Have you ever...

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This poll is for those who have been diagnosed with Asperger's, and those who suspect that they might have Asperger's.

Please be as honest as possible.

Yea. But then I think back to just a few years ago before I figured out how socially wack I was and I'm like.... Damn.... It accounts for all of it, and the troubles I still have. It's a pretty broad complex type brain thing.......

How I think I come across is probably not a good match with how I actually do come across to people judging my behavior by the neurotypical standard. So I'm guessing that I think I have better social skills that I appear to have to others. And I don't think that I have good social skills at all, but they are better than they were prior to diagnosis.

What I was trying to say was that I voted no.

Not at all, I read them and am like "that's me!" - though I do that even more with the DSM-5 modified changes.

No, but I do think they sound too generalized and clinical. Perhaps it's the way they're phrased.

I'm suddenly reminded of depression symptom lists, the ones that say you have to have like 8 out of 10 to qualify, and I'm sitting there trying my damnest just to figure them out.

Most of them say -- If you don't do this anymore did you as a child?

As a child I fit most of the description. I might have developed some coping mechanisms while growing up.

Yes. Especially with the "significant impairment" part.

But, if I were to make a list of people I know of in real life who are more affected by AS then me, I can only think of one person. One out of several hundred that I've known in my life so far. Not only that, but sometimes I get on here and find that there are many aspies who are more mild than me (at least socially).

I still question my diagnosis, but it's extremely hard to do. I can't prevent myself from thinking maybe it's something else, but I eventually find the description to be incomplete.

I either use the AS label, and it seems to indicate something much more severe than me, or I could say that it's just giftedness + schizoid + social anxiety, but that doesn't cover everything, like special interests for example.

Actually, I think much of my social anxiety comes from my special interests. Knowing that I'm obsessed with things that most people don't care about gives me severe anxiety whenever someone asks me "what do you like to do?" Seriously, what am I going to say? "Hi, my name is [SammichEater], and I spend at least three hours a day researching mental disorders that I might have on the internet, instead of hanging out with friends." I can already imagine someone laughing at me. That could also explain the whole schizoid thing too, because I'm usually comfortable in formal social situations.

And that's what I'm talking about. No other label manages to describe me accurately, but AS. I may not have severe sensory issues, meltdowns, or whatever else there is, but it's still the closest thing that describes me, no matter how hard I try to find something else.

I feel that way, so I've voted yes.

I can relate to some of the criteria quite well.

Definitely yes, for the person I am today. As a six year old kid, though, I would have voted no, as the diagnostic criteria for AS fit well for me then. When I read other descriptions of AS, I often find myself going, ''yes, I always did that as a kid, but today...not really'' for each trait, with the exceptions of obsessive behaviour and restricted interests.

Thanks for the responses. I'm just gonna bump this one more time.

No. I scored 198/200 on that one test.

Yes. I don't really feel 'broken', but then I catch myself reacting to something in a way that is probably not typical, or someone will bring up that I'm being awkward or unreasonable about something. It leads to a lot of confusion about if I am 'severe enough' to be considered a case of AS. I feel like the things I do make sense even though they may not be what other people do, as if it's other people who seem to be doing things strangely.

I'm scheduled to be properly evaluated soon, though, so I guess I will find out.