Do I have Asperger's?

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I suspect I may have Aspergers (or Autism), but I do not exhibit some of the major symptoms. I never had the will or financial ability to get a proper diagnosis. I've reached a point where my eccentricities have started to affect my life beyond just a lack of friends.

I'm just here to get an opinion about the likelihood of me having Aspergers, as there are many symptoms associated that I do no exhibit. Taking into account the info in the wiki (this wiki) I exhibit these signs that are associated with Aspergers:

*Awkward display of body posture, particularly in hand gestures and eye to eye contact. I have been on occasion that my hand gesture are strange and I do not make constant eye contact. In the case of eye contact, I have an extremely hard time maintaining eye contact without looking away, even to close friends.

*I do not have many friends, and I have lost many friends when the lack of forced interaction is removed (like graduating, moving etc.). I find it difficult to maintain friendships, but can't pinpoint any specific reason for this besides a general dislike for people.

*Compulsive behavior. There are too many to name, but when I walk I tend to take one step per 'tile' on the pavement and avoid walking on the lines. Though I do feel discomfort when something forces me to stop doing it, the discomfort is faint and brief.

*I'm logical and structured to a fault. Everything must be clear cut and fixed.
I DO NOT like ambiguity, and I would do everything in my power to make structure and restrict the problem. I cannot work when there is ambiguity, and while I was able to get away with it at work and school for the most part, it's starting to become a problem.
Everything I understand in the world must find some root in logic. While I can empathize, I can not understand people who are not consistent with their opinion, and just base their actions on their feeling at the time.

*I DO NOT like being disturbed when in the middle of something. I get quite temperamental when people make noise when I'm working (or just concentrating on something).

*I do not like to be around people.

*I have poor communication skills.
I've been told that I'm extremely blunt. I sometimes find myself talking to others about topics that they're uncomfortable with. I've also had situations where I end up angering others without intending too.
At this point, I'm quite cautious when talking to others. I don't like to take my chances in making a social interaction more uncomfortable than it already is. People have commented that I'm too polite and formal at times.
I also have trouble telling when I'm talking too much or too little.

*I can not always put myself in the shoes of others. The way I act has often being taken as rude or unresponsive by others. I understand where they're coming from after they point it out though and has since tried to rectify it, though it's appearing to be somewhat difficult.

*I prefer written communication over oral.

*Don't know if this is relevant, but I have poor hand-eye coordination. I excel in all forms of logic orientated academics but do not do so well for the more flexible one, particularly narratives.



Again, taking into account the info in the wiki on this site, I do not exhibit these sign that are associated with Aspergers:

*I do enjoy being acknowledged about my achievements. Even though I do not actively flaunt them, I tend to imply them in some manner where possible.

*I am able to empathize, or I believe I can. Keep in mind, I'm not certain what empathy means, nor do I know whether my level of empathy is normal.
Most of the time I can correctly identify what people are feeling, whether its annoyance, sadness or anger.
Since no one has told me otherwise, I can't actually remember any particular situations where I didn't pick up other people's emotions when I should have.
Due to the ambiguity issue mentioned above, I do sometimes have difficulty differentiating one smile from another.

Thanks for reading this overly long and poorly structured piece.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

You're the only person who has lived your life in your brain and knows what that experience is like, so listen to your research and feelings. Initially I thought "Hey I have empathy!" when I began my research into Aspergers. It turns out this is a debated issue, and some information about inability to empathize may be outdated. Especially due to the fact that there are two types of empathy (or more), specifically affective and cognitive, and it is possible to grasp one while being clueless to the other. So that is something worth looking into.

Online quizes are a fun research tool to find out more about yourself prior to seeking official medical diagnosis.

There is the ----> Aspie Quiz<------
----->Autism Quotient<--------
and the always fun EQ SQ ---->EQ SQ<-----

Thanks for the welcome.

I took some time to take the tests in the 3 links you provided:

Scores:
Your Aspie score: 146 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 54 of 200

Autism Spectrum Quotient is 42.

EQ is 5, and SQ is 46

All three tests seem to indicate Autism/Asperger.
Still feeling a bit uncomfortable about getting a medical diagnosis. While I want to get a proper diagnosis to explain my behavior to others (particularly my parents), I'm pretty sure they won't accept it even if I was diagnosed with Autism/Asperger.
I've bought it up at times, and they've been mostly uncooperative about it. Normally I'd be fine with it but they've been demanding I spend more time with them and/or others (as I tend to spend most of my time alone).

If you think you have asperger's, you probably do.

Welcome aboard.

You sound like you could have it to me. As far as it goes, I have taken all of those tests and my scores are in my sig. Like you, I also like praise and achievement. However, I am uncomfortable with it too as I don't know how to properly react to it. I can also empathize a lot of the times with people I know and with people I don't know when in more extreme situations where the emotions required are obvious. I tend to believe that a good portion of people with milder forms of autism have a normal emotional range but just don't understand when those emotions are required. Thus, they fail to share a connection with others in the situation.

As a disclaimer, I am self-diagnosed and see myself as being somewhere on the border between AS, ADHD and NT, but I know I am not normal.

Thanks for the reply.

Out of curiosity, I don't know if this applies to any of you. I'm currently still living with my parents (it's not financially viable to move out), and I'm having more and more difficulty getting along with them as their expectations of me change.

They want me to find a proper job and find a partner, but I'm having a hard doing both.
I struggle through interviews as I have a hard time demonstrating 'communication skills' that appears to be necessary for every job out there.
Finding a partner is even more difficult, I don't even know how to start.

I've tried bringing up the possibility of having Aspergers several times, but they outright deny it every time saying there is not proof and I'm just over thinking things (which is a possibility).

In any case, if any of you have similar experiences, how did you deal with it?