Could I be an Aspie? :)
27 Dec 2007, 12:31 pm
I’ve recently been wondering if my life-long social issues could be because of undiagnosed Asperger’s. I have a lot of the symptoms, but I also don’t have a lot of other symptoms. Does anyone know what’s up with me? ^^
My jumbled list of issues-
-I have always had a dickens of a time making friends. I didn’t really have any to speak of until I was about 15, then I hung out with a group of kids who were five years younger than me for a while, now I’m 22 and have only one friend, my boyfriend. Incidentally, he was the only friend I made during four years of college.
-I suck at interacting with my peers. I know how to be friendly, but I don’t know how to go any deeper than that. If I want to truly interact with people, I need to either talk to gradeschoolers or elderly people.
-I remember from a young age doing things that I personally didn’t want to do, but I knew I should do. For instance, I distinctly remember playing with a doll in preschool because I knew that’s what other little girls did, but not because I wanted to do so.
-My physical, mental, and emotional ages seem to be mixed up. Physically, I’m a 22-year-old college graduate. Mentally, I am well into adulthood; I pride myself on being able to think logically and clearly while putting aside emotions. Paradoxically, I lag behind emotionally… I would probably place myself somewhere in the late teen years. Thus, I will calmly and coolly lay out the pros and cons for going ahead with a major life decision and come to the correct decision rationally, and then I will go home and cry to my boyfriend for an hour because my mom snapped at me.
-I have heard that Aspies often have problems with eye contact. I kind of do. If someone is making small talk to me at a group event, for instance, I will have problems with eye contact. If someone is talking to me one-on-one, however, I tend to stare them in the eyes and I don’t know when I should/could drop my gaze.
-I am very blunt and honest. I say what I think and expect that others should take me at face value as well. I am not fake. While I do realize that some of the things I say to other people can be disrespectful, I just don’t care and I tell them anyway. I feel like it’s the truth and they should know.
-I am pretty good at people reading, given some time to get to know them. Other people’s emotions are not strange to me. I may not have that reaction myself, but I know why they do the things they do. However, people can not seem to understand me. My words and actions are always misunderstood and/or ascribed random bad intentions.
-Again, I have heard that people with Aspergers often don’t get the point in jokes, sarcasm, etc. Kind of like me. While I often get the point of jokes and sarcasm, most of the time I don’t see why it’s funny. It just seems so obvious to me. Duh, of course one would make that joke after saying that word, isn’t that obvious? ^^
-I don’t really have any interest “obsessions.” I have several things that I seem to be born with the smarts for. This can range from marketable skills (writing), useful skills (remembering names/dates/faces), and downright useless skills (the ability to differentiate foreign words/writing without actually knowing what they mean).
-I like order, schedules, graphs, charts, maps, etc., even though I myself am notoriously messy. I remember birthdays like no other (I can tell you the birthday of a guy who I met for several hours when I was twelve… also remembered the birthday of some random person I overheard at the Y for many years), I am good at maps, and I LOVE yearbooks, directories, and phonebooks, whether or not I have any knowledge of the area/people whatsoever. I also like books about different kinds of things- i.e., a random guide to birds, or something like that (I carried around a guide to tropical fish when I was in highschool… it was weird.) I am very good at memorization… I aced college largely because my notes were extensive and I simply memorized them for exams.
Some things that are Asperger’s that I DON’T have-
-My intonation seems to be fine, although I talk in my throat a lot. I do have a big vocabulary, but that could be because I read a lot…
-My senses/balancing/dexterity seem to be pretty much alright, too. I do suck at sports, though.
So… do you think I have Asperger’s or am I just really socially awkward?
27 Dec 2007, 12:50 pm
Probably. You sound a lot like me, actually.
-My senses/balancing/dexterity seem to be pretty much alright, too. I do suck at sports, though.
I speak fine (I think), but people often ask me where I'm from. I think it's more of my total lack of accent than anything else. I too read lots. I suppose this is why I "get" a lot of social phrases, I've read them so I know what they mean. Atypically, I favor fiction. Thier world is often better than mine.
I don't seem to have physical issues, although I'm not very graceful. However with sports, I've noticed that practice won't improve me. I can try all I want, but I'm not going to get any better at it. (Including even shooting pool, throwing darts.)
Emotionally, I was always younger. Now that I'm older (32), it's not really noticable anymore. At least I don't think so. My only friend a a child was the girl next door, about 4 years younger. I would try to hang with my mom and her friends, but she would say "go play, the adults are talking."
People think it's strange that when we get a new phonebook, I will flip all through it.
So much you said sounds just like me.
27 Dec 2007, 1:39 pm
Yes, it sounds like you do.
