Is the majority of the people here really, "mild asperg

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I'm mild enough that I don't fit in with Asperger's therapy groups. I'm severe enough that people get creeped out the longer they're around me because they sense something is off but don't know what it is.

IMO people's assertions of their level of "functioning" are complete BS anyway. Some people are so blind and oblivious to the way they interact and impact on other people even a fellow autistic can pick up on it. But the differance is I tend to be more inclined to tell you if your doing these things or not. Most people think its polite to leave you in the dark and I think thats really wrong and completlely counterproductive if you want people to have a greater understand of themselves and how they come across. Not in order to conform to a normality but to give people a better understanding in interactions so they can actually achieve what they want in life.

You won't get far in adult life being a spazz, even if you have got a crackin' pair of tits. My hairy moobs only cut the mustard so far these days

But the definition of mild can't be that the symptoms don't bother them much, because don't you have to be significantly bothered by them in order to be diagnosed? That's what confuses me. If you have symptoms but they don't impair you in any way, I thought that meant you didn't have any disorder. I agree that most people are probably just average.

I also agree with Laz that it's pretty hard to determine your own functioning level. If you could accurately do that, you probably wouldn't have a problem.

Yeah, I meant to say something like that as well - I can't really judge the severity of my symptoms, I just know what's been said back to me after I've described them.

I would say that my Aspergers is severe. but how can I really know?.I can drive a car --not the best driver, I'll admit --but I do drive. I can hold a job--not a high-paying job and not a full-time job, but several low-paying part-time jobs despite umpteen college degrees.Is that a disqualifier for severe AS?
Many adult Aspies are married, with families of their own and good steady well-paying jobs. To me, that's mild. If you were severe, you would be alone,To be autistic means to inhabit a universe of one. How can people that have spouses and children claim to be autistic? But they would probably look at me and say, well, you can work and drive a car, and are pretty articulate, so maybe you are only mildly impaired as well. So what's the criteria?

I think I can say fairly authoritatively that my place on the spectrum is on the mild end. I was diagnosed by an AS expert as being on the spectrum, but not fitting the criteria for AS entirely. I come across as unremarkable (that is to say, "normal"), if a little shy and awkward.

Nevertheless, being on the spectrum has had a fairly significant impact on my life. I am obtuse and inflexible when faced with petty cruelty and injustice, and I just can't cope with it at all. When someone underhandedly bullied me out of a circle of friends a few years ago, I took it so hard and so rigidly that I completely excluded myself even from the people who were still willing to be my friends simply because they were still friends with the bully. They were the only circle of friends I had had in years, and I am still devastated by losing them, but I am unable to be flexible enough to accept any part of what happened and live with it, so I had to shut it down completely. I think this is classic AS but it is still fairly subtle, so much so that at the time I didn't realize it had anything to do with being AS (which I didn't know I was at the time though I had suspected it years before). I mention this as an example of being genuinely mild but still at the mercy of the effect it has.

And as far as driving, I find it doable but very difficult. When I tried to explain to a doctor several years ago that I find it hard to drive because I have to pay attention to too many things at once, she said that it was very strange. (At the time I did not suspect I could have AS.) I find it difficult to change lanes and make left turns (impossible if traffic is heavy) and impossible to merge into traffic. I think this is definitely related to AS. Again, it's fairly subtle, and it doesn't make it completely impossible for me to drive, but it's so difficult that it's a real obstacle.

i'm not sure my mom says i'm mild, but i feel like i'm more moderate or severe, i'm going to get retested someday.

back when i was tested i had gone my whole life up to that point convincing myself i was normal, not only that i'm not sure if i understood the questions or i was trying to answer like an NT would.

i also think i may have more then aspergers, someone else told me to look up to other illnesses. i can't remember how to spell them but one is mostly extreme selfishness and the other is bizzare thinking, honestly i think i have both of those.

I think it might appear to be more mildly based because of all the forums dedicated to friends, jobs, schooling, etc that the less mildly affected people will not be able to contribute as much to. The only places I really post are here, Members Only, and the Parent Forum.

I do not consider myself mildly affected mostly because I had very poor awareness of people and myself most of my life. It never occurred to me to fake social skills because I didn't really recognize that such existed. Now that I know a lot more I think it will take a very long time for me to be able to do that, if ever. I also couldn't finish school even only going halfdays because of my asperger's, and it is apparently obvious to most people that something is wrong with me or that I have issues.

But it seems to me like if there are three options, that the middle option would be most likely to be more populous.
............................Asperger's....................................
[----------------------------------------------]
MILD --- MODERATE/AVERAGE --- SEVERE

---------- HFA -------------------- MFA ---------------- LFA
(Autism as a whole)
I would define mild as someone who can treat asperger's more as a personality or just some obstacle to not being able to get a date. That's just how I see it.

Aspies very much like precise definitions and will continue to argue this to their end but it's all very subjective and unless you get their reasoning or feelings on their own label, you can not know to be able to apply it to your own view of such a system.

well I never thought I had anything until the doctor flat out told me I had AS. Then the psychologist that saw my son told me I'm on the autism spectrum. When I came here I said I had "mild AS" but it turns out I don't. My papers say Autism and the psychologists both said AS Moderate.

I manage two children on the spectrum, feed them 3 meals a day plus 2 snacks, take care of a house, go to school, and take care of their various medical problems. I also drive although learning to drive was a horrible experience. I'm working on my second degree and have applied to go to school for a Master's degree.

Now does this mean I get my hair, teeth brushed, showers, wear clean clothes daily, and manage to eat 3 meals a day? No it doesn't. l'm also antisocial and have major sensory issues(so do my children so who better to help them deal with it)