Not sure if I have it or not

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I select that because I'm not sure if I was correctly diagnosed. I also selected it because I don't really like labels. I'd rather be seen as a human being than an as autistic.

I selected because I haven't been diagnosed but if I could have picked more than one I'd have added I'm not sure if I have enough traits. But that hasn't kept me from getting tested, I'm just lazy and couldn't be bothered doing it most of the time.

I cast my vote for "I think I was mis-dx'd." While I do have some traits of AS, such as a preference for solitude and quiet, social anxiety, sensitivity to loud noises and other sensations, stimming and unusual interests, it's also entirely possible that I could simply be an HSP - Highly Sensitive Person. I've read all the criterion on the HSP official website, and it seems to me that it's mighty similar to AS.

"I'm not sure if I have enough traits". I don't have rigid and explicit routines. I usually don't interpret things literally. I've lost my special interest. (I don't meet Gillberg's criteria).

I have other traits that doesn't fit ASD or "neurotypicalness". Some of these traits are superior to those of the "normal" people, but are oppossite to autistic abilities.

I voted for "I'm not sure if I have enough traits".

This is based upon two factors:
- I don't experience the intense sensory issues that some people talk about on WP. I do have them, but not at the same level of severity.
- After I was diagnosed last year, I revealed the diagnosis to several people (including my parents, siblings, an uncle, a cousin and 2 former work colleagues). Several expressed doubts including the uncle (who is a Psychologist) and the cousin (who works in an autism research center).

If I was misdiagnosed, then I am fairly certain I would be diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder plus some Anxiety Disorder plus Sensory Processing Disorder (which is not a disorder described in DSM) plus Executive Functioning Disorder (which is not a disorder described in DSM).

I suppose that, ultimately, it does not matter what the label is. What is more important (to me) is having comfort in knowing that I am not alone. That there are others that share this seemingly bizarre set of behavioral symptoms. And, I can learn from those individuals here, to understand how they adapt/cope in the world. As the most important thing (for me) is to (somehow) achieve inner peace and happiness.

I was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and I am pretty sure that I was misdiagnosed with that. So far I am seeking an adult diagnosis but it is proving difficult.

I am waiting for an assessment.

I would like to hear from you how it goes.

I haven't been diagnosed yet so I say I am not sure if I have Aspergers because I couldn't prove that I really do if someone wanted a diagnostic document from me to prove it so I would end up being called a liar.

The poll needs an option thus: 'I am satisfied that I am on the spectrum, if such a thing really exists, but I think that there is no precise definition of ASD, and that therefore a 'diagnosis' has no useful meaning or purpose'

It is said that knowledge is power, so therefore I think that most of the contributors to this forum are probably as capable of providing a diagnosis as any highly qualified professional

/\ This. I would love a formal diagnosis for validation but even psychologists have questioned me as to why. I understand the ASD criteria like the back of my hand, know more than many professionals and it's still a highly subjective diagnosis based on perceived difficulties that almost nobody truly understands. A diagnosis won't magically transform me and if Tony Atwood himself said I had it I would say "tell me something I don't know." Even one "expert" told me you practically had to be institutionalized to be considered for an ASD diagnosis It was rather funnt when he said experts have a different diagnostic test than what's on the internet and it was the DSM IV! I practically recited it word for word for him!

I sound like a broken record but when the province's most respected pediatrician wrote on his report that I, a practically mute rule following child was a "class clown" and "attention seeker" it's hard to take any expert seriously. At least with something like Bipolar or ADHD I have SOME signs of it!


I strongly identify as a HSP, but the ASD criteria, especially the "unofficial" one for Aspergers fits me so well it's frightening, right down the "refuses to eat foods that touch each other". Almost like reading my autobiography! I would suspect I am both. There is probably plenty of overlap in the two categories.

Does anyone know what the difference between HSP (Highly Sensitive Person) and those intense sensory issues that some people talk about on WP?

As a note, I was talking to my therapist the other day about my diagnosis. We were discussing the similarities between schizotypal, schizoid (which was not included in DSM-V) and aspergers (which also is not included in DSM-V). Afterwards, I decided to visit some forums frequented by people who are schizotypal and schizoid. I was surprised to learn how many schizoids discuss having issues with HSP.

A lot of people are sensitive, like my mother is sensitive to sound and feels bad from loud noises, but she has no problem sitting in an office all day with office noises around her for eight hours, but the sensory overload that I have is like I can't sit in an office all day, because I can't think or do anything with all that noise around me, even if it's not loud like motorcycles or movie theater volume that my mother can't stand, so that means that I can't do jobs that involve sitting in an office with other people all day.

For light, many people say that they hate fluorescent lights, but they have no problem sitting in an office with those lights overhead all day, while I start losing it after a few minutes if I don't wear my baseball cap to block out light and flicker. In my little room at lab, there are no fluorescent lights, and the lights have dimmer that I keep below 50%, and eberryone knows that it's my thing to lurk in the dark.