Do I have Asperger syndrome or any other ASDs?

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SYZendera
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07 Apr 2011, 1:07 pm

I am at a pretty rocky area right now. I am unsure if I have any ASDs or is my condition is something different. Conditions that I have been diagnosed with are ADHD-PI, GAD, OCD, and social anxiety disorder. Also in general health my primary physician is worried about my heart and I may be recommended to a cardiologist (since I have palpitations, arrhythmia, and fatigue. I have had blood tests done and they show nothing of significance, except that I am healthy.

I am being treated with Adderall for ADHD-PI, that's all. I am honestly not sure if I have ADHD-PI or if my inattentiveness stems from something else.

Things that make me think I may have an ASD are that I have very repetitive behavior (e.g. I can listen to the same song or guitar solo for hours on end), however I do not very much schedule things, and I sometimes like things when the spontaneously happen. I also did not have any trouble playing make believe games as a child, however I did have delay of things like being able to catch balls, and climb monkey bars (still never have done this). I feel like I have an easy time reading what other people are about. Albeit not diagnosed, I have very quite bad selective mutism, whenever I get anxious I literally just shut down, I can hardly talk and a lot of the times I cry.

I feel less like I would be rejected or criticized by you guys so this is a lot easier for me to talk about. Normally in social situations I avoid constantly and don't approach people at all. I spend my days completely alone, however I desire close relationships, I just have too much anxiety to try to talk with people. I also avoid school, I have had school refusal probably since I was 11 or 12. This is really quite deteriorating, since I do not pass and get the credits I need, and I am held back in classes that I have been in for 4 years even though I completely know and understand all the concepts.

I feel like I have great cognitive and learning advantages though. I am 15 and I am more intellectual than basically all the people I know.

So, I am quite confused. I have higher symptoms of social anxiety disorder, avoidant personality disorder, and selective mutism. However, I do share the repetitive behavior found in ASDs, though I am missing a lot of things like I enjoyed creative play, and I do not schedule; I am more spontaneous. I also read people more, occasionally there are days where I know everything everyone is going to say before they say it. I have empathy of people and good understanding of the position they are in.

I am not sure if this is the right forum to put this in, but I am looking forward to some replies, since I am quite confused.



CranialRectosis
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07 Apr 2011, 2:24 pm

You sound like you exhibit many of the signs I exhibit. I was diagnosed last year.

I got the diagnosis because I too, was in a rocky spot.

I suggest you see a pro. Find a pro who knows Aspergers and spend the time and money to find out for sure.

Only a diagnosis from a pro will end the questions. Once you know for sure, you can make better accomodations (routines) for dealing with others and get out of the rocks.



littlelily613
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07 Apr 2011, 10:41 pm

Sounds like it might also be social anxiety. It is tough to say because some of what you said relates to AS, and some of it doesn't (like being able to read people, and even having an easy time pretending--these are both things many people with AS find challenging). I agree that you should check with a professional who is knowledgeable in ASDs as well so they can pick up on that OR something else that it might be.

When I was a kid, I had a few friends, but I was terrible at pretending, and I always wanted to play the same thing over and over again the exact same way. Even with my own toys, I rarely sat there and pretended with them. I spent a lot of time organizing them into groups and categories and lines, etc. Also, I have never been able to read people at all, not their facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, etc. If they give me sarcasm, I usually take it literally unless I have already learnt that particular phrase as sarcasm (and sometimes they are not being sarcastic when I think they are!) All people with ASDs are different, but I think a lot of this is quite typical.



Exhumed
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07 Apr 2011, 11:12 pm

Although I preferred videogames as a kid, I was able to participate in and enjoy creative play like any other kid. I always hated any sort of change in my routine or environment. Now I'm still creative and I love spontaneity.

