Attention problem or something else?

[steel_lady]

I have Asperger and in majority of issues I found the way to manage it except one. Actually I am not sure if it has to do with AS but I am putting it here because it might be so.

It always happens in a group of people. There is a conversation between the group and the result is that it makes me very very sleepy. I begin to yawn without control and I can not follow the conversation. People usually ask me if there is something wrong or why am I so quiet. I manage always to excuse me somehow untill now when I in my work we have the need to discuss scientific problems in group (with supervisors and adjoint groups). I am very interested in the topic, I understand what is it about but very soon it gets me very sleepy until the reunion is over. I can not control falling asleep and yawning and it makes me very ashamed. Also I feel very bad for missing a part of conversation. It helps a bit when people are not gesticulating too much while they talk or if they draw to explain their ideas. But at the end I will always fall asleep.

Please, does someone have some advice? It also affects me in social life because that way I often loose some information or circumstance mentioned that I need in social context.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

I don't know if you are aware of the link between Asperger Syndrome and NonVerbal Learning Disability but both include the characteristic of difficulty correctly interpreting the fine points of social behavior and social interaction.

See:

Autistic Spectrum Disorders: Sorting Out Autism, Asperger's Syndrome and Other Conditions Syndrome

Autistic Spectrum Disorders: Sorting Out Autism, Asperger's Syndrome and Other Conditions Learning Disabilities (NVLDs)

Yvonna

Bonny Forrest ASVSNLD

All About Asperger Syndrome - About Learning Disabilities (UK)
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Given this, it is probable that being in situations requiring you to focus for extended periods of time on social interactions and conversations requires extra effort for you, as well as creating some anxiety. The sleepiness could be the result of either fatique or anxiety.

This might be worth exploring with your psychologist or psychiatrist if you have one. It might also be helpful to seek an Asperger support group in your area, if one exists.

 

[steel_lady]

I don't see myself identified with NLD. I have spatial skills above average (i did some test and it came out like for less than 1% of population), I am good at math etc. My problem is to convert some sounds I hear to words (it is like I don't hear well but it is not true) and words to meaning (sometimes a normal word suddenly sounds strange to me or I temporarly forget its meaning). I told to a clinical psychologyst specialized in AS about this but nothing came out of it. I dont need consolation, I am doing physics PhD and I need to do a productive work.

 

[Yuray]

an excerpt from Wired 9.12: Think Different? "A PhD student with Asperger syndrome might be just as disabled as a person with learning disabilities and classic autism. Both may end up in need of considerable support, though of different kinds".

(sometimes a normal word suddenly sounds strange to me or I temporarly forget its meaning)

a lot of non AS people are subject to this as well, and perhaps that is why the psychologist you consulted didn't offer you a specific AS relationship.

In classes I have attended I noticed some people snoozing away, comfortably. I have asked them about it and most of them (after specific questioning) agree that other than being tired, its because they lulled by the soft voices, the comfort of the herd, and no harm will come to them. A nurturing safe place. Perhaps your disability to remain focused and a desire to sleep is based on a psychological or physiological situation not related to AS.

Ask your psychologist if narcolepsy can be triggered by a situation or event. Because, as you say, your sleeping is very specific to group situations, and it appears removed from mainstream reasons like fatigue, late nights, diet, drinking, insufficent night sleep, medications etc. You should talking to a physician about this.

When you are falling asleep, are you aware of it? and the consequences?
Do you feel extremeley fatigued? or comfortable?
Have you considered that this may be neurological?

I have searched high and low for a connection with your group specific sleeping and a medical diagnosis and find nothing.

In Canada we have a few Sleep Disorder Clinics. Are there any in Spain?

 

[steel_lady]

When I fall asleep it is like a painful struggle, I try to stay awake, I feel angry with me and very tense and i just black out.

There are other situations like if I am with a group of people walking. There I can not sleep but my mind just goes blank and I can not follow the development of the conversation. I noticed also that this does not happen if I have only 2 people with me. It starts when there are three or more - and the more people there are, the time for me to blank out gets shorter.

The same happens in group games if people maintain some conversation that is not strictly about the game. I was working in a firm where, while doing my work it was necessary to follow conversations because they contain valuble information. And of course, it was imposible task for me. Sometimes it helps a bit to close my eyes and listen only. The moment I stay alone I feel fresh and ready.

 

[Yuray]

I noticed also that this does not happen if I have only 2 people with me. It starts when there are three or more - and the more people there are, the time for me to blank out gets shorter.

Your blanking out spells are following very specific criteria. In your research to find answers, have you ever discovered anything that compares with your symptoms?

 

[steel_lady]

I heard from a psichologyst that some say it comes from the dynamic of conversation. If you have 3 people, it happens that 2 are discussing and the third is listening. Then there is an exchange. The person who is listening, now can participate but is not found to be obligated to follow another paralel conversation at the same time. There is les focus shifting etc...