Unsure if I have aspgers or not?

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patrickthefarmer
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18 Jul 2010, 8:22 pm

I am unsure if I have aspgers or not; I have read about the symptons; read personal testimonies on the web and browsed this forum for sometime seeking an answer to my question and I am undecided. How do you distinguish aspgers from poor social skills/social anxiety?
I like many of you for no apparent reason have been bullied; abused; attacked and thought of as immoral and manipulative. I dislike eye contact and I become very nervous in social situations; constantly searching for the right thing to say. However I do recognize social cues and body language. Also as a child I was very happy and had many friends; I was never thought as socially inept but I was also bullied due to my appearance. When I was elementary school I was in special education for writing and learning problems but was never diagnosed with aspgers. I have trouble with abstract thinking; can be too literal and I have trouble expressing my emotion. I purposely repress my emotions and view them as unnecessary/bad. Also the views that you hold on "Neurotypicals" is very similar to mine. I also have difficulties communicating with people; I am often misunderstood and as result I repeat myself or end the conversation frustrated. Although this be explained by my add.
However on several aspgers tests I passed as perfectly average(NT); in certain prolonged periods of my life I have been able to perfectly socialize and as result had many friends and good relationships. I seem to go back and forth between the two relying on rules to dictate my behavior. Maybe part of my problem could be explained by my ADD or perhaps the bullying in my life/previous lack of assertiveness or something else? I do not know and I hope you guys can help me out. :)



Willard
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18 Jul 2010, 9:30 pm

The first time I read an article on Asperger's Disorder and began to read up on it, I honestly had the eerie feeling that a crew of psychologists had been following me around, secretly videotaping my every move for years on end and analyzing my behavior in detail. It didn't seem like I was reading a list of stuff I might have, or that could partially apply to me.

98% of everything in the DSM describing AS was so immediately familiar to me it made me blush that a group of mental health professionals who had never met me or even known of my existence could describe me in such intimate detail. It actually sent chills up my spine. The more I read, the more certain I was that in the next paragraph, they would mention me by name.

Over the following couple of weeks, even the one or two things they listed that didn't immediately resonate with me, came washing over me in sudden epiphanies as I recalled incidents in my life that did in fact fit those criteria as perfectly as everything else. When I first read 'may see lights or hear sounds others do not', I thought "Hmm...I don't recall ever hallucinating like that" - then I remembered several incidents in which I had mentioned an irritating noise, only to have others look at me like I was insane because they couldn't hear it - not hallucinations, but real sounds with real and identifiable sources, but so subtle that others around me never noticed them and often still could not hear them even after I pointed out the source.

What I'm saying is, I really think if you had AS, there would not be any doubt in your mind. If a symptom here or there sounds familiar, but not enough to make a clear and unequivocal identification, then you're more likely in the PDD-NOS range, which means you have some symptoms of Autism, but not enough for them to qualify as AS. Asperger Syndrome is a very specific set of aberrations from the neurotypical, and some professionals are more liberal about tossing loosely defined variants under their diagnostic umbrella than others, but IMHO, if you really have full-blown AS, you won't be able to read the diagnostic criteria and NOT know.



Thelostcup
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20 Jul 2010, 10:47 am

Asperger's isn't just limited to social difficulties.

Honestly, I would consult a professional about it. Self-Diagnosis creates more problems than it's worth.



CockneyRebel
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20 Jul 2010, 11:23 am

Welcome to WrongPlanet. :)


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