Bearing in mind karm's disclaimer, knowing that we aren't in a position to diagnose, all we can do is acknowledge whether or not we can relate to your experiences in the context of our own...
...pros...
Yeah! They sound pretty much like manifestations of aspieness...
...cons...
- I do not think I have major difficulties reading between the lines or reading body language, allthough I prefer if someone says it directly. Most of the time I can see there is something, but I don't know how to react to it.
I'm sure there are more cons, but I can't think of any now. I'll think about it. Maybe I am unwillingly not remembering them.
Everyone is different. We all manifest different traits. And even in relation to those specific traits, we experience them to varying degrees.
It ought to be borne in mind that the diagnostic criteria are usually broken down into groups of traits, and it will say, for that section, that a person on the spectrum will usually display, say, 2 out of 3 of abc traits, or 3 out of 5 of xyz traits.
Just because you don't have any major difficulties with body language, that doesn't rule out a diagnosis. Also, it needs to be borne in mind that we're not 'frozen in time', like some practitioners believe. Some practitioners seem to think that unless an adolescent or adult continues to present in the same way they would have as a young child, then that means the adolescent/adult can't be on the spectrum. It's a contradiction, because it's also known as a developmental disability, or developmental delay. But lots of practitioners overlook this, and seem to believe that we don't or won't develop as we grow older, we won't learn, we won't overcome difficulties or develop compensating behaviours, and if we do, then that means we weren't or aren't on the spectrum. That's a nonsense. And it's annoying.
For example, you mention body language. Many years ago, a colleague gave me a book on interview skills, which had a section about body language in interviews, and I learned some body language recognition skills and also how to do body language. And then a few years ago, there was a programme on British television called 'Would like to meet', a kind of dating bootcamp programme, which had experts to give people advice about their dress sense and relationships, but also about body language in relation to flirting. Before I saw that programme, I would often be clueless that a member of the opposite sex was interested in me, (in fact, I sometimes still am), but I'm better at recognising when people are flirting with me. I think we can learn and acquire knowledge and skills and make up for any 'deficits' we may have.
