade approached him about the inside joke.

[Alice Macher]

I think Asperger's isn't necessary to account for Ronnie's thought and behaviour patterns here. Maybe he does live with Asperger's. But his "Are people being nice, neutral, or mean to me?" thing can be accounted for by a past history of being bullied at school, verbally abused at home, or both, as opposed to something organic within his brain.

Also, more and more, I can see what it is about Lisa that Jade finds attractive, given her first (implied) speech bubble here.

[DudeMyDadOwnsADealership]

Based on this strip, I wonder about the possibility of Ronnie having Asperger's. I'm not making any assumptions; I just wonder because of his difficulty with reading/relating to people. Anyway, this strip is really interesting.

A very high (at least 80%) possibility, and that he got by in high school by distancing himself from his peers while relying on academic prowess to get ahead, at that.

[NobodySpecial]

Based on this strip, I wonder about the possibility of Ronnie having Asperger's. I'm not making any assumptions; I just wonder because of his difficulty with reading/relating to people. Anyway, this strip is really interesting.

A very high (at least 80%) possibility, and that he got by in high school by distancing himself from his peers while relying on academic prowess to get ahead, at that.

Disagree. He's not bending anyone's ear about things that are interesting to him, and he conversationally doesn't appear to have any of the symptoms (Jerky syntax, inappropriate levels, etc.)

No, he's just decided that the single best way to survive is with the armor on.

[Artemisia]

I think Asperger's isn't necessary to account for Ronnie's thought and behaviour patterns here. Maybe he does live with Asperger's. But his "Are people being nice, neutral, or mean to me?" thing can be accounted for by a past history of being bullied at school, verbally abused at home, or both, as opposed to something organic within his brain.

Also, more and more, I can see what it is about Lisa that Jade finds attractive, given her first (implied) speech bubble here.

Bullying can lead to a form of PTSD, believe it or not.

[Doc Harleen]

I think Asperger's isn't necessary to account for Ronnie's thought and behaviour patterns here. Maybe he does live with Asperger's. But his "Are people being nice, neutral, or mean to me?" thing can be accounted for by a past history of being bullied at school, verbally abused at home, or both, as opposed to something organic within his brain.

Oh, that sounds fully possible as well. Just exploring the options. I'm probably wrong, but it came to mind as a possibility. I really think that he just has trouble relating to people (maybe because I get that) but the abuse theory is also very interesting.

[oddtail]

Based on this strip, I wonder about the possibility of Ronnie having Asperger's. I'm not making any assumptions; I just wonder because of his difficulty with reading/relating to people. Anyway, this strip is really interesting.

A very high (at least 80%) possibility, and that he got by in high school by distancing himself from his peers while relying on academic prowess to get ahead, at that.

Disagree. He's not bending anyone's ear about things that are interesting to him, and he conversationally doesn't appear to have any of the symptoms (Jerky syntax, inappropriate levels, etc.)

No, he's just decided that the single best way to survive is with the armor on.

He hasn't had that many occasions to show any other symptoms... and his difficulty "reading" people seems beyond the usual. So I think Asperger's does work, as far as I'm concerned, better than merely "he's keeping his armor on".

I used to stay very deep in my own, personal shell and not open up to people at all, and my people's skills were rather bad back then, but I don't recall having THAT much trouble interpreting what the intentions behind people's words were. So, I dunno. I think it's more than just his attitude.

[mindstalk]

Yeah, I read the strip and also thought "Asperger's or autism?"

One of my friends from grad school has Asperger's and I never noticed 'jerky syntax'. I don't know what inappropriate levels means, though she does often talk loudly until I'd gesture her to tone it down in public.

Another guy, in our school's gaming group, who was also in her support group... I don't remember syntax or even loudness problems. He was just socially very clueless, rubbed everyone the wrong way, and was rather poor at learning the rules of games. There's not always a payoff of higher analytical intelligence. I felt sorry for him, but I didn't want to hang around him either. :\

[mindstalk]

Here's a sad thougrht: that the final panel girl may in fact be expressing neither mockery nor attraction...

[Tamar]

Not everyone who's poorly-adjusted socially and uncertain of how to read people has Asperger's. Just saying.

Asperger's syndrome seems to have become the catch-all instant Internet diagnosis for anyone who deviates from the norm socially.

[Valerie]

Valerie would know a lot better. I think there's something in there about inapproreate emotional responses to others.

Am I the unofficial expert on ASD now?

I'm gonna go with NS's latest post in this thread. Doc has a point that Ronnie seems to show a few symptoms, and it is a little early to know for certain that he doesn't have more symptoms, but it's just as likely (if not moreso) that he's simply been bullied too much.

The symptoms Ronnie has shown so far:
- Withdrawal from social interaction (at least with Jade, though that may be a more personal thing).
- Inability to read expressions of others, since all of these people are wearing nice faces.
- Inability to recognize voice tone, paired with what appears to be a strained attempt to understand it.

Very common symptoms he has not shown:
- Chatting on about something he likes without noticing that the listener is bored.
- Extreme fascinations of some sort.

That's just off the top of my head, but those last two are almost central to an Aspie. So I'd say we have a few hints, especially in this strip, that he might be on the spectrum, but maybe not enough to go on yet. We might see more evidence later.

[Artemisia]

Well, you know more than I do, Valerie

[Zanosuke Kurosaki]

Not everyone who's poorly-adjusted socially and uncertain of how to read people has Asperger's. Just saying.

Asperger's syndrome seems to have become the catch-all instant Internet diagnosis for anyone who deviates from the norm socially.

This, so much. Sometimes people just haven't had the chance to "play the game", so they're not familiar with the rules. It does happen, and it's sad when it does. I would say Ronnie decided at some point he didn't want to know the interaction "rules", so now he just analyzes the general tone and/or content of what's being said and dismisses it as we're seeing here, instead of taking things on a case-by-case basis.

[Doc Harleen]

I just want to clarify that I wasn't saying that I believe that Ronnie has Asperger's. I was just putting another possibility out there. I am no expert, by any stretch of the imagination, and it's *really* soon to rush to judgments, I think.

[oddtail]

Not everyone who's poorly-adjusted socially and uncertain of how to read people has Asperger's. Just saying.

Asperger's syndrome seems to have become the catch-all instant Internet diagnosis for anyone who deviates from the norm socially.

This, so much. Sometimes people just haven't had the chance to "play the game", so they're not familiar with the rules. It does happen, and it's sad when it does. I would say Ronnie decided at some point he didn't want to know the interaction "rules", so now he just analyzes the general tone and/or content of what's being said and dismisses it as we're seeing here, instead of taking things on a case-by-case basis.

Not knowing the rules of social interaction well is one thing. Not being able to tell if a greeting is "unfriendly, uncaring or genuine" seems rather extreme.

Granted, it does not have to be Asperger's, but not being able to distinguish between two opposite reactions looks rather unusual to me. I'd be surprised if mistrust and poor social skills are all there is to it.