For diagnosed aspies: Do you meet these criteria?

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(Apologies if this has been done already.)

The Autism Research Centre at Cambridge puts out a poster called How to recognise Asperger Syndrome (note: this is a pdf). It has a list of ten characteristics, the premise being that if you have all ten, you might have AS. It suggests that you need to have all ten to have AS (it only suggests you call for a diagnosis if you have all ten). I thought it would be interesting to see how these match up to those of us who have a diagnosis.

The ten characteristics are:

1. I find social situations confusing
2. I find it hard to make small talk
3. I tend to turn any conversation back onto myself or my own
   topic of interest
4. I am good at picking up details and facts
5. I find it hard to work out what other people are thinking and feeling
6. I can focus on certain things for very long periods
7. People often say I was rude even when this was unintentional
8. I have unusually strong, narrow interests
9. I do certain things in a very inflexible, repetitive way
10. I have always had difficulty making friends

All ten apply to me, but some of them much more strongly than others. (I would think that is true of everyone.) 3 and 9 are the weakest for me, followed by 2. I would say the other seven all apply very strongly.

I'm diagnosed and they don't all apply to me. I don't think 9 applies to me at all really. I might ask my girlfriend and see if she disagrees. I don't really do 3 anymore, because I've realised how much it drives other people nuts. I did it all the time as a kid. These days I'm often happy to let the other person just chat away, unless I'm in a particularly talkative mood. Mind you, the people I've known with the highest propensity towards 3 have absolutely all been NT.

Hmm, 3 and 9 also, interesting.

3 is one I try very hard not to do. I have sort of trained myself to not do it, quite consciously I might add. I did it when I was a kid - but the poster says it's for 18+ people only. It's something I would do had I not been constantly told to stop, though.

9 is another one that applied to me as a kid but not so much now. I do a lot of things in a repetitive way, I'm just not sure about the inflexible bit. If I really had to change these things, I could probably do it, I just don't because, well, there's no reason to.

Those ten pick up the social difficulties, and the stereotypical repetitive behaviour that those with Asperger's show (the strong and narrow interest).

So, I'm betting that all 10 would apply to someone with a clinical diagnosis [to some extent], no matter which set of criteria for AS the institution uses.

Of note, #9 is more of an Autism thingy, but I'm betting that they don't mean the extent in which it manifests in Autism (i.e., needing a routine to actually do something, and then not being able to do it if there's no routine).

They all apply to me, and I can be seen as having Asperger's if one uses Gillberg's Criteria (speech delay that caught up).

Undiagnosed, but all apply to me very strongly, except perhaps 9!

I find social situations confusing

Absolutely, and a lack of control also intimidates me. Lately I have been avoiding them more and more.

I find it hard to make small talk

Small talk bores me and I have trouble tuning into hidden alternate meanings it may be conveying. I like to talk about big things.

I tend to turn any conversation back onto myself or my own
topic of interest.

I try not to do this but sometimes it's irresistable and futile to go on if I am too distracted by intense thoughts about something.

I am good at picking up details and facts

Everyday. This is a big part of my ability to make things work, and this ability has kept me from getting hurt by things, too, such as falling trees and noxious chemicals. I go for really subtle things, and I'm still challenged to diagnose problems with experimental equipment.

I find it hard to work out what other people are thinking and feeling

Yes, and this has gotten me into trouble.

I can focus on certain things for very long periods

Almost a decade working on autos/engines/running engines on ammonia!

People often say I was rude even when this was unintentional

Yes, this has happened. I am corrected occasionally by even a friend who claims to be mildly affected by autism. How many times have I been rude and nobody told me? I'm careful and sometimes I just freeze up, but things still get through.

I have unusually strong, narrow interests

Yes, my interests are strong and probably come at the expense of other things. But I don't envy guys who can't fix their own cars!

I do certain things in a very inflexible, repetitive way

Maybe a little. I often have to repeat a procedure several times with slight variation until I get something right I didn't do before.

I have always had difficulty making friends.

Yes, but my interests take away from my efforts in this area. Part of it is also weak interest on my part?

Last edited by sgrannel on 28 Aug 2008, 9:35 pm, edited 2 times in total.

I self diagnosed six or seven years ago and would say that all except perhaps number 3 and 7 apply to me.

Hmmm, not sure they all apply to me now, but yes to all at a younger age.

I fit all but 3 and 9.

With 3, I do it sometimes, but I do know that they're are times when it's innappropriate, so I don't do it then, but I do find myself doing it other times.

With 9, I'm not sure.

I'm NOT diagnosed, but...

The ten characteristics are:[list=1]
[*]I find social situations confusing

YEP!

[*]I find it hard to make small talk

I certainly DID, and today often regret it if I let it go on. I often try to imply I am about to speak, and walk away, or claim that I want to let them get back to their life(EVEN if they started it and indicated they want it to go on) to end a topic. There just never seems to be a way to end it without being rude.

[*]I tend to turn any conversation back onto myself or my own
topic of interest

I certainly used to, but I guess I still often do. By that, I mean I will relate things to computers, electronics, or movies, and create a tangential topic.

[*]I am good at picking up details and facts

I used to be far better, but I guess I often am.

[*]I find it hard to work out what other people are thinking and feeling

I do a bit, and it was worse earlier.