Also, for more confirmation, go here:
http://www.rdos.net/eng/Aspie-quiz.php
28 Dec 2007, 4:02 am
My jumbled list of issues-
-I have always had a dickens of a time making friends. I didn’t really have any to speak of until I was about 15, then I hung out with a group of kids who were five years younger than me for a while, now I’m 22 and have only one friend, my boyfriend. Incidentally, he was the only friend I made during four years of college.
-I suck at interacting with my peers. I know how to be friendly, but I don’t know how to go any deeper than that. If I want to truly interact with people, I need to either talk to gradeschoolers or elderly people.
-I remember from a young age doing things that I personally didn’t want to do, but I knew I should do. For instance, I distinctly remember playing with a doll in preschool because I knew that’s what other little girls did, but not because I wanted to do so.
-My physical, mental, and emotional ages seem to be mixed up. Physically, I’m a 22-year-old college graduate. Mentally, I am well into adulthood; I pride myself on being able to think logically and clearly while putting aside emotions. Paradoxically, I lag behind emotionally… I would probably place myself somewhere in the late teen years. Thus, I will calmly and coolly lay out the pros and cons for going ahead with a major life decision and come to the correct decision rationally, and then I will go home and cry to my boyfriend for an hour because my mom snapped at me.
-I have heard that Aspies often have problems with eye contact. I kind of do. If someone is making small talk to me at a group event, for instance, I will have problems with eye contact. If someone is talking to me one-on-one, however, I tend to stare them in the eyes and I don’t know when I should/could drop my gaze.
-I am very blunt and honest. I say what I think and expect that others should take me at face value as well. I am not fake. While I do realize that some of the things I say to other people can be disrespectful, I just don’t care and I tell them anyway. I feel like it’s the truth and they should know.
-I am pretty good at people reading, given some time to get to know them. Other people’s emotions are not strange to me. I may not have that reaction myself, but I know why they do the things they do. However, people can not seem to understand me. My words and actions are always misunderstood and/or ascribed random bad intentions.
-Again, I have heard that people with Aspergers often don’t get the point in jokes, sarcasm, etc. Kind of like me. While I often get the point of jokes and sarcasm, most of the time I don’t see why it’s funny. It just seems so obvious to me. Duh, of course one would make that joke after saying that word, isn’t that obvious? ^^
-I don’t really have any interest “obsessions.” I have several things that I seem to be born with the smarts for. This can range from marketable skills (writing), useful skills (remembering names/dates/faces), and downright useless skills (the ability to differentiate foreign words/writing without actually knowing what they mean).
-I like order, schedules, graphs, charts, maps, etc., even though I myself am notoriously messy. I remember birthdays like no other (I can tell you the birthday of a guy who I met for several hours when I was twelve… also remembered the birthday of some random person I overheard at the Y for many years), I am good at maps, and I LOVE yearbooks, directories, and phonebooks, whether or not I have any knowledge of the area/people whatsoever. I also like books about different kinds of things- i.e., a random guide to birds, or something like that (I carried around a guide to tropical fish when I was in highschool… it was weird.) I am very good at memorization… I aced college largely because my notes were extensive and I simply memorized them for exams.
Some things that are Asperger’s that I DON’T have-
-My intonation seems to be fine, although I talk in my throat a lot. I do have a big vocabulary, but that could be because I read a lot…
-My senses/balancing/dexterity seem to be pretty much alright, too. I do suck at sports, though.
So… do you think I have Asperger’s or am I just really socially awkward?
Go to my website and take the Aspie Quiz www.AllThingsAspergers.com
Best,
Idaho Aspie
www.AllThingsAspergers.com
I definitely have many Asperger's traits, no doubt about that, I just wonder if it's actual Asperger's or just... me. ^^
28 Dec 2007, 10:11 am
-My physical, mental, and emotional ages seem to be mixed up. Physically, I’m a 22-year-old college graduate. Mentally, I am well into adulthood; I pride myself on being able to think logically and clearly while putting aside emotions. Paradoxically, I lag behind emotionally… I would probably place myself somewhere in the late teen years. Thus, I will calmly and coolly lay out the pros and cons for going ahead with a major life decision and come to the correct decision rationally, and then I will go home and cry to my boyfriend for an hour because my mom snapped at me.
I think I am like this as well, at least the immature emotionally part. But it is really more like staying young and being up on what the kids are doing. Or maybe it is because I have a 16yo son.
-My intonation seems to be fine, although I talk in my throat a lot. I do have a big vocabulary, but that could be because I read a lot
Actually I think a lot of AS people are very articulate and have large vocabularies. They can write fine, but when it comes to speaking, sometimes that is tough, although if it is about a topic they like, then they can be very articulate and use their large vocabulary.
What do you mean by talking in your throat? What does that sound like?
It is very likely you have Asperger's. I'm not a doctor though. Aspergers is more than social awkwardness, and your list shows that.
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