Asperger's suspicion. Do I have it? Should I get tested?
Hi, Im new here. Im just curious if I have autism/ Asperger's. Please take time to read
- I don't have friends, except my sister, but we're close but I don't like her at times.
- I always want to be left alone. I like to withdraw myself from the world.
- If I'm curious, say, a professor announced something in class and I don't get it or hear it, I ask my classmates but I dont like to talk to them for long. I only talk to them when I'm in need.
- I am sometimes caught of making facial expressions
- When I'm on road trips or go out, I always like to read plate numbers and differentiate them.
- I can't do eye contact even with parents except my sister but very short time.
- When there's a question and if I am obligated to answer, I have a hard time to express what I want to say; it gets more complicated
- When I was young, when I read, I stutter, but it reduced now. I still do that when I'm reasoning to others.
- I have a hard time to control emotions especially anger. When I'm mad I tend to cry and even my mind is already calm I still cry non-stop.
- My classmates tell me I always frown and expressionless. I clap my hands or stamp my feet or put my fingers opposite to touch like forming a triangle (Holme's style)
and for this they find me "serious".
- I'm lazy.
- I easily get obsessed with things but they are always short term, like example, I was obsessed with "Black Holes" in high school but it only lasted a year or two. and now, Im obsessed with chess.
- I had friends in high school but not friends with them anymore. By friends, they approach me first and hang out with me and then I hang out with them. I'm pretty loyal but not any more.
-Extra-sensitive senses like smelling or hearing things that other's don't.
- When I was a kid until now, my parents and my sister tells me that I like inventing words.
- When people are joking, I dont laugh because of the jokes, I laugh because I find it funny how people laugh, and I want to fit in and dont want to look suspicious.
- I recently received my paper essay and I have a very low grade because my professor remarked that I have a very bad handwriting.
- When I want to know something and requires texting my classmates, I tend to say first Good AM, PM or Thank You at the end.
- My sister is always confused about what I'm saying because some of them aren't understandable and thinks I blabber nonsense
- I always have a strong feeling to know what other feels but at the end I am mostly wrong.
- I yell at parents when I feel uncomfortable
- I get easily annoyed and yell at my brother when he does things I hate.
- I get easily distracted
- I have obsessive thinking about romance but now I'm withdrawing from them (by chess)
- I never trust any one.
- Depression and sleep problems (hypersomnia)
So based from these facts about me, what do you think? Do I have some sort of autism? Should I get tested?
Thank you in advance for those who will answer.
Last edited by AA_Hamilton on 01 Oct 2013, 2:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
auntblabby
Veteran
Joined: 12 Feb 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 114,574
Location: the island of defective toy santas
i am not a professional thus not qualified to dx you or anybody under the sun. that said, if you had mentioned things like-
*odd prosody of speech- either alternately singsong/monotone, too fast/slow, too high/too low
*pronounced clumsiness/lack of proprioception/odd gait
*penchant for perseverating on obscure topics
*problems with seeing others as unique individuals with separate styles of thinking ["Theory of Mind"]
*problems with body language, both in reception and transmission
*[many more but i forgot what they were ]
that would have stuck out at me more. you may well be on the spectrum but you can't know unless you at least take one of the online tests to point you in the right direction, towards an eventual DX [especially if you will want gov't benefits].
*odd prosody of speech- either alternately singsong/monotone, too fast/slow, too high/too low
*pronounced clumsiness/lack of proprioception/odd gait
*penchant for perseverating on obscure topics
*problems with seeing others as unique individuals with separate styles of thinking ["Theory of Mind"]
*problems with body language, both in reception and transmission
*[many more but i forgot what they were ]
that would have stuck out at me more. you may well be on the spectrum but you can't know unless you at least take one of the online tests to point you in the right direction, towards an eventual DX [especially if you will want gov't benefits].
