I was psyched to try the quiz - I have never seen an aspie quiz online - but the web address didn't work.
If you are funsctioning happily enough now, I don't see what having a diagnosis will do for you. Don't wish to offend anyone or anything by this. But we had avoided the official diagnosis for my son for almost 10 years since others knowing or labeling my son as something, in my opinion, wouldn;t do a darn thing towards his life progress. though darn middles school years have so many more variables to deal with, we now needed at least a socail worker to make sure we stay on the right track now that we "officially" have to deal with him being a "diagnosed" kid at a public school... official stinks! My son does not like, nor does he agree with the diagnosis. (he resents being labled) He says " I think that someone got their paperwork mixed up" and "has anyone ever considered that people are just who they are and that every one is allowed to be unique and not make a big deal out of it? of course, he also says " why me, why don't I have any freinds!"
WONdering 1- you sound intriguing and well rounded. Good luck in your endeavors.
Wondering, you seem like a text book case - -a case in uniqueness and subtlty and nuance. Have you read the book The fabric of Autism, Weving the threads into a cogent theory. Lots of interseting stuff in that book. by Judith Bluestone. There are alot of books written by Spectrum folks...
Wondering, you seem like a text book case - -a case in uniqueness and subtlty and nuance. Have you read the book The fabric of Autism, Weving the threads into a cogent theory. Lots of interseting stuff in that book. by Judith Bluestone. There are alot of books written by Spectrum folks...
I see. I do not quite understand your meaning. Do you mean textbook as in 'AS' or textbook as in 'you should read a book'? I apologise if this question seems inappropriate. I shall have a look at the book.
OOH pardon the pun, I didn't see that I made one! What I meant was merely your initital text describes a "text book" case of aspergers, based on literature from medical journals. I find that terminolgy from emdial literaute is not of much usse, except to learn the terms. I find it helpful to read books written by people who are autistic/specttum such as the book I recommended. I should know better and have been specific.
Did you know? Apologizing and finding the possibility of more than one meaning from a statement are two very typical occurrences for spectrum folks.
OOH pardon the pun, I didn't see that I made one! What I meant was merely your initital text describes a "text book" case of aspergers, based on literature from medical journals. I find that terminolgy from emdial literaute is not of much usse, except to learn the terms. I find it helpful to read books written by people who are autistic/specttum such as the book I recommended. I should know better and have been specific.
No, it's fine. I tend to deal with humour rather effectively, though less so on forums or MSN. I shall read some personal accounts. Thank you.
You see, I have friends. A number of friends. I am relatively popular. Yet people do not see me as being a 'real person', rather a character or an oddity that appears more as an apparition from a film. I have a number of close friends where this is not the case. I wonder, to what extent have I created a social identity? Is this a construct that I have developed so that i might socialise more adeptly? Or does an ability to socialise, though not to understand people and body language etc., imply that it is something other than an ASD?
Some of the more damaging myths about autism are to do with friendship; e.g. that we none of us have friends, that we are incapable of having friends and that we don't want friends, etc..
Simply untrue. If we are raised in the right environment and meet the right people we can be as popular as we want to be.
Surround us by mean bullies and of course we have no friends. Same as anyone, really.
I have had close friends, and acquaintances aplenty. That doesn't mean that we all think alike. Many of my friends have baffled me at times, as I have them, no doubt!
Some of my friends I have recognised as being rather on the spectrum themselves.
Until recently, 'high functioning' autists (including those who would now be diagnosed as having Asperger's) given the right environment were merely regarded as eccentric.
So, I come from a family of eccentrics. We all think that the rest of the world is odd!
Welcome to the world of ASDs; where those of us who inhabit it fail to recognise the descriptions of us handed down by observers without ASDs!
I see. Perhaps it is my bourgeois upbringing, where eccentricity is an excuse for any number of genuine psychological or neurological conditions...I am suspicious of the word, its usage etc. I thought that might be the case regarding HFA/AS. Is it possible to be borderline? And if I exhibit some of the symptoms, but not all, is this an indication that i have adapted or that I do not have an ASD?
I see. Perhaps it is my bourgeois upbringing, where eccentricity is an excuse for any number of genuine psychological or neurological conditions...I am suspicious of the word, its usage etc. I thought that might be the case regarding HFA/AS. Is it possible to be borderline? And if I exhibit some of the symptoms, but not all, is this an indication that i have adapted or that I do not have an ASD?
Well, ASDs come under the heading of 'Pervasive Developmental Disorders' or PDDs for short, i.e. conditions where people who have them do not develop in neurotypical ways.
So, the diagnosis of Asperger's versus Autism depends largely on what you were like as a child. Basically, whether or not your acquisition of language was advanced or delayed.
Because we continue to develop throughout our lives, it becomes harder and harder to tell the difference as we age.
We still view the world in a different way to the NTs, but no longer seem quite as 'odd' to them as we learn intellectually to behave in ways they learn instinctively.
Whether or not you get a diagnosis will depend at least as much on the memories of family members of your childhood as it does on current behaviour; possibly more so.
It was very advanced. I started talking before I was able to walk, or even crawl apparently. I do not want my family to be involved. Is there a way of getting around this?
There is a way around it. Find an autism society that does adult diagnoses. They will be much more 'tuned in' to the way we present ourselves, and may well be able to diagnose you on that alone.
