Autism

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Hello
I am 24 and recently was diagnosed with asperger syndrome. I had never heard of it before and have looked it up since. It was explained to me that it is a 'mild form of autism.'
But i don't see myself as autistic at all. I know some people who are and i am nothing like them.
The main thing i have been thinking about and what i would like to know is:
Are people with aspergers syndrome autistic ?

Welcome to WP!

AS is a form of autism.

Tim

After the official welcome from Tim_Tex

A Welcome from me

Aspegers is said to be an Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
It is at the most functional end of the autistic spectrum. People can live there whole lives with it and never be diagnosed although they probably know there is somthing diffferent about themselves.
Its manifestation in people varies considerably among different individuals.

The answer to your question:

Very mildly

it depands. someone with AS could have autictic behaviors or to a lesser extent have those behavoirs. for me i have those behaviors and a bunch of other non-related things combined.

PrupQon,

I know EXACTLY how you feel. My stims are subtle and infrequent. They are like a relic from my youth, and MOST kids stim at some point! BTW I don't know if many HERE would notice most.

My deficits are few and far between and not obvious.

My hypo/hyper sensitivities would have been apparently lost if I was less stubborn.

In short, I just don't seem autistic. If I look REAL close, I CAN see it. Others might even laugh. My step mother didn't seem to agree. My mother doesn't either, but when she tries to prove me wrong, it seems to often prove me RIGHT!

Apparently, many here are like I am.

It's not really a question of how autistic you are. If you're an aspie, you're autistic.

But, you're autistic in a way that doesn't impair your higher functions. You can still think rationally (often far more rationally than normals) and live your life independently.

Im not an aspie. I have aspergers syndrome.

Lol, aspie is a shortened, more familiar label people with Aspergers Syndrome give themselves.

Welcome to WrongPlanet
Asperger's Syndrome isn't the only form of "High Functioning" Autism.
There is Pervasive Developmental Disorder: Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS)
My speech was delayed and I have intense, almost obsessive interests.
I have excellent low speed dexterity(working with small parts, small precision tools)
Poor high speed dexterity (Typing, playing musical instruments, video games)
Excellent long term memory for facts.
Poor short term memory for names, dates, faces, and tasks.
Some self help skills I learned without difficulty(Like driving, finding employment)
I don't speak in a monotone voice, and I don't have much trouble with idiom.
Some times I do become aphasic, where I cannot connect a 'word' to 'object'.
Am I self diagnosed? Yes. AS and HFA are the only things I know that fit the
descriptions given above. There are many others who have reached the same
conclusions about themselves for the same reasons.


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It's a spectrum; not everyone is going to have the same symptoms and act the same. Things that may affect the autistic people you know may not affect you.

AS and HFA aren't the same thing though.

Hi!

When I joined I was feeling exactly the same way as you. Although it had been suggested to me more than once that I might have AS, I had previously regarded myself as a dyspraxic. (Of course, it is possible to have both....)

However, after reading everyone else's posts on the board I can really identify with many of them.

As someone posted above, all my life I have seen myself (and been seen by others) as "different". The easiest way to describe it is that I am living "inside my head" and feel like there is some kind of invisible barrier between myself and others.

When I read my own earlier posts back now, in fact I am wondering if I have worse AS than I thought as I have to admit that some of the things I do are pretty strange. In my everyday life I am just good at keeping them a secret from people!

I thought aspergers syndrome was a medical label.
I don't have any qualifications in medicine.
And i wouldnt want to define myself with a medical label either.
lol, that's what i meant.

prupqon,
not sure if am have got this right but,why get assessed if not want the label?

aspergers is not always mild,they only call it 'mild autism' because aspergans are able to speak and have to have average or above intelligence.
aspergers is really a spectrum itself and can be severe,with them being no different to a high functioning kanners autistic apart from verbal skills,they often might have learning difficulties or disabilities,violent meltdowns,challenging behavior,very poor lifeskills-live in group homes or have their own place with support,are very slow at learning and have extreme sensory problems etc,a man who lives in am home who staff say has severe aspergers is unable to speak unless someone asks him a question first,and some aspergans are mute.
-these are the aspergans who are the most autistic like and who the label of autism really applies to,the highest functioning aspergans are the least autistic like and are closer to NT than autism in behavior/manner etc.

this is the problem with having such different people under aspergers and autism.

Autistic Spectrum Disorders

Asperger's Syndrome (AS) is a form of autism. Some Aspies call themselves autistic whilst others like me prefer to call themselves someone with Asperger's Syndrome or an aspie. I mostly do this for similar reasons you are stating that if you mention autism people assume Rainman Type symptoms and most autistic people are nothing like that.