Getting diagnosed, are these Aspergers traits?

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Hi all,

I am very glad to have found this community. Currently I am in search of a diagnosis. I am wondering if any of you could confirm for me if what I describe are Aspergers traits. Firstly, a few different factors have lead me to believe that I have Aspergers. One of those things is that my 10 month old has a very rare heart condition. That has been caused by 22q deletion (DiGeorge syndrome). Due to my medical history they also believe that I have it (yet to be tested). Apparently 22q can relate to things such as Autism/Aspergers.

Recently I have been informed by individuals, that I am apparently very rude. My husband has informed me that these individuals have told him, this on many occasions. Apparently he thought I was only rude to him. My response at the time was, 'why would you think, that I would treat you differently?' That is when I had my first realisation that I might be different. I realised that I often forget to say 'thank you', or didn't realise to say it. I've also been told to not be so 'honest'. I have told people that they are being stupid, or that I didn't want to talk to them.

As a child, I had friends but I didn't keep them. I much preferred hanging out alone in the library. I have currently four friends that I am in regular contact with. In school if I wasn't interested in the subject, I didn't do well in it. Same with people, if I'm not interested then I don't bother. I've been known to keep quiet throughout an entire dinner outing.

I have a touch sensitivity, if my hands are dry I can not stand touching paper. I am also light senestive and will often be found with sunglasses on cloudy days. I have Obsession's, currently it's cats and books. In grade school it was Religious history. I'm also an art nut.

So without borrying you with my whole history, do you think I show Aspergers traits? Also what are the benefits of getting tested as and adult? I am of course presuming there are benefits.

It's hard to tell that you are aspie.

But you can try the online test to go through many behavioral test and questions. There's no benefits but to self aware and cope/correct yourself

Otherwise see a psychiatrist

Bad mannerism and blunt/honest words , your interest are quite generalize I think, lack of social skills adds up to it. Sensory deficient depends to what extend.

Hi and welcome.
I just read up - very briefly - on DiGeorge syndrome and there was nothing about autism .... in that bit of text.

However, the problems, traits and history, you are describing, could very well be Aspergers and they seem typical indeed, I´d say, - but there´s a vast gray zone, where people can display many autistic traits without actually "qualifying" for a diagnosis.
To be sure, you have to go for a diagnosis.

I´m not austrailan, so I would´t know what benefits, you may obtain with a diagnosis, but you might find yourself ending more and more "wars" as your self understanding grows and you learn to appreciate who you are.

What is Asperger Syndrome by Dr. Tony Attwood

Girls and Women who have Asperger Syndrome by Tony Attwood

Thank you the replies. I have already done the popular aspie quiz. I scored 158, which is apparently likely to be Aspie. I am in the search for a psychiatrist.

In response to the 22q, I have read and talk to others on forums who have 22q plus Aspie. 22q is common however, it is a deletion not many are aware of.

Did anyone here get a diagnose as an adult? I'm wanting it more for validation and understanding.

Hey there, yes what you ARE listing are technically aspergers traits but its a lot deeper than that. The problem is people like to read up traits of autism and aspergers instead of SYMPTOMS.

The difference between traits and symptoms is that Traits are the result of symptoms and vary from person to person and symptoms are concrete, always the same.

Here are some aspergers TRAITS (note: these traits are not exclusive to autism, they can appear in ANY person.
-High I.Q
- Social Anxiety
- Social isolation
- dislike of loud sounds and bright lights.
- dislike of change in routine and setting.
- very strong obsessions
- inability to speak
- large or advanced vocabulary
- Rudeness
- overly polite
- hand flapping
- rocking back and forth
These traits are not always present in ASD, sometimes these traits are very rare or very common.

Here are symptoms that are ALWAYS present and are required to make a diagnoses
- Social and Communication Impairment
- Sensory Processing Disorder
- RORRR (Repetitive, Obsessive, Routine, Rituals)
- Excecutive Functioning disorder

Symptoms are always present at the latest of 18 months old.


So you may be saying "simple enough" but it goes even deeper than that.

You see the behaviour that goes with Social and communication Impairments Can vary but it doesn't mean that its 'so mild it doesn't cause problems' thats just BS, rudeness is a real problem; it can cause some serious issues in a professional enviroment and personal relationships but even just that isnt enough for a diagnoses. Do you have any other social problems? when you look at a person can you understand their intentions? can you ask for help when you need it and easily tell people what kind of help you need? Can you detect when someone is sad, angry or happy without talking to them?

same goes for sensory sensitivity. there isn't a person in the world with normally functioning ears that likes loud noises. Same with lights, no one likes bright lights. But can you HANDLE them? many people on the spectrum CANNOT handle these things, but it doesn't mean they cant endure them. Most people with Sensory Processing Disorder will mentally shut down in a over stimulating environment, even if they dont feel pain or discomfort they will meltdown or shutdown due to them overwhelming amount of sensory input. There is also, (either comordibly or seperately) a HYPERsensitivity, which means a person will be under sensitive to sensory input and not react to it at all.

Im not going to type ALL the details but i suggest just seeing a psychologist, but you see there is a catch. Did you know that psychologist and psychyatrist do not like telling a patient what they are testing for because it interferes with the behaviour of the subject. A person is told they have a brain tumour and all the sudden the patient has ALL these new symptoms that brain tumours cause.

Just curious, but is English your first language? You username is japanese so... (それより書き方がちょっと日本人ぽいと思ったんですよ。）
I'm in the process of being diagnosed/it's a journey- although at this point I don't really care if I am diagnosed... it's just more of a workplace/finalization thing. Also for my own curiosity.

