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Hi, I go by username rotary turbo, RT for short. Real name Kenny. This is my story, which I will try to prevent from being an absolute wall of text...heh.

When I was in school, I was always different. The most confusing thing about it was the fact I refused to do homework, but could answer any question and was in the top percentiles of standardized testing. One year I tested 99th percentile. In middle school, they (the school district) decided to have a psychiatrist examine me. She had me take questionnaires and talked with me quite a lot, but wouldn't tell me exactly what results she was finding. Mom later said the psychiatrist thought I has Asperger's. I assume the main factors were social awkwardness, lack of eye contact, talking about subjects intensively and with an unusually high level of intelligence, abnormally formal and well-versed speaking, etc. When I find a subject I like I don't obsess over any certain details, I actually want to learn every aspect about it. When the psychiatrist was keying in on this, she was asking me about what kinds of subjects I liked as a child. I mentioned I'd always liked space and started into some things I'd recently read in a book by Stephen Hawking. Keep in mind I was in middle school, reading on a college level and conversing about astrophysics. There were other things, but that was the real kicker for the psychiatrist. Though she had heard I was very intelligent she wasn't expecting that at all, heh.

Fast forward many years. I hadn't thought about the findings much, and continued to struggle in high school. At one point I got tired of trying to relate to other students and experimented with total social isolation. I ate lunches as far away from others as possible and then went to stand in the hall until the bell rang to go back to class, talked to people only when addressed and only what was necessary to respond, etc. I did this for about an entire school year. After that I decided that social interaction is a life necessity, so I did what I could to communicate. I dropped out of high school far behind (since you can't ride through on just "knowing" the answers) and then proceeded to get my GED diploma with honors. A few restaurant jobs forced me to "get into the real world" and helped out social interaction.

Forward again to current day. I have a reasonable job and interact with people OK, but still struggle with many of the common symptoms. I have been happily married for over 2 years, and this could be due in part to the fact I found someone who was also somewhat mentally abnormal... Just now, at the age of 27, did I actually think about the diagnosis from middle school and start researching Asperger's. I was stunned, it's like it answers so many questions about "why" I behave the way I do. My wife's reaction was "well...that explains a lot". I even took an online autism-spectrum quotient test (answered 100% truthfully and to the best of my ability, of course) which pointed to indicators of higher level autism (Asperger's), score 30 out of 50. It was found on the Wiki for ASQ and some of you probably know about it.

Thanks for taking the time to read to here, if you're still paying attention. I have found, without really "knowing" for sure what I've been fighting, that a person with this can live a fairly normal life if they try. Now that I am more certain, I may get a professional diagnosis (double-verify the psychiatrist's and my findings). This will likely help me even further in my endeavors to interact with "normal" people and get more out of life.

Your story is pretty much identical to mine except that diagnoses for Asperger's Syndrome (AS) didn't exist when I was in school. I was, however, advanced a grade, hated it and demanded two weeks later to be returned to my lower grade.

I tried to get an AS diagnosis in February 2014. For several misfeasant reasons, my diagnostician failed by declining to diagnose me with AS, and diagnosed me instead with the AS co-occurent factors of OCD and GAD. Whatever. I have since come to understand that their is no accepted standardized diagnostic test for adult AS used in the United States. Adult diagnoses are available, but differ depending on the diagnostician. There are also several reasons for adults with AS to avoid an official diagnosis unless you need one for getting certain supports. So, I chose to embrace the University of Cambridge Autism Research Centre screening tests (not diagnosis tests) on which I scored beyond the thresholds for individuals known to have AS or high-functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).

Anyway, welcome!

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

AspieUtah: Thanks for the response. I had assumed an adult diagnosis wouldn't really be "helpful" in any way. Probably cost prohibitive to do just as a curiosity, to verify my suspicions. I also would test "further away" from AS than when I was a child, most likely. Since I've adapted my lifestyle already for several years and have changed some of my mannerisms to be more socially acceptable in neurologically typical societal groups. I'll likely try more self testing instead of seeking professional diagnosis. I think posting some of my thoughts here will help me, though. I still fight with many of the typical symptoms, as stated, and getting advice from people who are fighting the same thing will most likely be fairly helpful to me.

AspieUtah and AnonymousAnonymous: Thanks for the welcome.