[*]I can focus on certain things for very long periods

Sometimes I even forget to eat or sleep!

[*]People often say I was rude even when this was unintentional

It is less true now, but I certainly used to often be called rude EVEN when I was trying to be polite.

[*]I have unusually strong, narrow interests

The idea of narrow has always been disputed here. My interests have been ones that could be very broad. Still, the idea of a few interests may be described as being narrow.

[*]I do certain things in a very inflexible, repetitive way

I used to be VERY inflexible. Until the past 2 years or so, I ALWAYS had the same thing at each restaurant. I was certainly never like rainman though.

[*]I have always had difficulty making friends

YEP! 8-(

Yes, 3 and 9 are the most obvious, the most often criticised, and the most fought against. I maintain that there's nothing rigid about my behaviour, and that - in conversation - I strive to leave space for the other party to fill. My partner though has a different perspective.

Sigh...

With all this "aspergers characteristics" stuff, adaptation changes things. What traps us is that we can only work to change our behaviour based on our perceptions of what our behaviour is. And all of us have been adapting to aspergers since we were about two years old!!

This would have confused me, after all I completely miss the details others tell me are important (for instance the details I do not pick up that result in the social confusion described earlier in the list). I actually feel this item is not really accurate but rather arises from non-autistic interpretations about information. We clearly miss many details in social interactions that persons without autism cannot help but notice. It's not about being better at picking up details and facts, so far as I can see, but rather better and worse at picking up different kinds of details and facts (as compared to non-autistics).


This would have confused me. I have strong interests, but they do not feel narrow and I would not have associated that characteristic with my interests. When my attention is in the grip of my interests, they are all encompassing; they feel universal, obliterating all else with their vastness. In no way would I have associated the word 'narrow' with my interests before I was familiar with the interpretations and descriptions in medical/clinical/research literature. Before I read the behavior described from the point of view of those not characterised by it, it never occurred to me that it could be interpreted as narrow. It might look like a 'narrow' interest to an observer, but it feels vast and all encompassing to me.


I would also have not recognised this without familiarity with the literature. Although it does apply, it's not something I realised until I read descriptions of the kinds of things meant.

While the 10 do apply to me, I do not think I would have realised that from the information on the poster.

Also (on an unrelated note) the formating in the OP is very nice and well set-out for easy reading.

1. Not anymore.
2. Yes
3. Often, yes
4. Yes
5. No
6. Yes
7. Not 'often', but sometimes yes
8. Yes
9. Yes, though increasingly less so
10. Not really

A lot of these aren't really yes or no answers for me. Going through the list...

I find social situations confusing
Sometimes. Mostly I just find them boring and have very little interest in them.

I find it hard to make small talk
As per the first question.

I tend to turn any conversation back onto myself or my own
topic of interest
Sounds a bit naracissi... narsacisss... ...egotistical. I do this sometimes, but I try not to.

I am good at picking up details and facts
I don't see it as anything unusual. I just think that most other people are just really bad at this.

I find it hard to work out what other people are thinking and feeling
In some respects, yes. But in other ways I'm more attuned than anybody I know. I know when someone is lying to me. I can pick up on secrets and hidden body language far better than other people. Maybe it's because we Aspies take in all of the signals and for us (unlike NTs) we process them all at more or less the same volume.

I can focus on certain things for very long periods
If they're the things I want to focus on, then yes... Sometimes forgetting to eat and drink until I start feeling sick.

People often say I was rude even when this was unintentional
I had this a lot as a kid. Of course, I also tried to be rude a lot back then, which I was very good at.

I have unusually strong, narrow interests
Absolutely. And at the cost of almost everything else in my life.

I do certain things in a very inflexible, repetitive way
I used to. Things like having to eat all the food on my plate one type of thing at a time (all the beans, then all the potatoes, then all the meat...) No I don't do that. No, now I pretty much have to have something of every type of thing on my plate each mouthful. Yeah, I'm much better, thank you.

I have always had difficulty making friends
Yes. I also haven't wanted to make friends as much as other kids. But it still hurts when you're rejected.

Most of that applies to me.

Although, I don't think I really bring conversation back to myself.
Even though I just did.

All apply to me. Self dx'd going for a formal dx soon.

I do turn things back toward myself. Listening hurts when I don't care about what I'm listening to. I know I know.... very rude.

[*]I find social situations confusing : totally
[*]I find it hard to make small talk : absolutely. I will usually find somehing that is going on around me to avoid small talk and change the course of conversation (like "hey, look at that bird!") but I am able to have a conversation in a professional setting, talking business and selling my point. Good thing because I'd suck at my job otherwise
[*]I tend to turn any conversation back onto myself or my own
topic of interest : it does eventually, even though I let people talk because 98% of the general population love to talk about themselves. I usually feign some interest (as to not appear rude) but couldn't care less.
[*]I am good at picking up details and facts : totally
[*]I find it hard to work out what other people are thinking and feeling : yes
[*]I can focus on certain things for very long periods : by being alone, yes
[*]People often say I was rude even when this was unintentional : I try to think before I speak (got burnt many times) but it does happen... and I usually can`t see why people are offended.
[*]I have unusually strong, narrow interests : yes
[*]I do certain things in a very inflexible, repetitive way : yes
[*]I have always had difficulty making friends : alas, yes.....