I may not have Asperger's.

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Seven years and then I receive word I may not have Asperger's Syndrome. It doesn't make any sense. I've been using it as a reason behind why I feel so different, and I think I'm taking this quite harshly. The person who suggested this didn't completely overrule this possibility, but I'm depressed.

I thought that by comparing me to someone else with the condition was horribly wrong, yet it seems like the moment I second guessed myself was the moment fate turned around to confirm that I may not have it. Ugh. Where DO I fit in if I don't have Asperger's Syndrome? I don't fit in anywhere else and I struggle with the same issues you guys do. It's just....should I even BE on this forum if I don't have it? ><

Keep in mind that we are on a spectrum, and no two people with autism have exactly the same "symptoms". So until there's you, there's no one like you...therefore nothing to compare you to. My favorite quote is this, that I keep in mind when someone says that I am not autistic:

"If you think you have Asperger syndrome, you probably do," says Michael John Carley, Executive Director of Global and Regional Partnership for Asperger Syndrome (GRASP).

If you feel like you fit in here, then you belong here. That's my opinion on that. If you have felt in the last seven years, that you know "who" you are with AS...don't let another's opinion get you down. They will never know you the way you know yourself.

Take a test:

http://www.rdos.net/eng/Aspie-quiz.php

I think I took that one already, and I scored really really high on it.

@mb1984: I'm thinking I have it, but I haven't done any research on what she thinks I have instead, so I may be more content after some research. I shouldn't let anyone else get me down, but she DID also diagnose me with Major Depressive Disorder - Recurrent, so if this makes me depressed that just means I don't know where I fit in.

What Im about to say has already been touched on by MB1984, but I wanted to elaborate on it.

Who diagnosed you with Asperger's? And who's trying to "Undiagnose" you? WHY are they trying to change your thoughts, feelings, and Understanding of yourself now?

At the end of the day, no one else is you. Aspergers, and Autism actually does have physical evidence of its existence (Unlike some disorders, believe you me), as I understand it. But short of a really expensive Chromosome/Gene Mapping test, all you can really do is look to see if you "fit" the symptoms.

Further, lets say you have something else. How do you know that just because you "have" something else, you're not "Also" AS?

Go read up about something called "HSP" (Highly Sensitive Person), which is something thats only being recognized in about the past 10 years (Its a bit older then that in theory, but in Practice its only just been on the "scene" for about a decade or so). The causes for it are exceedingly different from AS and ASD's, but it produces very similar symptoms, bar one (Emotional sensitivity).

Finally, where mental disorders and such are concerned, only YOU are you. Only YOU know EXACTLY what you're going through. All other people can do is take what they KNOW about you and try to assemble it into something that makes sense. Unlike physical Maladies, mental and emotional issues and disorders don't usually have Readily available physical proof. A shrink doesn't open up your Skull and go "Hmmmmm, lookie there, so THATS why you're like this, look at all this depression in here!".... Just doesn't work like that.....

Anyway, hope that helps some.

Uh... Autism and Asperger's Syndrome are not mental disorders. They're neurological.

BIG difference.

Different hardware/hard-wiring, not a software malfunction.

Last edited by JohnCounsel on 10 Jun 2011, 7:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

So, after TWO questionable diagnoses, you're allowing this person to determine YOUR state of mind simply because they changed their opinion?

I understand how important it can be to have a lens through which to view your own thinking and behaviour, but if what you see doesn't mesh with what you know, from your own knowledge and experience, it's reasonable to question the reliability of the view of anyone seeking to change that lens for you.

My own thoughts?

Get a second opinion!

Do you mind if I ask what the person thinks you have instead of AS? I ask because I have been diagnosed with PDD-NOS but was preveously thought to have a disorder called Non Verbal Learning disorder which is similar to AS. I actually think I am autism/NLD comorbid. The only reason I wasn't diagnosed with classic autism is my verbal skills are mire like that if an asoie so I got PDD-NOS