Thank you for replying. I was always curious, so I took an Asperger's test online last week at rdos . net/Aspie-quiz I scored 137/200. It says there I have a potential Asperger's. I don't get what you said can you please elaborate more of you analysis? What makes you think that I don't qualify? I didn't get much of your answer. Thank you very much.
auntblabby
Veteran
Joined: 12 Feb 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 114,574
Location: the island of defective toy santas
*odd prosody of speech- either alternately singsong/monotone, too fast/slow, too high/too low
*pronounced clumsiness/lack of proprioception/odd gait
*penchant for perseverating on obscure topics
*problems with seeing others as unique individuals with separate styles of thinking ["Theory of Mind"]
*problems with body language, both in reception and transmission
*[many more but i forgot what they were ]
that would have stuck out at me more. you may well be on the spectrum but you can't know unless you at least take one of the online tests to point you in the right direction, towards an eventual DX [especially if you will want gov't benefits].
Thank you for replying. I was always curious, so I took an Asperger's test online last week at rdos . net/Aspie-quiz I scored 137/200. It says there I have a potential Asperger's. I don't get what you said can you please elaborate more of you analysis? What makes you think that I don't qualify? I didn't get much of your answer. Thank you very much.
I did not say you did not qualify, only that I was not qualified to dx you. I merely said that your AS would have been more obvious to me had you couched it the way I listed above.
OK. I get it now. Can you please suggest me some options so that I would end up my worrying. I mean, not necessarily worrying, it's just that I'm being called a "weirdo" by my colleagues (in high school) and it makes me think a lot. Should I see a therapist now? Thank you again.
ADHD - Social anxiety disorder - Social Phobia - SID - ASD - Schizoid Personality Disorder - Teenage years
just to name a few conditions that may cause the behaviour you describe, which doesn't mean it's one of them or none of them, it only means that through a forum it's not possible to define ANY answer.
If you consider yourself disabled by the above I would suggest being tested but not for a specific thing, let experts work and see where it leads.
Welcome to WP
_________________
Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.
Albert Einstein
just to name a few conditions that may cause the behaviour you describe, which doesn't mean it's one of them or none of them, it only means that through a forum it's not possible to define ANY answer.
If you consider yourself disabled by the above I would suggest being tested but not for a specific thing, let experts work and see where it leads.
Welcome to WP
Thank you for your comment. I have to disagree about social phobia, it's just that I am not interested to people's interest. I'm not sure when to go to therapists so I made a post that has facts about my behaviours. I'm not in my teen years now either. Based from your given disorders, you didn't specify an Asperger's (or was it ASD you were referring to?). So basically do you qualify me as no-Aspie? It's just like people call me weird, not that I'm worrying but curious if I have such syndrome/ disorder. Thank you again.
auntblabby
Veteran
Joined: 12 Feb 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 114,574
Location: the island of defective toy santas
OK. I get it now. Can you please suggest me some options so that I would end up my worrying. I mean, not necessarily worrying, it's just that I'm being called a "weirdo" by my colleagues (in high school) and it makes me think a lot. Should I see a therapist now? Thank you again.
therapy would not hurt you, you might do well to investigate it further. there is no generally accepted pharmacological treatment for AS like there is for ADHD, but I will tell you I was treated "off label" with Strattera and it improved my symptoms [of AS and a hatful of other things] markedly. but, as they say, "your mileage may vary." but rogerian [talk] therapy was helpful to me as well, and I recommend such highly.
OK. I get it now. Can you please suggest me some options so that I would end up my worrying. I mean, not necessarily worrying, it's just that I'm being called a "weirdo" by my colleagues (in high school) and it makes me think a lot. Should I see a therapist now? Thank you again.
therapy would not hurt you, you might do well to investigate it further. there is no generally accepted pharmacological treatment for AS like there is for ADHD, but I will tell you I was treated "off label" with Strattera and it improved my symptoms [of AS and a hatful of other things] markedly. but, as they say, "your mileage may vary." but rogerian [talk] therapy was helpful to me as well, and I recommend such highly.
