Is there such thing as 'mild' Aspergers?

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At the very beginning, I thought I was 'mild'. As according to the professionals I'm 'utmost hf'. I also considered grave social issues my only trouble.

I was entirely off by this. And I didn't/still don't entirely know what is considered average and 'normal'. I thought I was almost entirely 'normal' though hehe.

What I mean to say, even when routines are barely noticeable - it does not necessarily mean they are almost non-existent. It took me a lot of time to get an idea of what routines I follow.

I also first thought I have no 'motor mannerism/repetitive movements' whatsoever. I watched videos of autistic children that were supposed to 'stim' and I saw nothing that looked 'odd' (like people sometimes describe stims). I was thinking: hey, I do all this in this and this situations. It's perfectly normal. Where's the stim?

And funny enough, I am, as validated by many people, a very self-reflective and observant person. I just grew up so off the scale that I do not know what all kinds of 'normal' are.

I assume my experience is perfectly possible for people that do indeed have it mildly. Especially by not knowing what other people do behind closed doors I imagine that most people autistic or not, won't know what these other people do. Unless one does it unknowingly as well.

But if one does something different, they may never know that what they do is different.

Not saying this is the case for you Hodor, it may or may not. But I definitely wanted to explain this.

I sometimes wonder if I should get a diagnosis just for THAT, to get an "expert" opinion of where I "really" am! Of course, the problem is finding an expert and him/her seeing EVERYTHING. Some people have thought I was wierd, etc... On the other hand, I asked a person a few days ago if I seemed strange. She said she thought I was fine and normal. Of course, SHE seems a little off, and she thinks I overreact at some noise, etc.... In a way, she HAS declared me different overall.

Still, I have gotten pretty selfconscious about a lot of things.

If one had autism when younger, one can progress to a level of AS due to a better verbal ability and perhaps less repetitive behaviors; more "normal" repetitive behaviors anyway. This is due to natural development (it's common for people with autism to improve throughout childhood and adolescence; it's also common for some who have improved to actually go back at the onset of adolescence to how they were before the improvement). It all depends on what criteria you fit now, whether AS, autism, or PDD-NOS. There's probably not much between Residual Autism and Asperger's.

I guess "mild" Asperger's is kinda like "mild" Autistic Disorder in comparison to run-of-the-mill Autistic Disorder; severely impaired compared to normal people, just not as severe as many with the disorder.

I have a question, what does "severe" Asperger's look like? Perhaps it and "mild" Autistic Disorder share that dead space which bridges the gap between AS and AD.

Wow yea 4 pages of response eh!! !

Ill keep it going.....


Well they say I got Mild aspergers.......

I dont like the word mild...

I would prefer to have the full blown thing.... eh ahah what are some good asosciations...??
I spose mild curry or hot curry.. I prefer hot but yea.. thats me... not a great asosciation eh.. I did come up with somebetter ones but its late... I may have posted before but anyway...

I reckon its a continum like...
All effected differently...

THIS should be a sticky because is a common question!! ! Many think well am i mild or have it.. do i need diagnosis why etc... what does mild mean etc... is there such thing as mild.. many questiond..
STICKY IT...

"If one had autism when younger, one can progress to a level of AS due to a better verbal ability and perhaps less repetitive behaviors; more "normal" repetitive behaviors anyway. This is due to natural development (it's common for people with autism to improve throughout childhood and adolescence; it's also common for some who have improved to actually go back at the onset of adolescence to how they were before the improvement). "

Nice quote bro!! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !

Yea Tony attwood said it is a "developmental disorder" turning into eccentricity when older.. eg simply being weird/alternative... Hmmm I agree... BUT... I dunno I guess A lot of us have linked disorders ADD OCD anxiety etc.. is it those which are the dehabiliating ones.. and the aspergers wears out after time??
Or are all those labels under one of aspergers.. Because apparently ADD symptons OCD anxiety etc all related to aspergers as well.. so its interesting isnt it haha...

Attwood said that early on.. maybe hes changed now.. Cos I guess aspergers does change you... especially if you know what anxiety means then you have anxiety..
Like another thread here "call a man a criminal and he starts to act like one"
Like the title of that... Believe in it..

