hi! new member and trying to find out if i'm an aspie too

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Looking to see if I'm an aspie too and evidence is starting to point in that direction but I'm not sure. This forum has been a great source of information and led to many insights already.

What's the best thing to do if you suspect you're an aspie? How do you make sure it's not something like being HSP (Highly sensitive person) or other?
The tests I have taken point toward asperger (125 where 120 was average for asperger and 90 for NT men, I think it was the Baron-Cohen one)

Things that match up:
- Obsessive interests in things like computer programming, electronics and filmmaking (especially technical aspects)
- Difficulty with social situations and face to face communication in general (I find it hard to concentrate on people and social situations often cause more stress than they are enjoyable except if it's less than 3 other people and I'm familiar with them)
- History of what I think are referred to as "meltdowns" where I feel overwhelmed by my own worrying and outside stimuli when confronted with new situations (especially when travelling) resulting in panic attacks and high levels of anxiety
- Strong preference for familiarity (if I could I'd wear the same clothes every day and I have many routines that I like to keep)
- Bad sense of orientation (I get lost easily)
- Difficulty in organizing my daily activities and planning in general
- Cognitive weirdness (the "zooming in" that I've read about on the forum. Where you look at something and it seems magnified or enveloping until you look away, but only sometimes)
- Light sensitivity (including a handful of episodes of light sensitive migraine)
- Relatively high IQ but underachieving
- Switched to working at home which has worked out really well so far since I'm finally able to actually concentrate on the work instead of my environment

Things that don't match up:
- I find it easy to read people's feelings and what their intentions are (although there might be a degree of error than I'm not aware of and it usually breaks down when I have to divide my attention between more than 2 people)
- Strong empathy for those closest to me (although I do sometimes say the wrong thing at the wrong time or act selfishly by wanting to focus on my special interests and work)
- Tend to decide things based on feeling instead of thinking (INFP)
- It's not hard for me to look at things from someone else's perspective if I try (but often forget due to not paying enough attention) or any type of imagination of any kind (although from what I've read often people with aspergers can have very lively imaginations)
- Touching is not a problem and I love to give and receive hugs (although preferably with people I know very well, kissing people you don't know is a social convention that puzzles me greatly...)

In the past I've been diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (which I feel is correct) and also have been misdiagnosed with a personality disorder (which turned into a total mess but I got out in time) that forced me to look into what in the world was actually wrong with me which brought me to Aspergers.

Is it worth getting a professional to diagnose you? In what way does that help? Last year I've been through a whole mess due to being misdiagnosed and ended up at this weird research institute where they started doing tests on me ("stress tests") without any warning. I'm very wary and anxious about having to do anything like that again.

Sorry to dump this much information all at once. It's been swimming around in my head for a long time. Glad to be here!

Last edited by ZorgsMan on 05 Sep 2012, 12:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The only people that can give you an accurate diagnosis are properly trained and licensed mental-health professionals who examine you in person.

Random strangers on a social website will not be able to render a diagnosis that is both accurate and official.

but how would a professional recognize something they didn't have? From what I've read on the forum people have been diagnosed with all sorts of random things because the professional didn't recognize it and was forced to classify it in a way that didn't fit. Should it be someone who specializes in autism like conditions?

How would a person who has never had chicken pox know it when they see it?

How would a person who has never owned a dog know what a dog is?

By their training and experience, that's how.

True, mistakes have been made; that's why it's important to get a diagnosis in person and from someone who is qualified to make that diagnosis. Most of the people here may have a correct diagnosis, but that does not qualify them to diagnose someone else from a list of posted symptoms; even a qualified professional would have to examine you in person. Getting diagnosed by unqualified strangers from a list of posted symptoms will actually increase your chances of an incorrect diagnosis.

Get a real diagnosis, and don't let the poseurs tell you otherwise.

I suppose you're right. I'm mostly reluctant due to personal experiences where the professionals turned out to be unreliable. Hopefully I'll have better luck next time around. Thanks for your advice.

You're welcome. I hope for your sake that it isn't AS, but something temporary or at least manageable.

