I'm not sure if I have Aspenger or not

Post Reply New Topic

Hi,

Sorry if this is wrong forum or not. I started wondering if I have mild Aspanger syndrome and if yes is there anything I should be doing with it (say discuss it during next physical) or am I just shy and a hypochondriac. Some informations which makes me think I have/I don't have it:

- I remember that I had troubles speaking when I was a child. I still remember the classes which were suppose to help me with it.
- I have a brief (in sense - years) jumps in interests which I still cultivate afterwords. For example in childhood I was obsessed with relativity and Donald Duck which later turned into philosophy, political philosophy etc. They usually get around topics of maths (except number theory), science and philosophy.
- My believes tend to be on extrema of spectrum. I don't see how people can just combine two incompatible systems and just live with it.
- I have always had problems with socializing with exception of High School and College - though in latter case only because of my roommates, with whom I had deep connection, forced me out.
- I feel often lost on social gatherings which has more then 5-7 people. I don't know how to start chatting - though I'm OK once I start going.
- I don't seems to have well developed theory of mind. If I don't think about it I just assume that other people know what I know or worse they think what I remember.
- I don't have a good 'empathy' (I hate this word) in a sense that I sometimes can hurt someone saying something even though I didn't mean it and I'm not very good at reading emotions. I'm usually try to be very careful about what I say but I sometimes slip one way or another (say something too politely and it's missed or other way round).
- I tend to vary somewhere between being messy and trying to organize every little detail because I'm messy. I hate lack of routine and thought of spending a night outside home (in hotel) is uncomfortable.
- I have very bad memory though I can concentrate a lot. After day at school/college I didn't need to study any more but I was too tired to study anyway.
- I have recently been diagnosed with GAD and I'm taking medication for it. I seems to be much more social now. I started online dating but find out that I still have problems with chit chat.

Should I discuss it with my doctor during next physical? If yes, what would be benefits? Or am I just shy hypochondriac?

Sure you can discuss it with your doctor but there is a high probability that he will either ignore/dismiss your concerns if he has no experience in dealing with autism. The fact you already have an anxiety disorder increases your chance of being ignored/dismissed. Even if he does have some experience dealing with patients on the autism spectrum, he can't diagnose you anyway, the most he can say is that you probably are on the spectrum. "Probably on the spectrum" doesn't grant you any accommodations at work, school, or any social or autism related services more than you already have access to. You need an actual diagnosis for that.

You would be better off simply googling a psychologist who specializes in assessing autism spectrum disorders and making an appointment with one of them. You won't need a referral, you can skip the hassle, and the psychologist can determine if you would benefit from having an assessment done. The oridinary joe blow doctor, psychiatrist or psychologist usually has little to no understanding of autism spectrum disorders, you need to see someone who specializes in that area to give yourself the best chance of having your concerns actually taken seriously and investigated.

Thanks or reply. I'm currently in HMO plan (US) so I need to go through official channels or pay out of pocket so I need to decide if it is worth a hassle or not. I don't seek any special accommodation at work anyway - I work in IT so I'm probably more or less in line of expected social situations if anything I wondering on some help (courses/guides) about social situations/life - or maybe just hang around this forum and skip the hassle since I am able to function without it.