How strong is your aspergers syndrome?

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I believe I am down the middle. Though I have met Aspies who are worse off than I am.

I guess it depends a lot on how nervous/anxious I am. When this happens, my Aspieness screams out.

I can't say how strong it is overall, it seems like I show some traits very strongly and others not as strongly. I can say that it's very difficult if not impossible for me to mask it-it's gonna make itself shown one way or another
Areas where it's strong: poor social skills/difficulty understanding nonverbal language, poor motor skills/coordination, obsessive thinking/obsessive interests, and a tendency to daydream and stim, change can be pretty difficult if I'm not ready for it and don't want it, but on the other hand if I am, I like it; strong emotions
Areas where it's medium: Routines-they're not rigid or exact or anything, but if I get into one I really like and it changes, I can get pretty down; visual thinking; skills and abilities such as mimicking and thinking outside the box and such; and sensory perception-my sensory perception is definately affected by AS, but it rarely causes any significant difficulties-I'm really lucky that way I guess, and I'd have to say I really like perceiving things the way I do

I'm not really sure how I can self-observe enough to quantify how much "AS-ness" I manifest. The way I see it, you're either an Aspie or you're not, and once you've established AS-ness everything else is individual variation. If you took 5 AS individuals and put them in a room together, it's likely that they would all manifest certain AS traits to varying degrees.

Comparing stories with people here, I know I'm probably very weak AS. Positive I have it, but ADD, OCD, and Hypersensitivity balance out some things. I think if you go by DSMV (or w/e) dx, I'm PDD-NOS. I've heard a desription of someone with PDD-NOS that sounded exactly like me, but without OCD. He's dx'd PDD-NOS. Hmm...overlaps? My eye contack switches back between gazing and none. If I'm talking with a person... <_<....>_>.....<_<....shifty eyes. Bed time now, tired.

Well, if I'm in a room of other Aspies, I tend to feel like I'm doing better than the rest of them.

Weak

Although in some situations I'm noticably medium - mainly when I haven't been taking my medication.

I really have no idea on what criteria to judge this one.

It depends on who I'm around or my circumstances. I have days in which my symptoms are undetectable and others in which I'd rather put my hand in a meat grinder than deal with the outside world.

If I'm around family or others who aren't the "norm", I can communicate with them without being careful about putting my foot in my mouth. I've been in the mental hospital twice for depression and each time, it was as if me and the other patients spoke the same "language".

To this day, I find it interesting how only other non-NTs or people with mental illnesses come up to me as if they have a sixth sense about me being on the "outside". NTs rarely approach or speak to me at all and this is even in situations where they're talking to my friend while she's standing next to me. The stimming gets bad when I'm alone, although I can control it when I'm around others or at least bite my nails, which is socially more acceptable.

If I have to pace and I'm visiting someone, I go in the bathroom or go walking, which helps. I don't have nearly the sensivity to noise that I did when I was a child but now, I can't sleep in total quiet and have the TV or airconditioner on. I still have my obsessions but my anti-depressants and Klonopin seem to curb them a little, thank goodness, because I do not have the money to be spending on collecting things right now.

I use closed caption on my television as I have difficulty understanding what's being said at times, especially if someone on TV has an accent or talks very fast. I really wish social interactions had the same option. It would save me alot of embarrassment.

Mild to moderate AS, moderate ADD (non-hyper) and OCD (I can judge accurately now that I'm unmedicated), and extremely severe TS.

well i am forced to ask what qualifies as strong medium or weak? I think most people are judging how strong theirs is by how much difficulty theyve had in working with the world. And since most of us got pretty far thinking we were just weird, and we've somehow adapted to the world, it seems like what we've got can't be that strong. I say im strongly one because i have all but 1 or 2 of the symptoms, and every single one of them made me say "Holy s**t, that is a condition?! I had that so damn much! Everyone just told me i was difficult!"

Mine is kind of obvious....

I think I'm probably mildly affected in general with AS but it is severe enough to have caused quite a few problems once I left home in particular.

