Am I an "aspie"?

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Hello. I'm 26 years old and think I may have Asperger's. This is my first post ever on this site, and only about a month after I had ever heard of Asperger's. Just a couple days ago my mother was reading a book by Michael Somethingorother called "The Second Opinion" that mentioned Asperger's throughout the book. I knew I had heard about it somewhere recently, but had no idea what it was until my mother told me she believed that is what I have. I figured I would just humor her by looking up the symptoms myself from various sources on the internet only to find out that almost every symptom mentioned was something I had experienced since I was a young teenager.

I seem to subconsciously break eye contact during conversations.

Though I was considered of an above average intelligence at an early age, the moment these symptoms started (middle/high school years) I began to struggle academically due to social and other problems. I ended up dropping out of school the first chance I got.

There are times I find myself rambling on about certain subjects to people that interest nobody but myself.

I developed certain quirks, such as pacing around the house thinking of random things, twisting my hair.

My interest in going out and meeting new people is very low. I dread even the thought of it. Each step outside of the house feels like a potentially embarrassing situation due to my social awkwardness.

I have a sense of humor, that while well meaning and light hearted, is hard for some people to understand. My friends sometimes refer to me half jokingly as an a**hole.

There are alot of other things I probably haven't thought of,so any additional questions are appreciated. After reading quite a bit on the "syndrome" I don't feel hindered in my life in any way, other then the social aspects, but I would like to get some feedback from people who may have experienced the same problems. Am I an "aspie"?

Obviously, the "stims" you mention aren't necessarily unusual. Outside of the fact that you said these "developed" it DOES sound like AS. Then again, maybe nobody noticed the traits, etc...

I have read that AS can start to show itself around the teenage years, which is why i used the term "developed". It may not have been the best word to use. One of the most telling things for me has been reading random posts by people on this website. It's very hard for me to articulate what I mean, but threads like "who here spent new years alone?" seem to hit a certain nerve with me. TBH it's almost like I finally found a forum of people who understand EXACTLY how I feel.

I'll leave someone else to say the usual "we can't diagnose you over the Internet; you have some similar symptoms, but there are many causes of those and it's impossible to tell which possibility causes yours" and the like. I'll just point out that Asperger's is pretty much lifelong; it doesn't just "start" in middle/high school. Your symptoms and traits may change over time, but there will always have been something there, from the very start of your life. Could it be that there were symptoms when you were a child that you have forgotten, but that might have been recorded or remembered by parents, teachers, comments on report cards, et cetera? Could it be that your symptoms just changed to something more noticeable, or that your anxiety increased, when you were going through puberty (this can easily happen)? If not, if your issues truly did not exist prior to that time, then perhaps you are experiencing something else with aspects similar to Asperger's, rather than Asperger's itself. But if so, then looking into that might provide you with more information to use when you are seeking a proper, professional diagnosis (if you choose to do so) or making other decisions for yourself.

Another symptom I have thought of that was very telling for me was my inability to engage in small talk. I'm not sure how long I have been like that, since small talk is more of an adult trait anyways, but in my teenage and adult years I began to notice that I had a hard time engaging people unless I used the most generic of conversation topics. Um... kinda cold out today. How about them Steelers?

I tend to use repetetive phrases and responses. Most responses I use in social situations are canned, practiced responses.

There are still other symptoms I probably haven't thought of yet, but way too many things added up to describe what I have dealt with for more then half of my life. I would definitely appreciate some more questions so that I can better describe my situation. I thank everyone for their responses so far.

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt147137.html
you have a similar storyline

Thank you for the link to your topic. Alot of that story rings a bell. Especially the part about trying to hang out with people, but really just being a tag along. I also started drinking alcohol pretty early in my teenage years. I felt that the effects of the alcohol would make it easier for me to socialize with others, but all it did was made my symptoms more obnoxious. I would still rant about different subjects of interest to me, except while drinking I found it harder to stop myself from continuing the subject, to the point that my family and peers would get annoyed.

It actually can do that. What I suspect is actually happening, is either that the traits were not noticed (by the person and/or by others) much before adolescence (which is a really intense time for any kid), and also there's some autistic people (me included) whose traits get noticeably more intense during adolescence, and I would not be surprised if there are autistic people who are barely noticeable as autistic whose traits get intense enough in adolescence for diagnosis. (See http://www.autistics.org/library/more-autistic.html for more on things that can cause autistic traits to intensify or appear to intensify, there are actually lots of reasons.)

That link? A lot of things make more sense to me now. Thank you.

Thank you for the link. I do believe alot of it has to do with the fact that nobody knew what to make of me at that time. Though I'm still fairly young it doesn't seem like autism was something that was diagnosed very often when I was in middle school. I don't even remember a single person I knew being diagnosed with ADD as a child. People with ADD were called problem children, and people with Aspergers were just called antisocial.

One thing I was wondering was how accurate some of the AQ tests you can find on the internet are? I took one today and it gave me a score of 34. I tend to take any results from an "internet test" with a grain of salt, but then again it was developed by Borat's cousin. Really, how inaccurate could it be? I would post the link but apparently I'm not allowed to until I have either 5 legitimate posts, or have been registered for 5 days.

The AQ you describe is an interesting starting point, but it's very broad and sometimes the questions are hard to answer in a way that really gives the response to the question they are asking (that is to say, the questions don't really address the vagaries of the answers).

This is also an Internet quiz, and also not diagnostic, but give it a try - it's much more detailed and can tell you a bit more, or at least give you a bit more of an in-depth direction to your inquiries:

http://rdos.net/eng/Aspie-quiz.php

I do this, too.


Although I was thought of as above average intelligence before I entered school (I was tested and this conclusion was reached at age four) I struggled academically until I reached college. By my own determination and will I advanced and was able to enroll in a local university. It was far more than anyone expected. Determination can get you anywhere
I dropped out of high school but easily passed the examination, aquiring a GED.


I lecture family members when overstimulated :/


I bite my fingernails. Sometimes my thoughts race but have been working on having a calmer mind.


I've always done better on my own.


People don't get my offbeat sense of humor. They think of it as being too silly. To me, it's just fun.


Certainly sounds probable
Very probable, in fact!