Do sufferers of Asperger's Syndrome struggle with the concept "appropriate"?

Question

Other words such as "normal", "acceptable" "the done thing" and so on, signifying social approval of something and taking for granted a normal social understanding or sympathy.

Would Asperger's sufferers have to be able to quantify these terms before they can understand them?

Does this also explain why Asperger's sufferers find it so hard to hold down a job for long?

Answer 1

Yes, I have that problem, I don't naturally know what is "normal" or "acceptable" so I tend to have a great deal of problems with those things.

Answer 2

Aspergers people are normally extremely intelligent and can therefore learn the social 'norm' . But they sometimes find it hard to concentrate. All they need is someone to teach them the normal way to socialize. They can also specialize in one area and make the perfect employee.  

Answer 3

The simple answer is yes...the have a hard time knowing what is appropriate and therefore are often ostracized by others.

Answer 4

I understand the meaning of those words, but don't always know exactly what qualifies as "appropriate" and what doesn't. I often find societies' rules about what is appropriate, inappropriate, acceptable or unacceptable illogical, so it's often hard for me to predict or assume what other people consider appropriate in each situation.

Being unaware of unwritten social rules, not getting social cues and not being good at social interactions is exactly what makes it hard for many aspies to hold down a job for long.

Answer 5

They often have difficulty with that concept.  A lot has to do with their failure to read the facial cues of others.  For instance, they'll keep talking even when it's obvious the listener is bored, or distracted.  They tend to speak 'from the sleeve', instead of censoring themselves.   I.E.,

'Lady; are you pregnant or just kinda fat?'  Stuff like that.  Asperger's is considered a branch of the autism spectrum of disabilities.  They have difficulty at work due to social interactions, but also cannot apply themselves to anything that does not truly interest, facinate them or satisfy their obsessive interest in only certain things/subjects.

Answer 6

I believe that people affected by Asperger's Syndrome spend a lot of time and energy trying to quantify what others find to be "appropriate", "normal", "acceptable" or "the done thing". The majority of the time they do not purposely want to go against the status quo. But, because it takes so much mental energy to decipher what others see as conventional, often they are slower at simple work tasks. For example, I might find my way of doing something to be more functional for me (I can do it much faster and productively). However, due to work regulations or the managements rules I may be breaking "work" rules and norms. As such, often people with Aspergers Syndrome are reprimanded or confronted about the way they work. This leads to the person with Aspergers Syndrome feeling criticized for something that they find to be not only "normal" but more functional in the long run. This leads to the manager or person in charge of the person with Aspergers Syndrome to think they are going against them. Because people with Aspergers Syndrome often are stressed by things other may find trivial, this leads to them either being terminated or quitting their jobs. However, because people with Aspergers Syndrome often excel highly in a certain subject or area of interest they have a high potential for success, as long as their needs are met with dignity and understanding by managers and coworkers.