Do I have Aspergers? any advise would be really helpful:)

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Hello,

Im a third year econ student in Canada. For he last few months Ive been going through different forums and discussions related to aspergers syndrome, and it just shook me when most of its symptoms related to what happens with me regularly. But I still am unsure If I have it or its something else. So ill list out some of the stuff that I go through almost daily.

For one I for some reason can not talk to a person eye-to-eye.(The only exceptions being my immediate family and 1 or 2 frnds)
Most of the time when I meet my friends, I sometimes dont know how to start or continue a convo. Usually when only 1 of my friend comes, I usually call 2 or 3 other friends so that they can keep the conversations going for me.
I usually get nervous cramps when going to meet new ppl. And I almost always get nervous/panicky, for example I am doing an internship at a bank, and the work I am doing is really interesting, but once I am informed that I would have to stay late, I get nervous, I dont like being informed that I have to go somewhere or someone is coming to visit at the last minute. I tend to day dream a lot.
And most of my day dreaming is to do with stuff I am interested at that time, like checking out foreign exchange rates, just reading books like financial derivatives, etc. knowing that it will hard for me to understand them as they are graduate topics. I usually talk to myself and have no problem in spending even a week without much social interaction(which should not be normal), When I go out with my friends I later start feeling an urge to go back home as early as I can. If I get into a fight I begin to stutter and cant explain myself properly. And I enjoy taking long walks around 2-3 hours daily where I am mostly just imagining, or thinking about stuff.

And I have a bad habit of not taking criticisms gently, and usually I get depressed over it no matter how small it is. I have difficulty paying attention to my other topics of study. For example I did prtty well on my econ courses all were above A-, while my other courses such as business, psychology, history were around Cs to Bs, and also hard to study. I was for example in BBA for my first year but i got out as I was almost dying even thinking about the idea of giving class presentations.

I want to make new friends, but when I try I usually find out that either I dont know how to start a convo or I just dont have the guts to even stand besides a stranger.


Even writing this description was hard, as I have all the points clearly planned in my head, but hard to express them when typing or especially speaking.

Can anyone please help me here, as each day I am becoming more nervous, and am getting scared that these habits of mine will lead to failures in the future.

try this test: www.iautistic.com/test_AS.php

You are asking us to make a judgement on one paragraph by you own admission you did not get out all you wanted.

You could be shy not everybody is good at chatting.

Aspergers is not just being shy.

You could very well have Aspergers but you need to stick around here and do some reading and make a few more posts to get a better idea.

If you really start to strongly suspect you have it after that the next step might be a formal assessment like I am waiting on.

Most of us here are socially awkward here so don't let my post put you off.

If you think you may have it ignoring it will not make it go away if you don't have it don't jump to conclusions.

Stick around please this forum has helped me and I am sure it will help you.

Aspergers is different in each person, so it's hard to tell just from a few things. You should try to do as much research as you can, and this forum is a great place to do that as well as Aspergers tests and people on YouTube that have it and talk about it. Don't stop and assume either way until you're certain. A professional evaluation is also good.

http://www.aspietests.org

This has a fair amount of tests that might help.

I know the feeling ... I went to a clinic in Boston for testing, and all I kept thinking during it was, "If it turns out I have AS, everyone will accuse me of ACTING.

But now that the diagnosis came back, clearly AS, I was amazed at how suddenly calm I became. A lot of things fell into place that didn't make sense. It also occurred to me that even though I'm afraid of the crazy "normal" people out there (is the abbreviation NT? I'm new to all of this), I don't have to tell ANYONE that I have it, although I've told one of my three siblings and my father. One sibling is very religious and thinks even autism is "acting," and I usually leave the room before she starts quoting Bible texts.

If you're worried about reactions from jerks and haters on the internet, there's a "members only" section here which isn't searchable on the internet. I can't believe I just registered here and I'm already helping out. Good luck, and don't worry, you're among kindred spirits.

Online tests won't really do much. They are very subjective. You need to see a professional if you want an actual diagnosis.

