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22 Sep 2007, 3:17 pm

Whenever you read about AS, does it not always sound like you?

Whenever I read about AS, sometimes it sounds like me, sometimes it doesn't. When I read autobiagraphies or memiors about someone with AS, that's when it doesn't sound like me such as when I was reading Pretending to Be Normal and when I read Finding Ben and when I read fictional books on AS; The Blue Bottle Mystery, Of Mice and Aliens, and Lisa and the Lacemaker, none of it sounded like me but when I read books on AS in general that talks about the symptoms of it and the characteristics, then it sounds like me.

Does anyone else experiance this too?



jnet
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22 Sep 2007, 3:46 pm

Ya, and I have no idea why.


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Belle77
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22 Sep 2007, 4:20 pm

I experience this sometimes as well, but it makes sense to me. Everyone with AS is affected by it differently, so no two people are going to have all of the exact same symptoms manifested in the exact same way. My brother and I are an excellent example of this.



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22 Sep 2007, 4:44 pm

likedcalico wrote:
Whenever you read about AS, does it not always sound like you?

Whenever I read about AS, sometimes it sounds like me, sometimes it doesn't.

I got confused about which type of books did & did not make you feel which ways.

But, yes, I feel "flippy-floppy" back & forth about "is this/that me ?". General symptom descriptions are left open to interpretation, though it's hard for me to draw connection between clinically descriptive dx criteria & my own familiar (non-compartmentalized) personality.
Specific instances of dx'd individuals evoke feelings of both recognition (that's so very much like me') and also a lack thereof ('that's not how I am at all'). Many details of obsessions or sensory hypersensitivities are different than mine, so I keep waiting for there to be story on someone who seems more similar to me.
ASD's are just one of a plethora of diagnoses that are judgment calls (as to whether person meets threshold for label)-"certainty" is especially difficult with cases that are "near the line" between severely, moderately, and mildly "impaired" in multiple areas of functioning.


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9CatMom
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22 Sep 2007, 7:40 pm

Yes. I couldn't relate at all to most fictional works on AS. The Blue Bottle Mystery was a good story, but I couldn't really relate to the main character.

However, when I see the clinical description of AS as outlined in books such as Tony Attwood's Guide to Asperger Syndrome, I see a lot of the characteristics in myself, especially the special interests section. The sections on teasing and bullying applied to me when I was a child, but not now.



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22 Sep 2007, 10:04 pm

I've noticed that myself. Although I haven't been professionally diagnosed, sometimes when I read about AS it sounds nothing like me at all, but other times I read through things and it's 100% me. My friend just tells me that that's because it's a spectrum, not everyone is affected the same way by it. May also be related to a misunderstanding of AS. From what I've read, it's not even close to being totally understood.



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22 Sep 2007, 10:12 pm

Yep, I know some of it doesn't fit like coming off as rude to other people. I go to great lengths to avoid offending people. Or going into a monologue with people about my interests. I don't talk about my interests much. I do write about them obsessively in my blog though. Most of what I read does fit though more or less.


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23 Sep 2007, 8:09 am

know why AS or autism does not always seem to be like all aspies and auties.......because there is no one way to be aspie or autie beyond the compulsory criteria.
aspergers and autism are unique conditions in that they are different for each person,it doesn't make a person more or less better than someone else depending on their variation of aspergers or autism,don't use a book about someone on the spectrum to define self,because chances are,they have a different variation of asd.
define self,with self,rather than using books about others.



jnet
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24 Sep 2007, 5:17 pm

KingdomOfRats wrote:
define self,with self,rather than using books about others.


Good advice.


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