Symptoms you do and don't have of ASD

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What I do have:

- I definitely have obsessiveness

- compulsions

- odd behavior

- unusual speech changes (I can sound monotone and then my voice gets hoarse other times)

-poor executive function (I waste time)

- social problems and very uncomfortable with people. I don't know when to end a conversation and It's hard to to keep a conversation up without "crashing". I think in my head "god I hope they can't tell I have an ASD"


What I don't have:

- I have never had trouble reading facial expressions or picking up on social cues

- I do not have any type of mathematical ability or above average intelligence. My visual memory and working and long term memory are all average to below average.

- I have never had sensory issues. I am not sensitive to light or sound.

- I have never had a problem with "change" or felt like I needed things to be in order. I am not big on routine.

What I have:

Trouble reading people and social cues
Poor social skills, some social anxiety (getting better on that one), don't know the proper social behavior sometimes
Very good mathematical ability, and academic performance-got a Ph.D with very little work or studying
Obsessions
I don't like change all that much but can deal with it
Special interests

What I don't have:
Lots of compulsions
Odd behavior
Unusual speech-although I sometimes make up words while teaching/lecturing
Sensory issues

My executive function is kind of in the middle. I don't do real well concentrating when reading or watching TV. I used to be much better at it as a kid. I think it might be brain damage from excessive Marijuana/alcohol use, although one of my therapists thinks it is more related to PTSD.

What I Have:

Trouble reading more complex or subtle facial expressions or body langauge
Difficulty starting and maintaining conversations, and telling when things are or aren't awkward to say
Pedantic, overly formal speech and flat prosody
Moderate to severe sensory problems, especially sound
Discomfort with changes in routine
Intense special interests/obsessions
Occasional echolalia, primarily lines from TV and movies that I repeat over and over to myself
Loss of speech under duress or extreme anxiety
Meltdowns/shutdowns
Fine and gross motor stimming, including rocking, flapping and chewing

What I Don't Have:

Severe/predominant echolalia used to communicate with others
Difficulty understanding humour, nonliteral speech and (most) sarcasm
Difficulty deciphering most tone of voice
Difficulty with executive functioning: there are some things I can't do like cooking or paying bills, but only because no one's ever taught me

My list is so long I keep it in a notebook.
That's probably because it became a special interest to note, analyze, and reverse engineer each characteristic.
Each expressed characteristic isn't what is important to me, but rather the initial driving mechanism of that characteristic, which is usually a particular form of logic or order of operations that the brain is using.

Overall I'd say I'm probably a fairly typical high functioning aspie.

What I Have
All of Them

What I Don't
.......

In all seriousness though I am reasonable well functioning but when I first heard of Aspergers I say a list of (I believe) 133 things that are linked to Aspergers. I had 132 of them, right down to "often refuses to eat foods that touch each other". I AM getting good at things like reading social/romantic cues but that's because I have studied them intensively (I highly recommending checking out Vanessa Van Edwards' videos on this subject). I still have no idea how to carry on a meaningful conversation though.

I don't have severe sensory difficulties--though I do panic when I receive a considerable amount of sensory input at one time. I cannot multi-task to save my life.

I've gotten pretty good at inserting myself in conversations--though I'm still awkward at it. I also have a tendency to say awkward things that make people uncomfortable.

Whenever I expound on a "special interest," I tend to become pedantic and to quote statistics too much. For example, when I'm having dinner with my father and his wife, my wife has to kick me on the leg to get me to stop talking about the "special interest."

I used to have practically no fashion sense. I've gotten better in this regard.

All in all, I believe Aspie/autistics should use their cognition to evolve--not into an NT--but into a person who is capable of surviving in the outer world.

Primarily I have great difficulty in feeling connection to other people.
I get overload and corresponding shutdown whenever I feel out of my comfort zone with social interaction. This means my mind goes blank and I struggle for things to say. It's also accompanied by feelings of sadness and anxiety and a sense of hopelessness. It's like my nervous system closes down. When I say 'out of my comfort zone' this can and does happen even with people I know quite well, people who I like and who like me and who I have no reason to believe are anything other than well-disposed towards me and who are happy to spend time with me.

I have obsessions for sure, and always have done. I'm very creative so I tend to make lots of stuff, I mean lots, in a relatively short space of time, music for example. When I 'emerge' I can often hardly believe how I've managed to do so much as once my enthusiasm has moved on to something else it rarely goes back.

I have great difficulty with background noise such as trying to hold a conversation with someone in a noisy place. I can't distinguish what they're saying against the general hubbub.

I flap my hands and arms around if I get excited about something, usually while I'm pacing. I pace a lot. Everywhere I've ever lived I've had pacing tracks, even in very small spaces.

