I need help. what is aspergers?

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I'm posted this in another forum place but someone told me to try here!

hi guys, this might sound rather silly but i made this account to ask what aspergers actually is in females.

i'm 16, and i've suffered from anxiety and depression. but not really any more.
(please ignore my horrible grammar and punctuation i am incredibly tired)
anyway i just found out from my mother (around a week ago) that my psychologist, psychiatrist and doctor strongly believe theres a chance i might have very high functioning aspergers.

um. i don't really know what to ask. i guess like i said, what is asperger's? the information online is so conflicting. i understand that there is a huge spectrum and many different.. symptoms or whatever you call them, but i was just wondering if you guys could maybe tell me a bit about it?

i'm not really shy, i actually have a lot of friends. i was in the "popular group" at my old school but i've always struggled.. saying the right things.
actually i wouldn't call it struggling, i guess i'm just. i have no clue. no i haven't struggled but i've always been a little, different. thought differently, responded "wrong" i guess to certain situations. i need alone time. i hate large groups if they're all talking at once.

i get really obsessed with tv shows. (does that count as an "aspie" obsession? because i get reallly obsessed as in that is all i can think about and every part of a conversation i manage to relate to whatever tv show i love) i don't know i guess i'm probably reading too much into stuff after finding this out. i'm really confused right now.

actually people think i'm shy i just forget to talk sometiems, and other times i can't stop, i talk over everyone and i ramble and ramble.

i don't have problems with eyecontact.

when i think i tend to zone out. and when i read. and when i watch tv. and when i am on the computer. but i really mean zone out as in when i'm reading sometiems you can yell in my ear and i wont hear . i've read about peopel with aspergers getting really focused on things.

sometimes i think so loud that i completely miss conversations, i'll continue a conversation with a person in my hhead and completely miss the "real conversation" and then they'll just sigh because its a "me" thing to do.

i feel like as i'm writing this it's as though i'm trying to "prove" that i have it or somethign, thats not it i'm just seriously just rambling. sorry. i'll stop.

SO YEAH WHAT IS ASPGERS WHAT ARE SOME SYMPTOMS IN GIRLS HOW WOULD YOU "DESCRIBE IT", also hi.

This link might be helpful: Click.
Oh, and welcome!

Aspergers and Autism affect everyone differently, but I can do my best to describe what it's like for me.

I cant read people, I find it impossible to know how someone is feeling without them telling me outright, I cant maintain eye contact it makes me feel very uncomfortable when someone looks me in the eyes, I also tend to look away from a person speaking to me. I also find it very hard to know the "right" thing to say which often means I stay quiet or begin to ramble about my special interests. I also find it very hard to make and keep friends. I'm very interested in psychology especially criminal psychology, I spend alot of time researching serial killers (Ted Bundy, Fred & Rose West, Harold Shipman, to name a few) and looking into various disorders and triggers that can cause people to kill. I'm also really into an online game called Perfect World, I can spend over 6 hours a day just playing the game. I have sensory issues, I cant stand loud noises or the feel of certain materials (wet clothes ect) I hate crowds and I cant stand to look at the colours brown and grey, I also hate touch the only person I can stand it from without jerking away is my Mam. I find it difficult to express myself verbally, but I'm much better when I write. I take things literally, such as a teacher once telling me to "pull my socks up" I bent down and pulled them up. I have "scripts" that I follow in social situations which happen often, like being asked by a shop assistant if I need help, my reply is always "no thank you I'm just looking" I also stim mainly by rocking back and forth or repetitively rubbing my finger and thumb together as a way to relax (when I was younger I used to flap my hands). I struggle with changes in plan, like if I'm told I'm going out to have a drink and then later on told I'm not I get really upset. I also hate change like moving to a new house ect. I have a tendency to "shutdown" when very stressed I curl up in a ball and cry sometimes under the covers or on the floor and rock back and forth, sometimes I "meltdown" which usually results in me running off. I can get overloaded it's almost like I can hear and see everything going on around me. I'm pretty logical and like to know the facts, however I'm hopeless at math, I do enjoy computers and science though!

This guide here is very good,
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt112787.html

There is probably alot I've missed out, but I hope what I've written can be of some help to you.

Hello. Meet a teenage girl with Asperger's Syndrome.

You're right, there's a whole load of behaviours (symptoms, I suppose) that mean you can have very mild Asperger's or full-blown low-functioning autism.

