Am I an Aspie?

Post Reply New Topic

Hi. I'm 59 years old and have lived all my life unable to connect. I remember going on field trips in school and sitting quietly with no one talking to me, and wondering what was wrong with me. I was never picked for sports teams. As an adult (with an MBA) I always lived alone, had a hard time making friends, was totally bored with small talk (do you wonder why they call it small talk? Maybe it's reflective of the intelligence one needs to engage in it) I would stop and think when someone asked me how I was.

I discovered a flair for writing and became a technical writer. E-mail and IMs are great because I do not need to be face to face with anyone.

To make a long story short, last year I began to suspect that maybe I was somewhat autistic. I googled "Adult Autism" and came up with a page on Aspergers. Wow. The symptoms fit me to a T. (Except I've never had trouble looking someone in the eye) After all this time, an answer! Things make sense now, but I am still mad that I wasted so much time trying to fit in.

No formal diagnosis, not sure if it's worth it to bother. What do you think? I'm glad to be part of the community!

Welcome to WP!

I'd get a diagnosis to be sure b/c they're are a lot of people who think they have AS but never actually get diagnosed.

Hard to tell from a short note, but I'd say keep reading the board and see how what people say here strikes you.

-- Especially since finding a competent pro can take some time. Don't just crack open the yellow pages and pick a random shrink. (It sucks but you have to interview them: some know what they're doing and some are amazingly uninformed (and don't know it). It can also be expensive.) As to whether you should, to be blunt: if you get a positive dx it will buy you a certain amount of social acceptance (here and elsewhere), but not for reasons that are necessarily good.

Anyway, welcome to WP.

You could ceck out the diagnostic criteria and check out the symptoms bordering to autism on the differential diagnostic field...

shizoid pesonalitydisorder is quite similliar ... but as far as i can judge from the short text AS is a strong possibility ...

Welcome to Wrong Planet.

My wife got a quote for a diagnosis by a specialist last year--$1500--not covered by insurance.

The widespread diagnosis of autism does have a benefit for us older folks--it isn't too difficult these days to find folks who interact with autistics on a regular basis. My wife has several friends who have this sort of expertise--it was obvious to all of them that I have Aspergers.

To WrongPlanet!! !

You might want to get a professional evaluation. But in the meantime check this out: http://www.rdos.net/eng/

There are many things in the autistic/Asperger's DX that apply to me and many that don't.