Do you think that I have Asperger's?

Post Reply New Topic

I am a 15-year-old boy, and this is my first time posting, and I think that I probably have Asperger's. My conversations that are initiated by other people almost never reciprocate, and I usually give a short reply. I have no interest in talking to others for socialization, and I am very quiet. In very rare occasions, people tell me about their emotional problems (The last time that I can remember this happening was roughly six months ago) my responses are solely base on logic. I have had special interests that irritate people when I talk to them about it. I always feel a very strong urge to tell someone everything that I intend to say about something. Sometimes people tell me to stop talking about my special interest (Some friends of one of my friends got very irritated, and they told me to stop talking several times when I told them all about a specific part of my interest). I didn't even know that body language had subtleties, so I try to consciously pay attention to it, but it can be hard to have a conversation and to try to think about body language at once. In fact, this was so bad that as a very young child, my mother would tell me to use my "spy skills," which happened due to me not fitting in. My mother also seems to treat me more childishly than the way she treats my younger 12-year-old sister. Recently, I had issues focusing on assignments at home, and my mother almost immediately said that I should get a special helper at school. She has said this before, and one time in seventh grade, a special helper sat next to me, which made me seriously consider that there was something different about me. My mother also said that when I was starting elementary school, she almost got me an individualized education program. This is strong evidence that I may have been diagnosed with Asperger's as an infant, but I cannot remember, and my parents have not told me. Autistic traits seem to occur in family too. When my younger sister was an infant, I can recall that she went to speech therapy (I know that early speech issues do occur in Asperger's, but it is an autistic trait). My father will almost never agree with anyone in an argument, and sometimes, he can even become enraged. In school, people seem to treat me like I'm special needs, but ironically, all of my classes are Honor's, which are Algebra II (Two grade levels above the standard level), English I Honor's (I am not doing well in English, and I think that the only reason that I got in was due to the very heavy emphasis on grammar in eighth grade.), Biology I (I have an interest in Biology, and today, one of my friends told me to stop talking about phosphate groups.), Spanish II, and I qualified for AP Human Geography, but I didn't have time for it on my schedule. Because of the Honor's classes, I am one year ahead of normal people. I actually have a special interest in history, and AP Human Geography is prerequisite for AP European History, which would fascinate me. I even went to a Cold War exhibit hosted by my school because of the lecture that a professor would give about it, and most people went to the exhibit for extra credit in History classes, but I still went even though I wouldn't receive extra credit. I have gotten an AQ of 36 on Simon Baron-Cohen's Autism Quotient test, and most other test results state that I probably have Asperger's. These are just some of my problems, and I can give even more information. I'm not 100% sure about having Asperger's, but I can't get a professional diagnosis because of the removal of Asperger's in the DSM-5, so please say whether you think I have Asperger's, or not. Thank you for your time.

I am not a professional so I can not diagnose you.

Ask your parents if you were diagnosed as a baby.

Positive results on one test may be indicative they you have Aspergers. If you were diagnosed as a baby that is another indicator.

Being smart and having social difficulties alone is the public stereotype of having Aspergers. There is a lot more to it. It is "pervasive" condition.

Renowned Dr. Tony Attwood's detailed definition of Aspergers
http://www.tonyattwood.com.au/index.php ... -aspergers

The DSM 5 is a guideline. Clinicians do not have to follow it but there is a misperception that they must. Right now information about how many clinicians are following it is anecdotal.

The diagnostic criteria for both DSM IV and DSM 5
http://www.tacanow.org/family-resources ... -disorder/
The DSM 5 has three levels based on how much support is recommended. Level 1 "Requiring Support" , Level 2 ""Requiring substantial support”" Level 3 "Requiring very substantial support”

Don't let fears of the DSM 5 dropping Aspergers label prevent you from trying to getting some sort of diagnoses if you feel your life is being impaired.

You can still get a diagnosis. It will just be "high-functioning autism" instead of "Asperger's."

It's not as if it went away-- it's still the same stupid disease.

With the same stupid symptoms.

