Aspies For Freedom

Lately I've been reading about AS and am pretty sure I have it (and that my brother has HFA). I have a few questions:

1. I've read that people with AS don't like to read fiction. This is true of my brother (he said, what's the point, since it's all lies anyway?) but not of me. When I was a kid, I was almost obsessively into mystery novels, and then when I got older I started reading only literature. I'm very picky about what I read, but most of it is fiction. I do think that fiction just for the sake of entertainment is pretty pointless, but when it's art I don't think it's pointless at all. (I hope I didn't offend anyone here.) Does this seem inconsistent with AS? I do like documentaries about movies more than I like the movies themselves, usually.

2. Are left-handers/ambidextrous people more likely to be autistic? I'm ambidextrous and was just wondering...

3. Do you guys usually have tunes running through your heads? I do, and I used to play violin, so sometimes I tap out the fingerings (or what I think the fingerings would be) with my hand while I'm doing other things. Often I find myself doing the fingering for a g-major arpeggio if there's no song in my head. Does this count as stimming? I can't think of any other behavior that I do that would count, although when I was five I did flap my hand when I was nervous or uncomfortable.

4. Is it possible for the social problems not to "show up" until you're older? I think I've had social problems my whole life, but in grade school, it was so much easier to become friends with people that it wasn't obvious. Ever since I was a kid I've been awkward at family gatherings - I don't know how to interact with anyone there, so when I was a kid I would follow my parents and brother around, since I knew them. Anyway, when I went into high school (only a few people from my elementary school went there with me) I suddenly had tons of problems - I became friends with people, but no one considered me a close friend. Same thing in college. And I didn't date anyone until I was almost 22.

5. Is it possible to have AS and still make eye contact pretty consistently? I actually look people in the eye so much that it usually makes them uncomfortable.

6. Is photographic memory associated with AS? I have such a good memory that it usually freaks people out....you know, I say things like "Oh, don't tell me this story. You told it to me last year on april 22, we were sitting in the deli and you ordered a ham and swiss cheese sandwich, but they gave you cheddar by mistake. And you were wearing a blue shirt." This is kind of an exaggeration, but not too much of one.

Anyway, let me know what you think. I've taken a few of the tests and generally I get an aspie-range score. One thing that I think is sort of funny is that I was so worried about my social problems for so many years and felt really inferior about it, and then as soon as I met my boyfriend (who has some AS traits too) I stopped caring. I don't have any friends except for him in the city I presently live in, and that's fine with me. and in high school, I often stayed home on fri. and sat. nights even if i was invited somewhere, just because I preferred reading or thinking to going out.

Thanks in advance, and sorry I seem to have posted a novel on here  :grin:

-Em (a 23-year-old female)

1) Rubbish. I read more fiction than I read anything else. I also write more fiction than I write anything else (quite an achievement given how much I write here).

As for the other questions, I will give you a little bit of a hint in advance. You can ask a hundred different Aspies a few questions, and get a hundred different combinations of answers, so get ready for a lot of argument here.  :wink:

"You can ask a hundred different Aspies a few questions, and get a hundred different combinations of answers"  

True.


We have a poll on being left handed, but it didnt show a greater tendency towards it really.

We have a thread about music now in the general section that might answer your question.

I've read ton of fiction.  Mystery novels like all the sherlock homes books, a mystery novels series "A is for Allaby", "B is for Burgler", etc.  I've also read lots of sci-fi like all of H. G. Wells books and all of Issac Asmov's books.

What you read has nothing to do with weither your autistic or not.

Obsessions or Narrowed Fixed interests is considered to be though.

I'm ambidextrous, however this too has nothing to do with either your autistic or not.

My understanding of a stim is something you do that you consider relaxing and to stop doing it causes you to become stressed.  Its not requered though to be autistic.  I don't stim.

Not knowing how to interact sounds like a common autistic trate.  This sometimes get mistaken for shyness.

I had trouble with school from K to 7th grade which is when I then left to do homeschooling.

