How do you find out?

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Hi everyone,

I suppose I should've introduced myself before this new topic but maybe I can do it at the same time? Is it ok if I use a nickname until I get my head 'round this aspergers stuff (then I can reveal my true identity in a dramatic climax later mwahahaha), so my name is Brad and I live over here in the UK, North England and 'might' have aspergers syndrome.

I'm sure this has been covered a thousand times so apologies if you guys find this a bit boring but - how do you know if you'e got AS or not? I did an online AS test and scored 24 which is above the average of 16, but according to the test most aspies score around 32?

It all began a long time ago in a galaxy far far away... well actually last October 2007; I was getting quite depressed after I started a new job so decided to go and see a therapist. I already knew what the problem was - I didn't go out enough i.e. I had no social life/no friends and I'd heard about 'social phobias' before so it wasn't a surprise when she said I hae social anxiety. So I went to a few self help groups for social anxiety and everything made sense and described me perfectly, so I kinda accepted the social anxiety diagnosis without any problems or much doubt.

But I went back to see my therapis armed with more questions and research and after about 2 hours of chatting she began to talk about Aspergers and said she thought I probably had it, or at least had mild aspergers. I had heard of it before and even watched a documentary about it on tv but I'm still not 100% convinced. It's all new to me really, the more I read about it the more I think (if I do have it) I'm only a mild aspie, or at least compared to some of the guys on you tube who seem quite disfunctional. It does seem to describe my personality quite well ie. difficulty with social situations and relying on more organised, routine, systematic stuff.

I don't know what to say really. At work oer the last few years I've fallen into the trap of being very systematic; before this new jobs I worked in fairly big companies who had lots of rules and regulations and I seemed to do really well; my boss's really like me because I was ery efficient - all I did was make a list of my different responsibilities and then put them in order or priority and keep doing that everyday, I called it my work mantra. Then because it seemed to be working so well at work I tried to write a social mantra as well but this didn't seem to work as well. I think this was when I began thinking I was a bit different as I'm now 30 but in social terms seem to be more like a nervous teenager or kid, I used to think this was because of lack of practice i.e. I don't get out enough but now I'm thinking it might be because I have AS.

Always been very shy, which works when you're a kid I suppose, but people seem to think a painfully shy 30yr old is a bit odd. Get very anxious in group situations but 1-on-1 I'm fine? I'm pretty rubbish at multi-tasking, I get overloaded fairly easily and hae to remind myself to see the bigger picture and keep things in perspective (but a lot of blokes are bad at multi-tasking?). No friends, not much social life, no girlfriend but I don't seem to get that depressed really, I seem fairly comfortable on my own.

My brother has OCD and I wouldn't be surprised if my mum has an anxiety disorder as she worries a lot and avoids social situations like the plague, she's always been a worrier but maybe 'a mothers job is to worry'? Or maybe she worries because she has a son with OCD, or maybe even my Dad is a bit too systematic and doesn't listen enough; I don't think he has AS as he's fine in group situations but he is very systematic and great with tools, maths, business, etc.

I think I remember my mum saying someone a few generations ago in our family had some sort of mental illness too so maybe there's something in my genes?

I don't like feeling socially disfunctional and it still gets me depressed, but if I do hae AS it helps explain things a bit; before I used to get angry with myself for not being better/more sociable. My therapist says a lot of problems with things like AS come when 'you try to be something you're not' so maybe that's why I was getting depressed; if I really am AS I can start to work around it or learn to live with it better?

I'm trying to think of other things to say or other experiences I've had which would help me figure out if I have AS or not but I'm a bit clueless really.

It would be god if I can find out more about myself as it would help cheer me up & make me feel less disfunctional - i'm not a bad looking chap and girls seem to find me cute as I'm quite shy & polite, I go to the gym and am easy to get on with, etc. I just can't imagine any girl wanting to be with a bloke who's not good in social situations as (sorry to stereotype) girls do like to socialise (apparently they have a more empathising brain-type?).

Anyway, thanks for reading and appreciate any comments good or bad!

Cheers,

- Mr Pitt

Hi, I also live in your 'there' or in my 'here' in the UK.

I'm an undiagnosed Aspier who is here on wp in search of my identity, since I find the world very foreign to my own world.

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I can relate to this, I simplify tasks in my head, organise them. What some people find complicated, I find easy and managable.

