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That's a really nice video, I will show it to her sometime.

I actually printed off Tony Attwood's "About Asperger's" page and gave it to her with round 1 of reading materials (I had 3 rounds of printouts, but they were short rounds )

She said that she is reluctant to put labels on people and keeps saying that they are just "personality traits" that lots of people have. So I think maybe I haven't explained totally well, but she did say she wants to learn more about AS now.

^ Not to be intrusive (& hope all right to post) but Asperger's Syndrome is not just a collection of "personality traits" and is indeed a real phenomena/disorder/condition. Although personality types do exist (for every human being on this planet), AS is listed in the DSM IV TR as code 299.88 and valid by diagnosis. Autism, which is the all-inclusive disorder, is DSM IV TR code 299.00 (AS is merely a subset).

I'm at University - in any workplace/school, medical, etc. ......Autism/AS is a diagnosis like any other and we are covered by the ADA (in the United States). I'm relocating soon to Scotland (permanently) and my medical provider just submitted a required letter of verification to their Disabilities Services and for any future provider (with formal DSM IV TR code). So, that's not a "personality trait" but a very real condition.

Although I do respect (and accept) those who are self-diagnosed, a formal diagnostic can change the dynamics, for legal/medical reasons. This is precisely why many then choose to proceed with the formal (extensive/expensive) diagnosis.

You could look up Hans Asperger on Wikipedia - neat bio provided!

Ahem, my logic is showing

You're not being intrusive at all, don't worry about it. I know it's not a bunch of personality traits, which is why I said I might not have explained it well enough to her, or she might be misunderstanding, or just reluctant to accept a label right away. In the moment I couldn't come up with an argument for why it's not just a bunch of personality traits, because my brain wasn't prepared for such a statement and slowed to a crawl, but I'm eventually going to teach her more about it and have her read some books. She'll understand given time to really learn about it.

I've never considered myself self-diagnosed because I don't claim to have AS, I only think it's a possibility. A strong possibility, but still not a certainty. That's why my profile still says "Not sure if I have it or not". Telling my mom was my first step towards getting an official diagnosis. Which will be an interesting process because I've not had luck with my doctors in the past, I'm not even sure if they'll give me a referral.

Also, I'm slightly jealous of your move to Scotland. I would love to go there and seek out any long lost relatives I might have. Not sure how many generations since we left Scotland, they might be too far lost to find. But still, I've always wanted to go.

Thanks for your good wishes about my move to Scotland - I'm happy too.

I think you're very brave and doing the right thing by telling your mother. Although anyone "new" to AS will have questions or reluctance, etc. you're right in that those factoids are helpful. I imagine, over time, she'll become a pro

And maybe, like you wrote, if you need/want an official Dx you could puruse. All Cats have Asperger's ought to be fun! Others on this thread gave so much good advice......hey, we ought to start a Wrong Planet consulation service