Are you ALMOST an Aspie?

Post Reply New Topic

I am borderline human.

I am good at keeping notes, it was of interest. The test is rigged.

Listing all traits, I have enough to get in the game.

Some of the ones I would consider most debilatating, I do not have, and what I do without a doubt, I have from mild to mid range.

One I do have is assigneing a point value, each trait, weighted for severity, and then each trait by degree.

Acording to the online test, Aspie. And strong. near the top range.

That's me, 100%, not much NT here.

Adding up the possible score, all traits to the max, based on my 100%, I get 6,583%.

There are people here stronger exibiting each trait than I, but they can still type. They are people, just dealing with a different mix. Some do seem to get a bit more for their 100%, but not much.

Many claim to have missed the fun stuff. Most of the treated seem to have had the creativity trait treated with drugs and cattle prods. It was one the world could reach, an they went after what they could see.

Being as Aspies are rare, no culture to support them, living in an NT world, aculteration, taking on the traits of the dominant culture. Like Cargo Cults, they clear a space in the jungle, build planes, airstrips, hangers, from bamboo, to bring in the planes carrying cargo.

They try, but everyone smiles behind their back. Not NT, just a monkey in a cute outfit.

AS meanwhile, is not a culture, a people, a tribe, or village, it is a Culture of One.

I never knew, so I studied what I was, different, with talents. I learned of AS recently, and had an opposite reaction, rejecting NT, and having found what I was, went full time. I found support for my long held belief that there was just something wrong with people.

I was never a believer, I just now call my acting skills, acting skills.

They all saw something different, and wanted to be better than me, I saw them as all the same, and saw them coming. They not only leave me alone, they stay out of my Zip Code.

I would say fully AS, but my personallity after long dealing with the world, is Dxed Killer Ape. I am an old Silverback, you want to come tell me to smile, make eye contact, and be a good little monkey? You are much dumber than you look.

Women get by much better than men. I think they are just as common, but culturally hidden. Like the saying, Haldol makes good housewives, AS is seen as a plus in women, and with a bleach job, they can be excused as blonds.

We might pass, but we will never be members. We can deal with them, rule them, but we can never be them. We can lie to ourselves, but they know.

So Adrie, do not close you WP account, for you will find yourself more here than in the world.

No. you either have it or you don't have it. You cannot "almost" have it. You can have another disorder/syndrome on the spectrum, but you cannot almost have it.

Nope, I'm definitely all the way there.

You do know what "spectrum" means, right? By definition, if one is on the spectrum just a bit to one side of the chunk called "Asperger Syndrome," then one almost has it. Just like on the light spectrum, the color just before yellow, orange, is almost yellow.

Actually, I think I'm almost an autie.

if a person cannot meet even minimum criteria for AS then they are not aspie by definition,that does not make people any less worthy of being on the spectrum-many WPers are not aspie.
it'd be different diagnosis and not neccessarily a specific label-PDDNOS if affected enough or ASD traits or just 'on the spectrum'.
almost having it is not the same as having it because people who almost have aspergers but not quite,would very likely get the PDDNOS diagnosis as it's there for those who are not quite any of the other labels.

I score high AS, and on good days, feel Autie.

I turn mute, am focused on what I am doing, and can shut out the world.

The declared Auties here make a lot of sense to me.

On bad days I can out NT the best of them.

A spectrum, and a flickering needle.

Autie is happy.

point is........ the line where you put a DX is subjective. all these names only serve to pigeonhole a spectrum of the same thing.

yes... you can either be DXed as an aspieor not.... but it's just a name

2ukenkerl

Yes sorry your right - incorrectly read, happens when I rush to much

I'm glad to see someone mentioned PDD-NOS. I agree, Asperger's has some "minimum criteria", but keep in mind that the range is covers between "minimum" and say, High Functioning Autism, can be large. From what I've seen HFA is definitely "farther down" the spectrum. I like the 0-100 analogy. Yeah, I'd put Asperger's about halfway. I won't debate whether that's halfway to disability or halfway to genius. I told a school administrator here, after a meeting about my youngest son, I suspect in the long run, we will discover that "classic autism" is what happens when Asperger's goes wrong.

Several of the traits Asperger's usually displays, increased intelligence, hyperfocus, knowledge retention, creativity all have an evolutionary advantage. The genetic basis of the condition is well founded. When a "spectrum" individual produces offspring with an NT individual, the traits would be correspondingly reduced. They do seem to "lurk" though, as recessives. Which would be why two fairly NT parents would produce a spectrum child. Where only a few of the traits were reinforced, you would see a PDD-NOS individual. Where many are reinforced, an Aspie. When all of them combine, you'd find a classic autistic. At least in theory, or "according to the prophecy" depending on your preferences.