Thank you. I guess I will have to go to a psychiatrist after all. I would like also to get tested on ADHD since I am very much sure I have one. Not being over-diagnosing myself but symptoms are very much accurate.
ASPartOfMe
Veteran
Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 67
Gender: Male
Posts: 36,239
Location: Long Island, New York
_I have don't have friends, except my sister, but we're close but I don't like her at times.
Not having friends is trait why you do not have is the important thing
- I always want to be left alone. I like to withdraw myself from the world.
Again why you feel that way is the important thing.
- If I'm curious, say, a professor announced something in class and I don't get it or hear it, I ask my classmates but I dont like to talk to them for long. I only talk to them when I'm in need.
This probably stems from wanting to be left alone
- I am sometimes caught of making facial expressions
Not an autstic trait
- When I'm on road trips or go out, I always like to read plate numbers and differentiate them.
Autistic trait
- I can't do eye contact even with parents except my sister but very short time.
Autistic trait
- When there's a question and if I am obligated to answer, I have a hard time to express what I want to say; it gets more complicated
Could be caused by Autism and a lot of other things
- When I was young, when I read, I stutter, but it reduced now. I still do that when I'm reasoning to others.
Not Autistic Trait per say and may be cause of wanting to be alone
- I have a hard time to control emotions especially anger. When I'm mad I tend to cry and even my mind is already calm I still cry non-stop.
Not Autistic trait
- My classmates tell me I always frown and expressionless.
Autistic Trait
I clap my hands or stamp my feet or put my fingers opposite to touch like forming a triangle (Holme's style)
Autistic Trait
and for this they find me "serious".
Them has nothing to do with you
- I'm lazy.
Might be caused by lack of executive function which could because by autism and a lot of others things. Could be you are just lazy
- I easily get obsessed with things but they are always short term, like example, I was obsessed with "Black Holes" in high school but it only lasted a year or two. and now, Im obsessed with chess.
Autistic Trait
- I had friends in high school but not friends with them anymore. By friends, they approach me first and hang out with me and then I hang out with them. I'm pretty loyal but not any more.
Why this happened is the important thing
-Extra-sensitive senses like smelling or hearing things that other's don't.
Autistic Trait
- When I was a kid until now, my parents and my sister tells me that I like inventing words.
Normal kid thing
- When people are joking, I dont laugh because of the jokes, I laugh because I find it funny how people laugh, and I want to fit in and dont want to look suspicious.
Differing sense of humor a sense of humor is not related to autism
- I recently received my paper essay and I have a very low grade because my professor remarked that I have a very bad handwriting.
Some research is pointing towards bad handwriting being caused by lack of motor skills which is an autistic trait. But there are a lot of other caused for bad handwriting
- When I want to know something and requires texting my classmates, I tend to say first Good AM, PM or Thank You at the end.
Common courtesy
- My sister is always confused about what I'm saying because some of them aren't understandable and thinks I blabber nonsense
Poor speech could be caused by autism. Inappropriate speech is the main trait they look for.
- I always have a strong feeling to know what other feels but at the end I am mostly wrong.
Autistic Trait
- I yell at parents when I feel uncomfortable
Not an Autistic trait
- I get easily annoyed and yell at my brother when he does things I hate.
Common behavior
- I get easily distracted
Autistic trait
- I have obsessive thinking about romance but now I'm withdrawing from them (by chess)
Are you obsessed by Romance in general. Particular person? This is not uncommon activity for single people
- I never trust any one.
Paranoia could be caused by a lot of things including miscommunication caused by misreading other people cause by Autism
- Depression and sleep problems (hypersomnia)
Not a main indicator of autisim but may be caused by autism and a lot of things
Aspergers or not you have enough issues that I would recommend seeing a professional. Just the depression alone is enough reason in my opinion.
