borderline aspergers

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How many people are on the borderline of Aspergers and NT. ( like me)

Im able to pass as normal and im not fixed on one topic in life. I have friends all NT and able to function with out help in most things.

Last edited by Quinntilda on 11 Jul 2012, 10:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Me. I think I am smack dab in the middle.

I can pass for normal, because I examined NTs as a kid and worked on behaving like them. Only people who know me well think that there's something wrong with me.

I am a borspie as well. I did have friends growing up but at the same time I struggled. I also copied other kids and mimicked them and had no understanding. I think it was easier to make friends when I was little and then it got harder as I got older because things change, interests change, kids change, they all grew up in social skills and I got left behind. I think my social impairments started to really show around age ten and then I started to play with younger peers than my own age group because I could relate to them better and had things in common while kids my age wanted to chit chat and were in such a rush to grow up and didn't want me around. I have always had social issues but it didn't really start to show until I was older because kids interest changed so they didn't want me anymore. It was harder to see when I was little because kids my age were playing with me and I was playing with them so it was harder to see social impairments until my pre teens. It was like I reached my limit so that was when it was really obvious and they said I was severely lacking in social skills.

Me too. I wouldn't say I'm debilitated, but AS symptoms have definitely caused me quite a bit of grief.

I have mild Asperger's, if that's what you mean. I can pass for normal because nobody knows what's going on inside my head and because they don't take the time to pay attention to my behavior. Growing up, I always felt awkward and would only participate in social events when forced to (yes, this did happen. Many birthday parties, rollerskating parties, play-dates, Girl Scouts - you name it). I was and am a very creative child. I stayed in the house reading, "cooking" and making crafts while everyone else in the neighborhood went out to play. To this day I have a lot of difficulty understanding social situations and have no close friends. I have sensory processing issues, especially auditory and visual. When out in public, I just shut down from all the stimulation. Special interests are very important to me.

Some people doubt my diagnosis just because I appear "normal" to them. Really, they are the ones with an incorrect idea of what Asperger's looks like - especially mild AS and especially in females. Nobody would guess my inability to keep a job or make friends is due to the fact that both situations overwhelm me tremendously and that I need lots of time to myself.

Some people will never understand. But I don't have to justify myself to anybody.

Since I was a child I have battled sensory problems (sounds especially) and bouts of moderate to severe face blindness. These issues can really make a young person feel, well, abnormal. At that age I didn't know any autistic people, but since then I have met many, and was pleased to discover that they really understand what I am going through. That's why I think I might be on the spectrum myself.

Unlike many people on the spectrum I had good friends growing up, not tons of them, but most of them I still know and love today. I had no language delays. I don't stim (well, unless you count constant doodling). These things make me think I'm not on the spectrum.

Whether I fit some sort of inappropriately categorical designation for this "dissorder" does not really concern me. All I know for sure is that thanks to this community I have the courage to fight on from day to day and make a life for myself that I truly enjoy.

[quote="IndieSoul]But I don't have to justify myself to anybody.[/quote]

That seals the deal.

I think I am on the border as well, but not the border of NT and Asperger's. ( I am definitely NOT an NT!) I think I border ADHD and Aspergers as I have about 70% of what Asperger's describes and about 95% of what ADHD is. I have most of the social and attention span impairments of both but my sensory issues are mild enough that I would consider them sub-clinical. (I don't like to be touched unless I know it's coming, I only wear cotton clothes, I bite my nails and pick scabs/dead skin, have a fairly sensitive sense of smell and taste and am terrified of needles.) My stimming is very mild too, although I don't really know what the outside world sees. I did miss a lot of details in my homework as a child, but I am also detail oriented in things that matter to me. I don't know if this is a later adaptation or a life long trait though. Likewise, I have always been disorganized, but can't tell if my current use of order and systemizing in certain things needed to function in life are due to AS or due to adaptation as I did not really need to come up with systems for most things until later in life. However, I have had 3 people in my life suggest I may be either autistic or an aspie, so I might be missing things they picked up on. Two of them have been close friends (one with an autistic child) and the other a co-worker I have known for a year who has several aspie friends.

Last edited by outofplace on 12 Jul 2012, 3:10 am, edited 1 time in total.

Depends what you class as "normal".
I had a very hard time at school because of my AS.
I live on my own (but have a partner), I work full time and indulge in hobbies but have very few friends and little contact with others. Does that make me borderline?

Same here but without the partner.

I don't think that there is a borderline, you either are aspie or you aren't. That being said, there are different levels of compensitory strategies, which allow some to seem more normal than others. That's just my opinion though.

I disagree. Convince me, where is that line that separates those who are Autistic and those who are not? Who put it there, and who decides which side of the line everyone is on?

I suspect I'm in that middle region too where I might or might not qualify for an AS diagnosis. I stim a lot. I tend to get obsessed in things I'm interested in. I'm socially introverted and sometimes a little awkward (e.g. I might not know how to react in some social situations). I can go on and on and on about a topic I care about. I don't make a lot of eye contact. My timing in conversation is sometimes off. I'm not always great at appropriately expressing my emotions (I'll overreact or I'll shut down, for example). I have been told that people have wondered if I was "a little autistic." I seem to have a fair amount of ADHD-Inattentive traits too.

At the same time, I seem to do OK with recognizing facial expressions and such. I don't seem to have major sensory issues. I can grasp figurative speech much of the time (though I almost always see a mental image of the literal meaning). I definitely have plenty of AS tendencies, but does that mean I meet the diagnostic criteria? That I can't say for sure. Part of it for me is that I don't know how I come across to others, aside from being told that I do come across as being a little different.

Yep, that's me. In fact, in some ways it can be harder. It feels like being caught between two worlds, because while I remain somewhat baffled and intimidated by NTs, I just don't have much in common with your typical Aspie either. It's really a pretty bad feeling.

If your definition of "borderline" is being able to blend in with NTs and having NT friends then I could be considered borderline. I am very quiet and passive, most people would assume I am just shy/anxious/aloof rather than AS. I can usually communicate very well in functional situations (like giving information to people) and can usually get through brief social exchanges without appearing too awkward. Though I've always had a hard time making friends I have managed to make and maintain a few close friendships. I've gotten through college without any accommodations and always did well in terms of academics.

I often refer to my AS as being mild because I often come across as very "normal" compared to what people think of when they think of AS. But I am still very isolated, still have sensory issues that make day to day life more difficult, executive function difficulties that make it hard for me to get things done and still have a difficult time in situations that seem to come very easily to other people. AS affects me each and every day, so even though I can often appear NT I don't know if I can consider myself "borderline."