Hi, I see a lot of similarities between AS and enneagram type 5. Before I write anything further:
Is there already an existing thread about this subject?

I've never seen anything here about the Enneagram, but I agree that type 5 is most similar to the stereotypical Aspie. 5 with a 6 wing, maybe...

Here's an example of one writer's analysis of a Five:

Enneagram Type 5 - The Investigator

Thinkers who tend to withdraw and observe

Enneagram type 5 - The Investigator: People of this personality type essentially fear that they don't have enough inner strength to face life, so they tend to withdraw, to retreat into the safety and security of the mind where they can mentally prepare for their emergence into the world. Fives feel comfortable and at home in the realm of thought. They are generally intelligent, well read and thoughtful and they frequently become experts in the areas that capture their interest.

While they are sometimes scientifically oriented, especially with the Six wing, just as many Fives are drawn to the humanities and it is not at all uncommon for Fives to have artistic inclinations. Fives are often a bit eccentric; they feel little need to alter their beliefs to accommodate majority opinion, and they refuse to compromise their freedom to think just as they please.

The problem for Fives is that while they are comfortable in the realm of thought, they are frequently a good deal less comfortable when it comes to dealing with their emotions, the demands of a relationship, or the need to find a place for themselves in the world. Fives tend to be shy, non-intrusive, independent and reluctant to ask for the help that others might well be happy to extend to them.

Fives are sensitive; they don't feel adequately defended against the world. To compensate for their sensitivity, Fives sometimes adopt an attitude of careless indifference or intellectual arrogance, which has the unfortunate consequence of creating distance between themselves and others. Trying to bridge the distance can be difficult for Fives, as they are seldom comfortable with their social skills, but when they do manage it, they are often devoted friends and life long companions.

Fives are usually somewhat restrained when it comes to emotional expression, but they often have stronger feelings than they let on. Few people know what is going on beneath the surface, as Fives have an often exaggerated need for privacy and a deep seated fear of intrusion.

Because of their sensitivity and their fears of inadequacy, Fives fear being overwhelmed, either by the demands of others or by the strength of their own emotions. They sometimes deal with this by developing a minimalistic lifestyle in which they make few demands on others in exchange for few demands being made on them.

Other Fives make their peace with the messiness of life and engage it more fully, but they almost always retain their fears that life is somehow going to demand more of them than they can deliver.

"I don't care searching"

I guess I am trying to keep the honour of being a bigger idiot than Ian.

Here are a couple of free online tests that might help establish which of the Nine personality types you are: http://www.eclecticenergies.com/enneagram/test.php

Oh dear, you've posted about my current special interest!
I started a thread but it got lost in the forum remake several weeks ago.  There's a really cool enneagram forum linked below that I post to under a different username
http://www.enneagraminstitute.com/forum/

I'm guessing that 5w6 and 1w9 (and possibly 6w5) are fairly common types for aspies.

moi--5w6

Max, thanks for the type 5 summary. And Energeia, I know the forum you mention. I'm a 5w6 with few special interests, the enneagram and Paris. For others: 5w6 is short for 5 wing 6, meaning type 5 with some type 6 traits. There is a lot of information about the enneagram available on the internet.

In time, I've become an enneagram expert and have more than 30 books about it, and also about the background (Gurdjieff, Ouspensky). I use my knowledge daily, in contacts with people. I have difficulty with small talk, prefer email and need lots of time alone. Being with people can be draining. So for years I'm thinking that being an enneagram type 5 explains my behaviour. Now that I'm getting to know more about Aspies, maybe I'm an Aspie thinking he's a Five. My score on the Geek Syndrome test is 33. Or you are all Fives, assuming to be Aspies... Until now I'm assuming all Aspies are Fives, but, Energeia, apparently you have another suggestion.

So how to decide, am I an Aspie, or are you Fives? Maybe Aspies are at the extreme end of the Enneagram type Five range?

Hi Five
Think Venn diagram --one large circle for 5s, one smaller one for aspies (fewer aspies that people of any E type)... The intersection is the overlap between the circles, and I'm guessing the area of intersection might be larger for 5s/aspie than for other E types and aspie.

As I said, I'm guessing that aspies could easily be Type 1w9 (w2 much less likely)--e.g., attention to detail, rigid routines, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, moral, concern for justice, self-critical, etc.

When I posted an E test here on the now vanished thread, some people came out as Type 6, which I don't find surprising.  Think all the effort put into figuring out how to adapt to the neurotypical world...attempting to see what the rules are...lots of fear, accompanied by reactivity and sensitivity.  I thought I was 6w5 for a while, and then drifted back to 5w6--seeing avarice as a larger issue than fear.

For me *personally* (not wanting to generalize here), I'd say that the following is true.
1.  Some of my aspie traits are probably not related to Type 5 or other E type--i.e. the more physiological issues (e.g. hard recognizing faces, lack of good motor skills as a kid, certain sensitivities to touch, asexuality)--I guess one would have to poll 5s to see how common these are, but I don't think they're hallmarks of 5s.

