Hi, I'm new to the forums and I'm not sure if I'm an aspie.

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Hi everyone.

I'm new to these forums, I've visited frequently but it's such an amazing site with great support and I feel I should add a profile and introduce myself. I live alone and love my own company but do enjoy a chat on my keyboard when I'm not busy with something else.

I'm 38 and since childhood I've had the feeling that everybody else is wierd and I don't fit in. There was something about the world I couldn't quite put my finger on,sometimes it felt like a simulation and I was the only thing real in it. I have mates and acquaintances but on the whole I'm one of lifes loners. I do enjoy good company but not all the time. I have an amazing supportive girlfriend of 10 years, although she doesn't quite 100% understand me she really does support me and accepts my flaws.

Sometimes I struggle with my emotions, they can be so strong and overpowering sometimes and as a result I do suffer from depression at times.

I wanted to see my Dr a few months ago and the one I usually see wasn't available so I went to see another at the surgery. I explained how I sometimes felt as my medication didn't seem to be working. She asked me loads of odd questions that when I answered they made perfect sense to me. Such as "Do you feel lonely in a room full of people".

After talking some more about me she stated in her opinion I have Aspergers Syndrome or I'm at least on the spectrum somewhere. I was amazed and the more we spoke about the symptoms and me the more it made sense. As a young boy I used to have rages that I couldn't control,I was diagnosed as having Temporal Lobe Epilepsy and had violent "fits". The Dr stated that a decade or so ago people with Aspergers were always being diagnosed with TLE and it was nearly always a false diagnosis. It seems the fits were actually emotional meltdowns.

I asked if that was a diagnosis but she stated that at my age it's very hard to diagnose and even harder to find anybody qualified who's interested. An ex girlfriend of mines son had Aspergers and she was convinced I was on the spectrum somewhere.

From what I've been reading I do share some typical Aspie traits. I prefer my own company and I'm very fussy with company and food. I love routine and get stressed when something changes.
My senses are super sharp and I can feel very sick at strong smells like curry and air freshener. I seem to feel pain much more than most people. My hearing is really odd as people sometimes think I'm deaf but actually I can hear everything all at once and sometimes it's hard to focus on what I should be listening to. On the rare times I'm in a pub I can hear glasses clicking etc but find it hard to focus on the person next to me.
My mind seems to be very focused and my girlfriend finds it funny that I don't blink when I concentrate. The slightest little detail catches my attention but the obvious stuff passes me by. I come across as shy but I don't think that's the right word,I'm confident but only in myself,not so much with people I don't know. The world just confuses me,I try to think about things logically but people and society just don't make any sense. I sometimes struggle with conversations and I used to always cut people off without realising,I'm getting better with age though but I always struggle with eye contact.

Other aspergers traits I can't relate to though. I have so many hobbies and not limited to just one or two. I can read facial expressions ok and I've always thought I could read people really well with their body language etc. I think I feel empathy with others fine but I've got little patience.

I'd love to hear anybody elses views on what I've said as I think this is a really amazing support forum and I really wish they were places like this around years ago when I was young. The world wouldn't have felt like such a strange and confusing place then. I've lived my whole life like this but I've held down the same job for 20 years and am buying my own house so I haven't done too bad.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

What a fascinating description of yourself.

Have you been screened with autism using one or more of the screening tests like Wired magazine's "Take the Autism Test" <https://www.wired.com/2001/12/aqtest/>?

It could shed more light on your autism-related behaviors, characteristics and comorbids.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Welcome NoonesMyName!

I'm your friendly neighborhood (tad bit silly) guardian gatekeeper

Hope you will enjoy the forum, find useful information and find recognition here.

(And give me a cookie biscuit on your way in )

These days autism is diagnosed in people of all IQs.

Welcome to WP!

Welcome to Wrong Planet

It seems from what you wrote you appear to be an Aspie or as they are called nowadays a high functioning autistic.

Also from what you said it also sounds like you have evolved well. There is a small population scattered throughout the world that are called non-conformist. These are some quotes about non-conformist. Would you consider yourself a member?

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do." – Rob Siltanen: Apple, "Think Different" campaign

"It gives me great pleasure indeed to see the stubbornness of an incorrigible nonconformist warmly acclaimed." - Albert Einstein

"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect." - Mark Twain

"Our wretched species is so made that those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road." - Voltaire

"Not all those who wander are lost." - J.R.R. Tolkien

"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life." - Winston Churchill

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Welcome to WP, good to see you here