Can Asperger Syndrome be mild?

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Ideally, during your hard times, your partner, your family, and your friends can be a help and a support to you. And during their hard times, you can be a help and a support to them. But the set of skills involving in this, light touch in offering help (also respectful, matter-of-fact), and asking with medium specifics for the type of help I need when I need help, all that I struggle with. And sometimes people have their own issues and just can't come through for you.

YES As a matter of fact, it IS! We play JUST for the LOVE of the game!

And it is also about learning social skills in a SF structure! But HEREIN lies the RUB: I don't always GET what I'm supposed to LEARN People tell me I never talk when I play or that I seem distant, lost in the crowd at meetings. I seem to lose the ability to say anything or even THINK of something to say! And people who actually LIKE me seem to drift away from the lack of a connection due to whatever it is that causes me to do that.

While I have tried, I have more recently accepted that I AM who I am! Sometimes I'm okay with it, but sometimes I get overwhelmed. People say that an adult doesn't NEED a diagnosis, but I feel like I need SOME kind of help to find out what's wrong.

I like your term. So the doctor may have told me I was mild because I have shown myself to be capable of being an Aspie Light? i.e. I did have a relationship once and I have had jobs before.

Unfortunately I don't think I am aspie light at the moment.

Okay, what is SF structure?

And the thing with crowds, you know, I was watching some of the World Series the other day and I was thinking, how many of the people there are really enjoying the experience there vs. liking being able to say you were there. For truth be told, baseball is actually a pretty boring game (maybe if I understood pitching more, for I still don't really understand when they talk about pitching). And people try and cheer and conjure enjoyment, and sure, that can blur and lead to actual enjoyment, but for how long? Overall, how enjoyable is it, really, to be in a cramped seat for three and a half hours?

And look how the movie theater industry has declined in recent years. Most people seem to prefer watching videos or on-demand at home, and this includes yeah most people in general---Aspie, 'Normal,' Different in Different Ways!

Yes

It works for most people in the stadium I think.
That is due to mirror/reflective neurons or whatever the exact name for it is.
When NT-people make a smile it won't take long and they become happy indeed.

That's where the big difference between NT and ASS is very noticable.
NT-people mimick gestures and face expressions continuously, most of the time completely unaware.
It gives a good read of how the other feels.
The mimicking of another's expression gives the neural system an idea of how the other is doing emotionally.
The sixt sense, nearly everybody has, aware of it or not, I seem to be missing for the main part.
It is why I somehow never feel apropriate in my actions and why I never seem emotionally in sinc with those around me emotionally.
My emotions are not necessarily visible on my face. It seems the system failes both directions alike.

Slightly off-topic I guess, however, that part never seems to be light, now I think of it...

No, no, I think it's good. I just think it just sometimes works for people who are NT. Sometimes the magic happens and sometimes it doesn't. And for us, it's a different type of magic.

I have mild Aspergers and severe Bipolar.

Robdemanc, I have carried both relationships and jobs a long time. In jobs it sometimes is a pounce and then they go official and try and look for a "formal" reason to do what they've already made up their minds to do in the first place. And then the good people---and this is the part that really gets me---bail on you, shy away because they don't want to also be blamed. So, instead of looking for a way to stand up on your behalf, they look for a reason not to.

All this takes me a long time to wrap my mind around. The people aren't necessarily 'bad,' althought they sure are acting that way. And there are ways to respond to this situation, but they are far less than 100%.

Now, Bipolar is largely treatable, but as I understand it you need a doctor with the patience (not to mention the communication skills!) to tinker with the medication because not every medication works for every person.

SF = I shortened your words "semi-formal!" Sorry

I have medium spicy Asperger's.

I think it's pretty cool! ' . . an SF situation . . '

I think one of the reasons someone would call it "mild" is because of (as someone else stated) higher levels of functioning. Generally when people think of autism, they picture someone who will need care for the rest of their lives. Aspergers is a "milder" form of this, so the expectation still is that you will not accomplish many of the "milestones" of adulthood - a permanent job with a spouse or significant other, offspring, ect.

So to balance this out properly, the will say someone's affect is "mild" because it works with their understanding of Autism and AS.

Accurate? Nah.

I went back to my GP and told her about the psyciatrist saying I had mild AS. I told her that people seem to think you cannot have AS in levels. I also raised the issue that those considered mild have to interact with the world more and so expose themselves to more things that will cause them stress. She understood my point.

I don't want to dismiss or undermine what classic autism is like for people but I wonder how much stress they suffer from interacting with the world. My GP said some people cannot go out of the house or talk to people at all. But I wondered if those people would be considered AS, surely they would be considered classic autism? Are there any Aspies who cannot go out of the house at all, or talk to other people?

Robdemanc, from your initial post it sounds like I've experienced a lot of similar things to you. I've had several jobs but the longest I've managed to hold one down is 2 years, they've mostly been under a year and I've been fired 3 times. I also only really felt like I was connecting with other people when I got into the clubbing scene and started taking drugs (which I've now long left behind).

People tell me I seem so normal but I have no idea why - I think if they knew all the crazy stuff that's going through my head 100MPH every second I'm in any form of social situation they'd run a mile. I think I've just become really good at pretending to be normal because I know that's what's expected of me and I hate the funny looks I get if I actually do relax and let my real personality come through.