Page 1 of 2 [ 28 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

sidney
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 21 Jun 2012
Gender: Female
Posts: 134
Location: Belgium

18 Feb 2013, 4:36 pm

Hello,

I recently took the Aspie Quiz which gave me the result of 100 Aspie, 99 NT.
I was 'diagnosed' as a gifted child at the age of 6. As a teenager, I sufferd from several depressive episodes and a couple of eating disorders. Despite, or because of my high IQ, I never got an actual degree, but because of my hard-headedness and perserverance, I find myself to be a -almost- fully functional adult with a furfilling job and a wonderful (gifted) child that I take good care of. I have not, however, been able to be in a relationship more than a couple of months. And I don't feel a real connection with any of my friends.

I know I piss off my friends with my tendency to be 'correct', with my incapability to empathise, with my disgust with socially acceptable gossip and judgement. Mostly, I will comply and oppress my natural tendencies. I know how to behave in a socially acceptable way. I now understand social conventions, and if all goes well, I might be the best listener in the room, and I even have been known to give out really good advice to people struggling with life themselves. However, sometimes, I blank out. Sometimes, I'm unintentionnaly rude and I momentarily forget all the conventions.

Are there any other 'borderline autists/NT's' out there? Did you go into therapy, do you tell your friends? I know there's some kind of twilight zone between giftedness and autism, I know there's no clear 'border'. I just don't know what I should do with that information.

Thanks for your time.



btbnnyr
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 18 May 2011
Gender: Female
Posts: 7,359
Location: Lost Angleles Carmen Santiago

18 Feb 2013, 4:45 pm

The Broad Autism Phenotype (BAP) describes people who have a mix of autistic and neurotypical traits.

BAP people generally have autistic traits at a mild level and are not significantly impaired by their mild autistic traits.

Research studies have shown that many parents of autistic children are BAP. Many autistic people have relatives who are BAP.


_________________
Drain and plane and grain and blain your brain, and then again,
Propane and butane out of the gas main, your blain shall sustain!


Yuugiri
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 20 Jan 2013
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,049
Location: Washington

18 Feb 2013, 4:46 pm

You could be PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified). It's what they diagnose you as if you fit certain AS(D) criteria, but not enough to warrant an AS(D) diagnosis. At least, that's my impression, I could be wrong.


_________________
Averages
AS: 138.8
NT : 54.6


RawSugar
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 1 Aug 2010
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 168
Location: Alberta, Canada

18 Feb 2013, 4:54 pm

Consider your childhood more than what you have achieved now. I have AS, but you'd never guess it because I have developed extremely thorough coping tactics.


_________________
Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter.


Ai_Ling
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 15 Nov 2010
Age: 36
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,891

18 Feb 2013, 4:58 pm

Yeah I have a similar result with my test. I was diagnosed as aspergers at 18, and was selectively mute through half of my childhood. Have a hard time making friends, and have a very hard time social networking, i have a hard time with maintaining acquintances and small talk. I get mistaken for being shy a lot. I've had people try to fix the social awkwardness and think they were just dealing with a socially awkward NT, never worked very well. I do have my bachelors and Im going onto my masters this upcoming fall. I am a workaholic and dont want kids. I'm convinced my aspie social impediments impair my ability to interact with children. Although I do know that a lot of aspies can still interact with children so no one ever believes me when I tell them I cant teach and work with kids. Academically I really took the hard route for some reason I dont entirely know myself. I do go to therapy which helps a lot because I cant work well with counselers without a background in autism or learning disabilities or else I end up fighting them. I am stubborn and hardheaded and do burn bridges when I get mad at people who dont understand. Authority figures either like me or not. The positives, Im a really hard worker. Negatives, I dont socialize much. If you put up a fight with me, I will hurt you (and myself) with my words.



naturalplastic
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Aug 2010
Age: 70
Gender: Male
Posts: 35,189
Location: temperate zone

18 Feb 2013, 5:01 pm

I've taken that online test. I get a similiar ambiguous score to yours (forget the exact score but around 100 for each category- 'you could be either NT or aspie").

But I finnally went to a specialist who gave me the exhaustive official test- and Im officially an aspie.

From what you're saying you seem atleast as aspie as I , if not more so.



Janissy
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 5 May 2009
Age: 58
Gender: Female
Posts: 6,450
Location: x

18 Feb 2013, 5:02 pm

sidney wrote:
Are there any other 'borderline autists/NT's' out there?


I am borderline autist/NT, BAP- as it is sometimes called. My daughter is a classic autist. This is a common combination as btbnr says.


Quote:
Did you go into therapy,

I went into therapy for other things not related to this.

Quote:
do you tell your friends?

My friends told me. When my daughter was diagnosed with classic autism I said she was like meX100 (my traits made extreme). My friends joked about mild similarities they could see.

Quote:
I know there's some kind of twilight zone between giftedness and autism, I know there's no clear 'border'. I just don't know what I should do with that information.


