hello from a happy aspie

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Hi all,
I saw a list of Asperger’s characteristics in a parenting magazine and was astonished to see that my own personal bag of quirks was identified as a Syndrome. Took me decades to find out.

I was diagnosed with ‘schizoid personality disorder’ nearly 20 years ago and sort of I wonder now if it would have been a help or hindrance if I had gotten a more accurate diagnosis, i.e., Asperger’s. Now I don’t consider myself mentally ill so I am not too interested in returning to the psychiatrist for an update on labeling.
Some about me, Asperger’s-wise:
I have an “accent” that prompts people to ask me if I am British. (I was born and raised in Texas!)
I have a vocabulary that I can’t dumb down, and that, combined with being somewhat shy, keeps me working to overcome the aloof hoity-toity impression I give off.
I am truly happy in plant- and animal-dominated realms. I am a landscape designer.
I used to collect obsessively but now I don’t feel compelled to own very much.
I have learned a lot about human verbal and nonverbal communication from my husband and little son, who is (wonder of wonders) a social genius. They cut me a lot of slack but if I am doing something like slapping the table rhythmically every time I say something, they’ll gently let me know.

Here’s the reason that I am joining this group and writing now.
I don’t feel defined by the notion I have Aspergers but it is definitely a part of what makes me. Sometimes it pops up and hurts. Recently at a conference, I felt so abnormal and isolated by how fast others were making friends and dissolving barriers, that I ended up out in a meadow collecting rocks and crying like I was 14 years old again.
I’d like to know more about Aspergers from others who live with it and I'm glad to have found this forum.

Just a bit more about me:
Nowadays I don’t get those old muscle aches after social events from holding my head stiffly or nodding endlessly or contorting my body some way. I don’t feel like I am radiating static energy after every conversation, anymore. I attribute this to zen meditation. It also helps a lot with the hypercritical selection that used to dominate my life.
I think I can organize anything—be it a phylum or a file cabinet--to perfection!
And of course, I still make a lot of lists!
That’s all from me for now,
Live well--
Muddie

Welcome.

Welcome Muddie !
I have found meditation quite helpful as well.
Though, I don't practice as much as I should.

Glad you found the site. Hope you have some fun!

Your list of "behaviors" sounds like it's right down the list. Especially walking around by yourself and crying. I'm a 24y/o guy, and I still do that occasionally.

There's so much to discuss re: the Aspie lifestyle. Is there any particular area of living with AS that you're interested in?

One thing I am particularly interested in is the biology of Asperger's.
Neurologically: I wonder what maintains Asperger's behaviors?
Genetically: It seems that there is a genetic component to Asperger's, especially in my family where I, my brother, my mother, and my mother's father all have symptomatic behaviors. I wonder if this is true of autism also. I wonder what genes are involved.
Evolutionarily: assuming a genetic basis to Asperger's, why is it conserved? There must be some selective advantage to it. Perhaps it is something like the mutation for Sickle Cell Anemia, in that having one copy of the gene is an advantage because it helps deter malaria.

Maybe it is similar to the hypothesis for homosexuality that I heard--it is to the advantage of the tribal group to have adults who contribute food, childcare, and defense without being distracted by their own children. I mean 'similar' in that having an Aspie confers some advantage to the group as a whole.

Maybe the Asperger's genotype has come down through the ages because some things we do so well, and are attractive for it. Don't you think the one that had a huge memory knew all the tribe's songs and stories by heart would be considered pretty cool and kind of sexy?

My other interest in learning more about Asperger's would be in how to manage one's work and time. Here I have sat for about an hour on this site in the middle of my work day, rather than the 10 min I was giving myself to peek at any replies that had come in. Until recently I didn't know that my issues with time, standards of perfection, and management were related to my Asperger's.

