high-functioning autism

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Are there any high-functioning autistic people on this board who aren't ASPIEs, in other words, who don't have an extensive vocabulary and who had trouble passing English class?

There are, but that because there is a spectrum of autism.

The symptoms are the "what is exibited". Austism, Asperger's, PDD's, are the why.
Having the disorder doesn't mean you'll have a certain symptom. Having a symptom doesn't necessarily mean you have the disorder.

Bah, humbug! Asperger's is anything you want it to be. A syndrome without and etiology, all laughably vague.

um, i struggle with english? i might know the meanings of long words realting to a spcial subject but they don't come out properly.

jammie

Well I have AS syndrome, not Autism, but I'm not all that sure that I have an extensive vocabulary - do you mean how many words you know and use? I'm not like that, but I can communicate very clearly on the internet. And I had trouble in English class absolutely, I had to go into an Alternate English 12 class because I was on the border of failing English 11. The teacher thought I was too smart for the easy English class, and thats absolutely right, but there was nothing in between for me to choose. If I'm going to choose between a class, I rather get straight As than straight Ds or Fs. Ofcourse going in that easy class made me feel like an idiot, I didnt feel right being there, but I guess it was better than struggling so much with the hard stuff.

And yeah I'm high functioning. That Aspie test I took said 'You are more Aspie than NT' but with an NT score of 88 and an AS score of 110 or something, it wasn't all that huge a difference.

Yeah, diagnosed HFA, failed English at school even though I write better than I speak. I guess I don't write intelligently enough. I love spelling but have trouble explaining things eloquently. Sometimes words don't come out at all, or they do in such a fashion that people laugh.

Aspergers is a high-functioning Autism. I get A'B honor roll and I'm high-functioning

I was originally HFA,but later in my life people started calling me Asperger's.



-SpaceCase

Same here, but I wonder if I am more towards the medium end of the autistic spectrum than the high functioning end. One guy did say I was half-way between the NT's and the severe autistics. Either that of my executive functioning is not good.

I'm also HFA. I have a large vocab, I understand what most words mean, but I can't use any of them myself.

I was diagnosed with HFA, years before the term "Asperger's" became popular. I had problems with English class, but mostly due to the fact that I need audio with the text to learn how to read, and the alphabet just confused me. (Which reminds me, I probably need to a get a copy of the right language learning software if I'm ever to really learn Greek or Russian...)

I was unable to speak until I was nearly 3yo and one day stood up on a table to everyone's shock and performed a 'musical' with perfect pitch. I could not speak without a severe stutter and lisp though until I was about 8yo. Have NEVER been able to maintain eye contact with ANYONE - even my husband!

I failed physics and chemistry but was dux of the biology class!

i could not interact with others socially at all until I was late teens i also couldn't catch/hit a ball or comprehend the rules of team sports until my late teens ,then everything seemed to start to make better sense for me. This was due to my conscious decision to learn (through books) how to be/act like the mainstream.

I became determined to excel at a job that required interaction with the public. so I got a job in a department store selling a product I liked (jewellery).(I feel sorry for them in hindsight!! !)

I conciously taught myself to read body language by watching other sales staff with clinical detachment and noting every nuance.
I also observed every customer as well and learnt the 'mechanics' of interaction. just like a science experiment-
I then applied this knowledge to much success.
I now have the 'uncanny' ability to read what colours a person would like to decorate their house in or even what type of pizza they will order within a few seconds of greeting them.

I have learned that if I approach challenges (even subjects i have no interest in)from a purely clinical/objective perspective that I can achieve almost anything.

Jen

That bothers me a fair bit, too, but probably not the way you would describe it.

It's like I have a one-way dictionary in my head. When I read or hear words I know what the person is trying to say, but when I have to say or write something back then I have a hard time finding the words that represent the ideas I want to convey.

A friend of mine is from China. He's always asking me "what does the word {some word} mean?" Most of the time I know exactly what it means but can't find any way to describe it. That frustrates both of us because he *knows* that I understand the meaning of whatever it is he's asking about. When he asks "what's a word that means {some idea}?" then I'm *completely* useless.

In short, I have good comprehension but poor eloquence (and it took me 5 minutes to come up with those two words). Writing is my best medium because I can take a lot longer and nobody cares if I had to take a break to think about it like I did this time....

That's been my exact problem for a long time now. But I have gotten better over time: training myself.

Yeah, that's a good way of putting it. I definitely express myself better in writing, but it takes me a long time to write anything (with lots of edits when I'm done), and I have a horrible time keeping up with real-time writing like IM or chat - I have a million thoughts going through my head but I can't put them into words fast enough. Even though I probably have a bigger vocabulary than most people, my thinking is so visual and abstract that it takes a bit of work to match up those thoughts with their corresponding words.

And to answer the original post I'm not officially diagnosed with anything, but I think HFA is probably a better fit than AS for me. I did alright in english classes in school, the communication problem for me is the stuff I described above, as well as the DSM criteria "impairment in the ability to initiate or sustain a conversation with other people."