I don't think I had Aspergers when i was yonger.

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Right now I'm 17 and although i'm undiagnosed, i know I have Aspergers. But until I was 13 or so I think I was a NT. when I was little I was really social, I always wanted to play with my friends and I had a great imagination, I never had problems communicating or making eye-contact either. but around 13 though, I started to become quieter in school, I didn't really want to hang out or socialize too much, but I still didn't really have any social anxiety or anything like that. as I got older it seemed like I started to get more and more Aspie like, (I.E. I never had any problems with eye contact until recently) and now I think I have most traits of the average Aspie. has anyone else noticed this? Or am I just over thinking things?

Over thinking things?

Asperger's is a developmental disorder. It doesn't just come all of a sudden when you are a teen. It's very unlikely you have it and something else is causing you to mimic the symptoms.

Maybe you're schizophrenic? That manifests later.

Same here. But I was letting out all my nervous social energy and getting into trouble a lot from it. And my friends weren't really that great because I was faking it all since I thought it was needed or something and didn't realize until later that I was playing the role of an idiot for them. I was really clumsy and pretty uncomfortable. It took me awhile to appreciate that other people have boundaries; I used to hug girls randomly and get sent to the principals office because, I don't know why, I like women I guess.

I don't know.

^^ THIS ^^

It may become more obvious as a teen ... or even later in life ... as the social interactions become more complex and any coping mechanisms you have figured out for yourself are no longer enough ... but it will always have been there and there will be some of evidence of it from very early childhood.

Although somehow I was diagnosed at 8, I still never considered myself as a typical Aspie child, especially reading how other Aspies on WP and other Autism sites say how Aspie they were as a child then looking back at my childhood and comparing how I was (by watching videos of me and looking at photos). In photos I was usually smiling and never had a blank face, even as a young baby. And I've got a few videos of my year in our school Christmas plays, and I blended in with the other children, sang along with them. Also, I remember playing out with other children in the neighbourhood when I was between 5 and 11, and I don't seem to remember having any problems communicating or problems joining in imaginary games with them. We used to make up really adventurous games and play for hours on hot summer afternoons. I did all the kid stuff too, like riding bikes and scooters, buying sweets, making tyre swings in the woods, playing with toys, watching Nikolodeon, collecting Pokemon cards (which were the latest craze in primary school) and swapping them with other kids in the playground (which was social and everybody was doing), and the list goes on. I might of had Aspie moments, but not any to speak of. I think, for a diagnosed Aspie, I wasn't that typical for an Aspie child. I was more like a shy anxious NT with some extra help in maths and some (or probably all) other subjects. OK, one typical Aspie thing - I was afraid of the noise of the bell ringing, but that's all. But even then, I told all the teachers, and I never had a meltdown when it did ring when I was near it. I just quickly put my hands over my ears and walked on. In fact, meltdowns and obsessions started when I was 11, and so did all my other Aspie symptoms. Perhaps I was so happy before I started puberty that I didn't show many Aspie traits. Perhaps it was because I got a lot of support through school, I don't know .

Your probably right, I guess there have been a few signs, but nothing too big. I never thought about how social interactions become complex and how things that I've learned just don't cut it.

All ASDs are something someone is born with. Many parents notice the symtoms from birth or infancy. Many others notice when kids are toddlers. And many do not notice until there kids are put into social situations in school--but then realize that there were signs earlier that they had not picked up on. Many disorders can cause aspie-like symptoms (even such things as anxiety, depression, OCD...and then also things like schizophrenia spectrum disorders ie. schizoid and many other conditions), but they are still not autism. You cannot develop autism as an adult or a teenager. It is always there. So I think you might not want to give up on your research just yet.

The specific symptoms you mention are being quiet, not socially interacting as much, and not being able to maintain eye contact now. That's not something necessarily related to Aspergers, or any other disorder, it could be part of the transition and adaptation from puberty into adolscence into adulthood, related to experiences after you turned 13.

But, only a qualified professional could get to the root of what was going on, understanding all the questions and tests necessary to get the best objective answers to your problems, if your parents and you see them as problems that require help.

Adolescence is a tough time, for everyone I think; if it's only a temporary reaction to your environment and adaptation to adolescence, it could be a temporary phase, if you had absolutely none of the symptoms of Aspergers before you were 13. It would be a good thing to talk over with your parents; they might have noticed things when you were growing up that you were not aware of.

this is certainly a big factor - when i was under 13 i would be obsessed with whatever toy franchise was the lastest craze (which of course everyone else was) so i suppose that conversationsal 'in' acted like a buffer for a while.

I can remember an exact moment when it felt like i detached from everyone else. It was at a disco, and everyone was starting to pair up for the first time. Suddenly the interactions around me had taken on a completely new undertone that i didnt get.

I was diagnosed as an adult and when I first told my mother I was pretty sure I had a form of autism, she looked at me like I was crazy. After she read a little about it, she started telling me about things I did as a child that she'd always thought were odd (not that I didn't already know my family thought I was odd), but until she began to list them, I had completely forgotten most of them, but it just goes to show you, I was very clearly an Aspie from the day I was born. Whether it was ever given a name or not, the behaviors were there, even more of them than I was aware of, and I was painfully aware that I was not like everyone else. I had no idea just HOW weird I seemed to everybody around me. I thought I was faking it fairly well. Apparently not so much.

I didn't really have problems until 4th grade or so. It was around that time when I started getting bullied and stopped really understanding my classmates.

Brain infections like encephalitis can easily worsen mild symptoms

My symptoms definitely worsened when I was 13, but when I look back I can see that I've always had them. They just became much more obvious.

For mild Aspies, I think symptoms come more visible when you hit your teens, because when you're a small child you play more, and I felt joining in imaginary games was much easier as a child, than joining in conversations as a teenager, because that's when they start getting more picky with who they want to hang out with and who they don't.

It then must get easier again when you become an elderly person, because old people find anyone to chat to, and they don't take the piss out of eachother so much, and some elderly people get a bit senile or get other ailments that sometimes affects their thoughts and feelings. From what I've seen, it seems that elderly people change in their social behaviour. I do vollunteering at a charity shop where I'm working with elderly people, and I find they talk more about interesting stuff, instead of the boring mainstream stuff like fashion, make-up, celebraties, and so on. I find they talk about interesting stuff like buses, the news, the weather, and even geographical stuff or historical stuff.

So I think I will have an easier time when I get into my 60s.

I see asperger's as something that has to grow and be accepted.. as you grow and learn about it you'll stop hiding it from everyone and feel more as yourself.. that atleast is how i did the task i just got diagnosed a few months ago and i really have been a different person in my youth, still introvert and alienated but more outgoing.