I thought AS was manageable!
As for the thingy, I'm in a similar situation. The only things that don't fit is:
I'm EXTREMELY sarcastic, but then again I have a hard time knowing when to be and when not to be...
It turns out everyone BUT me thought I was obsessive over something... and I wasn't THAT obsessed. I've been more obsessed.
I have friends.
I've noticed that I tend to space out when confronted with something overwhelming (like, say, a 1000-word essay on Herodotus due tomorrow. Yeah. It happens. And I was 12!)
Oh, and three-fifths of my vocabulary is 'watchamacallit' 'thingamabobber' and 'hoozamajigger.' Not really, though. I actually have a GREAT vocab. In second grade 'vocabulary' was my favorite word. Yeah. I guess there's a reason I have half as many friends as I used to... don't really care though.
I would LOVE to hear how you deal with this, I'm trying to figure out how to get a diagnosis WITHOUT involving my parents, like, at all. As in, they never even know that I'm going to get a diagnosis. Then I can just get a piece of paper saying that I'm a certified Aspie or whatever/

Well, from what I've read it's supposed to be relatively non-progressive unlike things like schizophrenia or similar mental illnesses. The people that I know that have AS-like personalities tend to be well intentioned and kind people deep down, be it often misunderstood. If you look at something like Narcissistic Personality Disorder it's basically like being diagnosed with being an awful human being and a negative element to any other person you may come into contact with. It's also practically untreatable without breaking down someones personality and rebuilding from scratch. Schizophrenia and NPD are definitely the two most scary things I'd be afraid of being diagnosed with. AS would just be a reason to stop worrying as much and accept certain limitations.

Okay ... MORE manageable than AS.

How do I deal with it?

First, I took acting classes. That's right: ACTING. I had to learn how to methodically break down character traits into archetypes, so that I could take on an archetype as a behavioral role. Of course, I don't always get things right, and some people still think I'm 'weird' or 'eccentric', but at least I can act in a more socially acceptable way.

Second, I try to not obsess about problems. Again, I try to break them down into more manageable components -- my engineering skill help tremendously with that.

Third, I read the Classics and any science text I can get my hands on. I also watch PBS almost exclusively. This has increased my vocabulary tremendously, but I have to be careful to refrain from using archaic words and phrases.

Finally, I started dating foreign women, so that any misunderstanding could be put down as cultural differences. I eventually married an Asian woman, and while the way has its rocky moments, it has been much smoother than my first marriage.

If you are a minor, you will have to involve your parents in any medical/mental diagnosis. Getting an official diagnosis helped me mainly to accept myself and to understand why I am 'different'. The diagnosis provides no other advantage for me, as I have no intention of informing anyone about it.

I'm the same way. I'm very sarcastic as well and I have no trouble understanding sarcasm. However sometimes people think I mean things sarcastically when I didn't mean to or I'm trying to hide my disinterest and it comes out as such.
Using generic words could also mean you just tend to process things symbolically and may just indicate an intuitive mindset.
Maybe spacing out when you have to do something you don't want to do is just procrastination? My mind automatically switches off when things like "plants", "interior design" or "food" are being discussed, involuntarily.

I'll let you guys know what happens if I do end up getting diagnosed.

A belated welcome to you!

Thanks Makayla!

Yes! Taking acting lessons has helped me a great deal too! I started with them because I wanted to make films and it seemed like a good place to start but it completely changed the way I could deal with social situations. They teach you all about things like making eye-contact and how to convey emotions and how to change the way you use your voice more effectively and even how to change how you're feeling just by thinking about certain things. It's also great risk free practice for social situations as being weird actually helps make a performance more interesting. When it comes to assessing character MBTI is very helpful. With a little practice it's very easy to classify people from simple things (introvert/extrovert etc) and once it's complete you can interpret what they say much more effectively (for example, "she's flirting with me but that doesn't mean she wants to hook up, she's just an ENFP" or "they're not evil they're ESTJ and can't help themselves" I kid, I kid, but you get the idea)

As far as obsessing about problems go my programming/engineering background just makes that so much worse. I pick up problems that other people don't even think about and start thinking too far ahead because that's what you do when you're engineering. You imagine a system and then you try to think of every single possible thing that could go wrong before you even think about implementing it. Automatically I start to apply this mindset to things like cancer and nuclear arms stockpiling and suddenly the world is a terrifying place where catastrophies are completely inevitable. Maybe this is more GAD than AS?

My gf is foreign too! (be it from a neighbouring country) It just kind of happened, I was very lucky. I think it's more down to us both being weird and introverted.

Hey Zorgsman,

I think of myself as a borderline Aspie or maybe better stated 'Part Aspie', and looking at your list find it matches up with mine fairly well. Especially the areas that you showed as not matching typical Aspie traits, which is spot on. The self-test I took included a graph that indicated something along the lines of being NT physically but Aspie cognitively. I was always chosen to be on the team, and fiercely determined, but friends learned to keep an eye on me, to make sure I didn't score on the wrong goal.

Yeah, I can't say I'm a fullblood aspie either. There are so many ways to classify who or what you are. With me the autistic stuff has gotten more pronounced though, so perhaps now is a good time to come out as such. I've run into documentaries about autistic people over the years and I could always relate but not quite. Their problems always seemed far more severe and obvious than whatever I was dealing with.

Welkome to WP

Mick