Also, I hope that I can be help to people with Asperger's, because I lead a positive life that is full, spontaneous, has people involved and in no way could be called mental illness. I don't even like the descriptor 'disabled', but like I mentioned before, sometimes I do feel that way.
Thank you for all your replies!

Welcome to the forum. Enjoy your stay.

I don't see aspergers as a negative thing that limits me as much as people keep telling me all the time. I think I am able to live a life just differen'tly to them but still happy and I think I will be able to achive the goals I have in life and even out shine the people that are telling me every day that aspergers people are disabled and can never have a job or study. I find some people on these forums that are negative like that too but I also find alot that arn't.

I think that aspergers could of had advantages back when man what evolving. In the cave man days it would mostly like been shown to be an advantage to be able to remeber things or think of a new way of doing some thing that others could not think of. Aspergers back in the cave men days would not have had to communicate with tonnes of people. Because people back then only lived in small communitys. So once the person had grown up with every one there maybe the aspy would of been comfortable with knowing every one. But who knows.

I still think aspergers is an advantage and I would not wish to be 'cured' of it.

Hi!

Welcome to Wrongplanet! I hope you enjoy posting here!

Wow this is a old topic. Havn't been on WP in ...probably a year at least.

Hi Muddie,
It's wonderful to meet you! Carasela is right; you are a lovely person! I don't know how much help I can be, but I might be able to shed some light. The lack of organization, time management, procrastination, etc.- which I possess in vast abundance- could be an indicator of what clinicians refer to as a lack of "executive function." It is an area in the front of the brain, (frontal lobe, maybe? Have to research it....), that controls those tasks. I'm not a specialist or a doctor, so I'm not trying to offer an amature diagnosis and suggest that this is what you have, but it is one of the things that is a huge problem with me.

As to the question of why AS seems to run in families, (strong AS traits can be seen in several generations of my family as well though I'm the only one diagnosed thus far), my therapist told me that the research does show that it is transmitted along genetic lines though the question as to whether it can result from other factors as well is still an open question. Researchers have found that amongst those with AS who are married, there is a high incidence of marriage in which both partners have AS whether formally diagnosed or not. Given the social difficulties that most people with AS experience it is thought, sensibly enough, that AS people are particularly well suited for one another whether in terms of forming friendships or marriage. As to a more sophisticated analysis of the genetic workings of AS, I'm afraid I'll have to defer to someone who has far more expertise on the subject than I do. Tony Attwood's books are a good place to start, however.

You may be interested to know that there is a better than 90% accuracy rate amongst those who are self-diagnosed and do indeed have Asperger's Syndrome when, (and if), they are tested. Whether you are formally diagnosed or not is a matter of personal conscience and no one has a right to tell you differently. Speaking as someone who has been formally diagnosed, I can tell you that it can be as complicated and potentially problematic as not having a diagnosis- at least for adults anyway.

In the meantime, I hope you will continue to make yourself at home here. Welcome!

Welcome Muddie,

I am old, you are what was always normal, most just lived, and the talents outweighed the problems.

It is interesting to see it written down, even if they did get it wrong.

When it comes to survival, we have all the best. Who will remember the moon when a fruit is ripe, and move the tribe? All of life a pattern, movement over the year, and a week early or late does not work. Our skills fit. Humans do not last long without food and water. coming for fruit and finding a lightning strike started a fire, or the water hole is dry, calls for a vast knowledge and fast action.

I think it is in everyone, with just enough coming out to provide. Knowledge workers in Silicone Valley, Redmond, Round Rock, are more like us, and their children more so.

Who found out how the tribe could live in new lands? You do not just wander with children, women, the old, and expect to survive. Someone had to go and map, we are good at maps.

We define where others could survive.

So there are some roles we are not good at, some we are.

I enjoy being me. We can be very helpful, we see new ways, and after the Super Nova, during the next Ice Age, we will still be there.

Come out and play, we need all the happy Aspies. It confounds the medical disability people.

why are we welcoming someone who joined in 2005?

Word