Quite a lot of behaviours that can define you as Aspie will have been there a long time. For example, hyperlexia. Hyperlexia is basically being able to read without being taught how. I'm always told the story of how I stunned my mam by asking her if we had 'all the correct ingredients' at age three when we were going to make cupcakes. You don't necessarily have to have been diagnosed early to be Aspie. People may not even seen you as different. I was described quite early on as intellectually gifted but somewhat sensitive and occasionally shy, and prone to 'shutting down'. Basically, zoning out of conversations or school lessons and things like that.

We tend to have quite different personalities to our peers. In boys this is normally a more 'nerdy' type attitude, but in girls it's often just being 'quirky'. The amount of times I have been called crazy and weird is uncountable, and to be fair, it's true, and I still have friends, because people just embrace that. I keep to a small-ish group of friends, and although I am undoubtedly 'the weird one' I'm still part of the 'popular' group.

Learning wise, we tend to have one or a few things we are especially good at, but may really struggle at others. Contrary to popular opinion, you CAN be an Aspie who struggles with maths or science, or you may not get on in lessons like English and drama. We often find it easy to teach ourselves things rather than be taught. Being given a written description and just getting on with the instructions there seems to be how a lot of us learn.

Dyspraxia is common in those with AS or autism, which basically means our general motor skills (general limb movement) isn't great and we struggle with sports. However, Aspies are often very good with things that use fine motor skills (more detailed activities) for example, I have a male Aspie friend who is amazing when fiddling around inside a computer with wires and screwdrivers but cannot play any sports. I really struggle with a lot of team sports (although I've improved over time) but I have really neat handwriting.

In social situations, it's normal for Aspies to get tired quickly, and need to 'recharge' by themself. When talking, we're likely to be outspoken at times, and not realise what we've said that's 'wrong' and also to bring the same topic up again and again. This is often what people mean by 'obsession' but I prefer to think of it as a specialist subject. It can be a hobby, a TV show, a book, a game, some people even become obsessed with individuals. I have another Aspie friend who constantly talks about a particular actor. We also tend to struggle to realise that people are BORED of our fantastic topic. Boys are more likely to have a specialist subject viewed as strange. For example, a girl may rave about a TV show, but a boy is more likely to be a train-spotter or something. No offence to any train spotters, because trains are cool.

Aspies are often seen as very childlike, but for some people this isn't true, and for others it may be only during a time of stress or anxiety. We may look younger, where clothes apparently more suited to children, and sometimes talk like we're younger or go completely mute. If you are very mildly Aspie, this is less likely to be true.

I also, like a lot of Aspies, have a big problem with eye contact, which is quite common, but you said that's not a problem.

There are more I can think of, like disliking change, sensory issues, and stuff about food and diet, but I've already rambled, so I won't say anymore for now!

All or none of these may be true for you, remember, two Aspies can have very different symptoms. PM me if you want to ask anything else or just discuss symptoms, and I hope I've helped.

Keep Smiling

You're describing it yourself quite well. You have problems with understanding the right things to say, you get obsessed with things easily, you have problems with conversations--either saying too little or too much. That's pretty much Aspie.

To put it simply: Asperger's is a type of autism. That shouldn't be as intimidating as it sounds, because autism includes a very, very diverse group of people. For some people, it's obvious when they're two and not talking; for others, like you, it's only obvious when they're teens and socially awkward and not really "getting it".

What causes it, like autism in general, is genetic. The genes for autism are floating around in the general population, and every once in a while a baby will get enough of them to show autistic traits. If there are problems associated with those traits, then we diagnose it as autism. Your parents probably have a few of those genes themselves, and a few milder traits that don't require diagnosis.

More immediately, what causes autism is that you develop differently. Your brain works just slightly differently--it's a healthy brain, but there are some differences from the typical. Think of it like this: A short person is not a damaged tall person; he's a healthy short person. What you have is a healthy, but different, brain. You have more problems learning social interaction and language/communication skills than most people do, because your brain isn't made in a way that makes that easy for you.

You seem to have been making quite a lot of progress already on your own, because like you say, you have friends who accept you and your differences; so chances are you've managed to figure out how to connect to others on your own terms.

As for treatment: For autism, the goal is not to make you non-autistic. It's simply to teach you useful things that you will be able to use to live in a world where most people are different from you. In your case, that could be taking a class on social skills, learning more about how a conversation works, how to get into the rhythm of it.

One thing I'd advise you about, though, is to remember that it's okay to be autistic--AS is not something "wrong with" you, and you have the right to be who you are. Don't compromise your personality--don't put on a mask and pretend to be normal. That's stressful, and in the end, denying yourself is not worth it. Rather, learn how to bridge the gap between you and others, how to communicate more effectively.

I can relate to you on many levels.

But remember, being diagnosed with Aspergers isn't the equivalent of the end of the world.