I was diagnosed with Asperger's as a kid, pretty much ignored the diagnosis my whole life, assumed it just meant "smart and bad at social skills" and didn't want to identify with that...my parents said "I guess you don't have it" when I developed social skills, and now that I've looked everywhere to find all of the random symptoms, I know I have it. I'd look at all of the symptoms and see if you exhibit most of them. Sensitivity to the cold, allergies, ADHD, compulsive ticks, I had to learn eye contact and gradually get over my dislike of being touched, I have a ton of them...unless you have really mild Asperger's or something (I don't know) you were probably a complete weirdo as a child and probably have a bunch of random subtle little symptoms.

So some of you have a relative inability to be creative? Or it just applies to pretending as a child? Because I'm very creative. And I feel like the Aspergers traits of seeing patterns in things and being gifted with language and music contradicts that. I could always imagine a lego figure to be whatever I wanted, although I wasn't very good at constructing with them and could never make the thing on the front of the box. And I see patterns; when I sit on the toilet and look at the grain in the wood of the door or the floor tiles or the wallpaper I see faces and creatures. If it's a symmetrical pattern I stare at it and notice all the patterns within the patterns.



littlelily613
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07 Apr 2011, 11:23 pm

I want to be creative, but I'm really not. Most of my "creations" are just something I've seen elsewhere. I am not really creative with anything actually.



SYZendera
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08 Apr 2011, 1:23 pm

Yes, as a kid I really did not have any friends, and basically everyone in my family still think I am "weird" today, I also go on a lot in conversations. I can recall a few weeks ago when I was talking to someones about something, and it was like only one sentence but I kept going on about it, and I ended up being told "that's messed up" while I was just being honest.

My memory of being a child is fairly vague, but I do remember I would play the same video games over and over for periods of time.

Quote:
I want to be creative, but I'm really not. Most of my "creations" are just something I've seen elsewhere. I am not really creative with anything actually.


I see that too in myself, whenever I make music or write stories or anything, everything I seem to make is a rehash of things I have heard or know all ready, it is really quite hard for me to make my own music, I like the sounds of my favorite band UVERworld and I want to do is copy their sounds instead of making my own. I played with Lego bricks when I was a kid but I remember that what I did was not really creative, but I build things like houses or buildings.



IntrepidWolf
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08 Apr 2011, 2:12 pm

You sound like you have Asperger's to me, not only in the synposis of symptoms but also in how you have problems diagnosing it because things seem so natural or confusing to you. When I first read aspergers symptoms I thought I had like 1/2 or less, because I had subconsiously convinced myself that I was normal or even good at some of those things. (such as reading body langguage, which I thought I could do well but I could only guess well)
Look closely in retrospect, get a full list of symptoms, try and re-create situations where you cantest your natural reaction to them w.help4aspergers.cm/pb/wp_4a3112c8/wp_4a3112c8 is a good website for symptoms.
Each aspergers case is different, in my case I have a very easy time distinguishing humor and I am a funny/outling/lively comic at times. I am also very creative, I can write novels, poems, songs and many other things. I, like you, use a rehash of past expierences, but I add my own touch to them. As I presume many artists in history have done before, the trick is this. If your audience cannot connect your creation, to whatever you used for inspiration, then you have created something origonal and worthy of pride. Cheers mate, enjoy the diagnosis =)



SYZendera
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09 Apr 2011, 7:09 pm

Well, I a plan on seeing a specialist. There are some other things about me I am confused about though. I have a hard time also processing a lot of sound, people talking, I constantly say "what" a lot. Also, when I find someone I like , if I don't have access to any of my interests or hobbies, I normally follow them around everywhere and they get annoyed by it, I also always take things literally to far extents when people are joking. Today I noticed more of social misunderstanding, It is hard for me to know what people want me to do or what is expected of me. I am really blunt, but I also have uncontrollable laughter at times, like in odd places, excessively, and I can't stop.

I also constantly fidget with things, a lot of the time when people are talking to me I don't have eye contact and I am fidgeting with something.