Yes its possible to be autistic and still make good eye contact.  Some might not give any eye contact, some too much and some somewhere in between.

Its not considered a requered autistic trate.  Some do, some don't.

Preference for doing something alone to going out and being with other people might be considered an autistic trate.

That's a myth that Aspies don't read fiction, as I love books of all kinds, especially fiction. Sometimes I read several books at once, often prefering to read than watch TV.

I do have hobbies, not obsessive interests, and I'm right-handed.

I did have depression, but that runs in my family to where even NT family members have dealt with it. I do have some anxiety, but it's relatively mild. I've never had an issue with stimming, nor do I have a photographic memory at all. I remember some events, but many details are blurred.

I do have problems with social anxiety, which is what led to me getting the formal diagnosis as I've never made it past the job interview.

Karms, please don't put yourself down like that.  

Having some problems does not mean you are a "basket case."

Apologies... I didn't mean it in a negative sense..  :shock:

(.. but having AS is not something I take up lightly)

Thanks for all your replies =)

I should probably go somewhere and try to get an official diagnosis, but right now the amount of money required isn't worth it....an official dx wouldn't change my life significantly. but i still would like to know.

I was reading online about AS the other day and read that aspies are usually better with verbal skills than with math, which surprised me because i thought it was generally the other way around with autistics. I don't even know which i am, because i'm more interested in literature and languages than in math/science, but i always score higher on math sections of standardized tests. mainly because i don't know all their vocabulary words.

i was curious about the left-handedness thing because i've read that non-right-handedness and autism can both be caused by increases in fetal testosterone. (it hasn't been proven for either one though.) but, in both cases, more boys than girls are affected, and i'm pretty sure i was exposed to more testosterone than normal for a girl because my ring finger is longer than my index finger on both hands. (sounds random, but apparently it's a pretty good indicator.) also, i produce too much testosterone anyway and have to take birth control pills for it, so it doesn't seem too unlikely.

anyway...thanks again for replying, you guys have been really helpful.

Emerald

Formal diagnosis of ASD requires the detectable presence of the so-called "triad of impairments," and doesn't depend in any way on any numerical, linguistic or other gifts, or indeed their absence.

Stella

Below a brief description (excerpts from autism websites)

The Triad of Impairments

There are three main features, which when combined together, are what define whether or not an individual has autism. These are:

    * difficulties in relating to, or understanding other people and social situations
    * difficulties in acquiring any form of communication,
    * a lack of imaginative ability, often substituted by obsessive, repetitive behaviour and a strong resistance to change.

(You may often hear these features referred to as the "Triad of Impairments")

Autism also includes the condition known as Asperger Syndrome, which describes people who show the same characteristics of autism to a greater or lesser extent, but are of average or above average intelligence and seem, on the surface at least, to have good communication skills.

:arrow:  NB: Paradoxes of autism:

Autism is a condition that continues to perplex even those who have been involved in the field for years.  The term “pervasive developmental disorder,” as the autistic spectrum is called in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) IV, warns us of the very wide span over which autism influences a person’s life.  

To complicate matters, it has long been recognized (e.g., Frith 1991) that autism is a highly paradoxical phenomenon.  In fact, some individuals with autism (IWAs) will show symptoms that seem to be diametrically opposite to those experienced by others (e.g., some excel in spatial ability, while this is an area of significant impairment for others).

ie. some autistic people might be good at math others may suck at it.  :mad:

[quote]You can ask a hundred different Aspies a few questions, and get a hundred different combinations of answers"

quote]

True, but a lot of aspies would identify with a lot of what you describe emerald.

A more recent poll, which I've just bumped to the top of the genetics forum by mistake thinking I was replying to this one! Does, I think, show a statistically significant preponderance of Left Handed/ Ambidextrous aspies.

I can greatly identify with 1,4 and 6. Especially 4, I think pretty much every waking moment has at least one music-related thought/action.

Oh, I have longer ring fingers on both hands than my index fingers and have more trouble relating to other females than to males. Don't know if it has anything to do with the Aspergers though.