Is it possible I have Asperger's?

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Hello everyone, I've explored this website on a few occasions because I believe I may be on the spectrum for Aspergers. I never really thought about it until recently, when I started reading the book "House Rules" by Jody Picoult which features a boy with Aspergers Syndrome. I'm seventeen and have always had issues with certain things growing up and shown several signs of behaviour that has been linked to Aspergers. From a young age I've had an obsession with arranging objects in a line depending on size and colour, I'm sensitive to noises like pencil tapping, gum snapping, chewing, they're like knives in my brain. Sudden loud noises give me a panicky, flighty feeling and I feel violent, like I need to strike out (I try to stop myself but sometimes I can't, its just like a reflex). I went to a birthday party when I was seven and there was a balloon popping competition and I ran out of the room into the street to get away from the noise. I can't eat certain textures, like beans and celery, because they make me throw up and feel squeamish.
If anyone touches me, in particular my head or my hair, I get the feeling that I'm being invaded. I get nervous when I look people in the eyes and usually can only hold their gaze for a few seconds before I have to look away, it just makes me feel very vulnerable. I feel safest when I'm in my room with my blankets piled on top of me and with my eyes shut and my hands over my ears, rocking a little bit. I get what I call "change sickness" if any of my routine gets changed. I have, almost like panic attacks, if anything changes in my life, like when my mom decided I needed a different dresser. When she moved it into my room I got a headache, a nervous stomach and I couldn't sleep and ended up vomitting. It takes me a long time to re-adapt to changes, and I hate change. I have to shower every night at 5:30 PM, shampoo first and rinse 5 times during the course of my shower to make sure all the shampoo gets out. I have to shower at this time on school nights because if I shower later, my hair isn't dry by the time I go to bed and my pillow gets damp, which I hate and I don't like blow drying my hair because of the noise and how it flaps my hair around my face. On the weekends, I usually don't shower.
I always feel the need to touch things, if I'm walking in a store I need to feel the texture of all the different items, it confuses my mother a little bit but I can't really explain it. I have a various and widespread knowledge of hundreds of different topics, my Grandfather calls me "A fountain of useless knowledge" and sometimes I get on a rant about things that interest me and my friends laugh at me, but I think the topics are interesting and I just feel compelled to talk about them.

I try to keep a lot of this to myself because my parents think I'm just being difficult, but things have gotten harder this year, my last year of high school. I confided in one of my friends that I think I may have Aspergers and he basically makes fun of me now and gets everyone to tap their pencils in class to make me angry, to try and touch my hair and those sorts of things.I've had to leave the classroom and work out in the hallway because I've been on the verge of a breakdown and I've hit my friends before without meaning to because they grabbed my hair. They think it's funny but they don't understand, and I tell them that and they just laugh. I don't understand why they think it's funny to act this way. Sometimes I get home and just have to take three or four Gravol or sleeping pills just to calm me down because I'm just a bundle of nerves waiting to explode. I've thrown things and broken things in my room without meaning to, I just get home from school and explode and clean everything up before my parents get home so they don't find out. I've started drinking because when I'm drinking people are less likely to try and do things to get a negative reaction from me, but I don't like to. My friends also tease me because I take things they say literally sometimes. I've gotten good at differentiating between things they say and if they really mean them, but sometimes they say something sarcastic and I take them serious and they tease me.

I am generally very good when it comes to talking with people I know, but when it comes to strangers who strike up conversation, I always interject at the wrong moments because I don't know when the appropriate time to speak is, and I end up scaring them by talking about Congenital Insensitivity To Pain With Anhidrosis or Hypohidrotic Ectodermal Dysplasia ( I have a particular fondness and interest for diseases and medical conditions and disorders) or I just start quoting movies (which is a behaviour I share with the boy in the book I mentioned) If I'm around people for a prolonged period of time I feel crowded and uncomfortable and prefer to be around animals like dogs, I've always gotten along with dogs since I was young and I feel very at ease with animals.

I have a knack for the piano, I cannot read sheet music but if I hear someone play a song on the piano or if I listen to a song I can decipher the notes and master the song usually within a day depending on how interesting the song is to me.

I'm going to see my Pediatrician in June (I know I'm old to have a Pediatrician, but she's been my family doctor since I was a new born and I don't like change) and I've recently started to be more open with my mom about some of the things I've been experiencing. She wants me to get tested for Aspergers but I have some questions.

1) If I am diagnosed, will it affect my ability to get a job? I haven't been able to actually get a job yet and am not looking forward to getting a job and working with strangers, but I understand it's going to be necessary at some point in my life.
2) Are there any particular ways of helping reduce my anxiety with things like Change and being touched and noises. (I originally thought I must have suffered with Hyperacusis, which is an over-sensitivity to certain frequency ranges of sound, since I suffered a severe concussion at the age of four and head trauma is associated with it)
3)How exactly do I go about the process of getting tested? I live in New Brunswick, Canada. My mother seems to think, rather discriminately, that because I am "normal" looking (what does that even mean?) that theres no way I could possibly have Aspergers, and I am afraid to broach the topic with my Pediatrician as I'm afraid she'll react in the same manner.What does the test entail?
4) Does it sound as if I could have Asperger's?


I am sorry for typing out such a long winded rant, I intended this to be short but I needed to get this off to chest and what better way to seek information than on a forum dedicated to Autism and Asperger's. Thank you in advance for any help and advise you are able to provide.

It sounds to me like you have Asperger's. I am not really sure how a diagnosis would affect your ability to get a job since I've never gotten diagnosed or tried getting a job, but I would think just having the condition would make getting a job and keeping a job difficult, depending on what it is. I don't know much about the process for getting a professional diagnosis, but I recommend getting one.

Edit: If you want to know for sure if you have AS or not, you can always look at the criteria used for diagnosis. But a professional diagnosis could be more helpful with getting some extra help when it comes to finding jobs.

If you search DSM IV TR criteria for Asperger's, you will find a lot of helpful information. I did have the criteria on here already, but I was afraid the material was copyrighted, so I had to remove it.

Sounds to me like you could have it.

Lol my mother thought that autistics couldn't talk, so when I told her I thought I had AS, she said there is no way I do... How wrong she was. I think in some ways, she saw herself in me. She was afraid when she found out that I did have it, for that might mean that she might have it. If your mom thinks that way too, she might not initially be supportive of a diagnosis, so tread carefully. Sometimes it takes time for people to come around.

I'm from Canada as well, and I was referred to a psychologist through my university, who did a psycho-analytical assessment for learning disabilities. She then suspected AS and asked me some questions as well as asked my parents some questions about me growing up. If you had a psychologist or counselor before, they may want to discuss certain issues as well relating to a diagnosis. Definitely, though if you go to a pediatrician, they should be able to refer you to a psychologist. I'd say go to a psychologist who has experience with Asperger's if you can, because not all psychologists have diagnosed it correctly in the past.

In my experience, getting diagnosed can affect your job search as much as you like. If you want to keep it under wraps, that's fine, or if you want to risk partial or full disclosure, that's fine too. It helps though to access disability services which could help you get skills relating to finding and keeping a job. It also helps since a psycho-analytical assessment will indicate your areas of strength and weakness, so you may be a better advocate for where you might need accommodations in the workplace, even if you do not want to disclose your diagnosis.

I read that book 'House Rules' also. I liked it because they made Jacob so clever he could do RFLP in his bedroom. I did not like how the author ended the book though.
I also like to read about medical conditions and diseases. I mostly like to learn about congenital birth defects as I am also interested in genetics and embryology.