Can you be socially awkward/inept without having Asperger's?

Post Reply New Topic

If so, what's the difference? Where do you draw the line?

I think the line is drawn by seeing if the person has Aspergers. I think our behavior is not caused by upbringing, but rather our disability. People who do not have Aspergers act because of their upbringing, or perhaps other reasons.

I would say that it's definitely possible. Likewise, some aspies can be quite sociable.

Yes. You can have poor social skills for many reasons. Asperger's is a specific set of symptoms. There are three symptoms that are required for that diagnosis and then a host of other things that some Aspies may or may not have. There is a good wikipedia article about it.

So would you say that if you have all three characteristics, you're definitely an Aspie? And if you're missing one, you're definitely not? That seems to contradict what Tim Tex posted, I'm not sure I understand.

I think the point he was trying to make is that Aspergers is a neurological disorder. Thusly, there are textbook symptoms that will be prevalent. But, there will be varying factors in the disorder that will make every aspie different.

Forgive me if I am wrong, op.

No it sounds like you know more about it than I do. I didn't realize there were concrete textbook criteria; it seems like a lot of the posts I've read here say that it's almost impossible to get a truly reliable diagnosis.

I think at this point, Aspergers is very hard to diagnosis. I am not a physcologist (yet ), so I would not know for sure.

Yes, I think you can be socially awkward without AS. I think the line is drawn by seeing if you fit the other criteria of AS. And I agree with Tim that there can be social aspies. Many people brushed me off saying I wasn't AS because my social skills were 'too good.'

If you have good social skills what led you towards an AS diagnosis? Is it just "stimming" or being sensitive to certain stimulants? Obviously I don't know exactly from where I speak but that sounds more like OCD/Tourette's to me. That's why I'm confused.

I think people learn to be social when they have Aspergers.

That's what the folks who decide what it takes to diagnose things decide. If you have two of the three you might be PDD-NOS or something but you're not an Aspie as decided by current psychological standards. This has nothing to do with my personal opinions. I'm not a psychiatrist.

Aspies have trouble with social perception. That doesn't mean that ALL of them have poor social skills. There are many ways to get around social perception issues and many levels of severity. Having a challenge in an area doesn't always mean failure. I suspect there are some Aspies who have excellent social skills because they've taken the time to learn social skills in their own way. A few may have such severe perception issues that they can't ever be great at social skills, but everybody can work with what they've got. I know plenty of NTs with lousy social skills, they just have different reasons for them than Aspies do.

Yes. Social awkwardness is only one characteristic of Aspies. A lot of NTs are more socially awkward than me at this point.

What I'm wondering then is what "social perception" is defined as. You say NTs can be socially awkward for "different reasons;" what then are the typical Aspie reasons?

I think it has not fully to do with a label but a person's temperament (disposition) plays a big factor. I have a cousin that I also define as a geek that is NT and he is socially awkward but he makes the effort to do the social thing, he turned 30 years old this year and has made had one or two girlfriends and has very few friends.