Misdiagnosed?

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Is it possible that I was misdiagnosed with Aspergers? I'm looking at the facts.

1.)I've been on this board for a few months, and I feel like a social genius compared to most people on here.

2.)I have no special interests and have never had any special interests, unless you include naked women, which is every straight man's interest.

3.)While I lack common sense, it isn't socially. It's more of a learning ability that affects me figuring out movie plots or understanding what I'm reading in a book or being able to pay attention in a classroom and grasp what the teacher or professor is saying.

4.)I got bullied because I have below average motor skills and an intense looking face (that has nothing to do with social skills, and everything to do with my physical appearance.)

5.)I don't have problems finding work due to lack of social skills or not being able to interview well, I stay away from jobs because of general incompetence in any area of life that would earn a salary and also because people make fun of my physical appearance, even co-workers.

6.)I'm not of above average intelligence. The best I could do on SATs was 980. (Granted that was 550ish English, 330ish math) but that just proves...most Aspies are adept at math and science. Math and science in high school kept me from ever getting the honor roll. I did well in History and English and language.


I'm not denying that there's a problem, there obviously is. But I think this Asperger thing has gone too far and it bothers me that my mom talks to and hangs out with mothers of adult children with Aspergers and she tries to get me to watch movies like "Adam."

If your motor skills are really bad it might be dyspraxia. Dyspraxic and AS symptoms overlap each other too.
I'm awful with maths, and I did poorly in school because I think I had undiagnosed inattentive ADHD.

I think you're right about being misdiagnosed. Usually you would have to have a considerably big problem with social interaction to get diagnosed.

I'm feel the same way about school and work. I hope one day you find a special skill and get a job that you will excel at.

I just read about dyspraxia and a couple things stand out. All of the symptoms seem to pertain to me, including poor posture (I have khphosis.) I'm also the kind of guy that cuts off people when walking or doesn't recognize when it's my turn to walk faster. Obviously, as well, when combined with driving a vehicle, this has spelt disaster and is why I don't have a license.

What doesn't add up is the reading. I can read words. When I was asked to read in front of the classroom, I could do so, maybe mispronouncing one word occasionally, but for the most part I read it like anyone else did. I was also in an accelerated reading program in kindergarten. However, like I've said, in college, I would read a book, be asked to analyze it, and I wouldn't grasp what I needed to grasp as far as the big picture. Same thing with some movies.

Writing is my talent, but it's more so typing than writing. My actual penmanship is horrible.

And also, while I have sub-par social skills, it isn't to the length of most of the Aspies and Autistics I've met and the ones on this board. It's more just "poor" but not "beyond help" poor.

Not all aspies are above average intelligence.

Dyspraxia usually has some symptoms of dyslexia, but it doesn't always. It could be like Asperger's with mild/moderate/severe forms. Daniel Radcliffe has dyspraxia but can read movie scripts.

Well it also says that dyspraxia can affect people in different ways.

I notice a lot of people on this board, regardless of their school or college level, love to read books. When I read books, even on a subject I enjoy, I read very slow, have to read the sentence again to make sure I understood it, and then sometimes still don't understand it. Same thing when teachers or professors gave lectures...I heard the words in real time, but didn't grasp them. They meant nothing to me.

I used to be like that. My mum even noticed it once she home schooled me. I didn't really appreciate her saying 'you know what it means' when I really didn't. My reading comprehension was poor in college. Glasses make it a bit better, because of my light sensitivity. Reading comprehension was something I eventually got the hang of.
I still have a problem with explaining to someone what I've read, for example when renting out movies someone would ask me what it was about and I'd tell them to read it for themselves because I couldn't explain it.
I still have to re-read things over and over if I'm not processing them properly.
It's got to do with impairments in the frontal lobe and the verbal processing (or lack of) is to do with an impairment in the left hemisphere of the brain. Are you more visual? Do you learn better with pictures? I find even when I'm reading the words look more like pictures.

I don't learn better visually either. I also wear glasses and wouldn't be able to see anything without them. The thing is, the simple explanation that I'm an idiot doesn't hold water, because as you can see, I can articulate myself, and I've written an entire book on the first 25 years of my life (not published) and also I can hold 2 hour conversations about nothing with neurotypicals. But "something" is missing. For example, my dad noticed that there was a plastic container on the burner (not the one I was using) and got mad at me because I didn't notice it or take it off the stove in case of a fire. Or a boss (when I was working) would tell me to do something, and I didn't understand what the hell he meant..and this was at a simple shipping/receiving stock pilling job.

Sounds like an information processing problem with a poor short term memory. It could be inattentive ADHD/ADD. People with ADD often don't notice things like a plastic container on the burner. I often don't notice things like that.
I can completely relate what you're going through, just don't give up on getting work. Maybe if you go in for an ADD evaluation you can get some help with processing and memory problems. Even if it's not ADD a doctor might know what's going on.