I don't know what to do with it either. I don't do anything with it really except post here. Also, I am not gifted. AS doesn't necessarily segue into gifted.



EXPECIALLY
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 20 Oct 2011
Age: 41
Gender: Female
Posts: 701

18 Feb 2013, 5:03 pm

o/

l'm not gifted though so l'm in the twilight zone for other reasons, l suppose.

l think there's a good number of NTs like us out there. You can't really talk about it with people unless you have a label that explains it, l feel like.

Like if l talked about feeling like l sometimes live in another dimension(which l do feel like) as an NT, people would assume l'm crazy or schizophrenic.

lf l could say l have an ASD and l feel that way, they would accept that. But l don't. So there is a definite grey area l live in as NT where my abilities can really go either way on a whim, like you said.

lt's a strange feeling because it can be unpredictable, l can have finely attuned social skills and intuition sometimes and other times, be completely disconnected and off-putting to others.

l do have an ADHD diagnosis that doesn't explain all my traits but it doesn't need to, l will sometimes mention it to other people so it doesn't seem like l'm just really strange, l think they still think l'm weird.

l've adjusted to it, l used to think l was going to lose my mind someday before l knew anything about AS at all, l had no idea why l felt depersonalized.l think my outlook is influenced by my behavior in a way, if l sort of "play" NT l start to resemble one more and am thus treated like one.

lf l start to feel more on the dissociated side of things, l will then start to go inside of my head and people treat me like an outsider because l behave more like one.


_________________
AD/HD BAP.

HDTV...

Whatever.


naturalplastic
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Aug 2010
Age: 70
Gender: Male
Posts: 35,189
Location: temperate zone

18 Feb 2013, 6:25 pm

I said it before. Ill say it again. You dont really know that you're not a full blown aspie until you get a real (not online) test from a doc testing you face-to-face.

I suspect that you're not 'borderline' , but a full blown aspie.

But you might be higher functioning than many other aspies.



sidney
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 21 Jun 2012
Gender: Female
Posts: 134
Location: Belgium

18 Feb 2013, 6:47 pm

Thank you for your replies. I'm going to read up on BAP and PDD-NOS.

@Rawsugar: It is true that looking at the way I was a a kid, I certainly was a little different. I remember not being able to say 'hello' until I was eight, for instance, but then again that could be extreme shyness. I've always been very sensitive to sound and visuals, but then again, sensitivity doesn't necessarily imply anything else than sensitivity. It's all very blurry. But maybe that's why they call it a spectrum.

@expecially: I very much relate to what you're saying. I usually tell people I have hyperaccusis, because noise, especially being in crowded places with many different noises, makes me edgy and nervous. It's a good cover for many occasions.



sidney
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 21 Jun 2012
Gender: Female
Posts: 134
Location: Belgium

18 Feb 2013, 6:50 pm

@naturalplastic: I filled out a form for a multidisciplinary test, but I never sent it. I can't really say why. I might print out a new one, though.



deltafunction
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 4 Jun 2012
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,094
Location: Lost

18 Feb 2013, 7:25 pm

I don't know. Like people have said, the only real way to know if you are autistic is to go get a diagnosis. There could be many different reasons for a borderline score - that test is all about your internal feelings, and the way the diagnose AS is part interview, part seeing your behaviour and part childhood assessment.

As you can tell from my signature, I have a similar score, but was diagnosed with AS. Uh, I don't want to get into the details, but I have little AS-related impairment in my life, and so.... well you get the picture. I think that I was misdiagnosed. Even an assessment is not fool-proof in cases like this.

I told people around me when I was diagnosed with AS. They were surprised, then I felt isolated and like it made them feel awkward around me. So I've stopped for that reason, and also because I couldn't tell them how it impacts me or how they need to react differently around me.

I went to therapy for sure, but it was mainly for different reasons. I was quite young, a high school student, when I sought help and a diagnosis. I had a lot of problems, so I understand why they thought that I had AS. In university, one therapist said that he thought that I had the capacity to understand social relationships, but I was holding myself back. I think that he is right. It didn't hit me until now though. I also had social skills help for a few months but stopped because I felt kind of insulted by the whole thing. I think that it was geared towards grade-school kids because university friendships are not as simple.


_________________
Your Aspie score: 93 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 109 of 200
You seem to have both Aspie and neurotypical traits


InThisTogether
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 3 Jul 2012
Age: 57
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,709
Location: USA

18 Feb 2013, 7:51 pm

sidney wrote:

Are there any other 'borderline autists/NT's' out there? Did you go into therapy, do you tell your friends? I know there's some kind of twilight zone between giftedness and autism, I know there's no clear 'border'. I just don't know what I should do with that information.

Thanks for your time.


