Awaken, and hear

So, in my introductory post I mentioned that I have high-functioning autism, which is frequently referred to as Asperger's syndrome (after Hans Asperger, a psychologist who described many symptoms of what is now recognized as autism). Autism is, essentially, a way of mental function in which the affected person has decreased empathy. Essentially, someone with autism has difficulty (or, in extreme cases, the inability of) recognizing emotions in other people, understanding body language, vocal tone, and other such intangibles of interpersonal communication, and, quite frequently, "getting" others at all. Autism is recognized as a "spectrum" disorder, ranging from people who are profoundly autistic (such persons aren't really capable of recognizing shared humanity of others at all) to people who are very mildly autistic. The terminology denotes this as "functioning," with degree of functioning being inversely related to the severity of the autistic traits: thus a low-functioning autistic person is a person with very poor to nonexistent interpersonal skills. Simultaneous with the functionality scale is an IQ scale. Some people with autism have IQs below 70 (thus being, by definition, mentally disabled), some have IQs in the genius range, and some are in the middle. The relationship between IQ and autism is poorly understood, but many people with low-functioning autism also tend to be mentally disabled. However, this is by no means universal. Autism is more common in males than females, with a ratio of about 2.5:1 male to female autistic people. As a result of this, the AS culture is very male in it flavor. By convention, people with high-functioning autism with middle-to-high IQs are referred to as having Asperger's.
I am high-functioning autism, and my IQ has not been measured in recent years, but I am above average. This puts me solidly in the Asperger's category.
In addition to this, I am a lesbian. However, most of my relationships have foundered on the rock of my low sex drive, which as led me to conclude that I may be asexual - i.e. someone with no real desire for interpersonal sex. However, since much of the online asexual commentary is driven by what I tend to term "pure wankery," gender essentialism, and regressive attitudes, I'm not sure on this. What I am sure on is that while I have a get-off drive (i.e. I like the physical sensations), but I don't have much of a get-with-people drive. This is a very important distinction - I have left where a SO is sleeping to go be by myself for awhile. Maybe this is related to the autism - I don't feel the need to satisfy my needs (sexual and otherwise) with others, and this is a hallmark of autism, but I'm not sure why my sex drive is impacted more than other things.