Can you have "less" Aspergers than someone else?

Page 1 of 1 [ 8 posts ] 

ThisAdamGuy
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 22 May 2015
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Posts: 692
Location: Northwest Arkansas

04 Dec 2016, 3:01 pm

That's probably a terrible way to phrase it, but is it possible? I definitely have Aspergers. I may forget about it now and then, but if you're around me you'll see it. That said, when I'm around other aspies it always seems like I don't have it as bad as they do. My ex girlfriend, for example, who I broke up with last month had it, and at first I thought that would help us connect better. Instead, she didn't get any of my jokes, she sucked at conversation, and anytime I so much as touched her she acted like I was molesting her. I hear that aspies have a hard time understanding sarcasm because they take everything literally, but I've never had that problem and I use it on a regular basis. I still have issues socializing, hate being touched, and don't like being in crowds, but it's never to the point where I'm literally afraid of all this like I've seen other aspies be. So what do you think, am I "less" of an aspie than other aspies?


_________________
Autistic author of fantasy novels. Read them for free HERE!


the_phoenix
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 30 Jan 2008
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,489
Location: up from the ashes

04 Dec 2016, 8:45 pm

I would consider myself mildly autistic.
It's a spectrum, after all.
And keep in mind that we're all unique individuals,
autism or no.



KatyKat_721
Blue Jay
Blue Jay

Joined: 22 Nov 2016
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Posts: 91

04 Dec 2016, 8:56 pm

It's a spectrum. So yeah, different people are sensitive to different things in different degrees. My cousin and I both have Asperger's, but he has more severe issues with things like communicating.



BTDT
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Jul 2010
Age: 60
Gender: Female
Posts: 7,123

04 Dec 2016, 11:02 pm

I think I actually have more Aspergers than most of the people here--I'm really, really good at math and science, can't remember faces, but can remember multiple conversations I've had with people over long periods of time. I've found that people don't like to be reminded of inconsistencies in what they say--people often contradict themselves--so I generally don't bring that up unless I want to get rid of someone.



Grammar Geek
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 22 Oct 2015
Age: 28
Posts: 886
Location: Missouri

04 Dec 2016, 11:41 pm

I think mine is on the more "severe" end. I'm unable to hold conversations for any meaningful length of time, and while I'm good at avoiding the common pitfall of excessively talking about special interests, sometimes I think that would be better than not being able to say anything at all and just go "uh-huh" and "yeah" to everything the other person said. I have a friend with Asperger's, but he seems almost NT to me because of his conversational skills. I also have very poor facial recognition ability, which leads to people being offended when I can't figure out who they are. When I was diagnosed, the doctor said I was a "classic" case of Asperger's.



the_phoenix
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 30 Jan 2008
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,489
Location: up from the ashes

04 Dec 2016, 11:57 pm

Okay, reading through the replies by BTDT and Grammar Geek,

... maybe I'm not so mild after all. :oops:

Maybe I consider myself mild
because I'm used to how I am,
I'm comfortable with who I am,
simply prefer to call myself "eccentric"
and hope that I can pass for such,
while still being me. :P

... anyways, to me it really doesn't matter how much "more" or "less" autistic someone is ...
we should all treat each other with respect.

...



League_Girl
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 4 Feb 2010
Gender: Female
Posts: 27,205
Location: Pacific Northwest

05 Dec 2016, 12:28 am

Yes you can have less Asperger's than others and some have more Asperger's than others. When I was first told about it, I was told how much of it I had and my mom would move her finger further up from her thumb and tell me "Some have it this much" and then she would move her finger way up and say "And some even have this much" and then she would move her finger close her her thumb where they are close to touching and say "You have this much." I didn't really understand it then because it felt invalidating and I thought if I had so little, then why am I struggling so much to be normal?

But yet I have met others on the spectrum and they have done more than I have and it's amazing but I am sure they have more struggles than I do. It's easy for me to assume they must be mild, especially if they have no problems finding employment and getting hired but they might have a problem with keeping a job while it's the opposite for me.

It was funny that when I was in my teens, whenever I heard someone had Asperger's, I would try to ask how much of it they had and the parent would have no idea what the heck I was talking about. Even one of my doctors I saw for my ear had a son with AS and I asked how much AS his kid had and all he said was "Oh he is doing very well" and I asked "But how bad is it?" and he went "oh it's mild" and he wouldn't show me with his thumb and finger how much of it his kid had. I even tried asking online and aspies would have no idea what I was talking about. They would say they were mild mod or severe but all of them said mild but one of them said severe but after he got diagnosed he told me they said it was pretty mild. So he thought he was worse than he thought. I don't do the finger thing anymore because no one knows anything about it so it was just something my mom made up for me.


_________________
Son: Diagnosed w/anxiety and ADHD. Also academic delayed.

Daughter: NT, no diagnoses.


noumenon
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

Joined: 24 Mar 2016
Age: 40
Gender: Male
Posts: 160

05 Dec 2016, 5:13 am

It is called Autistic Spectrum Disorder because it is a spectrum that greatly varies from person to person.


_________________
"I was born in a world where I don't fit in, so I guess the only choice is make a new one"