Asperger's continuum

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I feel my ex-boyfriend had asperger's. He talked in extremely high language, called himself a "vocabularian", was anti-social, rarely had any facial expression, and had extreme knowledge when it came to his favorite topics. He had moved around from state to state by himself for years.

Anyhow, it made me do a little research into asperger's. I've been diagnosed bipolar because whenever they give me a stimulant, I go nuts (I've been diagnosed ADHD multiple times). But without a stimulant, its anxiety that's the problem most of the time. I've been wondering if I've had some asperger's tendencies.

I'm an IT girl with a degree in computer science engineering. When I was little, I can remember not liking to be touched. I never fit in with social crowds until college, and that was when a girl told me to start to look at people's expressions. So I started obsessing over the expressions on people's faces until I became more able to see how they might be feeling. And this is even though I'm a girl, and supposedly girls are good at reading facial expressions from the time they are young.

Also, I seem to "connect" with guys other girls claim they can't. I think its because it is usually because its on an intellectual level, whereas other girls can't connect with a guy unless it's emotional.

At the same time, I am emotional, but it's usually because I'm obsessing or really worried about something.

Oh yeah, and if anyone could tell me if this is normal for asperger's because its one of my main problems. I tune out. It's why I've been diagnosed ADHD. A person could be talking straight at me, and I could simply not hear them because I'm in my own little world. Anti-anxiety medicine helps. But I still do it sometimes. And I don't mean any disrespect to the person. But I always did well in school because my focus would be directly on the person speaking, and I could tune everyone else out.

Could anyone tell me if they think I might have something like a "touch" of asperger's?

Having been diagnosed less than a year ago, Im not expert. I would say a lot of your description fits the AS diagnosis, and its not uncommon for those in the spectrum to have ADHD, OCD behavior. The emotional aspect is also legitimate because we do have them, but we dont know how to effectively express or interpret them. Sensory issues are also a part of it. Sensitivity to light, sound, touch, taste, smell in varying degrees are very much a part of it in many cases. Id say you should look up a site that has the distinguishing characteristics of the condition, and if you notice that say more than 75% of the ones listed apply to you, then its very likely. In the end, it doesnt hurt to schedule an appt with a local psych and get it checked. After finding out, it could answer a past full of questions (did for me).

Thanks for answering me. I will do so. I just wanted to know what people who actually had the condition thought. I will talk to my therapist this weekend and continue my research online.

I feel that moving to a strange place, alone, is a pretty scary idea for most of us. This would also be a major change in routine which could be considered traumatic to the AS person. It doesn't seem like he had a normal lifestyle for someone with AS to me, (not saying that people with AS are incapable of course ) I always dreamed about just picking up and moving years ago when I wasn't so setup in my area, but I could never bring myself to make any action towards doing it.

As always, a professional DX is really the best thing out there. There are people with AS, then normal people who are just anti-social by choice or upbringing.

I think I understand your ex-boyfriend. I'm diagnosed AS and move around quite frequently. A counselor once told me it's becuase I'm looking for a place where I might fit in. Guess what? Forty years and still haven't found it. But, it's somewhat depressing for me to admit it and stop looking. I don't have an issue of being set-up or leaving people I know. When I move I know just as many people as the place I just left. (pretty much zero) So I have no real strings holding me back.