Hello, folks! Was it a real diagnosis?

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Hi folks, I'm Quamvis. I am completely uncertain as to whether or not I have Asperger's syndrome, despite having supposedly been diagnosed. Here's how it happened: when I was in middle school, I was having a lot of trouble in math (I am still bad at math), so my parents decided to have me tested for learning disabilities. I cannot at all remember what my diagnosis was in terms of that, but what I do remember is that I was later sent back to the same diagnostician for more tests, after which my parents broke the news to me that I had been "diagnosed" with Asperger's. I say "diagnosed" since I have never seen any records, and my parents recently told me that the psych had actually told them I had only "a mild case." Now, I am seriously inclined to doubt this supposed diagnosis for a number of reasons. While I have always had strong interests and an ability to focus (my major in college is Classics-- Ancient Greek and Latin literature-- so that trait has come in handy!), I do not remember ever becoming obsessed with any one area of knowledge to the exclusion of others in quite the same way that people with Asperger's seem to be. I was home schooled through the second grade, and then went to a private religious school from the third to eighth grades, during which time I received the news that I had Asperger's. Now, in school I always got along well with other children, and I remember being respected for my somewhat bookish nature, but I never hung out with my friends from school all that much after the day was over because I did not go to the same church as they did. The religion that this particular school was built around was not my parent's religion, and it was one which was exceedingly dogmatic and emphasized the idea that its followers were God's chosen people and those who didn't join it were all going to hell (perhaps I'm slightly exaggerating, but let's just say that it was a very apocalyptically-oriented church; I'm not going to name it since I don't want to offend anyone here). So I think that that probably had something to do with my parents' perception of me as being a lonely, isolated child. When I was much younger and still home schooled (with no opportunities for social interaction) I did have some minor hand-flapping-- I would form my fingers into various animal and bird shapes and make noises, or-- my favorite-- use my hands to pretend that an explosion was happening-- and I had to go through speech therapy for some pronunciation difficulties, but I am simply not sure that those things qualify me as having Asperger's.
After I graduated the eighth grade (the school only went through 8th grade) I went back to being home schooled because the public schools in my county are in shambles due to bad politics, and at the age of 16 I took the GED and started at a local university. For the next 3 years I was under the thumb of my parents, still living with them most of the time, and therefore not really given an opportunity to go out and get drunk and fail my classes like most college freshmen, but I recently changed my major, went to a larger university, and have since done a study-abroad trip in Greece during which I made lots of friends and did a lot of partying. I haven't hung out to terribly much with any of them since I got back since they all smoke a little bit to much marijuana for my taste, but I don't feel like I have any troubles socializing with people. I am a shy person towards those I don't know in my classes in terms of the fact that I rarely interrupt people who seem busy in order to just be saying hello, and I haven't asked any girls out yet, but that is mainly due to the lack of opportunities and the fact that social media has made people increasingly isolated (in my opinion, anyways). So was is y'all's opinion? Do I seem like an Aspie, or am I just a shy and slightly introverted person who loves Latin and Greek poetry more than getting trashed at the expense of getting good grades?

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Its been my experience that those who post long and detailed introductions are more likely to have Aspergers.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

And I for one welcome your participation even if you are simply a slightly introverted person who loves Latin and Greek poetry. I bet you still have a lot of things to contribute.

I myself am self-diagnosed as being on the Asperger's part of the spectrum, and for where I am, I'm comfortable with that. And I think I have a pretty realistic idea on what psychologists and counselors can and can't do.

Okay, the fact that you do minor hand flapping and animal noises and pretend explosion (what I'd do is pretend shooting, and/or a twist and squeeze a soft T-shirt as I remembered sports scenes) that is medium evidence that you might be aspie.

As far as the interests, well, I often have about three intellectual interests at any one time and they do change over time.

Now, you know that they are a number of famous people speculated as being on the Asperger's / Autism Spectrum, right? And I think the next step in growing public awareness is for people to realize that most people on the spectrum are medium functioning, just like most people in life. And it's really more about building a team and contributing to a team, than in being 'famous.' As the poem If by Rudyard Kipling says " . . . If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, And treat those two impostors just the same . . . " And all that good stuff.

Welkome to WP

Mick