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Hello.

My boyfriend of six years feels he is on the higher end of the autism spectrum. He is undiagnosed and because the medical stand point for asburgers has changed in the MSDS we arent sure if he can be.

Allow me to list some things that make him feel this way, Its mainly the social aspect.

Extreme sensitivity. ( emotional and touch )
Dose not like being hugged or kissed randomly. ( I normally ask unless he initiates it )
Over-reacts to situations.
Extreme anxiety.
Avoidant personality disorder ( diagnosed by counselor, not doctor )
Unable to do things on his own in social situations ( go to store, leave the house etc )
^ mainly anything to do with public he can go to doctors on his own if he needs to but prefers I go with him.
OCD ( gets anything on shirt even small spots, has to change shirt. Takes on average 2-3 showers a day. Cant touch certain things)

wears the same thing on daily basis. Dark blue shirt and blue jeans ( not sure if thats a thing or not. Like clean clothes but he has like five shirts the same color that he wears all the time. )

Some of the social things :

Can not have anyone in his area he dose not know.
Can not have people come over unless apartment is clean ( and I mean VERY clean )
Can not have people come over unannounced
Very anxious in social gatherings. Even with friends hes known for years.
Dose not like being on the phone.
Goes long periods without speaking to people.

He dose have diagnosed depression and anxiety but as you can probably tell its more than that.

We cant find a specialist in out area to diagnose him. He has been to multiple counselors and has been on just about every medication there is for the depression and anxiety.

He is very smart and excels at everything he dose. He loves martial arts and that seems to be the only thing that really helps with his symptoms.

I was wondering if he may have Asperger's (sp?)

like I said we cant find someone where we live to diagnose him.
We strongly feel that he has more than the avoidant personality disorder.

Opinions?

Thanks
-Butters

Nearly all, if not all of those things you listed can be explained away by the Avoidant Personality Disorder diagnosis, imho.

It's best to get evaluated by a professional as soon as you can because all the advice on whether he may be or may not be is mere speculation.

In my opinion though from what you have described, it really doesn't sound like Asperger's to me, but again, I'm not at all qualified to make such an evaluation.

I just looked up the symptoms of AvPD and that seems to fit the things you described much more accurately than Asperger's. It is possible to have both, I'm sure, but nothing you've said makes me think that.

It's quite possible that he could have Aspergers / Autism, or avoidant personality disorder.
If it's possible for him to have a proper psychological assessment, then I think this would be a beneficial thing to do.

It could be due to AvPD, OCD & social anxiety but there could also be Aspergers as well. It may help if he could get officially tested & diagnosed if he has it but me & some others here on this forum don't have Aspergers or autism officially diagnosed & it wouldn't change anything for us if we did. What's important is what we do with the information that we think we have Aspergers or autism. If he gets officially diagnosed but doesn't do any research & goes about his life like he's been going & you don't do any research & keep going like you been with your relationship with him; having the diagnoses wouldn't change anything for him or your relationship. What's important & would help is if him &/or you researches Aspergers & autism because he gets diagnose or him &/or you thinks he has it & use the information to accept some things while using other techniques/tips/ideas given to make some changes & grow.