Hi! My therapist thinks I may have Adult Asperger Syndrome.

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Hi folks 43 year old male here. My new therapist had noticed some "cookie crumbs" I have been leaving behind in our counseling sessions (I've been undergoing therapy for depression over the last 30 years). She then asked me some questions about my past and some more questions about my relationship with my wife and children.

After answering questions for 2 hours, she thinks I may have Asperger Syndrome and we are now gathering information to support it so I can go be evaluated.

I guess I have concerns as the book I am reading, "The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man's Quest to Be a Better Husband", seems to describe a far greater degree of difficulty than what I am having.

I understand that it's a spectrum and that some people will exhibit more behaviors than others, but I guess I still have some doubts. So I guess I am here to try and connect with some other people with Asperger Syndrome in my age group to help me understand things better.

Oh, I've also taken the Autism-Spectrum Quotient Test and the Empathy Quotient Test. My AQ score was 42 and my EQ score was 8.

I look forward to meeting other folks and getting to know you. Hopefully it will help me answer questions about myself too.

Welcome!

I am in my early 50s, my AQ score was 43 and my EQ score was 11.

I'm an old geezer of 53. I had "classic" autism symptoms before age 5, Aspergian symptoms afterwards.

You'll find many people of like mind.

Welcome to the Forum.

ResilientMonkey: Welcome to the forum. I highly recommend that you check out our different threads and see if what we say resounds with you. I would also recommend Tony Atwood's book "The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome." When I was first considering a formal diagnosis I bought it and it seemed that the things written, had been taken from my life/story.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

I'm going to be the contrarian here, but be skeptical. Don't let your therapist lead you to believe you're on the spectrum because of stereotypes of what AS is. And if you feel that it's stereotypes of what Asperger Syndrome is that is motivating your therapist to bring this up - challenge it.

If not, then pursue it and best of wishes.

Welcome to WrongPlanet.

Welcome to the Planet!

Thanks for all the welcomes!

So far I don't think my therapist is going of "stereotypical" ideas of Asperger Syndrome. She noted some subtle clues in my behavior and also in interactions with my wife. Things like always asking for a card with the next appointment on it even though we always meet at 7pm on Wednesdays, my almost complete inability to try and grasp how someone else is feeling, having ongoing depression for 30 years (seemed a bit long to her), obsessive behavior on narrow topics, parents mentioning a subtle shift in my personality at about age 3, advanced intellect having my teachers wanting to move me up a few years in school but poor social skills having them keep me back, and other things as well.

Following Gilbert's Criteria (below) I see that I match on some things, but others I am not so sure on.
1. Severe impairment in reciprocal social interaction (at least two of the following)
* inability to interact with peers - definitely! - though less so now that I am an adult.
* lack of desire to interact with peers - definitely! - though less so now that I am an adult.
* lack of appreciation of social cues - definitely! - still a problem as an adult.
* socially and emotionally inappropriate behavior - definitely! - though less so now that I am an adult, but still feel the impulses.
2. All-absorbing narrow interest (at least one of the following)
* exclusion of other activities - definitely! - I'll get so interested in something that chores will fall behind, no time for wife & kids, and I won't even notice.
* repetitive adherence
* more rote than meaning
3. Imposition of routines and interests (at least one of the following)
* on self, in aspects of life - maybe - if my morning routine gets interrupted, I might end up at work without having put on deodorant or forgotten my phone.
* on others
4. Speech and language problems (at least three of the following)
* delayed development - definitely! - my parents thought I may be autistic as my speech was so delayed.
* superficially perfect expressive language
* formal, pedantic language - maybe - I tend to use a lot of encyclopedic terms according to my wife and friends.
* odd prosody, peculiar voice characteristics - definitely! - I had 2 years of speech therapy in my first years of school.
* impairment of comprehension including misinterpretations of literal/implied meanings - maybe - I had problems with this when I was young, but no longer have much of an issue (unless someone uses a brand new phrase I haven't heard yet).
5. Non-verbal communication problems (at least one of the following)
* limited use of gestures
* clumsy/gauche body language
* limited facial expression - maybe - apparently I only express anger or confusion with my face (what my wife and therapist say).
* inappropriate expression - not quite sure what this means...
* peculiar, stiff gaze
6. Motor clumsiness: poor performance on neurodevelopmental examination - maybe - let's just say I wasn't called four-strike Quigley for no reason.

I'm going to continue to peruse the forum looking for more info and acquainting myself with more people. Thanks for being so friendly and welcoming!