Introspection and Devs?

[Emma]

I LOVE Meyers-Briggs. I'm an ISTJ or ESTJ - I typically score even on the I/E scale and can't even decide which I am, sometimes more E and sometimes more I.

Its a little late for me to think of all my autism traits but I too am generally tactless and often do not get jokes. I'm not great with eye contact. I have some different sensory reactions like I love deep pressure, like someone laying on me. I don't have much of an inner world in my head though.

There is another thread about devs and autism:

paradevo.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=2340&page=1

[ruthmadison]

Feb 20, 2011 3:30:23 GMT -5 Emma said:

I LOVE Meyers-Briggs. I'm an ISTJ or ESTJ - I typically score even on the I/E scale and can't even decide which I am, sometimes more E and sometimes more I.

Its a little late form me to think of all my autism traits but I too am generally tactless and often do not get jokes. I'm not great with eye contact. I have some different sensory reactions like I love deep pressure, like someone laying on me. I don't have much of an inner world in my head though.

There is another thread about devs and autism:

paradevo.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=2340&page=1

Very interesting! There are some things on her list that I never thought of as applying. I definitely do the fixating thing. I run very passionately with one idea for a period of time and then the interest evaporates. With most things it eventually comes back, so I've stopped worrying about it and just let the fixations come over me as they will.

I used to get teased because I wouldn't get jokes, but I've gotten much, much better with that. I still sometimes miss the subtext of something, or think someone is being serious when they are joking.

I do like routines, but I'm not too stuck on them. I don't handle change well. I've often described myself as having a lot of inertia, because once I'm on a particular path, I don't want to change. An example is that we used to take two day road trips to visit my Granny and I never wanted to get out of the car at rest stops. I still don't. I have no desire to stretch my legs or whatever, I just want to keep going in the way we've been going!

I don't know how any of this connects to my devness, though (other than the fixating thing). I'll have to ponder it some more

[devogirl]

Never taken the Meyers-Briggs test, but I am definitely not on the autistic spectrum, probably at the far opposite end. I tend to be very emotional. I did grow up feeling weird and alienated, painfully aware of how different I was from my friends. Some of that I'm sure is related to being a dev. But not all. It's so hard to say how I would have been different without the dev aspect. It certainly drove me to be more introspective and dreamy. But who knows, maybe I would have been like that anyway.

[~Z28gal~]

I feel almost like I did when I first realized there were other devs!! So strange. I really don't know enough about the autism spectrum to say whether I'm on it, but a few of the things you girls have said struck home - like loving people laying on me!! Except I'm also claustrophobic so I don't like feeling trapped. I went back and reread my INTJ profile - it's AMAZING how much it nails my personality!!! I'll grab a few quotes...
"INTJs apply (often ruthlessly) the criterion "Does it work?" to everything from their own research efforts to the prevailing social norms. This in turn produces an unusual independence of mind, freeing the INTJ from the constraints of authority, convention, or sentiment for its own sake."
and another biggie...
"Personal relationships, particularly romantic ones, can be the INTJ's Achilles heel. This happens in part because many INTJs do not readily grasp the social rituals; for instance, they tend to have little patience and less understanding of such things as small talk and flirtation (which most types consider half the fun of a relationship). To complicate matters, INTJs are usually extremely private people, and can often be naturally impassive as well, which makes them easy to misread and misunderstand. Perhaps the most fundamental problem, however, is that INTJs really want people to make sense."
So maybe I'm just a very typical INTJ! Whenever people ask me to describe myself, I'm just directing them to that description from now on. For those of you who haven't taken the Meyers-Briggs, I highly recommend!!!! You can find free 30 ish question tests online that are pretty accurate.
I always felt alienated growing up too, partially because of that "inner world", and partially because of the dev! I pulled off a 180 degree switch in high school somehow, and figured out the flirting/joking game, but when I'm in what I call "engineer mode", I still scare people. Very intense and focused.

[Emma]

Wow Z28 you and I are VERY alike. I don't have the quotes from ISTJ's but expect they are very similar, its all about the /TJ I think. I have a friend who basically grew up with Myers Briggs as her families religion (her dad was a psychology professor) and she gave me a lot of insight including being able to "type" me before I took the test just by knowing my personality.

DG - I don't think being emotional makes you on the opposite spectum of the autism spectrum. I too am very emotional (much to the dismay of my husband). Maybe we can talk about this more on Wed in chat.

