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henix
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18 Aug 2011, 5:39 am

When somebody sees that I can't make eye contact with them, and am too silent, and don't use body language, and am always distracted,
will this cross their mind that I might have Asperger's?

As a plain estimation, I'd like to know what percentage of people in a modern society know about Autism/Asperger's and its symptoms.



Mummy_of_Peanut
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18 Aug 2011, 6:43 am

Henix - As I've never met you, I can't say what impression you actually make, I'm just speaking about people with AS, in general. Excluding professionals and people with personal/family experience of AS, people may see you as different, but not be able to put their finger on it. I think most people have heard of autism (and think they have a fair idea what this is, but are often way off mark) and less people will have heard of AS, although from experience, most people say they've at least heard of it. Many of those who know something about it often have an image of what they think someone with AS is like, which may be fairly accurate for some people with AS, but not the majority. If you're close to that image, they might guess, otherwise I doubt it.

When my daughter's speech & language therapist met her a few weeks ago, for the first time, he suspected it within 30 mins, but he's an experienced professional who specialises in AS. If I tell an acquaintance that she probably has AS, they'll usually say, 'Really, but she's so chatty and outgoing. It must be very mild'. They've no idea her extroversion has no bearing on the diagnosis or severity of the AS. Actually, she's much more outgoing than average, which is significant, but no-one seems to be aware of that fact. Neither was I until I started reading about it less than a year ago and quickly worked out that I also fit the criteria. No-one appears to have suspected AS with me, just that I was unusual. Although during a personnel discussion at work, where it was mentioned that a temp possibly had undiagnosed AS (someone close to stereotype), I got a few strange looks, as if they suspected something about me, that I wasn't aware of.



Indy
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18 Aug 2011, 6:59 am

henix wrote:
When somebody sees that I can't make eye contact with them, and am too silent, and don't use body language, and am always distracted,
will this cross their mind that I might have Asperger's?

Unless they know someone with Asperger's, probably not.

People comment a lot on the fact I'm quiet and easily distracted, so I think it must be obvious to people that I'm not fitting in. But, most people assume that I'm quiet because I'm upset about something.

I think most people have heard of autism, but not many actually know much about it.



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18 Aug 2011, 7:36 am

Obviously I can't speak for you because I haven't seen you, but people who know about autism can usually spot it in me pretty fast because I am quite an obvious 'stimmer', never use eye contact and have a 'rigid' posture. Someone told me these are my major give aways.


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Tuttle
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18 Aug 2011, 12:58 pm

I've definitely had people notice for me before, but only in a social group where knowledge about AS is excepted. I've also had someone notice online, but only by someone who is married to an aspie.

I don't think you have to worry a lot about stereotypes from people noticing. The people who are more likely to notice are the people who are more likely to know about both the positive and negative traits.

As for percentage of people noticing, I have no idea, I've stuck to being around geeks.



Artros
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18 Aug 2011, 1:10 pm

People notice I'm socially awkward. Not much, otherwise. One of my friends dated an Aspie but she never mentioned it to me until I started talking about it, though people often remarked how much the Aspie and I were alike (they thought I was his friend, not hers).


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Aspie test: about 150/200 Aspie, about 40/200 NT


Apple_in_my_Eye
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18 Aug 2011, 6:56 pm

I think very few will come to that conclusion. IME, most people interpret that behavior as "stuck up," "has something to hide," or "shy," in that order of likeliness. The only time I've ever been "called out" for AS is when the person had a friend with AS.

OTOH, there may be a generational difference. People my age have virtually no chance of knowing what ASD is, whereas younger people may have some awareness (but I'd bet that that still isn't very common).



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18 Aug 2011, 7:34 pm

Most people have only the vaguest idea about autism, and no clue about Asperger Syndrome. So unless they know someone with AS or work with people with AS, they probably wouldn't spot your AS even if you are the embodiment of the classic Asperger Syndrome stereotype. They will probably think you're weird, but won't have a clue why.



anneurysm
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18 Aug 2011, 9:15 pm

People won't immediately think AS unless they're very familiar with the disorder, but I find that they will still pick up an aura about someone on the spectrum. Often, they will see the person as odd or shy, but will attribute it to the person's personality rather than a neurological disorder. People tend to have strong opinions, however, about things that will be immediately seen as odd (i.e. stimming, unusual voice, etc.).


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Given a “tentative” diagnosis as a child as I needed services at school for what was later correctly discovered to be a major anxiety disorder.

This misdiagnosis caused me significant stress, which lessened upon finding out the truth about myself from my current and past long-term therapists - that I am an anxious and highly sensitive person but do not have an autism spectrum disorder.

My diagnoses - social anxiety disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

I’m no longer involved with the ASD world.