I hate having my personal space invaded. People leaning over me, sitting too close, being unobservant of their own body and the way it impinges on me. Bodily noises as well, eating and so forth..ugh....

Generally I don't like being or feeling out of control, especially of my environment. I like to set things up the way I want them, which means I like being at home mostly.

I have very high functioning in a lot of areas, mostly to do with art/music/writing/crafts but very low functioning when it comes to forming and maintaining relationships. I don't really understand much about my emotions or how to express them, or even why for that matter.

I hate open-ended questions. 'What's new?' is the sort of question that will cause shut-down. 'Tell me something about yourself'. In fact I hate talking about myself at all really, or even drawing attention to myself. I would prefer to be invisible. It's quite difficult posting on forums come to that but hey ho.

I can generally read social cues and these days can manage well in social interactions but can't really take it beyond that.

I get irony. In fact I have a very ironic sense of humour. 'I can never tell whether you're joking or not' is something that has been said to me more than once, which I find hard to believe as to me it's perfectly obvious from context and so forth. I love puns and make a lot of them. This seems to really annoy a lot of people.

that's all just off the top of my head (so to speak... )

I don't know if this is a comprehensive list, but I think it covers most of the basics.

What I do have
-Auditory processing issues
-Intense/focused interests
-Rigid, linear, black/white thinking patterns
-Preference for routine
-Non verbal shutdowns
-Alexithymia
-Compulsive sensory seeking
-Executive function/motivation problems

There are some secondary issues too, such as social anxiety, but I think most of them are primarily rooted in one or more of the issues I listed.

What I don't have
-Issues recognizing facial expressions in others
-Extreme or disabling hypersensitivities
-Difficulty understanding sarcasm or idioms
-Difficulty making eye contact
-Motor or coordination problems
-Meltdowns

Do you ever feel like not having trouble with this alienates you a bit from other Aspies? Most of the time around here and other autism communities online, it's pretty refreshing to connect with people who experience a lot of the same issues that I do. However, I'd say about 20-30% of the time I just don't really connect with the kinds of problems people are describing, and I think it usually seems to have to do with not having issues reading peoples' facial expressions and/or social cues.

I think I only have traits of AS, and have ADHD as a dominant condition, but anyway I will list the AS traits I do have and don't have.

AS traits I DO have:-

-anxiety issues
-sensory issues with loud noises
-overwhelming emotions (calmed down since I went on meds though)
-shy/awkward in certain social situations
-eccentric behaviour (hyperactive)
-prefer routine, but this can depend on what
-obsessive thinking
-find employment too demanding
-feel uncomfortable in crowds (dislike strangers being in personal space)


AS traits I DON'T have:-

-trouble recognizing body language and other non-verbal cues
-trouble understanding jokes and other NT humour
-poor eye contact
-repetitive behaviour
-unusual stimming and other movements
-meltdowns and going non-verbal
-like everything to be in place and a certain way
-sensory issues with light, smell, touch or taste
-dislike being touched
-poor imagination as a child
-logical thinking
-"flat" personality/monotone voice
-unable to express emotions
-lack social imagination/theory of mind
-special interest and being able to focus
-good at maths, science and technology
-geeky/intelligent/detail-orientated
-very honest, cannot tell when to lie
-unaware of emotions and thoughts
-cannot connect with colleagues/don't want to connect
-poor at romantic relationships
-lack self-awareness
-unable to conform to NT standards/lack interest in being "part of the crowd"
-dislike being touched

If I've missed out something I will add in another post, as can't edit after short amount of time.

Oh yeah! You have no clue. I have always felt alienated from the ASD community because of this. My social processing has always been normal. But despite this I still could never make any friends because of awkwardness, I may have been able to decode facial and body language easily but I still couldn't socialize and never will be able to.

Also I'm not in anyway "gifted" like a lot of AS people seem to be and that in itself is alienating too.

I never was able to understand the sensory issues other people on the spectrum faced until I was 21 and developed migraine with aura. Suddenly it was painful for me to step out into the light without it triggering a migraine and sound was suddenly too much too take. Gradually this taped off with meds but for a year I was somewhat able to understand those that have sensory issues.

I'm not sure when I have AS or not. Here's my list:

What I have:

+ Difficulty starting and maintaining social conversations.
+ Odd speech and a monotone voice.
+ Somewhat poor executive function.
+ Difficulty understanding some types of sarcasm (when directed at me, for example).
+ Interests (though I was a lot more obsessive when I was younger).
+ Logical thinking.
+ Clumsiness.
+ Awkward gait.
+ Awkward body language.
+ Sensory issue(s) (tactile + possibly mild sound hypersensitivity).
+ Difficulty forming friendships.