I know personally for myself that I am- nothing could dissuade me of that! Unless i don't know I found a brain tumor that they said had been around from birth XD
I feel like the getting to know myself and accepting myself is more important.
I think it sounds to me that you could be AS, but they could just be general qualities of an NT person as well. I've never heard of 22q! or at least in relation to autism which is kind my special interest so I will look into that

Hi ZombieBride.

I just read a little bit about the Mi'qmak culture. Do you have any belief in the religion of the Mi'qmaks? I'd be curious as to the attitude of the priests of your religion towards autism.

I feel that at least some shamans (in general) in the old days had autistic traits. These traits were not seen as being negative--rather, they were seen as being positive. Frankly, shamans don't really seem to be really social people; they tend to be into their own inner world.

Mi'kmaq. and yes, generally people who were autistic in the past were seen as shamans but they also had a lot of support from loved ones and family.. You see in my culture Family is all that really matters, aunts, uncles, grandfathers, grandmothers, any family member you could think of was there, and everyone had a function and a role. Men, were to protect the family from outside danger; projecting their aggression outward. Women were are takers of elders and children and Elders and children are the most important members of the family because they are both the future and the past. Autistic people were shamans yes and usually did have specific expertise weather it be animals, medicine, spirits or anything else but no one was really left behind or completely independent.

You know what? I get the feeling you would feel more accepted, and more "yourself," should you become involved in the religion. I wouldn't be surprised if you could be some sort of spiritual counselor. I'm for anything that provides validation for people, no matter what the source is.

I get the feeling this might be a better fit for you than the secular Western society.

Im not a religous person and the Mi'kmaq spirituality is NOT a religion. its spiritual. There are seven sacred gifts.

Love
Honesty,
humility
Patience
Respect
Wisdom
and Truth.

and treating everything with equality, giving everything that you took back.

Following the spirituality is simple you just respect your elders, respect your Spiritual guiders and respect the creator.

It is not the same as a religion, as a native person (or any person for that matter) you cannot sin, the creator doesnt expect anything from you and i don't think the creator is even really with you. Spirits are more important and everything alive and dead has a spirit. People who are murderers, thieves and "evil do-ers' are nothing more than Ill people who need guidance.

I understand what you are saying.

Could you still be some sort of spiritual advisor? And incorporate your life experiences into understanding people who are troubled?

You mean elders. They are the ones to guide anyone. My grandfather and Great uncle have sweats every sunday and thursday. As a woman im not allowed to go to one when im menstruating but any other time im allowed to go i just dont like them. Its very very hot and tends to be very loud. Even in cold canadian winter where it can drop down to -40 we still have sweats. I went to one when i was like 8 with my sister.

Right now, i smudge from time to time, pray to my spirits when i need them and i never take anything without offering something in return. Im hoping soon that i can learn the language; thats my priority but not many people speak it. My grandfather and his brother and sisters do and my dad knows a little but i only know swear words.

Are there schools where you are which teach the language?

I do know that it's written, these days, with Latin letters, though it was written in some kind of hieroglyphics in the old days. Is your language related to the Cree language at all? Cree is written in a kind of hieroglyphics. The fact that it's written in Latin letters might make it easier for you to learn more of the language.

I've also read a little bit about where you live in a physical geography sense. It must be beautiful in summer, though pretty cold and grim in winter where you are.

I wanted to take a trip a few years ago to Labrador. I wanted to pass by the Gaspe Peninsula first, and then stay in Sept Iles for the night. I would probably pass through Eastern New Brunswick on the way, too. For some reason, the area is pretty fascinating to me.

Hi,

Unfortunate_Aspie,

English is my first language, MomoNoHanna is a result from a past obsession (Japan). I have been there twice. I also speak a little Mandarin and have been to Singapore five times (another past obsession).

ZombieBride,

Thank you for pointing that out. I do indeed have symptoms. My rudeness is number one, I love routines and thrive on them. I hate it when they change. Until we got the dishwasher, I had to do the dishes at the same time every night. Even if husband said he do them in the morning, it was either seven o'clock or never. I am deffinately socially isolated. I've been asked to 'join in' but never do. I've been asked to talk more. I hate bright lights so much, that I'm known to wear sunglasses indoors. The social anxiety is an obvious one. I shut down in over stressful situations. I can not stand people arguing (I run from it). When I'm made upset according to my social worker, I shut down completely. People will ask what is wrong and I won't be able to speak in order to tell them. I can not express my feelings or what I need.

I'm deffinately going to see a psychyatrist, I'm already seeing a social worker. Which I guess is one step down and I need to go one step up. With the amount of people I have to 'socialise' with at the moment my social worker has been amazing. She is the only one that gets it.

I'm scoring high on the Aspie tests/quiz's while not a diagnose they are certainly making me think that I need assignment.

Originally we had no written languages, only hieroglyphics and when the settlers came they changed the hieroglyphics into catholic prayers.

Unfortunately no, no school (especially public) teaches mi'kmaq language due to Residential School Movement. From the early 1800's to 1996, The canadian government took Native children from their homes and families and forced them to live in Residential Schools for 13 years. the children were brutally punished and beaten for speaking their own language or practicing their own culture and forced into Catholicism and Christianity . Many children were killed and sexually assaulted within the schools. This was a strict law but overtime it became less and less enforced, the last school closed in 1996, only 20 years ago. My cousin is a residential school survivor and he doesn't talk about it.

Luckily some collages offer Mi'kmaq courses. The language is dying. My dad is working really hard to open a school to teach Mi'kmaq here on our reserve and he's looking for donations.