Asperger's

[ohioisforloners]

I did not know much about Asperger's until I read this post and started to read up on it a bit.. WOW, I have never been diagnosed with AS, but uh... yeah, that's me. I am almost positive that I have some form of AS, and not as much SAD.

I am not constantly nervous, only in few situations. I am however, very sarcastic and come off as a non-caring individual. This usually scares most people away because they think that it is because I don't like them personally, but I assure them it's not. It really is not easy to socialize with most people my age, and I find myself almost avoidant of most situations that involve speaking or "small talk" just because I CAN'T do it. I just don't have anything interesting to talk about with the majority of people, therefor I try to just keep to myself and not ruin anyone's day. I often feel I am to blunt with some people, maybe not even realizing it at times. They must think im this depressed, insensitive idiot with "doom and gloom" in my mind at all times.

[OrangeBlossom]

I was actually falsely diagnosed with asperger's when I was 16. It took 1 and 1/2 years to get rediagnosed as having social anxiety. You mentioned wanting to see a psychiatrist to diagnose you so you know for sure - if you do this, just make sure you don't go to a specialist, as they will be looking for asperger's. I don't think anyone who thinks they have asperger's should let it bother them because a diagnosis doesn't change who you are (well, sometimes it can - it certainly gave me an 'excuse' to stop struggling against being different which made a huge long-term difference in that it made my social anxiety worse). From your original post, you sound quite similar to me, and I know that I don't have it. However, I think everyone is supposed to be somewhere on the autistic spectrum, and everyone fits some descriptions/symptoms of asperger's. There really is a lot of overlap between SA and asperger's in symptoms but not in causation. I'd advise not to let it bother you or just not think about it at all (tricky, I know).

[kb_101]

As a young adult, my wife is currently on this Asperger's kick and is trying to tell me that most of our communication problems are because I have aspergers. She could of course be right. I do know that something is wrong though. When I was in highschool I my grades were either awesome or I was on the brink of failing or actually failing. When I went to college on an athletic scholarship, they provided me with an academic mentor, and sent someone to test me for like 3 hours using flash cards, asking a bunch of questions, etc. I will be seeing a therapist soon to get a real diagnosis. I did however go and take the asperger's test (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html) and scored a 38, which means there is an 80% chance that I have it.

I tend to:

1) Not get jokes at all. I have to really really think hard to just to get the plot and after everyone is already done laughing, I may chuckle a little bit so I do not look to awkward. With story jokes especially, I tend to get lost after the 2nd sentence. I am totally on cloud 9 for the rest of the joke, story, or directions I am being given.

2) I have an EXTREMELY difficult time following verbal instructions which is currently why I am not working )=.

3) Most things just are not funny at all to me, even though other people are laughing. The only jokes that I really laugh at are jokes that I can relate to like from: Seinfeld, Office Space, American Pie, etc because I have been in those situations.

4) I do tend to go on and on about a particular subject that interests me, and there is not very many that do.

5) I find social spontaneity very very frustrating. If its Wednesday and my wife say oh "so and so is coming by tomorrow or the day after". I start to freak out inside. Especially if there is no exact time set.

6) One therapist said that I have PTSD and tend to misinterpret facial expressions as anger. This is very true. I myself tend to look angry, even though I am not at all, probably just frustrated.

7) I feel that I can read others facial expressions. But I do not feel the same way. I do not cry easily if at all when everyone else might. Or even laugh when everyone else might.

I take things very literally.

9) I cannot play sports that take to much coordination. It is just too difficult. Like basketball for instance.

10) I cannot think when working in groups like a project for example. Its only when I get some a lone time that I can begin to think about what is in front of me.

11) I will ace a test verbally. But fail the very same test if given to me on paper. It's really weird, because I cannot follow directions verbally.

12) I can get hyper-focused on a particular subject, to the point that distractions become extremely irritating. But then again, I am also easily distracted. I just depends on what I am doing.

13) I can go way off tangent when in a discussion and come right back to where I left off. Other people usually cannot follow me, and say "I tend to talk in circles".

14) I am extremely visual. Classes where they start off by talking about a particular peice of something like for a example a car part are very frustrating, because I need to see the big picture and how everything works as a whole.

15) Am not good with small details, another reason I am currently out of a job.

16) Always notice patterns in things that other people just do not get how I see that.

