I'm so AS, I don't even appear to be AS?

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You know how something that's so pink, it doesn't appear to be pink anymore because it's red? Is it possible I'm sooooo AS, that I appear to not have AS and so many people assume by default that I'm NT? Just curious.

I can't see how this would be possible, because neurotypical traits ar essentially different from AS traits, so you could not be mistaken for an NT by being deeper in the spectrum. What would be more likely is that you are so deep into it that you would possibly be mistaken for having another disorder, like some form of psychosis, but only by a layman... I think the average doctor or another Aspergian would recognize the AS traits easily.

Oh yes, that's the right, the other possibility of "psychotic" seems far more likely if I'm not AS but seriously lack some "common sense" and other significant socially impairing interpretation issues and exhibit other odd eccentricities that shares some commonalities with AS. Given the delusional nature of my "Superior overlord of all that awesome" line, that's probably more accurate.

Um, no...

People who are sooooo AS appear autistic. People who appear NT are usually NT (or have very mild AS).

Not entirely accurate, Littlelily.... AS has slightly different criteria than autism. Aspergians are always verbal, so to be extremely Aspergian would have to imply talking intensely and perserverating about a focused topic... which happens... and is one reason why adult Aspies can sometimes be misdiagnosed as bipolar II... which is exactly what happened to me!

Last edited by dyingofpoetry on 12 Jun 2011, 1:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

I have never met a person with severe Aspergers who appeared NT, no matter how verbal, etc they are. A person with severe Aspergers seems "autistic" in the sense that they seem like a person with severe Aspergers. The only people I have ever met that seem NT on the surface are people with very mild Aspergers...and once I talk to them, they do not seem NT anymore.

Lot of aspies in my group seem NT. So they must all be very mild?

What makes someone appear autistic vs. appearing NT?

I assume things like stimming, prosody, affect, how one converses, etc.

You think everyone is mild. You think I am mild. Me thinks you are not such a good judge of "mild".

I don't think it's so much a matter of "mild" or "severe" Asperger's, as how much you've worked on masking things. You learn things by practice: it's just harder for us to learn some things. But as we get older, we've learned -- how not to monopolize the floor in a conversation, how to sacrifice our own most preferred subject, to make eye contact, etc. Many therapists won't even try to diagnose an adult Aspie: as kids, the tendencies show more. Someone said that "most doctors would spot it" -- I beg to differ there, I think most doctors would _not_, especially the older generation of doctors. I was only diagnosed at 65, and I've been around doctors and psychologists most of my life. It took my daughter to spot it, and she's been working at figuring me out all her life, and has had a couple of very recent Counseling courses to boot. Of course, she couldn't officially diagnose me: took me to a PhD at the State Children's Hospital for that.

I don't, however, think that you can be so very Aspie that it looks NT. As you get older and older, trying to fit in with people, you can look more NT than you did.

I was joking because littlelily said those who look NT are very mild AS. Of course they seem NT, aspies look like normal people. AS doesn't give you any looks to tell people you have a disability after one first look at you.

Just to let you know, I got your joke. This is one more piece of evidence that I'm NT with "issues".

Last edited by swbluto on 12 Jun 2011, 9:20 am, edited 1 time in total.

The reason for that is because we look normal on the outside.

With all do respect, you spend too much time fixating on the label. Getting labeled Aspie doesn't change very much. The process of acquiring that label can change a great deal of things. During that process you can go through some fundamental shifts in self perception and learn ways to compensate for your issues. But you have to focus on the process and part of that process is accepting that Asperger's may not be part of the picture. There is nothing right or wrong about this. It is far more important to engage in this process and come to understand yourself. The label will come. It may yet be Asperger's. Or it may not. That is irrelevant if you aren't working through the process.

It is possible. But that is probably because you are mildly AS, not very AS. A truly AS died in the wool Aspie will have social difficulties (particularly when young) that cannot be mistaken for normal.

ruveyn

I agree with this, appearing completely normal on the outside, to everyone.