Not fitting the stereotypical AS profile

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There are so many ways in which I simply don't fit the classical AS profile - like I don't stim (in any way AT ALL), I'm very expressive both vocally and facially, I'm not obsessive, I'm style-conscious (though hold fashion in contempt) and in my general conduct, aesthetically aware to the extent that I might be considered 'cool' (a loaded word, if ever there was one).
Most uninformed people would simply laugh at me, were I to tell them that I'm an ASDer - so outwardly do I not appear to fit the profile.
But AS is the least skin-deep condition there is.
And I fit the internal profile so deeply in so many other ways.

This is continually underlined to me, when I read about and see other people's symptoms in here.

Does anyone else share this at all ?

Not everyone has all the traits. Some of us can be easily mistaken for NTs.

"Stimming" isn't really an AS thing, i.e., people with AS aren't much different to normal people in this regard compared to Autism (normal people bounce their leg for example).

The obsessive interest is needed, otherwise you'll be pegged with PDD-NOS if you have the same or similar social impairment compared to those with AS.

I don't see why you can't be vocal and expressive with AS [or PDD-NOS]; a person with AS will tend to be vocal and expressive in a one-sided manner if they are.

It's a lack of the correct emotional inflection in the voice for the [social] situation, i.e., you sound the same whether you're happy or sad. Not everyone with AS will have this, and those that do usually aren't as monotonous as those with Autism; for example, you can note in the person with AS that their voice attempts to change to the situation, but it's not "normal", but nor is it as robotic as the person with Autism. Also, some with AS, especially females, can sound like a child always.

Emotional inflection is but a single point under lacking in and appreciating nonverbal cues; there's many under this heading.

I also do not have ONE obsessive interest...I have several. However I do tend to obsess one at a time LOL. The one thing that stands out the most and that defined my diagnosis is the fact that I do not understand human emotion. I can not accurately express emotion and I do not "read" emotion from other people. I can not read body language and I do not give much if any body language. I also can not accurately read facial expressions nor give accurate facial expressions. Im constantly confused by other people on a daily basis.

That actually sounds a lot like me: I do stim (in small ways, like massage my fingers or flex various muscles - stuff that nobody notices), I'm pretty decent with eye contact now, though I do have to remind myself to work on it sometimes. I'm okay with socializing now too, but it's a lot of behavior I had to learn, and I still have a lot I need to learn. I'm also fashion-conscious (though there are still Aspie tendencies with how I dress).

In other ways, though, particularly with the way I see the world, I'm very much an Aspie. I'm very literal (despite my weird sense of humor), stressed out easily, and I notice little details all the time.

Believe me, you're not alone. Most people with Asperger's don't fit the entire diagnostic criteria.

I think for all of us there are ways in which we don't fit the profile.

MemberSix: what AS symptoms DO you in fact have?

Don't fit it here, either/

Mine came on very strong, as if it were the same as when kids get it at 18mnths-

I present a very hard DX every where I go. I think that is because whn you are not dxed until you are older, you have fought so hard to appear normal and think you are on the cusp of recovering like all the crazy teens in the world-

but you don't. You get more and more bizarre and isolated. So now, what it was when it started is all wrapped up in the things i have done to change, trauma issues, etcetcetcetc.........

I have lots of comapssion, but major interests that absorb all my time. I don't stim badly, but have other asp traits.

My poor Therapist!

I'm aesthetically aware. My need for ritual, balance merges with it sometimes. Hard to explain. I guess my need for things to be arranged a certain way fits into the premise of aesthetics. It passes for aesthetics. That is my domain of control.

Even so, many of my interests are off the "cool" map. But people are still willing to give me the benefit of doubt and see me as "eclectic".

I have spent the last 20 years or so doggedly trying to learn social rules, a lot of it was trial-and-error, what works, what doesn't. I have succeeded, for the most part, in doing so. I went from oil-and-water with random social groups to having kind of a stylized form of interaction that people have told me they find interesting. It gets me by. And far from being one of those people that never feels like they are being themselves, I always feel like I am being myself.

Dont worry about fitting into a stereotype. Stereotypes only cover the center of the circle. Very few are going to hit every notch on the way to Aspieland.

I'm very style-conscious, though it is never a mainstream style kind of thing - it's a matter of self-invention. I very much care about how I look aesthetically. Some people say I am 'cool' because of this.
I stim but I'm usually very subtle, except for when I bonk my head with my fist, and I rock a lot.
I am very outgoing when with people I know, but around strangers it is so hard that most of what I say comes out as a whisper.
Oh, and I have absolutely zero problem with vocal inflection O.o
My main symptoms are generally sensory and the obvious social stuff...most people have no clue I'm AS unless I tell them.

Not sure whether I fit the stereotype much. If I had to describe myself I would say I’m at the extreme end of introversion with added sensory issues.

I’m not bad at reading body language but I often space out in social situations. I have trouble engaging in small talk because it often seems unnatural and contrived to me. It’s more of an emotional disconnect than anything cognitive. It takes me so much energy to stay engaged with people and prevent myself from drifting away into my own stream of thought.

I think I have problems with executive function as well. I’m non-spontaneous in everything I do. If someone asks me some kind of open ended question I can never think of a reply right off the bat. I can think in theory well but it takes me a lot of time to come up with specific stories or examples. It’s kind of difficult to explain. I had a lot of trouble with writing assignments in high school and college. I always had the damnedest time getting started.