Not sure if I belong here...

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Can't get professionally dx'ed, so the following scores is the best indicator I currently have:

BAPQ: 103 Aloof, 74 rigid, 80 pragmatic: "socially odd"

AQ: 36 (anything over 32 is a possible positive result for asd, iirc)

Reading the mind in the eyes test : 21 (normal: 22-30)

face recognition quiz: 61% (scores below 65% are a possible indicator)

Aspie quiz: aspie score 94 of 200; NT score 116 of 200. Both Aspie and NT traits.

It's a weird feeling: I have always had horrible, horrible problems getting along with people, knowing what to do when in social situations (usually do the exact wrong thing), holding up my end of a conversation, what's with this eye contact and greeting thing anyway, and fitting in in general, as far back as I can remember. I was taught to make eye contact when I was 17, but I'm still never sure if I'm doing it right; sudden physical touch used to send me clear up a wall, until I was "pushed through" the issue in my early 20s; and I have no idea how to perform that special social dance involved in making friends. School from the first grade on was a nightmare; college was pretty cool though, because I went to a huge university where I could just fade into the background. By reading the forums here, I'm starting to figure out small talk.

But... I don't have obsessive interests (unusual ones, but not obsessive, alas), stims (unless trichotillomania counts), or problems with sudden changes.

On the other hand, one of my nieces has been professionally dx'ed with Asperger's, and I have very strong suspicions about two of my maternal uncles -- and my mom (I'm 99% sure she has Asperger's, and she is now a superhero in my eyes, for surviving the stress of raising a huge family & dealing with her issues with none of us knowing what truly was going on with her).

I've been lurking around in these forums for a while, and the social skills rules thread has been a lifesaver for me, along with the old Ask Aspie columns. So I'm not sure if I fit in here. But Asperger's explains *so very much* about my life, my mom's life, so much stuff that I thought I'd already explained, categorized, put in a box and packed away that it's almost overwhelming.

So what the hell am I? Besides possibly being easily confused?

PDD-NOS is for those that don't fit neatly into the autism or asperger's labels.

Welcome to WrongPlanet.

Woohoo! I love that I'm getting replies!

Okay, the happy face is cool, but I'm not sure what "Welcome to WrongPlanet" means. It sounds good, but isn't very specific. :S

Welcome! I am glad you've find the group helpful so far, and you might also be to help us, as a "bridge" person so to speak. No obligation of course, just be yourself and see how things develop. But I think you will generally like our group here.

I think that's it -- a "bridge" person. My mom and one of my uncles are Aspie, full-blooded Aspie, I have no doubt. I must be half-Aspie -- Aspie in the social realms. I'm a mixed-blood.

Mollisol, of course you belong here!

It matters little what others think......if you feel good on WP and it helps you, then you belong.

Welcome to WP

Take good care,

Mics

Yes, the autism spectrum is huge and very diverse. So you have atypical autism... so does MOST of the spectrum. (Yeah, that's right, there are more atypical cases than typical ones!) You definitely have a lot in common with "regular" autistics (if there is even such a thing), and probably a lot to learn and teach, just like anyone around here. I mean, we have plenty of non-autistic people here, too, like spouses and friends of autistics, and people with related stuff like ADHD and social anxiety and learning disabilities.

I think it's stupid to segregate ourselves, especially from people with other quirks and other kinds of disabilities. We need to work together--that's the only way we'll ever get stuff done. Autistics may be 1% of the population, but disabled people altogether are more like 20%, and another 10% are eccentric but not disabled--that's a lot of people, and we should be capable of yelling pretty loudly once we get our act together.

the best of both worlds!

Callista brings up very good points. In fact, I have been working on the political slogan of Aspie, 'Normal,' Different in Different Ways.

Which means it's okay to authentically yourself and we as a society shouldn't attempt to put people into such small, well-defined boxes. Which means you have unique and special traits that no one else has, and we like you for your unique and special traits. And you definitely can make all kinds of contributions and you can connect with other people who have their own unique and special traits, too!

Welcome, OP! Hope you are happy here.

I have a button that says:

If you've met one child with Autism, you've met ONE child with Autism.

We're all different--some things are going to click but some things might not. That's OK--call yourself whatever. I like the term "Neurologically Diverse" personally. It's bad enough that the NTs try and box us into their world. We definitely shouldn't be doing that to each other.

I really appreciate the welcome. Thank you so much you guys -- you're awesome!

I have stuff to add to my original post, too: that I hate getting instructions verbally, I just get confused; in social situations, if I get tired (or too buzzed on alcohol), I get almost completely non-verbal; and when I'm excited, I have to force myself to tame down my voice, expressions, and wild gestures (in writing, this manifests as lots of exclamation marks). I can communicate when writing (or in chat) pretty well, but in person I struggle mightily to get out coherent words and sentences. It's not uncommon for me to suddenly lose my balance when walking on perfectly flat surfaces (but I'm fine walking over uneven ground). I'll probably think of more stuff later. It's a joyous feeling to feel like I actually *fit in* somewhere, and be normal, even with all these flaws!

And since doing all this research and learning about Asperger's, I can finally understand and connect with (yes! really! yay!) my stepson, who I strongly believe is Aspie as well (he has a cousin with autism). This is a wonderful thing, in and of itself!!