What I DON'T have:

- Self-care issues.
- A good long-term memory (mine is about average).
- Poor working memory (I can multi-task pretty well).
- Problems with change (my only problem is unexpected change of plans).
- Problems reading facial expressions.
- Obvious stimming (mine is often too subtle to notice).
- Meltdowns (though I've had shutdowns in the past).
- Difficulty with eye contact.

Jumping out of my skin at sounds that I'm not expecting like my phone notifications or my radio at work. Getting angry at loud noises like when cars honks at other cars or someone shouts to someone while I'm walking down the street. Feeling too aware of how my environment smells and moving from area to area to avoid certain smells. Hating certain textures and tastes of food depending on how sensitive I feel throughout the day. Feeling overwhelmed by heat and feeling like cold gets to my bones very easily. Getting very annoyed and angry with people try to play fight with me or tickle me. Having certain parts of my body super sensitive that I don't want anyone touching (belly and sides) I can't stand florescent light because I think it's because they flicker at a certain rate and isn't constant light. I can't focus when a lot of things are happening around me like when I'm downtown with someone and they try and hold a conversation with me I just get so distracted by the environment, always looking around to make sure I know where everything is around me. Not understanding when someone is just joking with me. Saying whatever is on my mind or the truth without any idea of how it affects the other person. Thinking in terms of one extreme to another. Assuming everyone should think like me and getting frustrated when they don't. I avoid small talk and conversation that has no purpose or utility. I can't maintain friendships very well. Having all sorts of ticks like making random noises when I'm nervous or anxious. Having trouble getting comfortable and constantly moving at least some part of my body. When under stress I often refuse to talk or feel it is physically impossible. It's a shut down.

That's just a little bit...there's more.

I don't rock or have met downs which is nice.

Yeah, I completely get that. For me, the challenge with making friends is less about the awkwardness though and more about how exhausting it is. I mean, I can do the whole socializing song and dance thing if I really want to, but it's just so damn hard sometimes, especially if the auditory issues are interfering. So I get sort of this revolving door of friendships, where I meet people and get to know them, but then the relationship slowly atrophies because I can't put the requisite effort into it to keep it going.

What I have:
- trouble socializing and making friends
- often prefer to be alone
- don't like being stared at
- uncomfortable with certain kinds of touches
- overly fearful
- meltdowns
- fidgeting/stimming
- prefer comfortable clothing
- get upset over little things
- strong sense of right and wrong (black and white thinking)
- good memory
- good at math
- trouble with practical things
- some OCD traits

What I used to have:
- very unusual interests for age
- trouble understanding humour
- messy handwriting
- naiveté in social situations
- sensory aversions (I still have some, but not as bad as they used to be)
- rituals
- didn't pay attention

What I don't have:
- talking on and on about my special interests
- bluntness
- monotone voice
- expressionless face
- trouble with eye contact and body language
- can talk about emotions
- can usually understand people's motivations
- can understand most jokes
- can understand facial expressions
- not too many sensory issues
- like loud music
- like certain types of social activities
- like changes in routine
- don't have narrow interests (interested in most things)
- responsible

I have:
+ sensory issues (sound, temperature, touch, light, taste, smell),
+ stimming,
+ obsessive interests,
+ unusual interests,
+ repetitive behavior,
+ difficulty recognizing and expressing own emotions,
+ difficulties with eye contact,
+ awkward body language,
+ alienation from social life,
+ difficulty forming relationships,
+ hyperfocus,
+ "active but odd" social approach,
+ unusual speech (I speak "like a foreigner"),
+ tendency to monologue and leading discussion back to topic of interest,
+ bluntness,
+ social naivety,
+ difficulty recognizing and interpreting social cues,
+ difficulty understanding figurative speech (other than idioms),
+ above-average intelligence,
+ logical thinking,
+ visual thinking,
+ high mathematic abilities,
+ great long-term memory,
+ poor working memory,
+ poor planning skills,
+ difficulties dealing with unexpected changes,
+ need to finish one activity before starting something else,
+ meltdowns,
+ shutdowns,

I don't have:
- difficulties recognizing and using correct tone of voice,
- trouble understanding sarcasm (although sometimes I have to ask if someone was sarcastic or not because I'm not sure),
- trouble understanding idioms,
- poor imagination,
- inability to understand how others think (I can as long as I see the cues - which is troublesome),
- motivation problems,
- poor self-help skills (actually I am great with them, as long as they don't involve other people),
- social anxiety,
- specialized special interest (I don't get so deep into my interests to be called "a professor"),
- lifelong special interest (my obsessive interests change in random intervals, longest last a few years, shortest a few days),