As my ISTJ personality dictates I'll leave you with some links:
The AQ (Autism Quotient) - I don't have my score handy but I know I was 'above average".
www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html

short online Myers-Briggs Personality test
www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

Oh yeah and also if you want to know more about autism feel free to ask me (because I work with kids with it) or visit:

www.autreat.com/dsm4-autism.html
www.autismspeaks.org/

[~Z28gal~]

Wow, very cool Emma thanks!

I got a 30 on the autism test! A lot of that could be the INTJ though, I remember similar questions on the M-B test. Too hard to separate! And then you add the dev in... who knows.

[Emma]

I'm not sure if this makes sense or not but INTJ does not cancel out AQ. They are separate things and people with full blown autism could be INTJ too. I wonder how many of us devs score high on the AQ?

[Emma]

my AQ is 32

[ruthmadison]

I got 32 as well! I think the last time I took this I got slightly higher, I have definitely gotten much better at social interaction in the last five years or so.

I retook it using responses of how I was then and I got 35.

The average is 16? That is surprising.

[Inigo Montoya]

Well, when I was z28's age I was INTP... barely I as opposed to E... I don't remember about the others... but I remember being borderline I/E.

Now, according to Emma's web test, I'm an INTJ: 44% I, 25% N, but only 1% T and only 1% J.

Parts of both apply but the description resonated most with me was INFJ. Hmmm... makes me wonder how much work conditions/tasks play into this.

Wait! If my test scores are so fluid.... does that mean I barely have a personality? O.o

My AQ result was 17... I'm like a hair above average there. But I haven't worried about autism since I worked with a chick who, I'm almost certain, had a serious case of Asperger's compounded by an absolute lack of raising. I think I could've dealt with the Asperger's had she been raised to, you know, respect others and sh*t. She was something special, indeed. (I'm a better professional for having worked with her.)

[Devoblue]

I think that as a child I knew that there was a little something different about me and it was always something that was my little secret until I knew it had a name when I was in my teens and I discovered this whole world of devs. As a result of it being something that lived only in my head for years it forced that instrospection. I tend to over analyse things (and myself) alot anyways and my devness is no exception. I haven't done any of the tests Emma has posted links to yet but I don't think I fit the autism criteria. I should check and see though...

[devogirl]

Ok, you got me curious about this, so I took the AQ test. I scored a 6! Haha, I knew I was at the extreme opposite end of autism. It's not just the emotional stuff, I'm really truly terrible with numbers, and anything involving sets of things or repeating patterns. Although I was very shy as a child, I really craved human interaction and attention, and I've always had a very vivid, graphic imagination. It's interesting that so many of you are scoring really high on the test, but I don't think that is necessarily tied to being a dev.

[faith]

AQ is 11.
I can be very introspective at times... but not on the autism spectrum in any way.

INTJ on the Myers-Briggs.

I had to laugh at one of the questions...
"Would you rather go to a party or the library?"
I wanted to answer "the one where there would be wheelers" but that wasn't an option.

[ruthmadison]

Feb 21, 2011 20:33:33 GMT -5 devogirl said:

Ok, you got me curious about this, so I took the AQ test. I scored a 6! Haha, I knew I was at the extreme opposite end of autism. It's not just the emotional stuff, I'm really truly terrible with numbers, and anything involving sets of things or repeating patterns. Although I was very shy as a child, I really craved human interaction and attention, and I've always had a very vivid, graphic imagination. It's interesting that so many of you are scoring really high on the test, but I don't think that is necessarily tied to being a dev.

Yeah, I can't figure out how that would be tied to devness, it seems pretty unrelated to me, just another one of my many quirks!

[~Z28gal~]

Emma - no, I didn't mean that the INTJ cancels out the AQ. What I meant was a lot of the questions that jacked up my AQ score (mostly regarding social interactions, like "I prefer to do things on my own) are ALSO INTJ traits. A lot of the other autistic traits, like needing routines, etc., I have nothing of. So my personality might have artificially inflated my AQ score.

Holy cow!!! INTJ is one of the LEAST common of the personality types - something like 3% of the population. That's a pretty strange coincidence.

Fluid personalities are good Inigo! Means you're more flexible. When I first took the test, I was 100% I, N AND T - I've moved farther towards the middle as I've gotten older.