25 Questions Tag Part One! || Asperger's Edition!

I'm back, and this time with another tag of 25 personal(ish) questions, of which I only get through 12 in the time-allotted. Come see me talk about education, autism, family, holidays, kindness, spoilers, and traveling and much much more!

Channel's Mentioned:
@AndrewsWizardlyReads

Original Tag:

Questions:
1. What's your channel about?
2. How old are you?
3. What's your relationship status?
4. Did you go to college/occupation?
5. Where are you from/live?
6. Looking back what would you have told your 10-year-old self?
7. Tell us about your family
8. What’s your favorite holiday?
9. You have no budget what is your dream vacation?
10. Name your biggest pet peeves?
11. What book changed your life?
12. What simple invention improved the world?
13. Favorite movies/TV shows?
14. Describe yourself using three fictional characters?
15. What was your dream job?
16. If magic was real what spell would you learn first?
17. Share a favorite childhood memory
18. What is your favorite social media platform and why?
19. If you could pick any book character who would you spend the day with?
20. What's your spirit animal?
21. What "old person" thing do you do?
22. Do you have a hidden talent?
23. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
24. Share an item and tell us its significance.
25. Now tag some people

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[PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy]

So glad you're on the mend, buddy! I would be delighted to learn Latin Christmas carols from you, but I'm not a teenager, and, as you know, I definitely don't mind embarrassing myself. You and Patrick Rothfuss both took eight years to get through college, so perhaps that bodes well. Also, we do indeed know that Christina is the best! Finally, it is indeed possible for someone to be both excitable and intelligent -- you are a wonderful example, Allen. My very best to you for 2022, my friend!

[SarahAsYouWish]

I’m with you. Keep preaching the need for kindness, compassion, and empathy. Also, completely agree with you on, “That ending broke me” being a total spoiler. I wish people would stop saying that.

[LaurensNerdyFunStuff]

Thanks for sharing, especially the Asperger's section. I was diagnosed with ASD while I was in school (not sure when, but fairly early), but a lot of the struggles you mentioned were so similar to what I struggled with. I knew I had ASD for nearly all of my school years, but as a kid I didn't know how to help myself to navigate all this social stuff and any help I got was really poor. (I was also diagnosed with ADHD just last year which probably didn't help much either). I did very well grade-wise for the most part, but I was never really able to fit in with my peers and got bullied a lot. Couldn't really explain my problems either cause the adults who were supposed to help, really knew anything about ASD (and I really struggled with communication in general anyway).

Still struggling a lot with accepting my ASD, working with/around it, and just my overall sense of self-worth/confidence, so I guess hearing you talk about so candidly got me a bit emotional. Like maybe I can get to that point some day. Need to work on that a lot though ha. Sorry if this is a bit too personal or if I'm over sharing, but I guess hearing someone talk about it so casually (and who I think is cool) meant a lot to me. So thanks!

[TheObsessiveBookseller]

Your “that ending broke me” pet peeve should be a public service announcement all its own. Love it haha.

A friend recently said about a book that took me ages to get though “I cried so much at the end.” I was immediately so disappointed because I knew there was only one “darling” who’s death could’ve made her cry. Had I read it on my own, I would’ve been effected. As it was, I barely blinked.

[Johanna_reads]

You are one of my favorite people, Allen! Loved your rant on kindness! Small talk is definitely not my thing. 😅 Asperger’s seems so hard to identify in high functioning individuals, and I’ve had many longtime friends receive the diagnosis much later in life. I can’t express enough how grateful I am that you’re open talking about it!

[briejeweled]

I vehemently agree with your entire kindness rant! When people say life isn't fair, I'm like... okay, so what are we doing about it? Why is that just a thing we've accepted and celebrated as a people?! But then I spiral into insomnia because I can't stop thinking about all the awful things happening in the world while I'm warm and comfortable in my bed. And also, listening to this entire video is making me wonder (not for the first time) if I'm on the spectrum. P.S. LOL at question 12.

[Imaginetheday]

I love it when you talk about Asperger's. My 25 year old son was diagnosed with it when was 6 years old. I am pretty sure he's going to look back at his 20's as wasted, but he's still growing into himself. If he's where you are when he's 39, I will be very, very happy. :) I look forward to part 2.

[Loganva]

I love how Allen’s pet peeve is the fallen nature of humanity😭. Bc same!

