How do you know?

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Very recently, a friend of mine brought up a T.V. special she watched on Asperger Syndrome. As she was explaining it to me, I got an extremely creepy feeling that she was describing what I was like as a child. When I got home, I looked it up online, and read about ten different websites illustrating the criteria for Asperger's. It reads very closely with my behaviors, so of course I got scared and joined an online community who would know the answer to my question: How can I be sure?

Hey!
Go to a psychologist and get a diagnosis.

I'm sorry, I guess I'm looking for an easy out. It's just that my mother has never been particularly supportive. Also, I'm scared to death and mostly just want someone to tell me yes or no so I can begin to know what to think.

My bad, that was supposed to be an informal kinda 'hey!'
I didn't mean to sound so hostile.

Oh, ha it's okay. I'm probably just extra sensitive right now.

I know that sensitivity - I'm just figuring this out myself.

Other than getting an official diagnosis, there isn't really a way /to know/, other than trust yourself and your self-diagnosis.

Yeah.. I'm kinda hoping I'm some sort of odd breed of hypochondriac.

That's really up to you.

It might serve as an indication: http://www.rdos.net/eng/Aspie-quiz.php

Don't be scared. If you're generally doing okay in life, finding out you're an aspie (if you are) isn't going to change anything. It's not like it's some sort of progressive disease, it's just the way some people's brains are wired. And if you aren't doing so well, maybe this will help you figure out why, and how to change your life for the better.

For what it's worth, I suspect there are a lot of shades of gray between "neurotypical" and "Asperger's Syndrome," not to mention within Asperger's Syndrome. So you could have some "aspie" traits without having all of them. Or you could have all of them, but to a relatively small degree. I think the label is less important that figuring out what your personal strengths and weaknesses are, and how to work with that.

yeah, I was so worried that if I got diagnosed, someone might find out! I would be so embarassed if other people found out I was strange/weird/different. Then someone told me that they already knew! it was ME that didn't know how strange/weird/different I actually was.

Getting diagnosed was not going to change any of that. I was still going to be the same girl that walked into the Dr.'s office as I was coming out no matter what they said while I was in there.

Merle

From your own writing.

A friend of mine. You have friends?

What I was like as a child. You aged out?

When I got home. You go outside?

It reads very closely to my behaviors. People have not been telling you this all your life?

Almost all of us learn to cope with the world. Some sooner, some later.

While sometimes we do get deeper in, such as taking an interest to the obsession level, it ends.

You seem to have gotten by, you may have some AS traits, but have friends, go out, function in the world.

It is just better wiring, seeing with more depth and clarity.

You have the best of both worlds.

Hang around, there are some things you might explain to the rest of us.

That's true.

OP, do you think you need a diagnosis to get by in life? If you do, then see a psychologist. But some people don't.

For instance, I came across AS and found that it describes me in many ways, but I don't have any major problems in my life, so I'm not bothering with a diagnosis. I just visit the WP because I feel more at home here than in the NT world. All I would need from a diagnosis is a feeling of understanding, and I get that here without a diagnosis. I'll never know for sure, but I don't think I need to know...

But at the beginning, of course I read a lot about AS! If you don't want to tell anyone yet or see a psychologist, then read some books on AS. The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome by Tony Attwood is a good one. If you relate to that book, you might be an Aspie.

I quite agree.

I'm currently working on getting a diagnosis. But I more want the diagnosis so my family members will believe my self-diagnosis. I just really want therapy to help me deal with my issues so I can become a functioning member of society again. I'm happy to have found a psychiatrist that I'm very comfortable talking to and seems quite competent thus far.

How exactly does one tell if they're AS or NPD or SPD or a cluster of other things when they display traits that are exclusive to each and also the traits which overlap? How does a therapist notice that as well?

What the therapist understands is especially a concern due to all of the misdiagnoses that occur in this field.


Are there any "theory of mind" tests available online that might give some idea? There is the reading the mind in the eye's test, but the online version not very conclusive since the average person with AS scores a 22 while the average NT scores a 26, and the average male NT scores a 24! The differences aren't very significant.

The SQ/EQ test seems marginally useful, but then again, what about sociopaths and psychopaths and people with cluster B personality disorders who have high systemizing tendacies and the characteristic low EQ?

The AQ test is also marginally relevant, except that narcissists, schizoids, and mathematically inclined extreme introverts may end up scoring past the "clinically significant" cutoff level of 32 just like most with AS would.

What about an NPD or SPD with motor clumsiness, poor body language, and awkawrd gait? How would one tell that from someone with AS?


And what about autistics who may have become adept at lying as a coping mechanism to abuse and/or as a survival strategy to avoid punishment by parents after noticing a pattern(if there is such a person), even though such a person has little capability of noticing whether another actually believes or rejects those statements? How would one tell such a person from a pathological narcissist?

Or what about a child with Reactive Attachment Disorder who also happens to have splintered intellectual strengths and weaknesses? How would you differentiate such a person from someone with AS?

What about someone with NPD or SPD who has all-consuming obsessions that they MUST pursue to be happy, versus someone with AS?

Sam Vaknin's article on NPD and AS tries to find some differences, but I really don't see many differences pointed out:

http://samvak.tripod.com/journal72.html





My gut instinct is that Aspergers Syndrome may be over-diagnosed and instead sets of 'personality disorders' may be lurking in many people and manifesting themselves as autistic traits. But I'm no psychiatrist and I'm probably wrong on this notion.

Yes you're wrong, there's a big difference and a psychologist that misdiagnoses like that really isn't taking his or her job seriously

I was very happy to be diagnosed. It explained a lot of things for me and brought me in contact with a really cool community.