SAME with aspergers if you believe you are suffering you will.. If you believe you are succedding you will
If you think you are doing what you do because of your aspergers you'll no doubt continue doing it...

mm.. thats a wrap

Can one with mild aspergers in childhood turns to a severe aspergers in adolescence?

It's called the "Broader Autistic Phenotype," or BAP. It refers to people who have various autistic traits but do not meet the criteria for an actual diagnosis.

I appear to be mild, i have had relatioships in the past but struggle to maintain them as i can't deal with the demands and what is expected of me, sometimes i don't even realise that a female is interested in me as i tend to relax and forget why I was talking to them in the first place!

I'm guessing severe AS looks like the boy in Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime.

Christopher in "Curious Incident" doesn't have AS. He is an autistic savant, which is fairly different.

It's probably entirely possible if something really disturbing happened to the individual like some extreme trauma or injury it might cause regression.

He was supposed to have AS. I just found that out because someone posted an article about the author and he says the character has AS.

“Mild” as in a continuum of characteristics, yes (my AS dx is still a matter of contentious debate).
“Mild” in the sense that most people don’t notice, also yes.

I think this especially true if you’re female: people are less likely to expect you to have it. If you’re female, you tend to stand out more if you’re by yourself (as this is unexpected), so people can rush over to ask if you’re all right. Hence they initiate the conversation so you don't have to. Hence, you might find yourself surrounded by protective, concerned females as a result of this. They act as camoflage.

I used to be a lot worse than I am now. I used to have severe difficulty with conversation and responding appropriately to people. As I’ve matured, I’ve gained more self-control. I still have issues initiating conversation, loneliness and group work though. I socialise in a non-textbook way (I don’t associate with one clique only, I drift around a lot alone). People say I often look “lost”. I was told that I knew “everyone and no-one” and was told paradoxically “you might support on socialising, but you don’t because you see everyone”. Seeing people/hanging on the edge of a group looking nervous does not always equal satisfying/supportive relationship. They could tell something was awry/complained about eye contact/inability to chat, but they didn’t have a name for it.

I think a lot of the repetitive behaviour was trained out of me/been converted into more academically “relevant” behaviours. I think I’ve been incredible fortunate in this respect. It was a painful process though.

I had to learn to make my special fixations academic subjects in order to be accepted in a school environment. I think it is possible (with practice and guidance) to adapt some quirks so that they socially appropriate/useful. An arcane monologue (with hard work) could be converted into an essay/presentation. Memory and recall skills could be used for tests/poetry/theatrical play recitation. Attention to detail has applications in Science and Maths. Eccentric ideas could be used in English Creative writing as “unusual imagery”, Design and Art.

Does this mean you’re a different person on the inside? No. You’ve just adapted to the environment/learned to cope better over the years. I had to learn to do this to survive and get good grades/make friends by helping people. A generally supportive/friendly/understanding school/business ethos really helps too. The smaller the better, I’ve found = less social variables.

Also, if you were to meet someone enthusiastic at work who’s special interest is their job, any issues might be harder to detect at first.

Severe social/sensory stressors could trigger hidden behaviours/upset though.

All it needs is one extraordinarily empathetic person with almost psychic powers to march up to you and see through your difficulties with disturbing accuracy. This person can somehow see and understand that you’ll be unsettled by a loud spontaneous night out/party when no-one’s booked the restaurant/got tickets for the entertainment yet. Sadly, such emotionally intelligent people are very rare.

I am thinking if aspergers were a spectrum then it would be less perplexing when interracting with other aspies.

Then again you do have to have a number of traits to determine if you have aspergers. Alot of people seem to have a little hint of autism.

Having a little hint does not make someone autistic.

I scored a 33. I think I would have scored higher on the test as a kid. My score goes up and down on that test. The highest I have ever scored was a 42 I think.

I scored 31.

Hmm.

33; but there wasn't any scale on the strength of each trait... You can have a strong hobby that isn't an Aspie obsession, or you can have an Aspie obsession that's so strong you forget to eat or sleep; and they both rate as the same thing. The scale basically rates the number of traits you have, not their strength.