I'm a diagnosed aspie (borderline, in my opinion, judging from what I've heard here on WP and what I've seen in other aspies I've personally met) and, if I'm right about the AS test you refer to, I scored a 24 on it as well.

I would suggest taking the Aspie quiz as well. I usually score between 120 and 135 on it.

As far as family members with OCD/ASD go, I'm sure that my dad is an aspie too. But I'm fairly certain that my brother both is NT and does not have OCD.

Welcome to Wrong Planet, by the way!

Welcome to WP.

I'm also an undiagnosed aspie, sadly even in my major city there are no aspergers specialists. Oh well. I think I'm pretty well on the spectrum, but I also know that my parents spent a lot of time trying to make me 'normal', so I can fake my way through most situations. I can even pretend eye contact with people I've never met!

I'd try and find a specialist and get a DX, very helpful.

Nice to meet you, Mr. Pitt.

Offically diagnosis since 3 and 1/2 with Developmental Delay later AS in middle school. Found out my sophomore year of high school I was an aspie.

Hi Brad,

Like you I recently came here because im not sure if i have aspergers or not, first day here i took this online aspie test:

http://www.rdos.net/eng/Aspie-quiz.php

Seems pretty comprehensive so maybe give that one a go.

Many thanks Seth (and everyone else), sounds corny but I'm feeling a bit vulnerable and depressed since all this Aspergers stuff came into my life so it's nice to here other people with similar stories.

I took that other test 'Aspie-quiz' and scored 109 out of 200 for Aspie traits and only 88 out of 200 for Neurotypical(?). Apparently this gave me a score of 117 for Aspergers/HFA/PDD. But also a high score of 111 for social phobia, a score of 103 for OCD and also 103 for ADD/ADHD. Which means I 'will probably be able to receive the diagnosis' for all 4(!).

I think it was a difficult quiz though as you could sort of guess which answers would lead to which diagnosis, I tried to answer them as honestly as possible, but I think subconsciously I'm not sure if I wanted the AS diagnosis or not.

Also - NT or Neurotypical means what most people would call 'normal'? Is that right?

And what is a DX - Diagnostic exam for Aspergers?

I don't think there's much ASpergers support/help in my area but I wouldn't mind travelling a couple of hours to find out once and for all if I have this thing. But one thing that puts me off is apparently you have to take a friend/family member (most likely parent) who has known you all your life with you to help answer question/complete the exam. I'm really not sure if I want to tell anyone yet, I must admit; part of me desparately wants to tell everyone so that if I ever come across insensitive/ignorant they know i'm not doing it on purpose as I really worry that's how people perceive me. It might also explain to people why I walk around with an anxious smile on my face most of the time; I don't want to seem ignorant, etc.

Once habit I would like to break also it nervous laughing when I don't understand what someone said, smiling is ok but I end up giggling like an idiot at inappropriate times.

I would really like to make a few friends on here as (sounds corny again but) I'm not sure about coming to terms with this stuff. I've seen what my brother has been through with his OCD and a lot of his problems come from not asking for help or not admitting he has a problem, so I want to be proactie about getting to the bottom of this.

Anyway, appreciate your help and hope you're all well!

You're in a situation a bit similar to mine really as I only recently heard about aspergers and took that quiz, scored highly on OCD and social phobia as well and I was previously considered to have OCPD, however after taking that test and doing more reading up it does look alot more like OCD.

Like you i also came here looking to speak to people who deal with this already as i dont really know what to do about it, i know what problems i have in social situations etc, but i've never really known how to correct them or really understood why i feel that way and why i cant overcome it, so i hoped to try and find some answers to this as well.

Good to hear from you Seth, keep me updated on how you're getting on and I'll do the same, we can compare notes!

What is OCPD - Obsessive Compulsive Phobia Disorder?

I also noticed something called PDD - anyone know what this is?

Cheers,

- B. Pitt

EDIT; Not sure if it helps, but I've read up a little on OCD for my bro and apparently cognitive behavious therapy (CBT) is highly effective in treating OCD? My bro tried a course of hypnotherapy recently which didn't work - I think CBT is available on the NHS now but there's a long waiting list...

OCPD = Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsessive- ... y_disorder

Yeah CBT is one of the things I want to try and get on the list for, only problem is its taking a while to get on the list, kind of ironic that I have to wait to get on the waiting list.

I believe PDD is Pervasive Developmental Disorder, wiki aricle on it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pervasive_ ... l_disorder