Yes you have a few traits which are highly indicative of autism. Having autistic traits does not mean you are autistic or that the traits themseves were caused by autism. On the other hand if you are autistic it can directly or indirectly cause some of the other issues. It's complicated, that is why a pro is needed
_________________
Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity
“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman
Extra-sensitive senses scores as SID it's a commorbid to autism ALSO (it can belong in many other conditions OR be a condition by itself)
Up to there it's what I said
_________________
Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.
Albert Einstein
Being easily distracted
it can be an autistic trait, a consequence of SID or ADHD, it's not necessarily a trait per say.
I agree with everything else in a way, still like you said it's complicated, plus it's a specific combination of symptoms that makes the diagnosis.
One thing putting me down is the lack of attention of the OP, he doesn't seem to notice detail (SEEM!) and to pay enough attention and I would expec (potentially being wrong) an asperger to have gone throughdeeper research then the leaky knowledge the OP shows. Still being ADD or ADHD a common commorbid to the autism spectrum it could be either one of them or a combination thereof or merely ADD doing the trick.
_________________
Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.
Albert Einstein
Not having friends is trait why you do not have is the important thing
- I always want to be left alone. I like to withdraw myself from the world.
Again why you feel that way is the important thing.
- If I'm curious, say, a professor announced something in class and I don't get it or hear it, I ask my classmates but I dont like to talk to them for long. I only talk to them when I'm in need.
This probably stems from wanting to be left alone
- I am sometimes caught of making facial expressions
Not an autstic trait
- When I'm on road trips or go out, I always like to read plate numbers and differentiate them.
Autistic trait
- I can't do eye contact even with parents except my sister but very short time.
Autistic trait
- When there's a question and if I am obligated to answer, I have a hard time to express what I want to say; it gets more complicated
Could be caused by Autism and a lot of other things
- When I was young, when I read, I stutter, but it reduced now. I still do that when I'm reasoning to others.
Not Autistic Trait per say and may be cause of wanting to be alone
- I have a hard time to control emotions especially anger. When I'm mad I tend to cry and even my mind is already calm I still cry non-stop.
Not Autistic trait
- My classmates tell me I always frown and expressionless.
Autistic Trait
I clap my hands or stamp my feet or put my fingers opposite to touch like forming a triangle (Holme's style)
Autistic Trait
and for this they find me "serious".
Them has nothing to do with you
- I'm lazy.
Might be caused by lack of executive function which could because by autism and a lot of others things. Could be you are just lazy
- I easily get obsessed with things but they are always short term, like example, I was obsessed with "Black Holes" in high school but it only lasted a year or two. and now, Im obsessed with chess.
Autistic Trait
- I had friends in high school but not friends with them anymore. By friends, they approach me first and hang out with me and then I hang out with them. I'm pretty loyal but not any more.
Why this happened is the important thing
-Extra-sensitive senses like smelling or hearing things that other's don't.
Autistic Trait
- When I was a kid until now, my parents and my sister tells me that I like inventing words.
Normal kid thing
- When people are joking, I dont laugh because of the jokes, I laugh because I find it funny how people laugh, and I want to fit in and dont want to look suspicious.
Differing sense of humor a sense of humor is not related to autism
- I recently received my paper essay and I have a very low grade because my professor remarked that I have a very bad handwriting.
Some research is pointing towards bad handwriting being caused by lack of motor skills which is an autistic trait. But there are a lot of other caused for bad handwriting
- When I want to know something and requires texting my classmates, I tend to say first Good AM, PM or Thank You at the end.
Common courtesy
- My sister is always confused about what I'm saying because some of them aren't understandable and thinks I blabber nonsense
Poor speech could be caused by autism. Inappropriate speech is the main trait they look for.
- I always have a strong feeling to know what other feels but at the end I am mostly wrong.
