Do you guys have these?

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I found a webpage with these symptoms of Asperger's listed and I was amazed because they all describe me well. Do you guys have them?

'People with Asperger's can walk and talk like normal people, but the ability to handle talking with people, dealing with people, understanding social 'cues' and even so much as going up and asking for a new cheeseburger in a restaraunt if it is made wrong without feeling like a complete idiot and fearing what the people working there are thinking of them can and will be VERY hard for them. They are very shy. Because of their lack of ability to deal with people, people with this issue often stick to themselves, often in their rooms, and they learn about their favorite subjects to the point of having encyclopedic knowledge of the subject. People with Asperger's also often have strong OCD and deal with panic attacks. They have problems being touched. So much as being hugged or touched can be a very bad experience for them. Bad posture (such as slouching and looking depressed) and unusual facial expressions (eyes that lack life/emotion) are also very common problems.

They may not be able to pick up on social cues such as being able to read others' body language and being able to start and maintain a conversation and taking turns talking. They dislike any changes in routines and appear to lack empathy. They avoid eye contact or stare at others. They talk a lot, usually about a favorite subject, so that one-sided conversations are common (uninterested in the other's person's side of the conversation), and internal thoughts are often verbalized. Handwriting is often poor. They have heightened sensitivity and become overstimulated by loud noises, lights, or strong tastes. They are often accused of being disrespectful or rude since they find that they can't comprehend expectations of appropriate social behavior and are often unable to determine the feelings of those around them. They have few facial expressions apart from anger or misery. Excellent memory. They are often 'in their own world' and have a flat, cheerless demeanor and single-mindedness. There is a distant lack of interest towards other people and the feelings of those people as well.

As the child with Asperger's becomes a teenager, the symptoms can change slightly. They want to have lots of friends but they're shy or intimidated by the task of approaching others. Childhood desires for companionship have by then become numbed through a long history of failed social encounters. They are naive and too trusting, making them victims of bullying and teasing. They can become withdrawn from society and develop symptoms of depression. At this stage, they risk being drawn into unsuitable and inappropriate friendships and social groups. People with AS often interact better with those considerably older or younger than themselves rather than those within their own age group. They have extremely low tolerance for what they percieve to be ordinary and useless tasks such as homework assignments and this can become frustrating for teachers, by whom they are regarded as a 'problem child', 'poor performer', 'ret*d', 'arrogant', 'spiteful', and 'insubordinate'. Lack of support and understanding for them can result in violent and angry outbursts. Individuals with Asperger's are predisposed to violent or criminal behavior.'

There they are. Do you guys have any or all of them?

I have at least most of those points.
I wouldn't agree with all of them, but some I may have just outgrown, for example I'm not too trusting or naive. And I was quite good at school, a very calm child. At least before the last years, when I dropped school without the final exams.

Is that a direct quote? I can't stand definite expressions for a variable form...

Whoa! Predisposed to criminal behaviour? I don't think so! Up til then I was reading and thinking it was mostly accurate or close and then I hit that last sentence. No no no no.

That decription fits me like a glove, except:

I like being hugged. It's just that people can do it too suddenly or insensitively.


I don't think my eyes lack life or emotion. Somebody once offered me something I wanted, and they said that my eyes really sparkled.


I have been known to smile, show surprise, etc.


For some things yes, for other things my memory is like the proverbial sieve. And I can never trust my memory, which renders it somewhat useless.


Depends on the company and my mood. I'm often jocular and animated.


Partly true, but I'm anything but disinterested in the feelings of others.


Nope. I don't trust anybody lightly. I've been bullied and teased, but not very often, I quickly became very well-defended as a child and the bullies left me alone.


Not me.


Some truth in that, kids and old people I can sometimes relate to very well, but if anything I'm just a little blind to age.


A lot of truth in that for me, but mostly I couldn't do my homework because I wasn't clear about exactly what I was supposed to do, or it was rote learning. I had no arrogance about it. I was terrified of failing exams and knew perfectly well that if I could just do the blasted stuff then I'd be OK - had to teach myself from books in the end, and ended up doing quite well academically.


No I always behaved myself, only one violent outburst of any consequence in my whole life, and that was under extreme provocation. I'm definitely not prone to outbursts of anger, I sometimes wish I were.


I believe that when the law is unjust, resistance is a duty. But in practice you wouldn't know it by watching me.

It looks like a fairly good amateur description of an Aspie, with a few myths and sweeping
over-generalisations thrown in, as if the details were written in a hurry. Where'd you get it?

I have some of these to a certain extent, but I think it is an over generalization.

