Are you good at spotting Aspies?

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I'm pretty good at figuring out if someone has Asperger's if I talk to them for a few minutes. One telltale sign is that I can relate to them . Most NTs can spot an Aspie, although they usually just think we're weird and don't realize we have medical diagnoses. I'm not good at detecting an Aspie if they don't talk, though; for example, apparently a lot of us, including me, have a distinctive gait, but I've never noticed that about myself or other people I've learned are Aspies. NTs seem to be able to notice that the subtle body language we give out is different in some way and are able to hone in on us.

Most of the time I've found out that someone had Asperger's before I realized it on my own. Usually when this happens, I'm shocked, because they don't seem "Aspie" to me. But a couple times I have been able to spot them, like if they are stimming or have an unusual voice or seem socially awkward or spend a lot of time alone.

I think I can spot people with Aspergers traits - the facial expression doesnt change much. I cant read faces but I have learnt to recognise the non expressive expression, even in photographs. In meetings at work all the Aspergers are stimming in some way or other.
I have a friend, she is the partner of an friend of mine who has Aspergers, she has a son who has Aspergers. She says she knew I had Aspergers almost instantly and my whole demeanour was what gave me away. She is an expert in Aspies, I used to think I could pass for NT but there is nowhere to hide from an expert.

If you can spot Aspies, then how do you confirm it? Do you walk up and ask them if they have Asperger's Syndrome? Do you hack into their therapists' laptops and download their files? Are they wearing "I Am An Aspie" signs around their necks?

Or do you just "know"?

I usually ask them. Though this tends to be people only online that I ask. Many times they end up confirming that they are indeed aspies/ASD. Some people are more obvious than others, some you just suspect but you aren't sure either way. I guess for those you don't ask, you may never know 100% but having 100% certainty isn't always necessary in every area of life. I suspect no one would be able to function in life if they did not rely on assumptions at some point in their day.

In the 6 years since I got my diagnosis I have never been able to conclude with certainty that *anyone* I have met was on the spectrum. I have had my suspicions with a few people - including a former colleague - but I never ask anyone if they are on the autistic spectrum...

I generally consider it rude and an invasion of their privacy...

... oh, and I generally don't care, either.

I have asked them before, and they have said yes. I've done it with four people I can remember; three had it, one didn't (but she might just be undiagnosed).

i cant in people here...they are like not in me..i

Im pretty good at figuring out if someone has asd. For some reason I can tell that someone has aspergers/autism just by looking at them. their face looks different to a neurotypical (they , alot of them seem to wear clothes that neurotypicals would see as "weird" or "uncool" (but not always), some of them are annoying (especially at school) and they just seem awkward/different/immature. I dont actually ask people if they have ASD because it is kind of rude.

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Last edited by wronngbong on 12 Dec 2015, 4:37 am, edited 1 time in total.

No, I´m no good at it. I may know somebody and think..."Ach so!", but just discovering it in others? No.

I can usually spot them the second I see their eyes. Not only by how their eyes look, but by their non-neurotypical eye contact. The over-intense staring or constantly moving their eyes from one object to another. Neurotypical people just don't do that.

I can verify my suspicions by looking at their facial expressions, their unnatural appearing stances or movements, and any unique fashion.

If all that checks out, I'm pretty confident that I spotted one.

Could you expand on the facial aspect? I've seen this posted before, but I never received an answer. How do our faces look different?

I can spot if a person has the social and physical presentation traits of Autism. There are too many overlapping traits with other conditions, combine that with I probably won't know what thier sensory sensititivies are like or what thier early childhood was like there is no way I can have any more then have a slight suspicion and neither can you.

I think that there are a lot of different "autism looks" and it seems like the lower functioning autistic people have more noticeable facial differences (from what ive seen). I also think that our facial expressions (looking like we are staring etc) make us look different and some people that ive seen with asd look dopey/stoned (I dont know if that,s the right word for it). ive noticed that most of the people i know that have asd are deemed "unattractive /creepy" by neurotypicals for some reason. apparently scientists discovered that people with asd have broader faces and mouths, flatter noses, narrower cheeks,and a shorter philtrum (the area between the mouth and nose).

Unless you can confirm your suspicions, they remain only suspicions. Confirmation comes either from the suspected Aspie or from an appropriately-trained and licensed mental-health professional.

AS presents as a multitude of behaviors, not just one or two. You can't say that people are Aspies just because they make "too much" or "too little" eye contact, or that they are clumsy, or that they act strangely. Each of these could be caused by PTSD or abuse.

Many years ago, it was fashionable to have "gaydar" - the ability to simply know when someone else was gay. Many adolescent were wrongly "outed" just because they avoided eye contact with members of the opposite sex, were clumsy at sports, or acted strangely.

Now having "aspiedar" seems to be the new fashion.