Parents said I have Aspergers?

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Hi all,

Yesterday, my mom said her and my dad had been talking and they think I had a form of mild autism as a child (which would obviously mean I still have it...). I didn't think much of it at the time but now I'm starting to overthink it. I was a very socially awkward child and didn't have many friends, I always and still do would prefer to be around adults than be with people my age. I didn't like change as a toddler and would scream and cry at nursery when the caretakers would switch shifts because this meant change. Now, a few things I do are:

1. I can sit and not talk for hours on end, even if I am surrounded by a lot of people. I usually just sit with them but unless they acknowledge me or my opinion, I'm not one to say anything. I just enjoy listening. One of my friends used to sit and and get very angry with me when I would be quiet while she was talking to me but sometimes I just couldn't get out the words I wanted to say. Her getting angry with me would make me want to be more quiet. I'm also in therapy and there are times when I just sit and don't talk even when asked a question. I can shut my mind down easily and I've started to do it in conversation as well to the point where someone asks, "So you're just not going to respond, huh?"

2. I'm beginning to get the urge to blurt things out randomly. It is very strange. I haven't blurted anything out yet (knock on wood) but it's like it's there on the tip of my tongue and my mind has already made up its mind to say it. Some of them are inappropriate. For example, I was eating dinner with my aunt and we were talking about this girl I've met in my class. My aunt is very religious and I had the sudden urge to blurt out, "She's had sex with a woman before." Just random and uncalled for things.

3. Sometimes I have a hard time thinking of things to say in conversation. It has always baffled me how people can just think of things off the top of their head to talk about. I have a good sense of humor but my conversation-carrying skills are not very good.

I know that these might not indicate any form of autism and I'm sorry if I've offended anybody. Does anyone else have these same behaviors?

1. to a lesser extent and 3. ring so true for me. Although 2. sounds a bit more like some sort of Tourette's than autism; contrary to stereotypical Tourette's where people swear randomly, Tourette's can often more broadly amount to compulsive action or speech.

Although I don't think I have them exactly the same as you, the behaviours you describe seem like they could reasonably be symptoms of Asperger's.

1. I don't think so. For me, unless the person is talking about something of particular interest to me, I'm probably going to tune them out pretty quickly.

2. Maybe that might be true for me a bit, but I'd say I'm usually able to guess if it's badly inappropriate and if so I'll probably be able to hold myself back.

3. Absolutely, very much. If it's not on a topic of interest to me, I'll struggle to find anything to say, exactly like you. If the conversation is on a topic of particular interest to me, I'll tend to drive it way too much and tend to interrupt the other person way too much.

Have you tried the Autism Quotient test? I'd a decent tool for giving you a feel for whether it's likely that you have Asperger's. Here's a link to it:
https://psychology-tools.com/autism-spectrum-quotient/

Be aware, though, that this isn't a diagnosis in itself; it just asks you whether you have traits that tend to be common among those on the spectrum. It's entirely possible to not not have Asperger's and still have these traits, and it's also possible to be on the spectrum but not have these traits.