Aside from the criminal behaviour.....I mean for petes sake I cant even leave my shopping cart outside the corral LOL.

Not very many.

I find it easier to talk to people/at people, but troublesome to talk like a normal person, from the ability to speak when I want to up to using langauge in ways that quizzes others greatly.



I don't think stuff like that. I'm usually oblivious of what people think because I don#t remember to think about twhat they'll think about me or my ability to socialise. I am aware however that most people will probably think mean stuff, as while I forget to think about it, I am quite successful and correct in coming up with what opinions on my behaviour others might have when I think about it.

To worry about what other might think is not a symptoms of AS, but can be a result of living with it and facing the attitudes of other people.



I'm not at all. It's not directly related to AS. There are shy people who're highly skilled in social interaction even.

Autistic people can present as shy from the lack of communication or communication problems with other people or can be shy for the same reasons why non-autistic people are shy.



To say often is really correct, doesn't fit me though as I like to be with others.



People with AS can have OCD too. The rate of OCD in AS is, like, not even 7-8%. Routines of people with AS are not obsessions and compulsions. Panic attacks can also be a co-morbid, a condition that may occur in any person including those people with Asperger's, but panic attacks are not a symptom of autism.



Some have problems with being touched, some not at all, some do seek out touch. It depends on what sensory issues - if at all - a person with autism has.



They may have few facial expressions, but it's certainly not limited to anger and misery. Some people just smile a lot but can't look angry or sad, some have no problems with all of these, some aere perceived as looking angry when they're not...

'apart from anger or misery' isn't right.



Some people with AS claim to have horrible memories.



I am very cheerful, people like me for my light-heartedness and charming attitude that too often borderlines silliness and too much laughing. I'm not the only autistic person like that.



This is debatable.



The last story, which is well reflecting how most stories I heard go, is that an autistic kid/teenager freely approaches people, talks to them, asks them to play. Just in a totally inappropriate way.

AS can go hand in hand with social anxiety or shyness, but these are symptoms of autism.



Well, no. Violence in meltdowns can indeed occur (in those autistic people who do have meltdowns) and present as hard to control and dangerous.

But since the sentence also features the word combination of 'violent and criminal', I take it criminal violence is meant her? Autistic people are neither less likely or more likely to use violence. No saints, no murderers, just as much leaning to violence as any other normal person.

They may appear prone to violence if they cannot understand that tugging on a person annoys or hurts them or that being rough with others is actually minded by others.



I have, like, next to none of these traits the text names.

Pretty much all of it except for: They want to have lots of friends ...

It fits my father completely, as he wanted to have a lot of friends.

I have some of those things occasionally and not all at once. I think it is only giving one view of Aspergers syndrome and it sounds very depressing. It sounds like people with AS are the kids the that sit in the corner drawing violent images and shying away from life which of course isn't true.

In first grade, I got into trouble for not doing my classwork. I thought it was B.S. Why should I draw pictures of one apple, two oranges, three pears? Everybody knows what apples, oranges and pears look like. I would have preferred to read a book, which would have been way above first grade level. And I was made to stay after school because I was daydreaming during reading circle and lost my place when it was my turn to read aloud. I was daydreaming because my imaginings were more interesting than that first-grade drivel about Dick, Jane and Sally!

Do you happen to have a link to the website you got this from?

I would say yes that most of these characteristics do apply to me. I wouldn't go so far as to say I am a criminal, I have no record. However, I do have an explosive temper, which I am very much ashamed of & try my best not to let it get to that point. For the most part, I do my best to maintain an even temperment.

That is right on the money and totally 100% true for me. That, in a nutshell is what having AS is like (for me). I used to be far worse, have gotten better at returning merchandise, asking for specific orders, dealing with the same person at the check out stand everytime. Used to be I would avoid the same employee at a store. (Wal Mart for example) I am sure they think it is odd and it means that I am avoiding them for some clandestine reason (I must be up to something) but it's more because I get anxious. I would seek out a different employee everytime if possible, maybe even go to a different store. It was that bad.
I can take merchandise that is defective back to the store (something I used to not do at all) without any anxiety nowadays.

Now that I no longer live with my mother I have gotten slightly better in this area, not perfect, but better (my mother was a significant source of stress for me at home, now the stress level is lower and so is my anxiety).
I can handle going to the same checker at Wal Mart. Getting the same server in a restaraunt is still an issue, so is going to the same hairstylist.


This happened to me with astrology. That is the one thing I gained a true encyclopediac knowledge of and drove people crazy talking about. I knew everything about it even though I now think it was such a waste of time because of the subject. I know it's nonsense but I really enjoyed studying it for some reason. I think it had something to do with reinforcing my fragile ego because I could apply the info to me personally, kind of like people with Asperger's reading about it obsessively because it applies directly to themselves.

