Hello, everyone on WrongPlanet, my name is Darian and I am 14 years old with Asperger Syndrome (including most symptoms of ADHD and OCD). I am currently undiagnosed, although most tests have proven I have AS. I satisfy/qualify all of the DSM-IV criteria for Asperger Syndrome.
From a much earlier age when I was unaware that I was an aspie I always wondered why I had such difficulty socially, and why I was always smart, able to remember things and I would always go on about my favorite odd topic and blurt out random things and facts in class. I have always been clumsy in motor coordination and balance, people would always wonder why I would always drop stuff, and I could never keep my balance even walking sometimes. My handwriting is terrible, I cannot really draw, however my drawings are different, abstract, and somewhat funny based on the concept I have chosen. People usually don't get my humor and I sometimes don't get there’s so I just pretend to laugh and usually when I try to joke nobody really laughs or thinks it’s funny. Another thing I would tend to do is talk too much and people would get tired of it and tell me to shut up and start ignoring me. Sometimes I might not be feeling so 'friendly' at the time so I might begin to annoy them deliberately because they have been 'annoying me'.
I am going to a magnet school (high school) and it is still very difficult socially, about a level or so up from middle school. The other adolescents expect more out of you social-skill wise when you are older than when you were in elementary or middle school and dating... even just making friends, are what I find very difficult. I struggle with controlling the tone of my voice (sometimes monotonous), I have a problem with lack of empathy (understanding others emotions) and the hardest thing is to properly recognize and use body language, which is key to communicating in social encounters.
For the rest of the OCD and AS symptoms I often have obsessions for days, weeks and months about people, places and things. I usually give monologues about them. I often have strange rituals or things have to be a certain way. I have unusual sensitivity to sounds, light, touch, tastes and smells. Usually when I'm in a social situation I'm often nervous and anxious, especially around girls and people that I don't know (if it's a girl I don't know that is very attractive I become very shy), and if I'm in a group situation I don't know how to handle it. Usually the group members will be talking about something that I do not really know so I might want to break in with something random and I often end up interrupting because I am trying to wait for a silence to use it.
As for the ADHD and AS symptoms I'm impatient, impulsive, unable to concentrate or focus for very long I usually fidget when I'm in place or I tap things or constantly keep moving. Time seems to take forever especially when I am in a place I find boring and it tends to cause me to act out to keep myself entertained. Usually I used to act out for either attention or stimulation and people would think strange of it.
Sometimes I am able to keep extreme concentration and focus on something for a long time and I will not want to leave it for anything. I do much better with people online then I do in real life. I learn different from other people. I am never be prepared for school and when I wake up even from a lot of sleep, I still feel very tired. I have trouble organizing things and keeping with a schedule. I always procrastinate. I have very strange dreams that are difficult for me to interpret or even understand the base concepts of them.
Therefore, I am sure many of you other aspies all feel the same way. Now what I would like to know are the long tried and tested true coping mechanisms and strategies for several situations, it sure would help me quite a lot.
Last edited by Darian_C on 29 Mar 2009, 10:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
29 Mar 2009, 5:31 pm
