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Hello
I am a nineteen year old girl from the UK. I am currently in my second year of university studying history of art.

I was diagnosed with aspergers when I was five years old due to delayed development and problems making friends.
When I was a small child I was quite proud of this diagnosis, I thought it made me special.

However, as I got older and learnt more about aspergers, I realised that the characteristics of it really didn't apply to me. I felt as though I had been given a label which I had to carry around with me for the rest of my life, which would be fine, if it wasnt for the fact that this "label" didn't apply to me in the first place.

Nevertheless, when I asked my psychiatrist (who I saw for OCD) at age 15 if he could re-test me for aspergers, he was still able to tick enough of the boxes to say I had it.

I have spent the last few years in a great debate or whether I should try and fight against this diagnosis or whether I should see it as not a bad thing and just accept it. But, its just when I go on a site like wrong planet and read about the stuff you guys like and dislike, and the differences you see between yourselves and "neurotypicals", I feel as if I fit in with the neurotypicals a lot more. I understand body language, communication, reading other people's minds, metaphors, facial expressions etc. I love things like fashion, socializing with people, shopping, going to nightclubs etc. Whenever I see a character with aspergers on tv or in a book or whatever, they are the complete opposite to me!

Nevertheless, for the sake of honesty. I do fit with two of the characteristics of A.S - I am shy and I'm not very good at eye contact.

So yeah, I basically just don't know what to do. Fourteen year after my original diagnosis I still don't know if I should accept it or not. If I actually felt like I did have aspergers I wouldn't mind being diagnosed with it.

Sorry for the ramble. I just wanted to explain why I was here. So yeah " hello" and all that

N. x

Hey Welcome! I'm a newbie too .

I can relate to you. I had many aspie symptoms, but my mom opted not to get me a formal diagnosis (she believed, correctly or not, that the label would be detrimental to me in the long run) I went through my childhood knowing that I was "different" in some ways, and was often frustrated. Later on, I was fascinated by my neurophysiology, so I self-diagnosed myself with asphergers when I was 13. My parents initially agreed with my conclusion. We left it alone though. I met enough criteria to be considered an aspie, but some things just didn't "gel" with asphergers.

I did some research over the summer (I'm 17 now), and realized that I did not have asphergers, but a Perinatal Hypoxic Somatic Brain Injury to the right hemisphere. Basically, what happens is at some point during late pregnancy or birth, the baby doesn't receive enough oxygen. The dominant hemisphere of the brain (left if you're right handed, right if you're left handed) is the most affected, as it needs the most oxygen. If the oxygen interruption is short enough, you can get symptoms of damage to that hemisphere in the brain, but no cerebral palsy.

Turns out, social skills, communication, impulse control, etc. is all on the right side. So, one could easily come off as asphergers when they really have right-hemisphere damage.

I would ask your doctor about this. It is quite rare, because you would have to have been a left-handed baby who then didn't receive enough oxygen at one point. It is very possible (as it was in my case) that this oxygen interruption will not be detected at the time.

Here are some of the symptoms of a right-hemisphere brain injury ( you don't need all these symptoms, I don't have some of them. Like, I don't have left side neglect) I bolded the ones that could be mistaken for asphergers:

Attention: difficulty concentrating on a task and paying attention for more than a few minutes at a time. Doing more than one thing at a time may be difficult or impossible.

Left-side neglect: a form of attention deficit. Essentially, the individual no longer acknowledges the left side of his/her body or space. These individuals will not brush the left side of their hair, for example, or eat food on the left side of their plate, as they do not see them or look for them. Reading is also affected as the individual does not read the words on the left side of the page, starting only from the middle.

Memory: problems remembering information, such as street names or important dates, and learning new information easily.

Orientation: difficulty recalling the date, time, or place. The individual may also be disoriented to self, meaning that he/she cannot correctly recall personal information, such as birth date, age, or family names.

Organization: trouble telling a story in order,giving directions, or maintaining a topic during conversations.

Problem solving: difficulty responding appropriately to common events, such as a car breakdown or overflowing sink. Leaving the individual unsupervised may be dangerous in such cases, as he or she could cause injury to himself or herself, or others.

Reasoning: difficulty interpreting abstract language, such as metaphors, or responding to humor appropriately.

Social communication (pragmatics): problems understanding nonverbal cues and following the rules of communication (e.g., saying inappropriate things, not using facial expressions, talking at the wrong time).


In addition, I have an exceptionally good longterm memory, and I am ambisinister. In ambisinisterality, both hands are as skilled as a right-hander's left. This was caused, in my case, by damage to the right motor cortex which reduced nerve control of my once-dominant left hand.

Welcome to WP

Hey, thanks for the welcome guys

jrp11011, thanks for that information, its actually really interesting. I'm glad that you were able to understand yourself better

I'm not sure whether or not it is relevant to me. I will look into it though as when my mum was pregnant with me her waters broke really early and so this meant that I would have problems learning to breathe or something once I was born. I don't think I had problems with like oxygen and breathing but there definitely was damage to my brain. Like im missing part of one of my frontal lobes as there was a blood clot there or something, no-one really could predict though at the time, the effect it would have on my development. And i definitely have difficulties with organization and concentration.

But, I am right handed! And, (I dont know if this is scientificallly veriable) but whenever I do those tests on the internet to work out whether or not I my right or left side of the brain is stronger, its always my right side, as i fit the characteristics of that more eg. impulsive, spontaneous etc.

Nevertheless, this information was so so helpful, thanks so much for taking the time to tell me about it I will definitely look into it

N x

Welcome.

Welcome.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Welcome to WP!

Welkome to WP

Mick