That is what happened to my hubby and me when we took one of our boys for a diagnosis. Once we added our recollections of our own childhoods that was pretty much a clincher.
When I didn't think it at all odd that my children were all fluent talkers by the age of two; that they were all fluent readers by the age of three; that they noticed everything around them yet had trouble fitting in at school; it was because I had been all those, and so had their father; and their grandparents.
We are just different thinkers. Only in the last century was it thought that the majority style of thinking wasn't just common but somehow correct; thereby making uncommon thought processes incorrect - and therefore a disorder.
If you feel that the description of Asperger's Syndrome describes you at any stage of your life, then that will feel like a revelation; an explanation of why you didn't always 'get' what the other people around you 'got' without thinking.
It isn't necessary to go for formal diagnosis unless you think that it will help you in some way; AFF is just as happy to accept those of us with informal/self-diagnosis.
Self-diagnosis...hmmm. Official diagnosis would be helpful insofar as it would explain many things to many people.
I wonder why people can't just accept people for who they are - each as individuals... Let me not so much seek to be understood as to understand. going to pick up John -maybe I'll have him read tiggers post about bullys and he'll type a response...
You see, I have friends. A number of friends. I am relatively popular. Yet people do not see me as being a 'real person', rather a character or an oddity that appears more as an apparition from a film. I have a number of close friends where this is not the case. I wonder, to what extent have I created a social identity? Is this a construct that I have developed so that i might socialise more adeptly?
Role playing, or mimicking the environment around oneself is a characteristic personal style is characteristic of aspergers. Having very many friends fortunately may place you outside of aspergers.
Aspergers really isn't that much "fun", anyhow, since it overlaps with other conditions.
All in all, it's really hard to imagine how others see you since you can never really step into their shoes.
What I'm trying to say, is that they may think you're just fine, while you feel somewhat reticent due to depression symptoms.
Hmmm. Perhaps. Though I do not feel particularly depressed, and have experienced depression and been diagnosed in the past. As for many friends? I mean between 10 and 20, and even then close friends...between five and ten. I am not seeking a specific diagnosis, I am simply seeking to understand myself. As I said, exploring possibilities.
*) It is perfectly possible to make NT friends. I just requires them to be either excentric, openminded or patient enough to accept you for who you are... and it takes you a lot of effort to understand how NT people think.
*) It is harder to keep friends. In this case, it takes both you taking a lot of lessons from life and them being patient as you advance. The best friend an Aspie can have are those who bluntly say when he's screwing up socially, while still respecting him and having fun with him. One of my best friends is like that.
*) More difficult than finding NT friends is finding an NT partner. One way to do so, it by having people of the other gender (if you're heterosexual that is) introduced to you by friends. The best way to do so (in my experience) is by trying to become friends with a person of the other gender through Instant Messenger (MSN Messenger, AIM, ICQ, ...) and getting to meet them in real life after you become very close. Instant Messaging allows an Aspie to mask many of his deficits and make a far better first impression than he can in real life.
The worst thing an Aspie can do with regards to NTs is no longer trying to seek contact with them. If you seek contact with NTs you will be disappointed more than you would like, but if you're smart enough the experience of trying will help you advance and understand more and more of their behavior. As much as you might feel like it, you should never give up...
1.Persistent insomnia/difficulty sleeping. I find it enormously difficult to stop thinking.
You should try to learn to bend that thinking into lucid dreaming (dreaming while awake). Then you can fall asleep in a matter of minutes. No one can teach you how to do this, though (as far as I know).
2.Near complete inability to read body language or signals.
3.Inappropriate jokes or comments that tend to offend, even though I do not presuppose that they are offensive.
4.Inability to interact sufficiently (verbally or otherwise) with the vast majority of people.
5.Advanced interests in specific and unusual areas, particularly academic.
Sounds very familiar...
6.Extreme sensitivity to unexpected noises, to the extent that I sometimes feel pain.
I never had that.
7.Dramatic alterations in behaviour when intoxicated.
I only experience this when I'm either really drunk or utterly stoned. When I'm just slightly intoxicated, there's no real difference.
What's wrong with seeking out other neurodiverse people?!
Nothing. Usually, the "weirder" the person, the more I like them. "Normal" and mediocre people tend to be boring as h***.
I'm not saying that you should ONLY seek contact with NT people. I'm just saying that you shouldn't crawl in your shell and avoid all contact with them. There are too little of us out to avoid all contact with NTs at all.
Pardon me, but there are some of us who don't have the college education, the expensive car, or the strong intellect needed to "compensate" for AS deficits. Trying to find an NT partner with all these difficulties is unrealistic.
I can assure you... Even with an IQ of 137 it is damn hard to get an NT partner and keep her. Hell, even my current girlfriend (we've been together for 5 years) was quite ashamed to take me anywhere during our first months together. The "I'm starting to see you more like a friend than a lover" speech is something I've heard more than once after being with an NT for some time... and without the Internet I was probably still a virgin (Instant Messaging can help masking your defects when making first contact).
Again, I'm not saying that you should hang around with only NT people. In fact, I encourage people with AS to start a relationship with others who have AS, although an NT partner has its benefits. She can teach you things you wouldn't learn from another AS and she can better take care of the tasks where you screw up.