17) I actually have some social skills which I learned on my own through reading books, but the anxiety is still overwhelming at times, and not just that but there are times when I really do not want to be around anyone. And when I've been alone too long and/or I feel like I have accomplished enough, then it is okay for me to talk to the neighbors or family, etc.

1 I do not find it difficult to make new friends in the sense of making a new friend. But when it comes to trusting them, trying to read their intentions, then I tend not to make friends with them because I figure that I have better things to do.

19) Am a good diplomat, or at least I like to think so (=.

If I had to diagnose myself, I would say that I have a cocktail mix of: ADD, PTSD, SAD, and possibly Asperger's.

Although from my reading they did say that people with ADD or ADHD tend to be more social than anything else, so usually it a diagnoses for people with Apergers.

I think there is a huge difference between SAD and Aspergers. I think that Aspergers is an umbrella for SAD. So you could have SAD and not have Aspergers, but if you have Aspergers, then you probably have SAD. I think the PTSD part has to do with the abuse. Which a lot of Asperger children probably witness while growing up. Complex PTSD could probably be put under the umbrella of Aspergers as well. I the thing that differentiates Apergers from any other illness is the way their learning ability along with any physical characteristics that many Asperger children and adults tend to have. I do not have these physical symptoms and that is what makes me very skeptical as to whether or not I have this, but we'll see.

Does anyone else relate to the list of symptoms posted above?

[Hot Chocolate]

^I can totally relate what you wrote especially about the difficulty to follow instructions, tend to talk in circles, obsessed with a certain subject, the mistaken facial expressions etc.

And I understand where you are coming from about having to see the big picture, because I don't like superficial understanding of a particular subject. I think this is why I don't understand something which is like so simple yet I made it so complicated?

And add to that, I had troubles communicating with people, in real life and even apparently online too.

Anyways, I do have a job but had a hard time going through it, that's why you'll see some of my topics here are mostly about my problems at work because I can't follow instructions well enough, is always anxious, is easily distracted and me and my colleagues' communications is always here and nowhere, which in turn frustrates them a little.

[kb_101]

Wow, I didn't actually think anyone was going to respond to my long winded post, but I am glad you did, thank you. I totally get everything you just said. When I was working, it was so tough because my boss would be giving me instructions and after like 15 seconds I would totally and involuntarily get a blank stare on my face and not hear a word that my boss was saying. It's like my internal tape recorder just shut off.

I can totally relate what you wrote especially about the difficulty to follow instructions, tend to talk in circles, obsessed with a certain subject, the mistaken facial expressions etc.

This is just so dead on that I cannot actually believe there is someone else out there who struggles with the same things I do.

And I understand where you are coming from about having to see the big picture, because I don't like superficial understanding of a particular subject. I think this is why I don't understand something which is like so simple yet I made it so complicated?

This is extremely frustrating. I have so much difficulty with this. In school they wanted to teach me about the different computer chips and etc without barely any understanding of how a computer works. I was like "what is the point?" Don't teach me something if I cannot apply it. Like today for example, they teach kids calculus, but the kids have no idea how, where, when, or why it can or should be used. Without this understanding, why would they want to learn about it.

And add to that, I had troubles communicating with people, in real life and even apparently online too.

I know what you mean. Sometimes I feel like people think I'm from outer space or something when I try to communicate with them. It's like they have no idea what I am saying.

Anyways, I do have a job but had a hard time going through it, that's why you'll see some of my topics here are mostly about my problems at work because I can't follow instructions well enough, is always anxious, is easily distracted and me and my colleagues' communications is always here and nowhere, which in turn frustrates them a little.

Wow, I really empathize with you here. I know how this feels. Communication is such an issue for me, that I prefer to do things on my own. In hopes of not sounding arrogant, a lot of times I feel like I can come up with better ideas than 6 people who are in a group combined. This is of course not always the case as there are some really smart people out there. The other thing that sucked was that most of my ideas were thrown out of the window either because it took me too long to explain it or because they just couldn't understand what I was saying.

I'm going to make an appointment to see someone soon. Hopefully things go well and I can get in early. Thanks for listening. Been wanting to get that out for 20 years.

I wish I could offer you some advice about the job scene. I'm in a learning mode myself and am lost on the communication side of things.

If anyone has been dealing with these issues as well, and especially if you have figured things out. Please let us know. Thanks.