2.  Some of my aspie traits contradict typical 5 traits.  For example, I'm more "out there" with what I think, what I say. And I don't hoard information.  (Note: I test higher in 8 and 1 than I do in 5...and I think this is because of being less inhibited than are more typical 5s.  Very "what you see is what you get")  

With these caveats, I do think there's a fair bit of overlap between 5ness and aspieness.  Presumably this is due to neurological wiring. That is, if the Enneagram types are at all real, then there's likely to be a biological basis for why someone is a 5 instead of, say, a 2.

Almost all psychological/neurological "categories" relate primarily to a specific Ennegram type. The enneagram was around long before all the DSM labels were created.

I agree that while most aspies will hover around the Ennegram Five, there will be a lot of Six mixed into the Five for many people. (And some Four for others)

Certainly here on this board there are some very creative, artistic Fourish Fives. And many, many sixy fives -- both phobic and counter-phobic sixes.

I wonder... if we looked at lists of famous 5's, would we see a lot of AS folks?

Examples of 5s with a 6 wing:

Isaac Asimov, Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud, Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Stephen Hawking, Alfred Hitchcock, Theodore Kaczynski, Karl Marx, Ezra Pound

Examples of 5w4s

Hannah Arendt, Tim Burton, Kurt Cobain, Albert Einstein, Franz Kafka, Stanley Kubrick, John Lennon, David Lynch, Friedrich Nietzsche, Vincent Van Gogh

List of "Famous Fives" -- I think there are quite a few Aspies here...

Albert Einstein,
Stephen Hawking,
Bill Gates,
Georgia O'Keefe,
Stanley Kubrick,
John Lennon,
Lily Tomlin,
Gary Larson,
Laurie Anderson,
Merce Cunningham,
Meredith Monk,
James Joyce,
Bjšrk,
Susan Sontag,
Emily Dickenson,
Agatha Christie,
Ursula K. LeGuin,
Jane Goodall,
Glenn Gould,
John Cage,
Bobby Fischer,
Tim Burton,
David Lynch,
Stephen King,
Clive Barker,
Trent Reznor,
Friedrich Nietzsche,
Vincent Van Gogh,
Kurt Cobain,
Jodie Foster,
"Fox Mulder" (X Files).

Although what you write, energeia, in my opinion still has to be considered as a hypothesis, it seems highly likely to me that all of it is true. Thanks for the clarification.

One sentence I would say differently:

Maybe the overlap between 5ness and aspieness is caused by a common tendency (for both 5s and aspies) to use the brain in a serial way (thinking, computer-like, do one thing at a time, orderly) as opposed to using it in a parallel way (feeling, multi-tasking, chaotic). If this theory is true then we would expect that it's unlikely for an enneatype 2 (all feelings, repressed thinking) to be aspie. How does that sound?

And Max, yes, I also think there will be aspies amongst the famous fives. The question is, are they famous because of their aspiesness or despite it.

"are they famous because of their aspiesness or despite it?"

I think that's always an impossible thing to prove, but my stance is that WHATEVER a person achieves, it is essentially a product of being the person he/she is -- and being Aspie is a core identity/character/personality factor for anyone on the AS spectrum.

So it's ultimately like asking "Would Emily Dickenson be Emily Dickenson if she weren't Emily Dickenson?" -- and I say no. Without Asperger's, she probably would have been just another NT housewife with nine kids. Her entire genius -- her  observation, understanding and expression -- came from her Aspie gifts.

My supposition of commonalities between the neurological wiring of 5s and aspies was, indeed, a hypothesis. There's no definitive test for either.  (If there were, there would be far fewer arguments over who are the true 5s and over where one is, or if one is, on the autistic spectrum.

Regarding the serial vs parallelized use of the brain, or use of thinking function vs feeling function as discriminators....um....I think it's more complex than this for both 5s and aspies. Can't get into it now..I'm on my work lunch break

Five....just out of curiousity, what E type would you be most likely to be if you weren't a 5?  And, how do you work your doi to 8?

I walk. It's so simple but has a big effect. I mean, I've discovered that during walking (not running) I go to 8 and feel very good. So I walk on almost every day that I don't work. For several reasons, I prefer to do that in big cities, so I take a lot of short holidays. And I'm very curious how do you manage to go to 8, Energeia? I hope everybody call still follow this, enneatype 8 is "the leader".
I'm certain I'm a 5 but also have 1, 9 and 8 traits. The 6 happens to me unvoluntarily when people I know are present.  

Regarding the serial vs parallelized use of the brain, or use of thinking function vs feeling function as discriminators....um....I think it's more complex than this for both 5s and aspies. Can't get into it now..I'm on my work lunch break

Actually I thougt the serial vs parallel part was brilliant. No, I'm joking now. But seriously, I really see a lot of serial things in me. For example, I like trains (that's serial, one station following the other, very predictable too). I manage to do my work by putting a lot of small tasks in my agenda, in time (serial again). Aspies, anyone recognizes serial aspects in yourself? Or is multi-tasking (parallel behaviour) not a problem for you? As I see it, a thought is a serial form of a feeling, and feelings are parallel versions of thoughts.