I also agree, "you don't outgrow it". My father was born in 1913, he was an almost textbook Aspie, who managed to adapt. From what I can piece together it took him until he was in his 40's to really get a good grasp of the NT world, and even then, he was always just slightly off the mark. My oldest brother, never did make the jump, he was trapped in the low end jobs and near poverty because of the inability to function socially. My other brother, did make the jump, but I think he was aided immensely by serving over 20 years in the Air Force. The "rigid" standards of a military life gave him a framework he could use. The "rules" didn't change. A major is a major and an airman is an airman. I managed to make the jump, by luck more than anything. I was fumbling from one social disaster to another in the workplace. My son's diagnosis, when I was about 40 opened up an entire world to me. Learning "why I am the way I am" allowed me to watch for it, change it, adapt. I'm still an Aspie. I didn't outgrow it. I learned to hide in plain sight. Look over some of the most gifted actors out there... how many of THEM show spectrum signs? I'd bet they do so well at "becoming other people" because they've had to do it all their lives...

Asperger's was introduced due to the very fact that there were children [and adults] who were clearly autistic but they could not attain a diagnosis of autistic disorder, as they were "borderline" or less. I'm sure there's people who are clearly "Asperger's" in that they show traits that are common in those with the disorder, but they aren't severe enough to warrant a diagnosis as there's no need, i.e., they need no special allowances made in schooling, employment and/or training in social skills (CBT therapy); no support in finding shelter and whatnot.

I dont know if I would be diagnosed as AS because I have a strong ADD element.. I have a poor attention span with academic stuff - the only things I am able to focus on are the things I am specifically interested in and then i am like a thirsty sponge trying to find out as much as i possibly can about it.

So i sort of vacillate wildly between unfocus and hyperfocus.

I have some sensory sensitivities.. visual is the strongest, then touch, then audial.

socially i am very warm and friendly but im kind of clueless, i see interaction in a sort of 2-dimensional sense.. i always have the sense that there is stuff going on i cant see.

I grew up with the feeling that everyone was "nice" but I now realise that this was because I was so naive.

Emotionally I am unempathetic and very blunted, yet my moods and fears are so wild that i naturally seek to understand people and help them, this sort of gives me a "secondary empathy anchor".

Also i dont like eye contact.

So I dont know. I feel at home with AS and I identify myself as AS/ADD but I dont think im as far along the spectrum as some AS people I meet.

One thing I know I AM NOT is NT. It is like my brain has a big hole where a lot of the NT stuff would be in an NT person.

I think that I'm borderline AS and HFA.

Sid :O)

As for outgrowing, you can't outgrow AS, but you can outgrow some traits, learn to adapt etc. I have done that myself with several things.
Or you can outgrow e.g. a special obsession or a special stim, but still have others.

PDD-NOS.

All right, I've been taking notes as I read the last posts, so I can respond to some of them...

KingdomOfRats - None of my family members display too many AS traits, but maybe they are recessive, as someone else said...I'm not sure.

Phagocyte - I too am on the WP because I feel more at home here than with most NTs I meet in real life. It's good to know that others feel the same way, because I definitely want to stay here...

ShadesOfMe - Of course you either have it or you don't. That's my point. I have many traits but maybe not enough to be diagnosed, so I believe I do NOT have AS. Saying that I "almost" have it means that I have a lot of the traits. And like you and others have mentioned, maybe I am somewhere else on the spectrum, who knows? I think I understand your point, but I do believe you can still "almost" have AS...

Danielismyname - Yes, maybe many are not diagnosed because there is no real need for a diagnosis. I suppose I don't "need" a diagnosis, either.

Zen_mistress - I relate to your post, because I also think that even if I'm not a true Aspie, I'm not very NT either! I suppose this means I might be somewhere else on the spectrum...?

Hope I covered everything there, LOL.

It's difficult because I'm sure the majority of people have one or another (or many) autistic traits, so a cut-off is necessary (or the whole world would be on the spectrum). I suppose if I'm not quite an Aspie, then maybe PDD-NOS fits me (and others like me), but I don't know. I've spent months thinking about all this, and in the end I just can't figure out what's going on, or whether to pursue any diagnosis at all. I just want to know what I am for myself.

But then I have to ask myself: why am I trying to label myself? I know that I don't always fit in with NTs, so it would be nice to know where I DO fit in. But I know I need to be careful with that idea, because I don't want to pursue a diagnosis for the wrong reasons, or start exaggerating my AS traits for a diagnosis or anything. I want to be honest about this. I just think that I am honestly floating around, not quite NT, not quite Aspie, just a weird mix of traits, if that makes sense.

I'm wondering if others feel this way as well...