Another noob here.

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Evening everybody,

This is a little hard for me to do as I don't like to open up or otherwise talk about me my self and I. In fact I'm often referred to as "Mr. Secret Service" by a few family members because I don't want to talk too much about my problems issues etc. So I'm here on the advice of family members as well as a few doctors whom believes that interaction with others whom are on the spectrum may be beneficial.

That is the negative the positive(s) are I am *extremely knowledgeable* in the area's of Billy Joel's work (hence my screen name) I'm also knowledgeable when it comes to video editing (a past time of mine) and I'm fascinated with the topic of Tornados.

More about me.

I'm 33 I was recently diagnosed with ASD tho the symptoms of Autism were present when I was a young kid I had delayed speech and impairments with fine motor skills social skills as well as self seclusion (not wanting to be a part of the class/group) and I wouldn't make eye contact. However because Autism back in the 80's and into the mid 90's was still a "new" diagnoses nobody really knew too much about the disorder so they tossed out many labels some of which had nothing to do with what was going on with me at the time. It wasn't until I was about 12ish (1993) where somebody said that I could possibly be Autistic. I was often placed in EBD/NI classed often with more "severe" kids whom would possibly be borderline MR and treated as such (which did nothing for my already low sense of self worth brought on by bullying as well as personal trauma that I endured when I was in 1st grade) fast forward to the present it was about a year ago I started to research what Autism/Aspergers really is and sure enough I matched most of the symptoms for Autism as well as some for Aspergers. So I sprung a decent amount of money to get tested for an official diagnoses and sure enough I tested positive for ASD albeit Higher Functioning.

My question for you guys: (If it's OK to post on this thread)
Being that Aspgers, PDD-NOS and High Functioning Autism are now under the umbrella of "Autism Spectrum Disorder" I'm kinda wondering what/where is the cut off for HFA and where does Aspergers come in? Because when I read the symptoms for both and I have met some of the symptoms of Aspergers tho I do match more symptoms on the HFA scale.

That pretty much sums things up. My personal feelings about having Autism is can be a benefit because I'm knowledgeable in a few areas I love to do research on various topics. However on the other hand it can be a real hell sometimes because I have to try harder then "normal" people to fit in I really can't read people's facial expressions too well so I dunno if I'm going on too much about something. Sometimes I tend to miss social cues which has cost me a job or two in the past and more often then not I'd just rather be alone it's not that I don't care what's going on in the outside world it's just I prefer to be alone.


-Just note that from time to time my spelling and/or grammar may not be 100% as it is not really my strong suit. However I will try to make things as legible as possible-

Welcome to wp,as far as your question i don't know.from what i know its a spectrum and any cut off may be subject to opinion.

Thanks IamRob,

I'm looking forward to joining in with you all through this wonderful journey called Autism.

Your welcome.glad to hear your optimistic about it.
I too am fascinated by tornadoes and hurricanes and weather in general,i watched many shows on them but they ended up in my dreams so i had to lay off them

Well at this point Rob after years of guess work and convent misdiagnoses I finally got the diagnoses of ASD I now know I'm not "ret*d" I know what I have to work with here... I had doubted my self for YEARS because one of my teachers in middle school told me in front of my class that I was ret*d.

So yea I'm cautiously optimistic about what the future will hold. Hopefully in time I can find a job that would be best suited for my strengths and not exploit my weaknesses.

Yea it's never a good thing if you start dreaming about what you see on TV I normally watch comedy shows (Family Guy Simpsons Bob's Burgers) before I go to sleep.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

That wasnt right of the teacher to call you that.

I love the character played by Kristen Shaal(not sure if i spelled it right) she is hilarious.
Too bad i only get to watch those shows on tv once a week.
.

No it wasn't I can't understand why she did that

There is no real cutoff for High Functioning Autism or Aspergers Syndrome, as they are now considered to be one and the same. The cutoff used to come from the IQ of the person being diagnosed, and whether or not a language delay was present. I had a bit of a language delay, but by the time I was diagnosed at the age of six, I was fully verbal and had a very strong intellect for someone my age. I remember hearing both terms be used to describe me, and to this day I do not actually know which diagnosis I was placed under, but to keep things simple I just tell people I have Aspergers.