Anyone have Asperger's very very mildly?

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I feel that some of the things associated with Asperger's don't necessarily appeal to me:

A) I'm not afraid of social intervention and conversation. I just rather not take part in it unless I absolutely have to. I don't like small talk, because I find very little real benefits from it.

B) I don't really like computers and/or things associated with computers. I would like to have a nice computer with good specs so that I can play games on it but I really don't care about how the computer works and how to build one and programming was the most boring class I have ever taken in my life.

C) I don't specifically have one set of interests. They change throughout the day and I obsess over them as they change. I do have 2 things that I obsess over more than other things though.

D) I don't completely understand what a lot of people have posted on this site about AS.


What I do have and what makes me sure that I do have AS(The doctors said to my parents they thought I had it when I was 5):

A) I will avoid eye contact whenever possible. I guess I really don't like looking at other peoples faces.

B) Often my hands will unconsciously be tapping my desk in class and I will rub my chin. I don't know whether or not this is some form of being nervous, but apparently it is an AS trait.

C) I will always interrupt other people when they are talking like when I am ordering food or something. I know this is extremely rude but I seem to do it without even thinking about it.

D) I really don't care and/or think about anything else besides myself. I take this to extremes- I pretty much don't have emotions and as much as I would love to think about something besides myself; the end result is that I just don't care.

But then again, why should I?

E) I have a monotoned voice

F) I don't really like change because I like sticking to my old routines.

G) I have very one-sided conversations.

H) I hate crunching- Which is a loud noise.

I) I kinda always have a "blank stare." People used to make fun of me for this in high school. But I would punch them.

J) I like to wear wool/cotton in particular

And lots of other things......


I don't really think my AS is noticeable to all to society and I can often come across as being weird or as using the stereotypical "athlete" or "nerd" depending on the point of time in my life.

Last edited by Brian003 on 24 Sep 2007, 12:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Always good to sing about only one God.

I presume you meant "monotone" but I had to have some fun!

I'll be more constructive later... I share some of those traits you mentioned. My psychiatrist is saying I'm somewhere on the border... certainly not "full blown" AS.

I'm almost sure you don't have to be into technology to have AS. I think it's a stereotype.

I strongly believe that I have Asperger's in a mild way. (Won't have time for an official dx until next year, probably.) I have normal voice inflection, no verbal tics or echolalia, no obvious "stims" (just look like normal fidgeting), and I was very successful in high school and managed (barely) to graduate from a good college. It's frustrating, because I look like a normal, neurotypical person who deliberately refuses to cope with the world.

When I've told a few people I have Asperger's they say they would never have guessed. I had more oddities when I was young that I outgrew as I became older. Now I just appear extremely quiet and socially reserved but otherwise I act "normal". I still feel very different from most others even if I don’t “look” different. I never feel like I can quite relate to people my own age. I think I’m just boring to people in real life. I can express myself better online.

Bluemax, you beat me to it.

I'm certainly borderline. I'm either Asperger's, or I'm on the spectrum but not quite seriously enough to count as Asperger's. I'm actually meaning to make a post about this - I had a phone conversation with my stepmother about a week ago, she's an autism spectrum specialist, and she pretty much agreed that I was so borderline that I could likely get a different diagnosis depending on who I saw, some would say it wasn't serious enough, some would call it Asperger's. What she said, and I agree, is how useful to you is the label? What do you want out of calling yourself Asperger's, if that's what you decide to do? Is it a jumping off point for reading, understanding, and learning new coping strategies, would it change your life? I think for those of us who're borderline, that's an important question to ask.

This describes me perfectly.

Tim

I also seem to straddle the line of NT/AS, with a slight edge on the AS side, apparently.

+ My stims are minimal, basically nail biting (although it's about as bad as nailbiting as you'll see, my fingers often resemble bloody stumps)

+ I'm prety athletic. I play soccer two nights a week, and mountain bike full speed down the mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire.

+ I've learned to adapt and cope pretty well. I can't fake social comfort for too long, and I don't want to. I'm fairly personable when called for (especially at work) but I don't have many friends, but it's no big deal. I'm just a guy who "does his own thing" as far as others are concerned.

- I don't like change, and if my meticulously prepared schedule is disrupted, I become agitated.

- Eye contact is difficult. And when I force it during situations that call for it, I feel as though it's too intense.

Through observation and practice, I'm able to move through the world fairly well. I can act in a way that I need to for brief periods of time, and really, if you think about it, how long are you in the company of another person anyway?

Only a person with advanced knowledge of AS would suspect me, to the rest of the world I'm just a quiet guy with an amazing memory that likes to keep to himself. It's funny, doctors would call it my "condition" but everyone else refers to the same thing as my "personality". I like their definition better.

I like this quote.

It is.

I feel the same way about myself. I feel I don't have it but yet have lot of the traits. I was very surprised when I was diagnosed with it. I am flexible at my job, I can talk to people, I can change my routines, I can make alternate routines to avoid anxiety because I couldn't do my usual routine, I do eye contact when I feel comfortable. I don't make things in stone for me because I know I will get upset and get anxiety over it if it doesn't go the way I wanted it.


Oh why can't aspies do the same coping methods I do?

I use similar coping methods.

Tim

My issues affect me strongly enough that I am notably different in comparison to normal adult people my age..but I imagine that were I to go in to get diagnosed, they would likely tell me I have something else like depression or severe social anxiety or avoidance personality....something like that...
I really have a difficult time communicating with mental health professionals...and my few experiences with them have not been very pleasant.

i have the avoidance of eye contact, unusual gait, stimming, I have a funny voice but it is usually the opposite of monotone...social issues..some sensory issues..blah blah blah...not very athletic...MIGHT possibly have minor dyspraxia.


I have had rigid routines in the past, but don't currently..in fact i seem to have an impossible time turning anything into a rigid routine. I do not have the monotonous food, or clothing...(except my clothes HAVE to be comfortable and I cut the necks out of all my shirts because they choke)

It could be that my interests are narrower than those of others....but since I don't talk much to others, it is hard to tell.

In short...I still suspect that i am simply an ADDer with some aspie traits...but that does not necc. make me a full blown aspie.

I'd say I have it mildly but not as mild as that.

yes,is only a common thing,but is not required to be aspergan,what about the aspergans who grew up without todays technology.
dad is aspergan,and grew up on a farm in tipperary,he didn't have a tv or electricity,or water from places people in towns get theirs from,it came from a stream outback,he's only just got a computer this year,and is still rubbish with it.
if obsession with technology was part of compulsory criteria that would be a lot of aspergans [especially older] left out.

original topic.
yes it's very possible to have mild aspergers,aspergers is varying in severity and functioning,as long as the person fits the minimum compulsory criteria for AS then are aspergan,if unable to fit kanners,as or pddnos,but still have asd traits,usually the person is described just as 'on the spectrum'.

I had AS fairly significantly in my early years. Because of this, I was heavily therapized (I want a trademark on that) into someone capable of assimilating into NT society and "faking" NT behavior. It wasn't ABA (no drugs), but something close enough... I was only taught to assimilate into NT society as far as I needed to in order to make a living and live independently, but not beyond that... so I'm still an aspie through and through...