Aspies For Freedom

Welcome to the Forums Alias Pseudonym.

Why would a 'completely non-distractible state' be a non-aspie trait?

I've scored 160-185 on the aspie quiz. My sense of directions are also impeccable as is my balance.

I'm 42. How old are you?


Tomas

Maybe, I don't know. Autism is a spectrum of traits, some you may fit, some your wont. Maybe aspergers isn't quite right, maybe traits of autism may be be more on mark. It's a bit of an art, more than a science.

I love your writing, you're brilliant. Your writing is very relaxed, informal and off the cuff.

You definitely don't get any points for humility.

I think it is non-Aspie.  Personally, if you pull me away from my hyperfocused state, it is very hard for me to get back into it.

I think you may be "gifted ADHD" instead, and the Asperger could be wrong.

It seems that either your ADHD messes up the online test results or you've been the 'victim' of a sort of 'fashion' among professionals to dx Asperger's if they don't know what to write down.

Even if - you're still welcome to write here.

That's a really good idea Yigal.

Good to see you are posting.

I don't know why people seem to keep insisting on this, but really I do not see why being exceptionally smart would allow you to mimic social behavior any better than an Aspie of average intelligence.

There are bright NTs who don't do too well socially.

I think your theory is incorrect.  Again, for the masses, if you happen to be very smart with Asperger's... the giftedness wouldn't necessarily compensate for social problems.  Trust me.

I have an incredibly bad sense of direction.  I am 26 and have lived in the same neighborhood my whole life, and I still cannot give anyone directions to anyone beyond a simple "go past this one light, take a left, keep going for a while" etc.  I still get lost in my own neighborhood.

I think a bad sense of direction is typical for Aspies.

I agree. There have been a number of autistic people considered to be quite intelligent who couldn't socialize for beans (possibly why we get the 'eccentric professor' stereotype). Academic skills won't do much for socialization, unless you happen to find yourself in a lot of academic clubs, where people are similarly nerdy, and because of mutual knowledge, the difference in social skills may not be so pronounced. But that's when talking about special interests, and even then you can go off on tangents and stand out from the rest.

As mentioned before, autism is a spectrum so that, there are some people who'll meet all the criteria, others who will meet some (but still enough for a diagnosis), and others who'll meet some but not enough for a diagnosis. Autistic traits aren't exclusively the domain of autistics, and that's how I think of the spectrum anyway - continuous, including autistic, not very autistic at all, and every place in between. In any case, you're still welcome on the boards. There are a number of us who have ADHD as well, and there are also NT members, so feel free to post here as much as you like.

If you hadn't known, many people with ADHD have some traits and personality characteristics that overlap with Asperger's, in the first place.  Some researchers believe ADHD may be on the autistic spectrum.

I think this is true for those who have been misdiagnosed with ADHD, while for people who the diagnosis fits probably wouldn't make any difference. Especially the school system, expects kids to have to sit still for way too long at a time.

None of those rule out Asperger Syndrome.
Making eye contact, rudimentary social understanding, etc indicate better social skills than the stereotype of Asperger Syndrome, but if you still have social impairment you'd just be mild AS.
I've found (from personal experience) that it's hard to self-assess social skills. Have you tried filling out an online test with someone else who knows you well? You might find you've been underestimating how autistic you are.
On the other hand, autistic traits are common in ADHD. In addition to inattentiveness, hyperfocusing on an area of interest can be seen in ADHD. The big difference is that social problems for ADHDers are caused by inattentiveness or impulsiveness, not lack of understanding.
If you're not AS, you are probably gifted/ADHD, as someone else suggested.

Did you have a look at the ICD-10? Perhaps you can guess somehow what 'triggered' the thought about Anxiety with your doc?

Some behaviour which is due to being an Aspie might be interpreted as being a symptom of anxiety, I think.

You could check out the official diagnostic criteria. Keep in mind that to say "yes" to a symptom you have to have it in a significant way--something that you have to work around somehow, or something that interferes with your life, or something you do a lot more, worse, or less than other people. There's a gray area between autism and not-autism that describes a lot of people with autistic traits who aren't quite autistic...

Anyway, welcome