Hi - I might _not_ have Asperger's

Post Reply New Topic

Hello.
I've had my AS diagnosis since three years back and I now doubt that it is the correct one.
The reason for that is because my intelligence is probably a lot lower than average, meaning it
can't be Asperger's since 'aspies' have a medium to high IQ, right?

Reasons I might have AS:
- I socialized with 7-8 year olds when I was 12-14.
(Probably because their friendship are a lot more available and demandless (just a theory - I don't
really know why))
I hate people of the same age. It's impossible for me to establish a relationship with someone between 10 and 30.
(I stole toys from these kids too, for some reason)

- At a young age I was hyperactive but very introvert. I would play alone and barely make any contact with other children.
I have never looked someone in the eyes spontaneously - only when people made me look at them.



- I had "friends" in school. I didn't know you were suppose to talk withpeople to establish a friendship. They probably never looked at me as a real friend since I never interacted with them.
I don't know how to chit-chat even at current age.

- Interests: the computer from age 8 to 17. I always lost track of time when I sat infront of it.


-- Nowadays
- I'm dumb. I have problems with basic linear algebra and basic chemistry - my grades are low. My logical thinking and power of deduction is very indeveloped.
Constructing sentences while speaking is very hard for me although I have no problem with it when writing.
I have a bad memory and concentrating on a task is sometimes very difficult.
I'm also very infantile.



Sorry for using English incorrectly sometimes - I'm from Scandinavia.

What do you think? Am I just wierd and dumb, or do I really have Asperger's?

You are weird. Join the rest of us.

AS is a syndrome, meaning a constellation of symptoms. Each person shows more or less of each of the symptoms.
Having AS doesn't prevent you from having other learning issues such as attention deficit disorder or dyslexia.
I am not dumb but I barely passed my high school chemistry. Actually, I barely passed college chemistry too.
The problem with labels is that too often people (including parents) get stuck with the label and don't look at other issues.

I wouldn't be surprised if you were on the ADD-ish side of things. I have problems in math too; I'm a physics major, weirdly enough. And concentration... either I hyperfocus or I can't focus at all. It's very frustrating.

You might ask whoever's helping you out--let's hope you have someone; a school counselor? disability services?--to help you find ways to concentrate more easily on things. Once you can concentrate on what you want to concentrate on (rather than being distracted by your hobbies/special interests), things should get a bit easier. It probably takes a lot of practice, though; I still haven't learned it too well myself.

Incidentally, from the way you write, especially since English isn't your first language, your IQ is probably 100 (average) or more. I wouldn't worry about your intelligence--you probably just have mental blocks keeping you from doing well. Same as me, actually: I have a normal IQ and I'm failing a lot of classes, not because I'm stupid but because of a whole heap of other things I haven't figured out how to get past yet.

With the language problems... those are characteristic of HFA more than Asperger's. (High-functioning autism; it's differentiated from Asperger's mostly because HFA includes a language delay, and Asperger's must have a normal IQ, while HFA may be either high, low, or normal IQ.)

I'd think your dx is correct. IQ and low grades need not have anything to do with each other. I had lousy grades but a high IQ, and it wasn't until my university days that the grades improved. My experience is that grades improve if the subject does.

Welcome to WP from another Scandinavian, BTW!