[thecontradictorian]

The ending of Return of the King breaks me every time and nobody dies there, Allen.

[onfaerystories]

Oh my gosh I need to pause this video to tell you that opposites attract: I love camping and hiking, but my husband is a literal buffet for mosquitoes so it just won't happen (and it sometimes cause some allergic reactions), and he loves the idea of going on a cruise for the exact same reasons you stated, and to me it just feels like being stuck (unless the boat stops and I can swim in the ocean/lake/any open water often enough - he himself doesn't know how to swim and would like to learn just because I told him drowning is a stupid way to die if you could've learned how to swim 💀). I wouldn't mind being on a boat for like 2-3 days, but more would drive me a little crazy - even if there's a pool in it (but having books would definitely help 🥴).

I've met a few Asperger's and they are definitely passionate and very enthusiastic when they meet people as passionate as them (and just as curious). So they are particularly attracted to me. But that 30 year-old man who thought I was attractive was clearly disappointed when he learned I was married (we had just met that day). My husband and I started talking to him together, and later on he literally told me he wish I was not married (while my husband was talking to someone else) and in my mind I was thinking "oh man, you can't say that" and genuinely wondered if anyone had ever told him that's not appropriate. I just thanked him and he told me about a girl he was interested in, but that he unfortunately had to follow "stupid rules". I wonder if that sounds familiar to you because all I could think was "this life will be very hard for him, but doesn't he have parents who ever told him about those things?". But I understand it can be hard to actually get to a point where you accept those "rules" might be useful, just not in the way you imagine. I think it's the same with small talk, I was also the kind of person who was awkward about it (aren't we all as introverted readers? 👀), but understood later on (thanks to my husband) that it has more to do with making the other person comfortable (no matter if you are yourself) and just learn to listen more than you talk so you can better love them and just have a better idea of what kind of people they are - before sharing way too much infos about your personal life. 🥴

Anyways, sorry for writing so much, but that whole talk about Asperger's, especially from someone who seems so self-aware, is something that has been on my mind ever since meeting that young man (and I could tell because my friend's brother has Asperger's and they had very similar ways of thinking).

Now back to the video.

[Mmm-xifx]

Omg Allen your corruption fighting stance around minute 13:00 just had me mentally casting you as Butters from Dresden Files with a lightsaber sword of the cross. You would make a great Butters. 😆😆

[rachelcoleman]

I come here for the reading content, but this was a great video. Thank you for talking about your late Asperger's diagnosis. I was just diagnosed myself at age 39, and I relate to so much of what you said. And I could have gone on the exact same rant about kindness (I'm known for going on rants on my topics of interest)!

[AndrewsWizardlyReads]

Love the autism talk here!!! I got diagnosed in 01 and I still struggle with a lot of these things.

[jemofabook]

I completely agree with you about character deaths. The whole, "the ending broke me" the only time it wasn't a concrete death was a situation where you assume the character died, but you don't know their fate for certain until the next book....but John Gwynne kills about 90% of his characters, so I didn't think it was that spoilery 😂

[stevennornhold]

This is the first video that I’ve watched on your channel and it’s ironic that I am a healthcare worker driving in 11 o’clock on a Sunday night to help patients. Thank You sir for entertaining me on my drive. Great video.

[BookishChas]

“Embrace the weirdness.” Yes!! Allen I love you man. You are one of the coolest guys on Booktube, and I loved learning more about you. I would’ve loved to have you for a teacher, but alas I’m too old. I’m older than you whippersnapper (I’m 46). 😂😂

[Rogue_VI]

You are absolutely right about journey vs destination. Travelling sucks. BEING somewhere else is great. I was in Rome for almost a week in 2019 and loved it. I think you would like Greece. There are ruins everywhere and tons of stuff to see. I have a feeling that you would find a lot of the food tolerable as well. I've done the vast majority of my international travelling in (mostly) small groups and that makes the journey part much less sucky.

[Stardraigh]

Thank you for your words on aspergers. I wasn't diagnosed until my 30's as well and the struggle was hard. I'd probably not tell myself when I was 10 about it but rather I'd tell my parents and hope they don't drop the ball. Similar to you I feel I've wasted a lot of moments because my aspergers got in the way.

[derrisreaditbefore]

Allen. Your existence makes my world a much better place.

[joshyaks]

I'm genuinely looking forward to some history videos! (And I think you should do a "public education in America" video!)