If not these AS symptoms - can it still be?

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mikassyna
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20 Mar 2013, 10:16 pm

If a child knows that certain things are socially appropriate and other things aren't (without being specifically told, e.g., scratching one's genitals in public), does that mean they don't have AS?

Is it possble for an AS child (girl) to feel self conscious/embarrassed about puberty or looking different from peers, or would an AS girl be totally oblivious?

Can someone have AS without the hallmark trait of being inappropriately honest?

Can a child with AS be able to lie (pathetically) to avoid getting into terrible trouble from a parent (saying they didn't do something they obviously did)?

Can someone be AS if they didn't care too much about general routines as a child, but as an adult becomes much more difficult with broken/unexpected plans?



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20 Mar 2013, 10:31 pm

No. I have always thought that scratching genitals in public is a no-no. No-one ever told me this.

Yes. I was very. I'm extremely aware of my physical differences.

Yes, I know Aspie's who are never inappropriately honest. I actually have a problem with lying when it comes to that sort of thing.

Yes. I've probably done this 100's of times.

I think so. I didn't care too much about unexpected plans when I was younger, but it now breaks me. I think this is because I'm under more stress now-a-days, so while I could handle it before just fine, now it's all just too much.


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PresidentPorpoise
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20 Mar 2013, 11:13 pm

These are mostly very specific examples of AS traits, and hence it's entirely possible to lack any or all of these traits and still have AS. I've always known that scratching one's genitals in public is wrong. I feel anyone with an ASD who's high-functioning enough to have AS is going to understand at least SOMETHING of what is and isn't socially appropriate, and some aspies either never had serious problems with this issue, or have come to have an excellent understanding of what is and isn't socially appropriate. It's possible someone with AS to be self-conscious of one's appearance. I'm a guy, but I've been self-conscious of my appearance and clothing at times, and I imagine that with the greater societal pressures on how women are "supposed" to look relative to said pressures on men certainly aren't going to bypass all females with AS. There are people with AS who are extremely, bluntly honest, but there are also those who are not, and who have no problems with lying, even lying compulsively. I also imagine that one with AS could develop rigid routines in adulthood that were absent in childhood.

Not everybody with AS exhibits the same symptoms, and your examples were quite specific. Even some of the best known traits of AS, such as failure to make appropriate eye contact, are not entirely ubiquitous among aspies.



goldfish21
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21 Mar 2013, 3:02 am

mikassyna wrote:
If a child knows that certain things are socially appropriate and other things aren't (without being specifically told, e.g., scratching one's genitals in public), does that mean they don't have AS?

Is it possble for an AS child (girl) to feel self conscious/embarrassed about puberty or looking different from peers, or would an AS girl be totally oblivious?

Can someone have AS without the hallmark trait of being inappropriately honest?

Can a child with AS be able to lie (pathetically) to avoid getting into terrible trouble from a parent (saying they didn't do something they obviously did)?

Can someone be AS if they didn't care too much about general routines as a child, but as an adult becomes much more difficult with broken/unexpected plans?


Just because a child knows not to do socially inappropriate things like your example doesn't mean they're not on the spectrum. It just means they've either learned that as a rule (and are good with following rules) or they do in fact intuitively realize it's inappropriate. I can't think of any examples of people, children or older, who are on the spectrum who did have a habit of doing any of those type of inappropriate things. I think someone would have to be quite autistic and lower functioning to do things like that with any sort of regularity and not realize it's not exactly ok to do. Although I suppose some higher functioning kids may do things like that, I don't know. But just because they know not to doesn't mean they aren't ASD. I don't recall there ever being a time in my life where I figured it was a-okay to grab my junk in public. This seems like a bit of a strange criteria to me.

Self consciousness/embarrassment are pretty core components of social anxiety, which is extremely common in AS. IMO the probability of a teenage girl w/ AS feeling these things is far higher vs. being completely oblivious to any of it.

Yes, someone can have AS w/o being honest-to-a-fault. Not every Aspie has every trait. Some have polar opposite traits to one another, and traits can be very mild or very intense in magnitude. Every single Aspie has a different AS profile from every other Aspie. I have an identical twin brother, we have some similar and some different AS traits, and differing severities of them, as well as different personalities. You can't meet one Aspie and assume you know how they all act, as while being different from NT's we can be very very different from one another.

Yes, a child w/ AS can tell pathetic lies in an attempt to avoid getting into trouble. I know an AS kid that's done this a fair bit. Even though he's smart, he'll say it wasn't him that did something... when he was just seen doing it. It seems to be an impulsive lie to avoid being punished for whatever it was he did, that comes out of his mouth before he can really think things through and realize that he's already been busted and his lie is reeeeeally lame.

Yes, a child might not thrive on routines but may develop those traits later on. I don't recall being so bothered by changes in routine as a kid, but have found that lately I get very irritated by people moving things so that I don't know where they are when I'm going through a routine getting ready to go out or something. If someone's moved my shoes, or jacket or something, it throws me off and frustrates me as it then takes an unreasonable amount of time to find it especially when executive brain functions aren't working perfectly and I can't find things that are right in front of my face if they've been moved as little as one slot over on a shelf from their usual spot. Like ADD/ADHD & OCD symptoms and other neurological diagnoses, traits and symptoms can come and go at seemingly almost random, or brought on/off by stress or some other factor.


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