I don't have Asperger's

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I just want to say I'm sorry if I seem selfish. I don't plan on spending much time here, and I'm really here to learn about what people with Asperger's are like because I know exactly 0 confirmed cases in real life.

I am only going to list every reason why I think I do not have ASD, and then every reason why I possibly do and why the doctors said I do. In my other post I was a little upset and started to base it off of stereotypes, but the problem is those "stereotypes" are what I observe to be the perfect majority amongst yous on this forum.

1. Environmental Triggers

As I have duly noted, many of you seemed to be deeply opposed to touching and physical contact. I say many, but so far I have not witnessed a single diagnosee claim contrariwise. Amongst my friends and even my family, I actually touch people to the point where it is socially unacceptable, and I get the urge to touch strangers but I avoid this because I can can foresee the consequences of doing this. I oft sit closer to my friends and try to hold their hands or hug them, much to their consternation.
I am also insensitive to many other things such as noises and the like. They only bother me to the degree that they would bother a normal person or perhaps someone who is not acclimated to such things (i.e. crowds, crying babies, trains). The only thing might be when someone is walking behind or slowly, and then I will get angry.

2. Emotional Responses

As I have observed, many seem to react to triggers with grave paroxysm. I cannot empathize with this. The thing that upsets me that is NOT rational is, again, people walking close behind me (tho' I strongly attribute this to my social anxiety)

3. Facial and Verbal Cognizance

I can UNCONSCIOUSLY recognize the feelings of others from their face and tone of voice, and I somehow feel this is different because I do not think it to myself, I feel it deep within my bosom. If someone is upset, I will become alarmed. If someone is sad, I will feel heavy and morose. If someone laughs or smiles, I will smile or feel lighter. This level of empathy, I have not seen it expressed to be the case here. I understand there is a sub-sect called "hyper-empathetic," yet they display cognizance on a conscious level and still have delays, hence why they are diagnosed at all.

4. Relationships

Unlike the "active-but-odd" autist, I do not use people as a "sounding board for my interests." I can recall, even as a younger child, having sought relationships with people who had similar interests or seemed comfortable to talk with. While I couldn't engage in prolonged conversation if it wasn't an interest, I could joke around and talk about other things that we had in common, like school or gossip, and enjoy having a laugh with them. While I am not so apt to seeking company as more extroverted people are, I still talk to others for the sake of it, and only bring up my interests to impress them or make a joke, unless they are shared.

Now I will explain why the shrinks think I have autism, and why, in spite of its truth, their conclusion is nevertheless wrong. Here I will present an excerpt describing their diagnostic impressions from the report that they gave:

"Daniel’s social-emotional functioning is more complicated and reflects substantial difficulty understanding
social interactions and forming social bonds with others, difficulties which extend back to his early
childhood. He has unusually strong interests in animals and linguistics, and difficulty motivating himself
to work toward areas outside of his immediate interests. Daniel sometimes has difficulties with change in
routine and tends to approach his academic work from a rigid problem solving style. As such, Daniel
qualifies for a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder."

The first statement is True. However, I sought relationships regardless and, again, not in ways that an active-but-odd type would do. To me, it may be a qualifier for diagnosis.

The second statement is True. I have covered this, but my main concern has been settled. I would say that this is a qualifier for diagnosis.

The third statement is False. Only one person has attested to a rigid academic approach, and she was interviewed under my nose. I do not approve of this statement, and I will explain why. This was given under the context of mathematics, a subject which I have struggled for in the past two years because the curriculum became Common Core in New York. This curriculum is EXTREMELY difficult, and for someone who has average aptitude in mathematics, I had no room to mess around and "change my routine." My lifestyle is lived exactly as chaotic as anyone else's. I have no plans, and I do as I please on a day to day basis. If a new event arises, tho' it might perturb me if I am not notified beforehand, I will ADAPT.

And that concludes the justification they gave for diagnosis. That's it.

In the past, my mom suspected I had autism for the very reasons they described. She sent me to therapists since I was about 7, and had me screened once when I was about 12. All of them have denied that they detected any symptoms when my mother would ask, and even now she has read some books and is beginning to feel I do not have it.

I have done this because I am deeply insecure about this. To be told that I have this when all signs point no is really a big thing in my mind. The reality is, I WANT to have Asperger's, because it would explain why I'm as weird as I am. But can't I just be extremely weird?

I can tell you that I'm pretty sure that the average Aspie on Wrong Planet is probably further down the spectrum than an average Aspie in real life. I have attended a few meetings with a local Asperger's group, and in general, I think the people at that group seem far less affected by it than the people on this forum. I also feel that I myself am probably less affected than many on this forum.

Regarding your point #1, you mentioned you touch people to the point where it is socially unacceptable. This might, in fact, actually be a sign of Asperger's, in that it shows some lack of intuitive knowledge of other people's personal space. Have a read of this article: https://iancommunity.org/ssc/personal-space-autism.

I also should mention that I don't have very much in the way of sensory issues. The only things I can think of that I have are that tags on clothing annoy me, and the squeakiness of eating certain foods that I otherwise like annoys me.

Regarding your point #2, the Aspie quiz actually has a question specifically about disliking having people walk behind you. The test is here: http://rdos.net/eng/Aspie-quiz.php.

Regarding your point #3, recognising other people's emtions and responding emotionally to this is called Affective Empathy. Aspies generally have Affective empathy that is almost as good as that of NTs. Where we struggle is Cognitive Empathy, which involves seeing things from someone else's perspective.

I don't think I have all that much to say about your point #4, but it does seem pretty subjective, and I think it's probably one of the areas that the psychologists are best at testing. I'm sure as part of your testing, the psychologists had lots of discussions with you and were actively grading your discussions with them.


That said, I don't think anyone here is going to be able to tell you for sure one way or the other. While I think the most qualified person to say whether you have Asperger's is a psychologist, I think the second most qualified person is you. If you have done the research and are convinced that you don't have the corresponding traits, you should discuss this with your psychologist. Just keep in mind that no two Aspies are exactly alike, and many of the listed traits are not mandatory to a diagnosis.

It's your choice really. I was diagnosed but I never tell anyone and try to hide it until it is absolutely necessary to disclose. You may feel you don't have it so you can get the diagnosis removed (if that's possible) or just never tell anyone like I do. We're not collapsing in public (most of the time) or suffering seizures or are blind, so it's easy to get away with being normal as much as some of us can so our quality of life doesn't suck. I'm pretty high functioning irl, but I still struggle immensely with conversation. People ALL come across like this to me, causing tons of anxiety and paranoia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisocia ... y_disorder

I cannot undiagnose you based one post.

Everybody has a right to seek a second opinion.

Pretty much every Autism traits listing mentions hypo as well as hyper sensitivity but hypo sensitivity is rarely talked about on WP. I would guess that people are not realizing what they are not sensing.

I think you very likely have seen autistics. There is no autistic look or uniform. Unless the autism is severe autistics generally do not exhibit autistic traits 24/7. You can not tell if a person has autistic thinking patterns by looking at them.

I don't. I have vulvodynia and have a slight phobia of being touched in some parts of my body, but I love hugging friends and I don't have any problems with other kinds of physical contact. Hugging or being patted is very soothing for me.

Many aspies are hypersensitive to certain stimuli (for some it's sound, for some bright light, for some it's hugging), but also HYPOsensitive to other stimuli. So being hypersensitive and being hyposensitive is both common for ASD. Also you don't have to fit every criteria in either DSM-5 or ICD-10 to have ASD.