Neither Aspie Nor NT, but somewhere in between

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And also: Asperger's was added as a diagnostic entity due to the fact that there was many, many individuals who were clearly autistic, but they lacked the broad cognitive impairment that is common in autism, and they had the ability to speak fluently in a social/mechanical setting (compared to classic autism); this led to them being unable to meet the diagnostic criteria for autism.

If you follow this pattern, I'm sure there are people who have "mild, mild" autism (there are).

I think it may be that some AS tendency people have normal type NT functioning, but this has been very largely drowned out by the AS systemising going on in their brains. These people may be able, as I have very fortunately been, to escape AS tendency (see http://unlearningasperger.blogspot.com/)
However there may be others who have no or extremely little NT type functioning - it is proving much harder for these to find any NT functioning when they reduce their systemising.

To me, NT is sorta in the eye of the beholder. I spend more time observing people than really interracting with them...and in observing people I sometimes notice (somewhat superficially) with what sort of ease they seem to interract with others and with their surroundings...it is on this basis that I will make the assumption that certain people..or the majority of certain crowds..are NT...until proven otherwise...which seldom if ever happens(i help run an art and performance venue, so am privy to alot of people watching)
For instance I will assume that the gaggle of squealing teenaged girls in trendy clothes who all go into the bathroom at the same time are NT...They seem to know how to follow the protocol of being a squealing teenaged girl...they speak each-others language...subscribe to the same system of taboos and whatnot.....(whether or not this is actually the case)

Human behavior really does flail out in all directions. Identifying people as "Neurotypical" based on the observation of their ease of social interraction and capability of "group think" does not necc. mean that they are "normal" or "sane" or even "neurotypical"

I regard my sister as being NT...based upon her lifelong subscription to certain social protocols and her desire to "fit in" and ability to do so...but she has displayed certain mental problems her whole life.

Blah blah blah....i hope i am not saying something really stupid or short-sighted here.....

Back to the topic:
I do not have an AS diagnosis...I don't know if I would be able to get one. There are not many good and/or affordable resources in my area that I know of...Just getting my adult ADD diagnosis was hell. I spend so much time on this board because I have alot in common with people who have AS.
I have had developmental problems since I was a kid...I have developmental problems as an adult...otherwise it would not be an issue..
I have no idea how AS I actually am. I am less functional than some on the board...and maybe more functional than others..I am not sure.
Perhaps my dysfunctional behaviors are learned and not neurological...as it has been suggested to me by people who think I don't have AS...

who knows?...sorry for the ramble....

For those who are "unsure", this is the criteria that a psychologist at Attwood's used to give me a label; it shouldn't be too hard to apply it to yourself (it's closer to Asperger's original work than the DSM-IV-TR):

I SEEM to fit all the criteria..including #6.

My boyfriend Flakey does not quite fit the criteria...but he is close...

there is a great post by ZanneMarie that may help you clarify - http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt52980.html

I have no clue if I fit the criteria or not. I didn't even understand all of it. "On others" for example. What does that mean? I know it doesn't literally mean I am on someone. That wouldn't make any sense if it was an aspie thing. Who on earth would do that? A crazy person perhaps or someone who likes jumping on people or climbing on them.


And do I appreciate social cues,?I don't even care for them. Does that mean I don't appreciate them? I don't even know what they are. I expect people to tell me how they are feeling and what they want from me like if I am talking too much or they want me to lower my voice, I want them to be straightforward but not nasty to me but be nice.


I hate it when I can't understand criterias fully. Does that mean there is something wrong with me?

The evidence I've seen so far seems to indicate that I'm somewhere in the middle ground territory between "hallmark aspie" and neurotypical.

Here is my result for rdos's test. So am I borderline? You decide.

I don't believe there are borderline cases. Asperger's Syndrome is by definition at the mild end of the autism spectrum. I have it, and I can easily hold a conversation and appear normal on most occasions.

I think I probably have Asperger's, but relatively mildly compared to many I've read about too.

My scores on those Aspie type quizzes kind of back that up as well (36ish on the one, 120-140ish on the other, depending on the revision), while others are 40s and 50s on the one and 160+ on the other.

Like some others have responded in this thread, I have a job, can do social interactions and things, but I have trouble if I don't know pretty much exactly what's expected of me in an interaction, and it's generally draining on me. I don't know how to deal with freeform social events, so avoid them so I don't make a fool of myself. And basically at work I stick to myself, and don't really know what's going on. I've been making a conscious effort the last few years to say "hi" to people and that sort of thing though.

Just FYI and all, the social impairment of Asperger's is no different to classic autism, people seem to forget this.

Spokane_Girl, that generally means that you impose your routines on yourself, or on others, i.e., you have to dress yourself a certain way, or you need your mother to prepare your food a certain way.

You have the lack of appreciation of social cues thing down (you don't know them at all so you won't recognize them when people display them to you).

I wonder if some of my OCD stuff would actually fit into the AS related routines. And certainly I can be freaked out for no particularly good reason if things don't go exactly as I had anticipated them (plans changing, etc. can really freak me out, though somewhat less so now that I understand that I'm going to be freaked out by change).