Autistic Trait
- I yell at parents when I feel uncomfortable
Not an Autistic trait
- I get easily annoyed and yell at my brother when he does things I hate.
Common behavior
- I get easily distracted
Autistic trait
- I have obsessive thinking about romance but now I'm withdrawing from them (by chess)
Are you obsessed by Romance in general. Particular person? This is not uncommon activity for single people
- I never trust any one.
Paranoia could be caused by a lot of things including miscommunication caused by misreading other people cause by Autism
- Depression and sleep problems (hypersomnia)
Not a main indicator of autisim but may be caused by autism and a lot of things
Aspergers or not you have enough issues that I would recommend seeing a professional. Just the depression alone is enough reason in my opinion.
Yes you have a few traits which are highly indicative of autism. Having autistic traits does not mean you are autistic or that the traits themseves were caused by autism. On the other hand if you are autistic it can directly or indirectly cause some of the other issues. It's complicated, that is why a pro is needed
Thanks for the reply however, I have few things that I cannot understand/ comments:
1. I cannot understand what you mean by:
2. If I'm curious, say, a professor announced something in class and I don't get it or hear it, I ask my classmates but I dont like to talk to them for long. I only talk to them when I'm in need.
My reason for being wanted to be left alone because that's what I'm most comfortable of. And by not talking for long means not interested on what they want or would want to talk about.
3.
Why this happened is the important thing
I just lost interest about their interests so I don't go with them anymore. and when I say "by friends..." is how they made friends with me or vice versa.
4.
Normal kid thing
Ha, I always thought they weren't normal but thank goodness it's normal.
5.
Common courtesy
As do I think also, but they would always tell me I am very much formal at conversations and don't use shortcuts at text messaging.
6.
Are you obsessed by Romance in general. Particular person? This is not uncommon activity for single people
Yes I am single but I am contented with my life but when I glanced at scenes on television dramas (I dont watch) I can't help thinking about that and it irritates me a lot. I slap myself to get over it. Once I see something disturbing like romances I can never take it off my head.
By the way, thank you again for your remarks. I'll go see a therapist anyways.
celaerdoorexs
Butterfly
Joined: 30 Sep 2013
Age: 35
Gender: Male
Posts: 17
Location: United States, New York
Some of the things you described about yourself would fall somewhere along the spectrum, but I think the main question you have to ask is if you understand what the people around you are feeling and thinking?
It doesn't have to be a person that is interacting with you, since your fear of the interaction and wanting to avoid it would muddle your perception and you might miss a few details because you're concentrating on yourself too much.
But lets say you're relaxed, sitting in the back of the classroom, no one is bothering you and you look at the row ahead of you and notice a conversation, maybe a girl flirting with a guy. Can you feel what those people might be feeling based on their body language alone, if they're close enough to hear, can you sense emotion in the tone of voice? From the way you describe yourself I would say that the feeling of wanting to be left alone stems from you not being able to fully express yourself in a manner which you want and formulate the language and words in a proper manner to espresso what you feel. This could be very stressful and your mind would simply want to avoid it until it becomes a habit.
The thing with autism/aspergers is that it's an extremely wide umbrella term, we are not there yet technologically to distinguish physiologically what exactly qualifies as autism and doctors have no choice but to rely on a ICD-9 diagnostic guideliness which simply list the symptoms in a check mark form. The actual differences in the brain structure is not even close to being measured. Develpments in new marker isotopes and fmri /pet imaging might narrow down the exact problem, but were still a few decades away from it.
So while there might be some underlying pathway in the brain that is incorrectly connected or unmyelated where the signal gets lost. Lets say when you try to formulate a sentence the connection from one part of the brain where the memory of the word is stored to your cerebral cortex which logically puts the words in order is somewhat disruped, and under stress the signal gets lost and you can't formlate anything. But that's just one part of a huge pathway system. So you could still potentially understand the emotions of other people when unstressed, which is what austism is known for. If you can, then you're not autistic/aspergian. The medical terminology simply doesn't have the term for lets say a distrupted connection between brain area A and B, which would qualify you for a different condition.
