First of all I would like to thank the people who built this site, to help give those of us with autism or Aspergers a voice. I would also like to thank the various contributors here who make this place a valuable resource to learn more about Aspergers and autism spectrum disorders.
I have only recently become convinced that I have Asperger Syndrome, although I am not 100% positive. I haven't received an official diagnosis and I have never been to a psychiatrist or psychologist for anything. I have however taken this online Asperger test and got a score that suggested I very likely have Aspergers, which didn't surprise me. I'm in my 30s.
Like so many other people here, I never fit in anywhere and have always had very few to no friends. I was always socially inept, and preferred playing alone. I have very acute senses, especially smell and hearing. In fact, most people smell kind of "funny" to me; not necessarily bad but "funny". I've also been obsessed with various subjects over the years, especially geography and science. As a kid I would spend countless hours looking at various maps of the world or making my own maps(sometimes of the real world, sometimes of fictional worlds) to the degree that I would astonish my grammar school teachers with my vast knowledge of geography or history, arguably far beyond what most high school students know. This also happened later with biology and sometimes chemistry, although overall my grades were poor to mediocre, since I just couldn't study things that bored me and I may have a co-morbid learning disability(I was always a terrible speller and bad at math).
I would also frequently mispronounce words; I still do in fact, but not as much as I used to. I rarely got along with my fellow students and was sometimes bullied. I hate crowds and loud noises. I hate it when people touch me, even my family. I am terrible at small talk or consoling distraught people. Although I feel lonely at times, I need a lot of alone time.
My parents were often worried that I didn't socialize enough, and I was forced to play team sports to make me more sociable, but I found it very traumatizing. However, when I joined the high school chess club(my own idea), I was nearly unbeatable and was #1 in my age group/class. I wasn't particularly clumsy, but I was prone to motion sickness, dizziness and nauseousness during car rides, at amusement parks and even from simply going back and forth on the swings at the playground. In spite of this I have been very athletic for a long time, and simply avoid those kinds of activities that make me dizzy(I do wake up dizzy at times, unfortunately). I have always been a picky eater, and always had to eat my food separate as a kid. If rice and beans were for dinner, I would eat the rice first then the beans later. I eventually overcame this strange but otherwise harmless habit.
I have learned to cope and adapt over the years, so I suppose I can pass as "normal" in most situations.
Well, that's just an introduction. I could go on but this should be enough for now.
14 Aug 2011, 9:15 pm
