Polysemous Anomaly

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I earn part of my living as a writer of historical fiction and of in-house "how to" manuals. In the process of being diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder two years ago, I was told by the diagnosing professional that, save for one important point, he might have diagnosed me with a form of autism called "Asperger's Syndrome" instead of ADD. He said that on that one characteristic I was exactly the opposite, and, since that was the most important indicator of all, I did not have the syndrome in question. I was quite relieved.... But over the past six months, three people whose relatives have Asperger's Syndrome have remarked on the possibility as well, and I'm a bit concerned. I have found ways to manage the ADD, and so have avoided medications and the like. The prospect of having to learn "counter-Asperger" disciplines as well is daunting, and I thought I'd better satisfy myself one way or the other about that missing symptom before I commit to any professional diagnosis (self-diagnosis seems foolish and perhaps dangerous). The non-symptom in question is this: while persons with Asperger's Syndrome are said to have great difficulty with non-literal use of language, I am VERY good at polysemy -- riddles, double-entendre, even comlex etymologic metaphor. It's among my most useful tools as a writer, and in truth, it's what makes life worthwhile for me. If this does indeed preclude diagnosis with Asperger's Syndrome, I can put this whole thing behind me; if it does not, I don't want to deceive myself and avoid doing such things as may be necessary. So, can someone please tell me whether Asperger's is incompatible with my skill at polysemy?

The inability to understand jokes, sarcasm and whatnot need not be lifelong. Some things can get better on their own. I had a lot of trouble with nonliteral language use until my early 20s. Now I use sarcasm all the time, but other people don't always catch it and I don't always catch it when others are being nonliteral.

I agree with sgrannel, it is like any mystery that just needs that light bulb to go off in the mind and realize you have figured out the pattern. Humor is like that and so are 'figures of speech'. I remember a Star Trek TNG episode "Darmok" where the inhabitants of the planet only spoke in metaphor. This galvanized me into researching figures of speech, learning the origins and usages of the metaphor and the simile. Once I learned the key to the pattern I figured it out.

But I didn't know I was an Aspie when I learned how to do it. I was just living life and adapting to it. If that had been a question put to me when I finally was diagnosed I would have probably forgot to realize I taught myself the key ages ago, rather than having it arise naturally.