LittleBlackCat wrote:
I am mild in the sense that I have been able to hold down jobs from time to time, get an education, get married and have friends and I don't have very obvious tics and bizarre behaviour. On the other hand, I suffered chronic bullying at school, have suffered from mental health problems all my life and have not thus far achieved career success commensurate with my intelligence.
I know exactly what you mean. Not the bullying - I was always the biggest in my class by far, and thanks to my fantastically supportive parents and cult-like church I had ridiculous levels of self confidence. But like you I have held down various jobs, and was married. Customers always seem to like me better than other people. I am a qualified physics teacher, I have a marketing degree, I'm programming an online game engine, I've developed and solve five games from scratch, I've run my own multimedia company, ran a church, published a book on Bible prophecy and helped write comic books, I've solved some of the world's hardest philosophical and economic problems...
... and yet....
I am a 43 year old living with his parents, with no money, scared to answer the phone, I have never been able to hold down a job for long, even at minimum wage; the simplest social situations terrify me and friendships never last (even though as far as I can tell I am never rude and I do wash)
Clearly something is wrong somewhere. Aspergers is the closest thing I have found and I am clinging to it like a life raft.