For a while now I've known that I was not exactly your typical person. About 2 years ago, two of my friends joked about me having Aspergers. I had stumbled upon the Wikipedia entry previously and thought it was interesting that I fit into 75% of the listed symptoms. Since one of my two friends had a mom who was a speech therapist that worked with autistic children and shared his sentiments about me, I decided to take it more seriously and consider if I truly might be clinically different.
Here are the symptoms pulled from the mayo clinic:
- Engaging in one-sided, long-winded conversations, without noticing if the listener is listening or trying to change the subject
- Displaying unusual nonverbal communication, such as lack of eye contact, few facial expressions, or awkward body postures and gestures
- Showing an intense obsession with one or two specific, narrow subjects, such as baseball statistics, train schedules, weather or snakes
- Appearing not to understand, empathize with or be sensitive to others' feelings
- Having a hard time "reading" other people or understanding humor
- Speaking in a voice that is monotonous, rigid or unusually fast
- Moving clumsily, with poor coordination
- Having an odd posture or a rigid gait
The only one that I don't fit is the first one and only partially. I do give long-winded speeches about random crap sometimes, though I usually notice that people don't give a damn.
Empathy- I'm pretty sure I have a severe lack of it, indeed a girl came up to me recently asked "Do you believe in charity at all?" Also, even when relatives are suffering and died, I seem to not appreciate it to the same level as others. Will I even cry at a funeral? As a side note, I do for some reason feel empathy for people in Anime and Dramas, no clue what that means. Maybe I enjoy feeling emotions as a form of entertainment and suppress it in real world situations?
Non-verbal communication- the bane of my existence, eye contacting when speaking to people that are not friends is very difficult
Humor- everything is literal, rarely understand jokes fast enough, when I do I tend not to appreciate them
Speech- extremely formal (rigid), and so fast that most people make me repeat what I say 2 times
Lack-of-Coordination- Total klutz
Hobby- hmm viscious cycle of Video Games/ Anime (hell i ALWAYS return to the same ones eventually) + my unnatural interest in politics/ economics (transfer of power in the world).
Odd Posture- I sway back and forth when giving a speech, debate coach and wtp coach both commented on this
Just now also took an online quiz developed by a Cambridge guy named Simon Baren-Cohen (Borat's cousin actually). I answered to the best of my ability and scored a 32. The scale says people who score between 32-50 have an 80% chance of having Aspergers. Proves my suspicions of having borderline Aspergers.
Though I'm borderline Aspergers, I wouldn't deign to call myself that socially awkward, if someone approaches me and speaks, I'm usually totally cogent. Its approaching others that seems to be problematic.
Tommy of the future, I beckon you to come back to this post and see if any of this turns out valid.
Recommend
Comments (9)
I got a 33 on that same test you took. My other mental illnesses (namely the schizophrenic half of my schizoaffective disorder) mimic a lot of the symptoms of Asperger's. One therapist I had years ago thought I might have Asperger's, but I think the negative symptoms of schizophrenia paired with my otherwise normal social awkwardness account for them well enough.
My brother has Aspergers. It's really hard living with him.
You might want to get a clinical test done, get an accurate answer from a physician.
I work with children who are on the autism spectrum so I understand what you have said.
I have Asperger's. And a background in psychology. Some (most?) of the symptoms you've listed are shared with many other neurological and psychological disorders, like ADD, ODD, OCD, Bipolar (and other mood disorders), borderline personality disorder, (as previously mentioned here schizoaffective disorder) and more. That's why it's important if you suspect you have a case of "borderline" Asperger's, that you see a clinician to be sure. Only someone who is trained can help you identify exactly what the problem is or isn't. While there are now checklist tests to see if you may or may not be on the spectrum, it's important to complete ALL tests routinely used to identify the issue correctly.
I went 56 years without a diagnosis of Aspergers and having a diagnosis won't change who you are. Self awareness may give you the opportunity to moderate behaviours - although I find if I stop something like finger flapping something else starts.
Best advice get on with your life. Get a diagnosis but don't sweat it. You've got this far so a diagnosis really is only for self understanding otherwise it has no purpose.
I can very much relate to what you're saying. through my life, I've gotten various diagnosis that didn't exactly fit. they always covered some of my symptoms but never touched on all of them. then I came across Asperger's (and really started researching... as I usually do) and it pretty much explains 95% of my childhood. there are still a few holes but it's been more accurate than anything else I've ever heard.
that being said, I'm still unsure as to whether or not I really need a formal diagnosis... when it comes down to it, it's as people here have already said. finding solid facts doesn't change who you are... at the end of the day, you just wind up poorer (doctors bills are never fun :/)
I may not be an expert but I'm giving both myself and you a definite maybe ;)
not matter what you decide, I wish you luck.
With Asperger's, though some diagnosed with it are higher functioning than others, most people tend to take things very literal. My cousin and my nephew are both diagnosed with Asperger's. I'm currently writing a psychology paper on it. It really fascinates me. My nephew is very good with numbers, but he can't read a book to save his life and he's in first grade. My cousin was just admitted into a special school here in Illinois because the diagnosis is so new, there aren't many teachers who specialize in taking care of children with AS. If you think you have it, you should talk to someone who is professionally trained in cases such as AS. It could really help you out!
The statistics actually state that 80% of people who have autism score in the 32+ range, not that 80% of people in that range have autism. What that means is that your score is typical of autism scores, but not that you have an 80% chance of being autistic. Its sensitive, but not necessarily specific.