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Sodium_Acetate
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06 Jan 2010, 8:41 pm

but there are a few things I am not sure about, for example, I can understand many gestures and I do not like relying on rote memory. I quite often take things too literally, but not always. I do not think in pictures(honestly I don't know how I think, but its not pictures or words.... maybe sound? or mathematically?). I am very reserved. I may be a hypochondriac.

I have special interests; some last longer than others. I do not like greeting people, it feels forced and unnatural, I can't figure out why I should. I have to wear earplugs to school. I prefer to interact with objects. My IQ is 124. I don't always get jokes or think they are funny when the whole room beaks up laughing. I cannot stand to have others eat in my presence, this includes gum chewing. I need time to adjust to new new environments. I frequently do not know what to do with my self in social situations. I have some rituals surrounding hygiene, eating, and getting up in the morning. I did not make a sound when I was born; I was so quiet the doctors ran a test on me to see if I had been born with lungs at all (significant?). I have always had bad handwriting, though now that one of my interests is fountain pens, it is much improved, though I think its mostly due to the fact that people are not used to seeing cursive. I enjoy fiction, allthough I have not been reading lately, I am trying to get back into it by reading some easy books-Narnia. I correct myself all the time, the urge to correct others can be heartbreaking at times. I have a deep need for quiet and solitude, I work much better on my own. I had no idea my girlfriend was autistic herself untill a month into the relationship when she told me. People get angry at me for seemingly no reason.... An algebra problem so long it won't fit across the top of my whiteboard is no problem, but "easy" questions and assignments in english can be impossible. I twist my fingers and have a "tic". I have been told my sppech is monotonous, and my expression indifferent. I tend to stumble. I often get "stuck" when asked a question or expected to do something. Apparently a trench coat, corduroy pants and a polo shirt is odd dress.... I don't care about racism, sexism, peer pressure or what have you. I'm a chem lab rat. sometimes I can't bear eye contact, while at others I can stare at someone in the eye for a long time without thinking twice. I need lists. I have trouble reciprocating in friendships, and sometimes go to extremes to compensate for it, like giving away the 10 speed huffy bike that my grandpa gave me. I am usually not aware of my feelings.

That was a big info dump (typical for me), but I hope you can tell me about weather or not I may have aspergers.



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06 Jan 2010, 8:50 pm

You could, you don't need every possible known symptom to have it. You seem to be better with symbols than pictures. I think in pictures and am horrible at math.

Try this quiz:
http://www.rdos.net/eng/Aspie-quiz.php

It's the most detailed Asperger's quiz and pretty much everybody here has done it.

The wanting to be alone, lack of eye contact, need to correct people, slightly above average IQ, math ability, hypersensitivity to sound, speech, awkwardness with greeting etc all point to AS.

edit: This may be a massive stereotype but I have noticed that a lot of people with AS wear glasses.


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Sodium_Acetate
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06 Jan 2010, 8:58 pm

I actually took that test before, but I wasn't confident in the accuracy of self report answers. I got....

173 out of 200 aspie
52 out of 200 neurotypical

sometimes I can't stop smiling even when there is nothing funny. once I erupted laughing because I thought it was extraordinarily funny that I couldn't stop laughing when there was absolutely nothing funny. And yet when asked to smile for a picture, I think I am smiling, but when I see it it turns out that I wasn't at all.


edit: perhaps obsessing over whether or not I am an aspie has become a special interest?
edit(again): 137 out of 200 aspie.



Last edited by Sodium_Acetate on 06 Jan 2010, 9:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

SilverStar
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06 Jan 2010, 9:12 pm

Sodium_Acetate wrote:
And yet when asked to smile for a picture, I think I am smiling, but when I see it it turns out that I wasn't at all.


I hate having my picture taken. I guess it's because I am not quite sure how to pose, and I always seem to have this dumb, blank expression on my face. :lol:



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06 Jan 2010, 9:13 pm

Obsessing over if I had AS was a special interest of mine for many months.
Personally I'd say that you do have AS. Usually to get diagnosed you need to have a problem with socialising being unable to do things because of AS (as for me that is math, working, constructing a coherent sentence, hating change etc).


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KazigluBey
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06 Jan 2010, 9:30 pm

Sodium_Acetate wrote:
That was a big info dump (typical for me), but I hope you can tell me about weather or not I may have aspergers.


