Hi all,
I decided to register here after lurking on ocassion. I was never formally diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, though it was suspecter when I was young. When I was a kid I had no interest in associating with my peers. I generally would fixate intensely on anything that I liked. Sometimes it would be a TV show or movie, but other times some scientific subject. I HATED being in crowds, and would become upset if exposed to loud noise. I hated certain textures, like the feeling of a wet car door handle. I also was, and still am, quite a picky eater because certain tastes, smells, and textures of food just repulse me. The diagnosis ended up being ADHD and OCD. I was put on Ritalin and Imipiramine. I think I was on the Impiramine for about a year, but was on Ritalin for many years. I opted to go off of it in Jr. High.
Fast forward to adulthood, I still struggle with a bad attention span, tend to be very prone to anxiety in social situations. I work retail currently and had major anxiety attacks during the season. Too much noise still bothers me. I am currently on a beta blocker to control my over-reactivity to sensory stimuli. I also seem to lack typical sexuality. I mean, I do enjoy the company of women at times and have dated a couple of times, but I have never had sex despite being in a relationship for nearly two years. I have absolutely no parental instincts at all. I am honestly baffled why people like babies. I know that's not an autism thing, but just the same it often makes me feel disconnected from human experience and feel like I am on the "wrong planet".
In any case, I am on the path to going to graduate school for neuroscience/psychology (my major area of interest is the neurobiology of personality, nothing really autism related).
I'd be interested to know to what extent those with or without asperger or other autism diagnoses relate to these particular experiences.
02 Jun 2014, 5:23 pm
