I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome several years ago, after being misdiagnosed as APDD and, earlier, emotionally disturbed.
I'd like to try and explain the way some of the stuff kessenich describes feels, from the inside. I was born without an instinctive knowledge of how to gauge emotions by looking at faces, and I didn't really learn how to do so until I was in middle school. Also, communicating IRL is still somewhat tricky, since I have to pay constant attention in order to decide when it's my turn to speak, and I still often talk too loudly.
I tend to think through things in a fairly logical, linear way. The downside is that I often seem uncaring, or brutally honest. The upside is that I can, or like to delude myself that I can, be more or less objective when necessary. I don't presume to judge others, but I can and do reach largely objective conclusions, even about myself and my friends.
As for the patterns of interest bit, I do tend to obsess over a certain aspect of something and ignore the rest. For me, a rating scale is very fascinating, reading the gradual differences between the things at one rating and those at the next.
Also, I'm very interested in number theory, particularly prime numbers.
I can't really speak to how I synthesize information, since whatever method I use is the only thing I know. I do know that it's very easy for me to see patterns in numbers or facts, but hard for me to, for example, perceive by the mannerisms of two friends that they've just had a fight. I had a special ed monitor until tenth grade because I simply wasn't organized enough to take notes. I thank my lucky stars that I got past that.
As for senses, I, unlike some I have met at group meetings and such places, don't have problems with many everyday things. However, a flickering light, such as a light tube about to go bad, is very annoying. Also, it's quite difficult for me to be comfortable in a crowded, noisy restaurant, and high school dances were Hell.
I only just learned to sleep with a computer running in the same room, usually searching for the aforementioned prime numbers.
Overall, I would say that I do speak in a fact-oriented sort of way - just watch me in the catbox. The one thing that annoys me most about 'normal' people is their tendency towards dishonesty. I don't mean deliberate lies to mislead, but their habit of saying things like "Well, you raised an interesting point" when they disagree with me. If I hadn't been willing to listen to their honest opinion, would I have asked for it?
By the same token, I have been told several times that I am "brutally honest."
My take on this is that I say what I mean, not expect others to understand the distinction between what I mean and what I say.
Like so many other things, this appears to be a matter of opinion.