I cant tell if im on the spectrum or not

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I do not know if i'm on the spectrum or just inherently socially awkward. When I was younger I experienced various cognitive delays and was diagnosed with Aspergers at the age of 3. I went through speech therapy till freshman year of high school , occupational therapy till 7th grade, and physical therapy for 2 years. I can be social in one on one situations but not at all in groups or with people I don't know well. I get along well with teachers but I have few friends my own age and I keep them for 2 yrs at the max. I get angry when criticized and occasionally blurt out insensitive things I have focused interests but I don't talk about them unless they are brought up in conversation. I sometimes understand sarcasm, and sometimes I don't. I have poor gross and fine motor skills. I also do feel empathy and enjoy the company of others, but I also spend a lot of time by myself doing research on my focused interests. I can read faces but I cant even tell when body language is used. Any thoughts? I am 17 and a junior in high school now

Well, you were diagnosed.

I know it's not a perfect science.


Do you have sensory issues?

Last edited by kraftiekortie on 02 Apr 2014, 6:36 pm, edited 3 times in total.

I cant stand the taste , or smell of mint, or puff pastry. I also get very overwhelmed at big parties

What overwhelms you?

Noise, attempting to get into the conversation but with no avail. I will say though that once I get started on my focused interests , I cant get off them. I do have a routine of having two servings per meal and usually order the same thing when I visit the same restaurant twice or more.. Saying things like thank you and sorry feel unnatural and with the motor skills I still cant tie shoes tightly. My parents have also said Im a mixture of Sheldon Cooper and Raj from the big bang theory if that helps.

My sister says I am a mixture of Temperance Brennan and Brick Heck And me, of course.

I don't know if we can help you because we can't really see you or see how you react etc.
Based on your descriptions it sounds like an aspie, but it can also sound like an nt, since most people have special interests, hate some kind of smell etc
Let's explore more details: what about anxiety? prosopagnosia? executive function? orientation skills? social skills? sensory processing? visual and verbal intelligence? meltdowns? emotional control? rigidity? attention to detail? "useless" rituals? tables and statistics? voice pitch and entonation? stimming? overall functioning level? characterization and intensity of interests? being picky with food? trouble with sleeping? comorbids like ocd or adhd? family history? childhood and evolution of traits? social echolalia? social isolation and/or bullying?
can you talk a little bit about those things specifically, with examples?
It's not necessarily to have it all of course, but it can help to find other aspie traits.

I don't understand. Why do you doubt your diagnosis?

I think you should do some "aspie" tests until you get "another" interview with a mental health professional (diagnosis at a early age are more probable to be wrong than at older ages).

Tests: Autism Quotient ( http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html ), Ritvo Autism Asperger's Diagnostic Scale ( http://www.aspietests.org/ ).

If you are really "obsessed", you can go to http://ndar.nih.gov/ndar_data_dictionary.html and try to decode some of the tests (Specially the ADOS module 4).

I don't like this autism quotient, but this RAAD-S is really good. This is the one I sent my sister to answer for me without telling her what it was. It is a good idea to ask a relative to do it for you, say it is some kind of personality test.

One on one with a familiar friend there is no anxiety, with groups of familiar people and especially with people I don't know, I feel extreme anxiety. TBH I really don't know my face reading ability. AS far as executive function I have very poor time management and I remember details very well. As far as orientation skills I have difficulty adapting to new things and takes me longer than average to get acclimated (I got written up at my job for learning things late) . I have been called socially awkward in the past , have an extreme anger problem, have an above average IQ according to teachers. I often use statistics to back up my point as statistics is actually one of my focused interests. I was always bullied in gym class and remain socially isolated. My parents also note that I speak with a very loud voice

I doubt it because I have been called insensitive for saying ive been diagnosed

None of the stuff you mentioned rules out having AS. Is there anything about you that you think is abnormal for a person with AS?

I'm not sure I understand this.

What are you hoping for?

I am generally viewed as very compassionate , can make eye contact , I know when its my turn to speak , im not clinically depressed , I don't bring up my intrests unless they are brought up in conversation. ( I don't know if sppech therapy was what helped me though) as far as what im hoping for im hoping that im not insensitive and that there is a reason behind my inability to find a girlfriend and keep long lasting friendships

It doesn't seem likely that someone afraid of being insensitive is actually insensitive.

You have a diagnosis, surely it could explain the issues that you have.




For what it's worth, I bet it's rare that any one person fits EVERY stereotype about AS out there...