A dx may or may not be helpful to you. Mine was because it simply explained a lot of things about myself to me. I was dx'd in my early 40's.

If you think you have it and if seeing some of your behaviors etc as AS symptoms helps you to deal with them better, then by all means do that. Unless you need some sort of actual therapy or support for it, I'd just say do whatever gets you through the day.

From what I've read here, professional opinions are quite often subjective and as arbitrary as the online tests. There have been numerous cases of misdiagnosis. Hopefully, as Asperger's is better understood, this will be less of a problem.

It's also possible that Asperger's as well as other disorders are different means to the same end - social ineptitude. Therefore, it's possible AS is the cause of the OP's problems, or it's possible that instead of AS, something else was at work that ultimately led to the same outcome.

A lot of what you wrote sounds very familiar. However, it is true that the opinions of people on a forum, just from reading your description, may not be completely accurate.

Try several of the linked online tests. If scores are consistent, it is likely that you have AS. I stopped at a self-diagnosis, because that is all I needed--a "label", as it were, that explains my particular brand of "weirdness." I'm not looking to "prove" anything. It was just a "Aha!" moment for me.

@salem44dream: yes, the usual term is "NT."

However, if you want to be sure, then yes (as OliveOilMom said), get a professional diagnosis, from someone who actually knows something about autism but will not be inclined to see it where it doesn't exist (this may be tricky, from what I've heard from other posters here).

Welcome aboard.

The only way I diagnose people is if they talk to me for 20+ minutes about a topic like model rockets or bicycles.

http://rdos.net/eng/

this test is the best one i could find

click on Aspie Quiz in the left margin

Yep.

Asking strangers you don't know to diagnose you with one paragraph online is like asking someone to cover their eyes and perform cosmetic surgery.

Haha, today I talked to my Mum for half an hour about roof's.

AS isn't just about social stuff.

The online tests - many of which are valid screening tools used by professionals - can help you highlight and identify problems you do have that are relevant to an autism spectrum diagnosis. The tests and some research can help you come to your own conclusions. However, no one here can read your posts and conclude whether you're autistic or not.

Getting a professional diagnosis has benefits and drawbacks, and if you're thinking about that possibility you should probably research them.

You don't need a professional to tell you whether you're autistic or not. I certainly didn't. But you might need a professional to validate that assessment (if it's correct) for bureaucratic reasons.

In your description I see several different significant traits.

First is your problem with conversations and non-verbal behavior. That's an autistic trait, not sufficient for diagnosis but definitely something you'd expect from someone on the spectrum.

Second, your significant distress due to social anxiety. You say you are worried about what others think of you and that you get nervous in social situations. This is not an autistic trait; many autistic people also have social anxiety, but it's a separate problem with a separate diagnosis.

Third, you have problems with change, unexpected and unfamiliar events. That tends to occur on the spectrum.

Your strong special interests are an autistic trait, especially since your interests are fairly unusual.

Expressive languge--speaking and writing--seem to be a problem for you. This is associated with autism, but also with many other learning disabilities and cognitive quirks.

Many of the other things you mentioned are not particularly a cause for concern. If you're an introvert, spending a week alone comfortably is normal for you. Your enjoyment of learning difficult material is not something to worry about; it's actually a positive trait. Talking to yourself, unless uncontrollable, is not a problem. Daydreaming and taking long walks makes you an introspective person, but not a particularly troubled one. Depending on how difficult it is for you to concentrate, that distraction and daydreaming could be a problem, or it could be the normal distraction that everyone experiences. (The important part is: Can you concentrate when you want to, and daydream when you want to?)

The main problem is: Do all these traits together cause problems for you that you can't deal with on your own and without help? If they do, then there's cause to seek an evaluation. But if there aren't any significant problems--if you're coping just fine and don't have to try much harder than the people around you--then you may have some autistic traits, but there's no reason to diagnose anything when there's no actual disability involved.

A doctor will, if he judges you do need help, probably evaluate you for either a missed diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder, social anxiety disorder, ADHD, or some combination of them.