Reminds me of Spoonerisms, al though it is different.

I don't think this is a mild form of autism. Must we diagnose everything?

I do this sometimes, but I also worry about being autistic, so I don't know quite how much help that is.

You're not autistic. You just think faster than your mouth. Tons of people do this.

Both. I know full well the goofiness you speak of. It happens all the time with me.

Autism is a broad spectrum of which we're still learning about - See also Asperger's syndrome for a trendy example. It doesn't necessarily mean anything is wrong. In fact, I'd argue that it's perfectly normal. (There is, of course, clinical, acute, and critical autism. That's not what we're talking about here. If anything, we're mis-using the term autism, but the broad-spectrum mild-symptom instances we're speaking of often resembles autism, or may or may not be related to the broad spectrum of autism in general.)

As an armchair but dedicated generalist I can only intuit that various forms and symptoms of "autism" or autistic-spectrum like behaviors are more common than not in sentient humanity, and sentience in general. We may learn that it's merely a matter of where we set the detection threshold - and that it's nothing to be alarmed about. This broad spectrum of symptoms is probably a function of complexity and intelligence on one or more levels. Add into that an ever growing flood of stimulation and increased media modes and we have an environment rapidly if not exponentially increasing in complexity and weirdness. And our adaptations and reactions to that complexity and weirdness will mirror the environment.

Seriously, have you ever met any truly, startlingly and stupendously smart people? Especially highly specialized smart people? Have you ever witnessed the incredibly "stupid" shit they do sometimes? Sure, they may be able to calculate intricate and tedious Fourier transforms in their head, but can they match a tie to a shirt? Aren't they forever forgetting their coffee cup atop a car, or leaving their keys somewhere - well above and beyond the norm?

This goofiness is one of the reasons I work in IT, because most often my IT cow-orkers and superiors are likewise afflicted. Hell, my boss at my new job is almost worse than I am.

I catch myself making odd language mistakes both when speaking and typing all the time, multiple times daily, it seems. And it's not just language. It can be social interactions, or planning, or trying to get ready to go some where, and instances where I end up putting my shoes on before my pants, or worse.

It's just life, and life is weird. And getting weirder all the time.

Pinkstainlesstail: I've always felt some sort of affinity for you. Now I know why!

Loquacious: Did you mean to write " my IT cow-orkers"? Because that is a keeper.

Sadly, I didn't invent that one.

Heh, I just tried to write "event" instead of "invent", yet I think I was thinking of "evidenced", none of which make any sense what-so-ever.

9622v2?

Mushroom? Badgermananafoam?

Like Loquacious, I think it is perfectly normal and its nothing (if you were) to worry about. A slightly different thing: after I've spent a lot of time on my own (i live alone and i also wear headphones at work so conversation is limited on a day-2-day basis), the connection from my mind to my mouth gets very lazy and i don't finish words, or words come out weirdly. I hate that because it makes me look stupid. But i also know that im capable of being quite eloquent and um loquacious, so i don't worry about it too much.

IMO Aspergers has been getting way too much press recently for the wrong reasons.

Seriously, have you ever met any truly, startlingly and stupendously smart people? Especially highly specialized smart people? Have you ever witnessed the incredibly "stupid" shit they do sometimes?

In spite of its "trendiness," Aspergers makes total sense to me when I compare it to my dad, however. He is both a brainiac in some things (research chemistry, builds RC airplanes, will talk incessantly about both) but a total idiot about other things (can't use a computer, incapable of figuring out a DVD player).

Asperger's makes all kinds of sense, and while 90-99% of the people (myself included) who self-diagonse themselves with Asperger's Syndrome probably don't have anything even remotely like a critical case of it - the symptoms of Asperger's as a whole resonate strongly with a lot of geeks and nerds.

I would go so far as to say that these symptoms are related in some way to Asperger's or the autistic spectrum.

Social situations often confound me. I'll pick up on incredibly subtle cues or clues in many diverse situations, even in specific social situations, but completely fail to grasp those that are most obvious to most others - the most obvious and common one would be that I'm annoying the hell out of someone by digressing.

(But then, those that get it respond in kind, and there's a mutual fascination that happens - that wonderfully nerdy and rapid exchange of vast quantities of information that some of us find so satisfying.)

Another example would be that when I'm out walking or hiking in nature, I often and easily see many minute clues to the flora and fauna in the area that seem to escape whoever I'm walking with.

I'm no naturalist by any stretch, but for example I can see the tracks of a lizard or rodent and immediately discern the difference between the two and go "Aha! Field mice live here, see their tracks? See the way the tail drags in the dust? But that one right next to it is a lizard. See how the gait and foot placement is skewed outwards, the way the tail swishes back and forth across the sand rather than making straight lines?"

And then I'll nearly walk off a small cliff into a wash or canyon. I'm forever hitting my head on low hanging objects or walking into things, or even worse, people.

This is nothing like Autism, nor is it much like Asperger's. Those are disabilities that affect social interaction and the ability to understand and cope with the world around you. They have nothing to do with language skills, although language comprehension is sometimes a part of the Autism diagnosis. Many autistic people also have other learning disabilities.

It might be a form of dyslexia, or it could just be your brain misfiring.