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Hi, my name is Mark. I'm from Hamilton, Ontario. I stumbled upon this site while searching for more information about aspergers. I have some questions, but first let me tell you a bit about myself. I'm 21 and I've been living in St. Catharines, Ontario for three years. I'm extremely introverted and socially awkward. I have a number of problems that I've had since childhood that make me suspect that I have aspergers. First of all, I have an older brother who has Autism. We never caught it until he was about 19 or 20. I've always suspected that something was 'wrong' with me, but could never tell what it was. Being older now, I can better put my finger on it. People have always treated me different that other people. Adults and even children my age always spoke a bit slower, a bit softer, and whenever possible they spoke to me alone and in private. It was like they knew I was somehow different than the other children. I was very fragile as a child. My parents both worked, so I spent a lot of time alone, as I never really made any friends. I always felt that there was this wall between me and the rest of society. In addition, I was always top of my class and always got honours marks. The only exceptions were more socially integrated courses such as gym, drama, or when working in groups.

High school was a mess. My social ineptitude prevented me from excelling, despite my knack for academics, and I developed a deep depression. My family simply thought I didn't want to go to school, but it felt more like I was outright unable to. Socially I was burned out, and every day in school made me sink lower and lower. I dropped out and wrote my GED. I attended my local community college and moved out on my own, where I studied culinary arts. I am now studying history, my true passion, which to quote my parents, " I never shut up about". I am also a war of 1812 reenactor.

I have a girlfriend and we get along well. Being in relationships has never been a problem for me like working has. While on the job I feel so trapped and I get very nervous. I deal with the public, so my job is difficult for me, as you can imagine. I have also been diagnosed with essential tremor, which I'm wondering has anything to do with aspergers.

My first question is has anyone had similar problems? I'm also wondering how I might go about being diagnosed.

Nice to meet you all and feel free to email me at mark.burnison (at) gmail (dot) com
Thanks!

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Hi Mark! Welcome to Wrong Planet! Check out the many interesting and helpful forums here. Yes, you do sound like you may be on the Autism/Asperger's spectrum of disorders. Go into the General Autism forum here. There is at least one post article with links to online tests. Take the tests and save the results. If they indicate you are on the spectrum, print out a few copies--at least one for your records, and one to take to a psych doc if you go for a diagnosis. When picking a psych doc to do the evaluation, ask if the doc has experience working with adults on the spectrum. Most docs don't have that experience, and so are as ignorant, and misinformed as the general public. Because of it they can cause more harm than good, so it is important to ask any psych docs you consider seeing, if they have experience diagnosing and treating people on the Autism/Asperger's spectrum.

On the plus side, you sound like you are at the Asperger's end of the spectrum and not in the Classic Autism section. Life is still hard for those of us with Asperger's, but based on my research, it's a lot harder for those of us with Classic Autism.

So take those online tests, pick a psych doc, take along some notes you make about your condition, along with copies of your test results, and go get yourself diagnosed, unless you are content with self diagnosis. And remember, you are among friends here at WP!

Welkome to WP

Mick