Me. I don't remember my exact score on the Aspie quiz thing, but it was pretty close to down the middle. I would not consider myself "gifted," though my measured IQ rests on the cusp of "genius." I also have ADD, which I would estimate is in the moderate range. I didn't realize any of this until my kids were diagnosed and I had enough of those moments where I said "But I did that as a kid" or when I would describe my kids' behavior to someone else and realize I could equally be describing myself.

I have had therapy in the past for an ED, and once for depression. Neither really worked. The second seemed to make me worse. I am considering getting a coach for my executive dysfunction issues, primarily lacking in organization despite being a certified time management trainer.

For the most part, I do not tell my friends. Tell them what? That I am too quirky to be normal, but not quirky enough to qualify for any diagnosis?

What I have done with the information is to use it to cut myself some slack and to find alternate ways of learning to deal with things. I am also less anxious about certain things, like how I don't know where to put my hands and tend to stare right through people, because now I know why. I also try to stay on top of some of my executive functioning issues because I know they are "real" and not just me being lazy.

Welcome, btw! :)


_________________
Mom to 2 exceptional atypical kids
Long BAP lineage


Browncoat
Deinonychus
Deinonychus

User avatar

Joined: 14 Feb 2013
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Posts: 362
Location: Near one of the Great Lakes

18 Feb 2013, 9:54 pm

I didn't find out that I had AS until just over a year ago, and it still seems like I have some glaring contradictions. What I found was that while I may not be overblown, it's still an important part of me. The fact that I'm now aware of it and accept it and have family and friends who know and accept helps to make me feel more balanced and complete. It doesn't have to define me, but it is part of me.
You are you and autism, whatever the strength, is a part of you, but it's not the only part.



Rascal77s
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 12 Nov 2011
Age: 48
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,725

19 Feb 2013, 12:30 am

sidney wrote:
Hello,

I recently took the Aspie Quiz which gave me the result of 100 Aspie, 99 NT.
I was 'diagnosed' as a gifted child at the age of 6. As a teenager, I sufferd from several depressive episodes and a couple of eating disorders. Despite, or because of my high IQ, I never got an actual degree, but because of my hard-headedness and perserverance, I find myself to be a -almost- fully functional adult with a furfilling job and a wonderful (gifted) child that I take good care of. I have not, however, been able to be in a relationship more than a couple of months. And I don't feel a real connection with any of my friends.

I know I piss off my friends with my tendency to be 'correct', with my incapability to empathise, with my disgust with socially acceptable gossip and judgement. Mostly, I will comply and oppress my natural tendencies. I know how to behave in a socially acceptable way. I now understand social conventions, and if all goes well, I might be the best listener in the room, and I even have been known to give out really good advice to people struggling with life themselves. However, sometimes, I blank out. Sometimes, I'm unintentionnaly rude and I momentarily forget all the conventions.

Are there any other 'borderline autists/NT's' out there? Did you go into therapy, do you tell your friends? I know there's some kind of twilight zone between giftedness and autism, I know there's no clear 'border'. I just don't know what I should do with that information.

Thanks for your time.


There are trade offs for everything. You have a job that you like. You have a child. You have friends. Take my advice, forget wrong planet and forget a diagnosis, there is nothing to gain. If the price you pay for living a relatively normal life is that you suppress your natural tendencies just be thankful that you are able to suppress them. Don't tell your friends because you don't know how they will react and you can never take it back. If you want therapy don't bring up ASD, just get therapy for specific issues.

There is no cure for ASD. The only treatment is learning how to suppress natural tendencies in order to fit into society better. It sounds like you're a step ahead, don't take a step backward.



deltafunction
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 4 Jun 2012
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,094
Location: Lost

19 Feb 2013, 12:43 am

Rascal77s wrote:
There are trade offs for everything. You have a job that you like. You have a child. You have friends. Take my advice, forget wrong planet and forget a diagnosis, there is nothing to gain. If the price you pay for living a relatively normal life is that you suppress your natural tendencies just be thankful that you are able to suppress them. Don't tell your friends because you don't know how they will react and you can never take it back. If you want therapy don't bring up ASD, just get therapy for specific issues.

There is no cure for ASD. The only treatment is learning how to suppress natural tendencies in order to fit into society better. It sounds like you're a step ahead, don't take a step backward.


Yeah, agreed. Unless you have a reason to get a formal diagnosis, or unless you feel like it's causing you distress, there's not much point in getting it. As for researching it yourself, you are welcome to do so. I've tried and I just end up going around in circles, just because there is literally zero information on mildly affected aspie women, or even extroverted aspies. But I've found this one awesome blogger with AS who I do relate to, and she's about the only Aspie advocate who I can relate to. She's called "Girl Outside the Box". She is on Youtube.

It seems as if she has gone through a tough life like me and is an extrovert. She seems to have learned the skills she needs to get by. Like Rascal said, that's what they try to teach you anyways.


_________________
Your Aspie score: 93 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 109 of 200
You seem to have both Aspie and neurotypical traits