Asperger's without sensory overload / meltdowns / shutdowns?

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I'm wondering whether it's possible to have Asperger's syndrome without having sensory overloads / meltdowns / shutdowns. I'm asking this because I think I might have Asperger's, but I'm doubtful about the (common?) problems mentioned in the topic title. Among the symptoms I see in myself, is stimming behaviour (pacing, talking out loud, smelling my fingers, jumping around when I'm alone). That could mean that I have some kind of sensory integration problem (at least, that's what I've read).

However, I've never felt totally overwhelmed (at least not to the point of fainting) by my senses or whatever. When there is a lot of traffic around me in a city while I'm crossing the road or something, I might feel a little disorientated but nothing more than that... busy and noisy disco's and clubs (apart from boring) aren't unpleasant to visit. I've had mood swings all my life, and during negative moods I don't want to talk to people. So perhaps that kind of behavior can be called a shutdown? However, the mood swings don't have anything to do with the senses, I think I'm a little bit sensitive to sounds / touch / light etc., butthey never hurt or annoy me.

As a child I could become very angry for stupid reasons, I would sometimes throw doors and yell at my mother. It made her upset often because she didn't knew what she did wrong. But I don't recall crying on the floor or stuff like that. Nowadays, I can control my anger, at least I won't show it to people.

So maaaaaaybe the stuff I told about myself here fit the criteria for shutdowns / meltdown behavior, but I doubt it. Are there aspies without the shutdowns/meltdowns/sensory overload problems? Thanks for reading and replying!

I'm the same. I have no sensory issues to speak of. Well, I'm a bit sensitive to bright lights (have to ask for sunglasses at the dentist) and also have to cut tags off most T-shirts I wear because they really annoy me, but that's about the extent of it. Don't recall having anything severe enough to call a "shutdown", but I can certainly identify with getting really angry as a child. I think I was angry at how little control I had over my environment, compounded by a complete lack of understanding by the adults around me.

Sure, that describes me. I do get overload, but I can get through it.
I don't meltdown, but I realized the other day that I "flap", although I tend to twist my hands back and forth rather than actually flap them.
Having a pet makes a lot of the running and jumping more of a fun game, I can be silly with my dog in the park and people think it's cute..

I have meltdowns and shutdowns, although they're not too frequent. As for sensory issues, I don't think I have any major problems, but I do experience sensory overload at times (usually triggered by noisy/chaotic scenes).

What you describe may be a mild form of Asperger's, as you do have some of the traits.

the sensory issues are part of a completely seperate effect: sensory integration disorder and/or high sensitivity.
these two are quite common in autism/aspergers, a lot more common that in the general population, but they are in no way required to coexist, there are aspergers withiout any form of sensory issues, and there are NT's with both sensory integration disorder and high sentitivity, making them sensory overloaded like a 'typical' aspie...

I used to have meltdowns daily as a little kid, but I've outgrown it. Nowadays I only send out email "shutdown notice" occasionally to my family. Telling them not to call me for a couple days. This is usually after I've had too much socializing or feel sick and tired. Most of my sensory issues now is related to tactile and smell, so that's a bit easier to avoid.

Now I think about it when I was little, my family all slept in one room, and shared kitchen and bathroom with other families. We had no toys to play with, my brother picked on me for fun. There was no privacy or quiet time. No wonder I was easily irritated.

Sensory issues and shutdowns are not even in DSM IV, so no they are not a requirement. This will change in DSM V, but they are an elective, not a requirement.

Jason

I think we are just like everyone else in that we are different. Some people have audio overload issues, some stim, some info dump, and some don't. It depends on who you are.

You don't need meltdowns or sensory sensitivities to have AS. You just need to have both social difficulties and some form of repetitive behavior (stimming counts as this).

I rarely get a sensory overload. I get overloaded from stress or feelings and my son can make me feel overloaded from his constant shrieking and screaming I finally shut him out of the room. I am trying to do something and there he is making noise and it overwhelms me. I do tell him to stop.

I'm like this. But it's only specific things it's not like everything is coming at me all the time it's just that some things really bother me. For example fire alarms, t shirt tags, bright/fluorescent lights, scratching, whistiling, finger tapping just gives me a high pitched hum in my head and I cover my ears and leg shaking makes me feel sick.

Sensory issues are not a requirement but they are most common. As far as what the OP mentioned about not wanting to talk to people, that would not be a shutdown. A shutdown happens when the brain literally shuts down because it is trying to process too much.

As far as I know, I have no sensory issues and can't think of any incident that I can conclusively call a meltdown/shutdown, but was diagnosed with HFA/Asperger's about two months ago.

Have you taken the AQ (Autism Quotient) test? I would consider your score on that test to be much more significant than whether you have meltdowns or shutdowns. The test can be found here:
https://www.aspergerstestsite.com/75/au ... t-aq-test/

Remember, the test isn't an official diagnosis; it's possible to score low on it and still have Asperger's, and a high score isn't a guarantee that you have it.