AS or just quirks?

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I feel positive that I have AS or at least the tendencies, but a lot of the things I relate to with people here, I kind of wonder if it's even AS. For example, repeating the same song/playlist over and over. It's kind of odd, but I know plenty of non-ASers who do it. Same with TV show obsession, which is one of my quirks. Things that I stress out about unnecessarily affect typical people also. I can't think of them all right now, but some things people mention (nailbiting, switching lanes a lot, idk lots of other things) are relatively common habits. Is it the fact that many of us have so many of them that makes it something more than just a quirk? The compilation makes AS? Or is it just knowing that your quirk goes a lot deeper than most people who have the same one - it goes beyond just loving a song and listening to it again and again, it becomes obsessing. I have that feeling. A lot of my idiosyncrasies are found in other typical people, but I still feel that I am invested deeper in these issues than the average person. I feel like there is definitely something definably wrong. Does anybody else get what I'm talking about? I'm undiagnosed and debating whether or not to bring it up with my parents (my mom suspects a little, shes the only one who does), but I know they would probably claim at first that many of my issues are just normal quirks.

I think I see what you're saying, and I believe the "Aspie" thing is in having a certain number of the tendencies, not in the intensity of the tendencies you have. /m

I have lots of tendencies, which is probably why I sooo get my AS bf. However, one thing I can’t deny, which is the defining factor, is I have the ability to read people, situations, think of more than one way to do something, am completely sociable (although I agree it’s exhausting), have strong instinct and am not, um, naive. Tendencies, oh yes, noises annoy me, sometimes I think so hard I am making faces, no tolerance for boring chit chat (get to the point already), hate things out of place and so on, but can’t stop being NT. I am tolerant beyond belief which means I am not a bully or not rude to people who get stuck on a topic I have no interest in, but I have the graces to deal.

I still wonder if AS is autism. Some people are left brained or right brained, what about front brained and back brained )not knowing what would be AS or NT)? I think AS is more common than statistics show, and having seen autistics up close and AS up close, I just think it’s a variation on NT, not really autistic. Don’t get me wrong, high functioning autism is what it is, but I think AS is just using the opposite side of your brain.

It can’t hurt to get an evaluation, but if you do things in an NT way, it’s just quirks. Which all smart people have

Fivecents ALMOST has a point with the front brained/back brained. Though it is interesting that some autistic strengths are from the front brain, at least in part, and some of the weaknesses are from there also.

AS isn't defined by quirks such as what you mentioned. In fact, it actually requires early experience to really exclude that. The quirks are there maybe partially because of AS, but they don't define AS.

Yeah, the thing that makes me wonder if I can really have AS is that I have no problem reading social situations, or faking socializing well (usually). Many of the AS traits I don't have - nothing glaring. But I still know something is off beyond just my personality.

You probably have some of the genes, so are influenced toward some of the traits. Perhaps you have a slight trend toward OCD, which some believe is part of the Broader Autism Phenotype but falls short of the actual spectrum.

If you really don't feel socially disadvantaged, then don't worry about getting an autism diagnosis. You may find that regular old cognitive therapy can help you perfectly well if some of your quirks are bothersome to you.

And welcome, by the way.