I'm not an expert, but I do work in a medical field and see A LOT of people that show similar characteristics as you described, so you're not alone by a large margin. From my observation and interaction with them I can sense that they understand the emotions, but are unsure of how to respond. I also see a lot of classical aspergian people who don't seem to bother with body language or situation awareness and just procede in telling a long story despite a line of other people waiting behind them and completely ignore my hints at trying to disengage from the conversation.
I can also somewhat relate to you in that I also have trouble expressing my thoughts and can definitely see the stress that it causes, so I'm not just pulling this out of thin air, I can sympathize with what you're experiencing. I hope you find your answer, but also hope you don't concentrate too much on what that answer might be. Accept you shortcoming and know your weaknesses and don't be bothered with failures, just relax and smooth in like you would into a hot jacuzzi lol good luck
It doesn't have to be a person that is interacting with you, since your fear of the interaction and wanting to avoid it would muddle your perception and you might miss a few details because you're concentrating on yourself too much.
But lets say you're relaxed, sitting in the back of the classroom, no one is bothering you and you look at the row ahead of you and notice a conversation, maybe a girl flirting with a guy. Can you feel what those people might be feeling based on their body language alone, if they're close enough to hear, can you sense emotion in the tone of voice? From the way you describe yourself I would say that the feeling of wanting to be left alone stems from you not being able to fully express yourself in a manner which you want and formulate the language and words in a proper manner to espresso what you feel. This could be very stressful and your mind would simply want to avoid it until it becomes a habit.
The thing with autism/aspergers is that it's an extremely wide umbrella term, we are not there yet technologically to distinguish physiologically what exactly qualifies as autism and doctors have no choice but to rely on a ICD-9 diagnostic guideliness which simply list the symptoms in a check mark form. The actual differences in the brain structure is not even close to being measured. Develpments in new marker isotopes and fmri /pet imaging might narrow down the exact problem, but were still a few decades away from it.
So while there might be some underlying pathway in the brain that is incorrectly connected or unmyelated where the signal gets lost. Lets say when you try to formulate a sentence the connection from one part of the brain where the memory of the word is stored to your cerebral cortex which logically puts the words in order is somewhat disruped, and under stress the signal gets lost and you can't formlate anything. But that's just one part of a huge pathway system. So you could still potentially understand the emotions of other people when unstressed, which is what austism is known for. If you can, then you're not autistic/aspergian. The medical terminology simply doesn't have the term for lets say a distrupted connection between brain area A and B, which would qualify you for a different condition.
I'm not an expert, but I do work in a medical field and see A LOT of people that show similar characteristics as you described, so you're not alone by a large margin. From my observation and interaction with them I can sense that they understand the emotions, but are unsure of how to respond. I also see a lot of classical aspergian people who don't seem to bother with body language or situation awareness and just procede in telling a long story despite a line of other people waiting behind them and completely ignore my hints at trying to disengage from the conversation.
I can also somewhat relate to you in that I also have trouble expressing my thoughts and can definitely see the stress that it causes, so I'm not just pulling this out of thin air, I can sympathize with what you're experiencing. I hope you find your answer, but also hope you don't concentrate too much on what that answer might be. Accept you shortcoming and know your weaknesses and don't be bothered with failures, just relax and smooth in like you would into a hot jacuzzi lol good luck
Thank you so much. With respect to your statement,
In the case of my speech, my mind is calm but when I just don't know why I can't help stuttering, maybe in the middle of the conversation or else where.
Similar Topics | |
---|---|
Asperger Experts |
22 Nov 2024, 9:42 pm |
Abused Because of Asperger's? |
22 Nov 2024, 9:30 pm |
how can i handle my asperger boyfriend's anger? |
12 Nov 2024, 12:13 pm |