Can you spot other aspies?

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I think I have the radar for spotting other autistic people. Although I'm not sure what to do about it. I don't imagine I can just go up to them and say "Hi are you autistic? Good I am, too. Let's be buddies." OK I might actually be brash enough to do that, but I don't think it will go very well. It could get very awkward if they say "No I'm not."

I just identified someone in my class to be on the spectrum and tried to befriend her. She gave me her phone number, but didn't respond much to text. She keeps to herself most of the time and didn't mingle. I suppose I'll never know for sure unless I get the nerve to go ask her. Sometimes being an extroverted autistic person sucks. You want to approach people so much but you're blunt and direct and keep making social blunders. Then even other aspies don't want to associate with you.

I can't spot other autistics, at least not instantly, but I often get spotted by people with mental health conditions as someone they can talk about it.

Sometimes I may think it but not entirely sure I’m kind of in the same boat as you.
It’s hard to tell really, they could just be socially awkward or have anxiety or something whatever

There are times when I could. Though I don't rely totally on my judgment.

Yes, absolutely. Sometimes I want to approach them on the subject, but I suppose I don't want to face the possibility of being wrong and getting reprimanded.

I can tell if they are obvious enough, but i find Aspie males are easier to spot than Aspie females.

Sometimes I find it hard to believe someone is on the spectrum if they have friends. I know I shouldn't generalise Aspies as being friendless, but because I'm female with mild Asperger's yet I still fail to be included in a group in social activities (even though my Asperger's is not obvious to others), I just wonder how other people on the spectrum manage to find friends and be regularly invited out with them. I understand how if their friends are also non-NT, but when the friends are NT and the Aspie has a rather large circle of NT friends, it just baffles me.

Oh yeah. Usually neither of us wants to talk though, so it never leads to much.

I have seen people who were diagnosed with autism, both high and low functioning, and others I suspected to have Asperger syndrome.

I have recognised some people who are on the spectrum. I normally find out much later that they are autistic though.

I'm not sure if it is a radar, as much as an ability to recognise symptoms after researching autism.

I hate to break it to you but none of you can positively identify an aspie.

You are seeing how the person is acting in public over a limited period of time. You don't know what the person is thinking or his thinking patterns.

You do not know what this person's behavior and thinking patterns were when they were a child. This knowledge is necessary as autism is a developmental condition meaning it is not something you can catch.

You do not know if the "aspie" behaviors you are observing is caused by autism. Many other conditions can cause behaviors associated with autism.

Now the good news.
You can observe a pattern of behaviors associated with autism and with the proper knowledge have decent reasons to SUSPECT another person is autistic.

Now the bad news
That is as far as it goes unless you have autistic diagnostic savant skills that the rest of us mortals and autism experts have not discovered yet.

I'm too much in my head/own world to notice others

Often, though not always. Having taken it upon myself to learn a lot about my condition and how it affects me, I find that I sometimes see similar traits in others. In many cases, I pick up immediately whether somebody is on the spectrum or not, usually when there are numerous signs that are too telltale to be a coincidence.

Sometimes, though, I am surprised when I learn about people I know being on the spectrum. Seeing as autism doesn't have a 'look' and that everybody with the condition is unique, it's not always apparent who is one of us and who is not.

I spotted one just by his postings, despite a normal-looking life except for his field of self employment.

This is not diagnostic, but I generally sense autism within a few minutes of an interaction or observation. I am not looking for it, I am not observing specific traits. It just stands out to me quickly. I learn by patterns and worked with autists for years before knowing I was on the spectrum. I am not picking out people by environmental cues either. Shopping, airports, my backyard, car rental venues anywhere. Of course I don't know if I "miss" some. It isn't something I think about. It just happens.

I think it can depends on the person.

I can think of 2 incidents in my life. 1 have been spotted and identified by someone. It was 3 years ago I was talking to someone and within 5 minutes the person asked me if ‘I had Asperger at all?’ I thought at the time it was a bit of a personal question but answered ‘yes.’ The other occasion was the complete opposite. Someone who knew me who also is High Functioning found out about my diagnosis actually said ‘they couldn’t believe it when he found out, he thought I was NT.’

So from personal experience it depends on the person on whether they can identify an aspie or not.