The strongest traits are obsessive thinking, lack of control over emotions, social withdrawal in group situations, extra sensitivity to some kinds of noises eg. shrill sounds, taking speech literally.

I was able to compensate for my weak areas as a child by being good at schoolwork but eventually, I got sick of studying. It seems that the symptoms weren't such a big problem until I left home at 18. I was very naive and unable to defend myself against bullies.

However, I've met some other AS people and I don't seem as badly affected as them so that is why I say I'm probably on the mild side of the spectrum.

This causes a dilemma, actually. Do I identify with the so called "normal world" and be considered a "freak" and stress out trying to fit the norm or do I identify as AS. Presently, I prefer to identify as an autistic person and have already made friends with another high functioning AS person.

I think i've got pretty bad ADD to be honest, possibly moreso than AS.

I am an attention seeker
My room is a mess
All my documents are a mess
I never finish things
I fidget and pace
I can't do anything and stick at it.. even if I enjoy doing it. Most of my projects are half finished.

Moderate, according to the professional... which figures I guess. Can't quite pass as 'normal', can't function effectively enough to pay bills on time or hold down a job, but pretty independent.

I can definitely relate to that when it comes to long-term projects. I'm lucky enough to where I have enough OCD to offset it so that I can do well enough in school (obligations still get top priority) but yeah, in a lot of senses I find it real hard to make myself live like an adult.

No idea!

My sensory processing is very bad and muddled up. Synaesthesia adds to sensory input and I suffer sensory overload frequently. I have auditory agnosia (noises from the left interpreted as coming from the right and vice versa). I would say that my sensory issues are severe.

I am hypersensitive and/or hyposensitive to many things in many circumstances.

Understanding what is being said to me - quite bad, I come across as being quite deaf, and sometimes stupid because it takes me a while to extract the meaning of sentences and questions. Misinterpretation of instructions is frequent. I find it extremely difficult to join in a complex conversation in a timely fashion. Also difficult to sift for relevant information contained in either verbal or textual forms.

Eye contact - can manage it if not stressed but feels uncomfortable. If stressed, forget it.

Ability to read non-verbal cues - appalling. My boyfriend once said to me, "you really can't read people's emotions at all can you?" I have more trouble with the visual elements of this, judging someone's tone of voice is less difficult but still problematic.

Obsessive interests - I have one or two consuming interests which I will bore people about given half the chance, but also quite a wide range of things which I am happy to discuss with people or listen to people talk about. If I'm not interested at all I can't concentrate on the subject. Probably fairly mild in this sense.

Stims - rocking, hand-flapping, head banging, pacing, humming and grunting, nail-biting, hair fiddling, tapping fingers, jiggling legs and feet (and when younger, spinning) - very stereotypical autistic stims which become very obvious when stressed or during sensory overload. I tend towards the less obvious ones in public, although there have been occassions when this is not possible.

Adaptability to changes in routine - appalling, the slightest change causes me horrendous anxiety.

Co-ordination - can't keep track of where my limbs are, can't judge whether I'll fit through a gap. Negotiating my way through a crowd is a huge effort. I am always covered in bruises from walking into things or falling over. Can't catch or throw. Manual dexterity not affected too badly, handwriting OK, can type fast with good accuracy, but I'd be unlikely to ever become origami champion!

Having said that, if meeting me on a normal day, I come across as completely 'normal'. I have learned some social unwritten rules, the main one that I apply being 'if in doubt, keep your mouth shut' which I daresay has kept me out of trouble. I am more likely to come across as shy and hovering uncertainly waiting for a chance to speak, rather than come out with something wildly inappropriate or interrupt. However, anyone who spends any amount of time with me will inevitably, at some point, see me go into overload - either shut down and start slurring speech etc. or become over-anxious and cry and rock. To those who know me, I do not come across as 'normal' at all.

In summary:

Sensory issues (processing delay, filtering, hyper/hypo sensitivity) - severe
Motor co-ordination - moderate
Fine motor skills - mild
Changes in routine - severe
Eye contact - moderate
Non-verbal communication - severe
Obsessive interests - mild to moderate
Social interaction - coping strategies learned.

Have I missed anything?