Degrees of Aspergers

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I know this is a minor detail that shouldnt be important but my psych says I have moderate to severe AS vs having mild to moderate AS. This whole time I thought I would have mild to moderate AS. What Im thinking is, if I had moderate to severe AS then how would I have gone to a good college out of state living in the dorms with almost no treatment for AS before college. My freshmen year was very rough but guess what Im still coming back for next year. He's admitted to me that what Im doing is very hard with a person with AS. Im in a group therapy with people with AS of a college age with high IQs. Im one of the two that arent living at home and the only one who's home is far from there college. He hasnt really given me a reason why, I emailed some questions and he basically avoided the my questions. Im not going to see him in person until 3 months later cause im on break right now. So I would like to know an idea of whats the difference between the two.

I don't really know, you'd have to ask somebody who specialises in Neurological conditions.

I guess that 'mild' AS would constitute having minimal sensory issues, slight social ineptness, occasional misunderstanding of non-literal language and fairly poor ability to read social cues. In instances of more severe AS, these problems would be more serious. I know this sounds like stating the obvious, but I'd imagine that the more severe your AS is, the more it interferes with your everyday life. This isn't to say people with a more severe case of AS can't function well, or lead a successful life, though certain aspects of living might be harder.

I think that the "degree" of your AS traits are measured but it does not take into account the strengths of your AS or how positive your family environment may or may not have been...those all factor into the "out come" of your ability to cope with AS. One of my "interests" since I was a kid was reading and human behavior/psychology. I learned a lot from this in dealing with social interaction and reading some NVC. I think females also have some "balancing strengths" that can help us in some areas of coping. Although my AS traits may have caused me more difficulties in female relationships, I think it helped me in some male relationships...because I "thought" more like guys then many other females, so many guys seemed to feel more comfortable around me.

I'm not aware of any specific tests/research exploring these gender differences but it seems logical that there would be some. Your DR's lack of a response to you maybe because he doesn't know "why" you are doing so well...there just isn't enough research in this area and they forget to factor in positives of AS traits that can actually help us cope because they only focus on "pathology/disease" and that is NOT the full picture of AS.

we constantly confuse the 'experts' by being ourselves.
The idea that you didn't have 'help' for AS doesn't mean you actually needed it. Think of all the things you did because you didn't know you 'couldn't' do it. I have found we can do things other people with out AS can not do. That is, we can concentrate on our studies, we can synthesize knowledge by remembering many eclectic things and putting information together giving us insight into the nature of what we are studying.

I have had incredibly difficult times when I was at school. My studies went well, though and I left Cum Laude. I twould have been better, but I felt I had to prove myself with more than 4 years of French and do the Mathmatic requirement as well. I did the Statistics with out training in Algebra and only got a C in the course, because I had to learn Algebra at the same time as Stats. Oh, well, no one has ever asked me what my GPA was after I got out of school, anyway.

But I have superior marks at work, too. I didn't the first year, but by the second year I got much better and now. . .well, let's just say if and when I want 'reasonable accomodation' I won't have to fight for it.

all the best to you, princesseli,

Merle