So true with me. I am not touchy feely, my eyes are very blank and people have commented on their odd color and blankness, freaks some people out.
People think there is something wrong with me when they look at me, or that I look "mopey". It's another thing that makes it hard to socialize/get jobs/ find friends.


BIG time issue is not interrupting. The reason I interrupt is because I know I will lose track and forget what the thought is unless I say it when it enters my head. Another thing, LOTS of people interupt me when I am talking. The funny thing is some of these behaviours I notice in "NTs" while they are conversing with me.


Was that way about Astrology. Can be that way about special interests but now tend to obsess on psychological/social concerns, like not fitting in, things I percieve as unfair to me. I tend to focus on the same things people who post here focus on IRL and can go on and on about how unfair people are, how they are brainwashed, do not understand, also pointing out hypocrisies in society, how people want things one way for themselves but want it a different way for others. My latest observations are about the conservative minded and the way they change when things get tougher for them.
Also, I am guilty of both staring at others and avoiding eye contact.

Mine was horrid in grade school. I had bad hand/eye coordination, was weak and terrible at competing with peers. However
I worked my ass off and improved sooooo much you wouldn't believe it! Worked on my own skills and believed in myself.
My handwriting became 100% neater when I began writing letters to pen pals. That really worked, plus I was interested in going on and on about myself in one sided letters. It held my interest long enough that my handwriting improved, anyway.
Also, I was obsessed with drawing. I started off with no talent at all, just an interest in it and I was told by everyone, even my own mother (many times) that I had absolutely no talent in art, could not draw, and I would never have it and was wasting my time (my mother tried to tell me that she had no talent either- her attempt to relate and try to make me feel better- didn't work and I felt worse)
But, out of sheer determination, I spent a great deal of time drawing horses the first fifteen years of my life (you would not believe how much time I devoted to this) and by the time I got into college I had figured out how to make A s in my drawing classes. (I took art classes, by then, I was no longer drawing the horses, felt kind of awkward about it and would draw anything but them)
My point being, don't let yourself be discouraged and believe in what you can do. You can do a lot! I am living proof of that.


Yes, it's very true! I have always been sensitive to loud, random, startling noises but music did a lot to soothe me. I could handle music but things like balloons scared me and I would hide under furniture to escape inflatable balloons as a child.
That is soooooo true about the facial expression! That is the first time I have read about that and that goes double for me. I can look utterly miserable or pissed off, most everything else is blank, even my smile seems strained although I find things funny and laugh genuinely.
Yes, people have said these things about me: disrespectful, selfish, mean, rude, but nice things as well like: smart, independent, strong.


I did have friends but none of them went to my school. I made friends with sympathetic types who bonded with me over other things they had in common with me that overshadowed my differences. I could not manage to maintain the relationships because I lacked the skills to do it, plus my drive to maintain friendships waned and I lost interest. Got a who needs them attitude, eventually.

I had depression and still do.
At one point I am sure I was duped by various peers but eventually I became very untrusting toward everyone and stopped getting taken advantage of.


True. It causes a lot of tension and frustration. Asperger's makes me susceptable to stresses that don't affect everyone. I think most with Asperger's can avoid the bad stuff by focusing on the good things in their lives, doing their best to reach out and find an NT friend who understands AS and will understand how it causes the person who has AS to not be what most NTs would consider a "good friend". My friend stuck by me until I stopped answering the phone.
Even though I was confused a lot, whined a lot and couldn't socialize the way she hoped I would (this caused her as much frustration as it did me) she still called every other day and said "hey let's go the thrift store" and she was pushy about me finding a job even though I put in applications a lot and often didn't get the job. One time she put in one application at every single store at a local mall and didn't get anything. Her an "NT" too. Just goes to show problems belong to the many not just the few.


I have many of them.

Last edited by ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo on 15 Oct 2008, 1:25 pm, edited 4 times in total.

A predisposition to criminal behaviour is interesting:

For example, if I was forced to catch the bus to school, I would have burnt the bus depot down when no one was there [as this is the only action I could see at the time that'd be proportionate]. Now, I see this as perfectly justifiable for the amount of pain I felt in the bus [due to others bullying me because of the ASD], but the majority of society wouldn't.

So yes, I am predisposed to criminal behaviour.

all, but also..are any of you older but constantly have people saying you look and act like a teenager? I even went in for surgery once and the doc told me later I have the heart of a teenager. I didn't really understand what he meant.