Personally, when I suspected AS I found that people who knew me personally (and were not prone to conclusion jumping) were quite helpful as well as my own evaluations of someone else. I'm not sure we always judge ourselves as objectively as we do others. I remember telling a psychiatrist that all the data I read sounded a bit like me and exactly like my younger brother. I think the following information really solidified the truth of the diagnosis for me:

1 - Personal reading on the subject and self-evaluation
2 - Personal reading as it related to family members (particularly my younger brother, who seems "more" AS than I).
3 - The reaction from my wife upon her viewing of Alex's at Ivymount (I felt I really identified with a lot in that video as did she)
4 - The fact that the psychiatrist took considerable time before making a diagnosis
5 - When the psychiatrist let me go as a patient as she felt at the time she would end up "treating" me more for my marriage (which is ending in divorce for reasons I believe are specifically related to AS issues) more so than for AS; although she did suggest I take some time to evaluate and might come back at a later time.

Given all that, I'm quite a believer. So my suggestion? If it seems like every corner you turn the AS diagnosis is there, it quite possibly is true (IMO).


pensieve wrote:
Obsessing over if I had AS was a special interest of mine for many months.



I did that too; I was relatively convinced before I saw the psychiatrist.



06 Jan 2010, 9:50 pm

Quote:
edit: This may be a massive stereotype but I have noticed that a lot of people with AS wear glasses.


And I've noticed lot of people with AS are into anime and when I go to the AB/DL community, lot of them also have AS so it's like another autism forum except their issues don't get discussed. I've gotten PMs here from people telling me they also have a diape fetish. Few of them even go to the same ab/dl forum I go to.


I think diaper fetish may be common among aspies, same as BSDM. I have also noticed that.



heatherbabes
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06 Jan 2010, 9:57 pm

maybe it is just a stereotype but my son, who is also Aspie, wears glasses, so does my other son who has PDD/NOS.

i was diagnosed by a professional as being an Aspie and my score is pasted below.

Your Aspie score: 184 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 28 of 200
You are very likely an Aspie



KazigluBey
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06 Jan 2010, 10:00 pm

I'll add to the stereotype and note that I wear glasses as well.



Sodium_Acetate
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06 Jan 2010, 10:01 pm

I never liked cartoons.



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06 Jan 2010, 10:04 pm

KazigluBey wrote:
I'll add to the stereotype and note that I wear glasses as well.


to add to the stereotype I wear glasses to deal with light sensitivity and not poor eyesight.


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Sodium_Acetate
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06 Jan 2010, 10:17 pm

pensieve wrote:
KazigluBey wrote:
I'll add to the stereotype and note that I wear glasses as well.


to add to the stereotype I wear glasses to deal with light sensitivity and not poor eyesight.


Mine are transitions.



heatherbabes
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06 Jan 2010, 10:23 pm

yeah, mine are also transitions but also due to poor vision



KazigluBey
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06 Jan 2010, 10:26 pm

I've transitions and need them for slightly poor eyesight. The only time I recall any issues with light is when I had a bad experience with contacts and then once with some crazy meds.



Boudicca
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06 Jan 2010, 10:29 pm

Gosh - a lot of the OP's post felt very familiar. I'm in a similar situation - obsessed with figuring out whether I am an Aspie. One thing that makes me really lean in that direction is the fact that as a child I used to bump my head against the back seat in the car (I always insisted on sitting in the back so I could) and at home with any upholstered couch or chair that could accommodate me. It was somehow soothing. I also always loved swinging for a similar reason. I did the bumping thing until I was 12 when my stepmother shamed me into stopping.

I don't have a problem with people eating around me, unless they slurp. Unfortunately, my husband is the worst - I can't be in the same room when he's eating. I can't get comfortable in my clothes - the tags kill me, they never fit quite right. I'm clumsy. I've been told I don't always make normal eye contact and I can be aloof. And as a kid I often responded inappropriately when someone got hurt (laughing). I'm 42 and I only have one friend.

I've always been very sociable, but not good at it. I turn people off because I'm impulsive - I tend to blurt out the wrong thing - or I'm too intense. It kills me because I am desperate to fit in, but I feel like an alien. I've been trying to figure out what's wrong with me for many years - maybe it's not that something's "wrong" with me, but I think differently. I have great verbal abilities, but I'm very slow to process new information.



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06 Jan 2010, 11:55 pm

Sounds like you could be. You score even higher on the aspie quiz than I do, and I'm unofficially diagnosed by my professors. I didn't like English either. It's not because I don't like languages or don't want to be competent at using my own first language, in fact I liked the vocabulary exercises very much. It's the organization of long thoughts and emotional/cultural/symbolic things which I had trouble understanding.


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