After meeting one person with an ASD...

Post Reply New Topic

Anyway I suspect I have AS but not for sure. A few years ago I met one person that was diagnosed with an ASD, but I don't know which one it was. Anyway, I thought after meeting that person, I would be able to spot another person on the spectrum easily.

I was wrong..... I just met someone today and found out he has Asperger's. Now mind you, he acted differently, maybe a little like the other guy, but not exactly. Also he made some eye contact, which would have thrown me off.

Can you easily spot people with AS, or is it so different case by case that it's impossible to know for sure?

I don't know. There have been some people I've met who I'm pretty sure were autistic, but never having had them confirm or deny my guess, I can't really tell. The times I've met people I knew were autistic beforehand, I was of course biased by the information I already had about them, though I can tell they are different from the average. Their speech and movements don't have the same sort of rhythm as NTs' do. (If you want to try to look at a person that way, you will probably have to ignore their words. If you are like me, the words will take up all of your thinking, if you are thinking about them, and you won't be able to tell how they are moving and what their speech patterns are like.)

People always think I'm looking them in the eye when I'm really just watching their mouths. And I saw this man who is the head of some AS research department (I forget where) who has AS but you'd never know by the way he presents himself. He was amazing. I think he could convince anyone he was NT.

Hello again Angnix.

For me it depends. I've met some people where I can tell immediately and others I had no idea. I may not be the best at following through with it but I do make an attempt to maintain eye contact because it has an effect of how other people, particularly the kinds of people who can employ you and give you money, treat you and what they are likely to think about you. Personally, I would tell anyone who can put on a mask of a friendly smile and eye contact to do so whenever working in whatever profession they choose at the least. If you cant, im not saying you should have to. but if you can, I would.

I like the evil platypus... lol

Anyway, I in fact do make eye contact actually. I am actually over-animated in the face and I have over-exaggerated gestures.

What will help is I just moved and I got an appointment with a new psychiatrist. I was told the guy I happened to be placed with was an expert in autism actually. I don't think I'll tell him what I suspect, but I'd like to see if he spots something.