And the same stigma.

And the same potential to leave you, de facto (or perhaps de jure, who knows), a second-class citizen.

And, frankly, the same lack of help.

"Help" is basically a process of teaching you to turn yourself into a different person. They can't rewire you, and they can't tell you that it's OK to be the way you are and point you toward people who will accept you.

They can feed you medication-- some of which will make the life you have now look GREAT, some of which might actually help-- and they can teach you "social skills." This means, basically, acting like someone people want to see.

Which, frankly, you can do yourself. Watch people. Listen to people. Teach yourself to think and act and manage the way they do (this is how girls hide having Asperger's-- they imitate normal girls).

And, whatever you do, DO NOT GET MARRIED. EVER.

I'm not a professional and neither are the vast majority of people who post here, but some of what you say sounds like you might be a good candidate.

I'm not sure about the diagnosis criteria now or how it works, since I was diagnosed pre-DSM-V, but if you do have AS, I'd imagine that you'd be diagnosed as having an autism spectrum disorder, but on a severity scale. So you could still pursue diagnosis, if you feel as though it would benefit you. To be honest, it hasn't helped a lot, but it did give me a sense of relief that i had a name for my oddities.

Thank you for the replies! The advice will be very useful for me! The Tony Attwood website has shown me even more symptoms that I have. My handwriting is incredibly messy, and I am very clumsy. I stumble much more often than other people, and I have had huge difficulties with precise movement. My difficulties were so bad, that when I took classes for swimming when I was younger, I could never master the movements. When I would swim, instructors would give up trying to teach me the basic technique. I recently finished a marching band season, and during the season, I had many struggles. The marching involved several factors that I struggle with. The step size for each pace had to be a certain length, which was something that I was never able to do. In addition to this, the steps had to be synchronized, which was also very hard for me. I also lacked the coordination to make quick changes in movement, which is important for marching. These problems were so bad that my mistakes were the most obvious in the entire band of 200 people. I also struggled to play the baritone in the band because unlike the trombone, which was the instrument that I used to play, the baritone used valves, which were very hard to get used to (The band did not use trombones to march). Everyone else except for other trombone players used their usual instrument, which set a playing skill gap between me and the other people. I was so bad at playing the baritone and marching that the band director made me an alternate (Instead of marching, alternates move props around because their lack of skill/interest would mess up the show). I didn't have a very good relationship with band director either because I had no interest in marching band, and I was never happy during the long practices (In one instance, I had to spend a week practicing on a college campus, and the band would practice for 10 hours per day. When the band wasn't marching, we did social activities, and I spent them loitering around the general area not talking to anyone. On one night, I actually decided to spend my time away from everyone, but one of the band teachers found me, and I had to go where everyone else was). Because I was an alternate, I spent the first part of the year doing absolutely nothing. I had to sit beside the football field doing nothing, but watching the band. During one session after school, I decided to get some homework to do, but I was immediately told that I shouldn't do it because I was in band, and I could be called up to join the band at any moment, but before, I was never called up. One time, when I was sitting by the sidelines, I stood under a tree for shade. Almost immediately, the band director came up to me, and he told me to move. When I asked him why he wanted me to move, he got furious, and he said "Did you just say why?" I replied "Yes." He came up to me and he said "You shouldn't be standing under the tree because the world doesn't revolve around you. There are people who are not in the shade playing." Other things like this also happened between me and him. I have actually had several arguments with people leading me (I have read that my people with Asperger's argue with people leading them much more than other people). Another thing that was bad about the marching band was that everyone who joined was very passionate about the band. The other people in the band are so passionate that the band is a National Semifinalist band. My parents didn't give me a choice about whether to join or not, and I wasn't interested in marching at all, so my lack of social abilities combined with my lack of interest in marching ruined any chance of getting friends in band. Thankfully, the band season is over (I'll still have to join next year), and now I am in a robotics club, which is very interesting, and fun.

Glad the website was useful to you. There ze plenty of youtube videos where Dr. Attwood speaks and his book "The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome "