Do I have Asperger's?

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Hello everyone, for the past month I have been suspecting I have Aspergers. I have social anxiety,mild depression, and i'm a known hypochondriac which started after middle school. I constantly look up systems of Asperger's online and try to relate them to past experiences in my life. I have had social problems since High School. As I kid I was very communicative had many friends and I always received praise from my teachers. I was very into imaginary play with my friends, and I was always good in sports. Now when I speak to people I don't know sometimes my mind goes blank and I don't know what to say. I am very quiet now. However, when I speak to people I know I am very open and expressive. I don't have many friends, but I have 2 best friends that are very close to me. People that get to know me always say I am very social. No one has ever told me that I have problems with eye contact, but sometimes I get anxious when i look somebody into the eye. I am unorganized and I have no need for routine and schedule. Right now I don't have any intense interests that I get upset if I don't pursue,however from age 10 to 15 I was addicted to this computer game and often played all day and I was upset when I couldn't play it. I don't self stim in regards to hand flapping, but I often rub my eyes and i've been blinking heavily since childhood, and I sometimes shake my legs and bite my fingernails.Also when I was a kid i would look into bright lights. I don't think I am sensitive to any sounds or textures. I enjoy physical contact such as hugging and kissing. I am physically fit and have an athletic body, and never had any motor issues. I learned that individuals with autism often have echolalia. I noticed when I have conversations particularly with strangers I sometimes repeat what they have said for example I was at Walmart and asked the employee to open up the glass door to get a video game and he said he doesn't have the keys. I responded with you don't have the keys? One thing that particularly worry's me is that I have abnormalities with my speech I sometimes mispronounce words, and somethings I plan on saying come out wrong. I am sorry for this long essay , but if anyone would take the time to read and tell me if you think I might have Asperger's I would greatly appreciate it.

We tend to not armchair diagnose people here dude. There's only you that knows your history well enough to make an educated guess.

The thing that convinced me was the pdf "Asperger's grows up" (google it). Then my daughter was diagnosed. So I went and got diagnosed.

My advice is if your speech issues are happening often or a recent phemonenon see a speech pathologist and tell him or her not only about your speech issues but the other things.

Aspergers/autism is (or virtually is) a lifelong condition. One doesn't just "develop" it after early childhood.

In light of this alone, I would tend to doubt that you have Aspergers Syndrome.

You are, of course, welcome in this Forum, anyway.

Perhaps you might find some answers when you read up on something called the Broad Autism Phenotype.

You may have some minor neurological deficits that have become more apparent to you as you have grown older. But as the others have said, it doesn't sound like an autistic spectrum disorder. More likely to be minor attention deficit and minor difficulties in your cognitive processing.

I tend to agree with the above posters. While being unable to say definitively, from what you describe, it seems unlikely that you have autism. As others have noted, it does not spontaneously develop in late childhood or adolescence. Even those who were diagnosed later in life (myself included) presented with symptoms from their very earliest memories.

You describe yourself as "open and expressive" with people you know; that is often uncommon with people on the spectrum. We can be comfortable and at ease around those we know, and expressive when it comes to our special interests, but it's hard for many of us to be spontaneously engaging and easily sociable, even with our immediate family members.

The blanking on words and not knowing what to say are likely just symptoms of the social anxiety diagnosis, especially if you didn't have this problem as a child. Anxiety around eye contact could be a manifestation of this as well, especially as you haven't always had difficulty in this area.

As far as the echolalia goes, what you're describing isn't true echolalia. Echolalia is when you repeat the exact words someone said, in the exact tone they used, so in your example, an echolalic response to the phrase, "I don't have the keys" might be, "don't have the keys, don't have the keys." Echolalia is used for two primary reasons. First, it's a means of communication in people who have difficulty speaking, or in moments when verbal people have trouble accessing their words physically (knowing what you want to say but being unable to make your mouth say it). Second, it's used as a type of verbal stim or self-soothing mechanism. When I'm highly anxious or stressed, and I still have access to my words, I will repeat lines and phrases of dialogue from my favourite TV shows to myself over and over again, because it creates a comforting bubble of familiarity for my brain to hang onto in that moment.

Having a hypochondria diagnosis also makes you likely predisposed to over-identifying non-existent or coincidental symptoms of diseases and disorders in yourself, and you may start unconsciously adopting some of the behaviours you read about in an effort to "prove" to yourself that you really do have this condition. Have you noticed any new symptoms cropping up since beginning your research, or any previous ones becoming exacerbated? These are signs that your brain is trying to fill the role you've given it of "person who has/is X".

Of course, as I said, no one here can say anything about your mental health with any certainty. If you continue to be concerned about it, your doctor might be a good place to start in finding answers. Regardless of your place on or off the spectrum, you are welcome here.

I'd suggest a psychiatrist if you have doubts regarding your mental behaviors. Remember trying to get diagnosed by forum members isn't a good idea

But if you want a general answer based on what you explained, some of the things does sound like things someone with aspergers have, but some also dont. Social difficulties is the most common symptom, because most of society have hard time learning to accept someone who is different than others, especially at schools and colleges. Workplaces, a bit less

You stated for example not having much friends, that can be a sign of social difficulties / issues, or it can be simply a personal choice ( choice of a person to not make many friends )

Hard to find out without knowing you personally

Hello everyone, thank you for taking the time to read and reply to my post it means a lot to me. I took an Asperger test online and it said that I am 150/200 neurotipical and 40/200 neurodiverse. Although this test probably doesn't mean much, I think that it's anxiety that is holding me back from social situations. I am starting therapy next week in order to treat my social anxiety and I will bring up Asperger's and see what a therapist thinks. Thank you once again, best wishes-N