Aspies For Freedom

The first thing that I am going to say is sorry for the length of this post, but this is important for me. I have believed now for two months that I have asperger syndrome. I am 15 years old and in ninth grade. Before I describe what parts of the six characteristics I exhibit I will post the test results from here ( the quotient ones).

Friendship- 50
Empathy- 14
Autistic- 32
Systemizing- 47

Ok here are the characterstics I show

1. Difficulty with Reciprocal Social Interactions

The first thing that I will describe is my friendships/lack there of. I have had two people that I have known and consider good friends since kindergarten. We don’t really talk much or get together much anymore but we have fun when we do. More recently in 7th grade I tried to make several friends and all my attempts failed and that lead to my social isolation that I still have right now. I have no friends at school. Outside of school I have one friend that I play one of my limited interests, Magic the Gathering with. We get together more to prepare for tournaments so that we can win than to socialize. I also don’t seem have much emotion that shows on my face. In fact I rarely show what I feel with my face. I don’t really engage in one-sided talks and when I do it is about snow conditions at a resort and it is when someone asks.

2. Impairments in Language Skills

In this area I most show a problem with the prosody of my speech. I often have monotonous speech which my family often complains about because they have a hard time understanding me. I don’t really use language inappropriately but still have a large vocabulary.

3. Narrow Range of Interests and Insistence on Set Routines

From what I know this is one of the major areas of AS. My narrow interests are magic the Gathering, skiing, and usually one other rotating interest. Right now it is on coming to a conclusion about this topic. I don’t really have a set routine but I favor order. I like to adhere to rules and don’t lie. I would much rather have something that is well planned out than to do something spontaneously. The last thing in this are is that I like to how everything in an event will happen and know what will happen in the case of different scenarios. Some things that are described is that people fight to do their interests and even debate. I am a good debater if that helps.

4. Motor Clumsiness

This is one of the less affected areas. What I do have is terrible handwriting. It is bad to the point that I type everything possible. Other than that I don’t really have much problems to coordination and I ski very well in addition to playing other solo sports (as opposed to team sports.

5. Cognitive Issues
This is one of the other areas that I have problems with. I have trouble reading in between the lines. I also take things literally. I was just playing dominoes the other day and someone said that it was like a had a magic marker because it seemed that I had everything. I didn’t get it until he said it the second time 10 minutes later. I can read body language ok and scored in the normal range for the minds to eyes test. Many people also say that I don’t have much empathy. Sometimes I wont understand why I shouldn’t do certain things, but recently I have been able to learn a little. Most of this happened when I was pursuing Magic to its fullest which was in October.

6. Sensory Sensitivities

This is one of the areas that I deviate a little bit from the norm (that is to say there is one). I am not hypersenseitive to sound, light smell and the like. I am however sensitive to taste and the texture of food in my mouth. I can be better described on what I can eat that what I cant eat. I don’t eat vegetables and meat.  If anything, I don’t like to work in loud places.

I would say, if you feel there is a likelihood you have aspergers, then you most likely do, but it might be a good idea to try and get yourself an official diagnosis, as in the end, only someone qualified can give you that total certainty that will be accepted by other people in your life. Sadly, I find that in real life, most people don't believe anything is wrong with you unless it has been officially diagnosed.

That is the other thing. I have noticed that even my family doesnt think I have it. Not that it is something bad. It probably has helped me alot. The other question that I had but forgot to ask is What benefits are there from going to a doctor and getting daignosed. I know that it can be expensive so if I go I want to know what can it do for me. That is really the only reason I have not gone yet.

Sorry for the double post but i just realized that I said something wrong, when I said it wasnt bad, I was talking about asperger's, not that my family doesnt understand it. It was just today that I said something to my mom and I said it the wrong way and she got pretty upset. When I tried to explain that she understood what I was saying incorrectly she wouldnt listen. THis is why I think I am going to have to ask them to just bring me to a qualified doctor.

The other question that I had but forgot to ask is What benefits are there from going to a doctor and getting daignosed. I know that it can be expensive so if I go I want to know what can it do for me.

Hi Pedro,

I would strongly recommend you getting a diagnosis, as the benefits are that you can come to understand yourself better and this will help you cope better in the future.

When I suspected that I had Aspergers, there was a part of me that still didn't believe it. However, after I got diagnosed, I looked more closely at my past and so many things clicked into place. Also, by accepting yourself as an Aspie you don't constantly worry what people will think of you if you don't conform with everything they suspect.

Good luck,
Anna.

That is a benefit. ALthough I beleive that I do have it, having it official would help a great deal. First of all, it would change what my family thinks of me in a positive way. Perhaps they will be a little more understanding because sometimes like this morning I come across mean or uncaring when that was not my intention.  It would also help becuase as said before, there people differentiate official diagnosis and self-diagnosis very differently. THey completely disregard the latter. Thanks for the replies by the way. If there is anyone else that wants to chime in that would be great.