What's a borderline Aspie?

Post Reply New Topic

Or it could mean that you have it, but you almost don't. Who knows exactly where on that admittedly very wide border you are?

When I was diagnosed I asked my doctor if I was "borderline" or definately met the criteria. She said that if I didn't meet the criteria I wouldn't have borderline AS, because not meeting the criteria means that you are not on the spectrum but just have some of the traits. So in other words I am not borderline.
But I am sure that borderline would mean that you are on the spectrum but just have AS very mildly. According to my doctor that is not the case though.

Well, I meet the criteria - ESPECIALLY theory of mind/social intelligence, but certain things like sensory issues and changes to routine don't result in meltdowns for me. Loud unexpected noises or sights can freak me out, but usually momentarily. Once my mother came downstairs into my room wearing a colonial style dress with cap and I got extremely frightened, but it passed within a half hour. Changes in routine cause me alot of anxiety, and I develop strange, irrational rationalizations in going out of my way to avoid changes or unfamiliar situations - ie. fear of a fire alarm going off if I open a door I have never opened before, even though I have seen other people use it. However, I try to spend more energy when notified of a change on quick planning for the new situation as opposed to freaking out.

My first testing/diagnosis resulted in the psychologist telling me that I "leaned very closely towards Asperger's, but that I did not have nearly as many problems as most people with the syndrome exhibit". I wasn't completely satisfied with his findings but he pretty much told me that I was "borderline" but not quite an Aspie.

Probably borderline AS/NT

No label is ever perfect when applied to human beings.
Didn't you watch Breakfast Club?

I was told I was hypervigilant. I enjoy hearing all the small stuff and being able to block people...sometimes though all the talking or the tv really irritate me so I move from the area.

I reckon this is ''social phobia'', tel me if I'm wrong or not.
I work volluntry at a charity shop now, and I get a free travel buspass, so I go every day. I get the bus at 9, and come back at 2. Funnily enough, I am fine with doing that.
But when I get home, and close the front door, I never want to come back out again, (unless I'm walking out with somebody else). But if I've got to go back out on my own, I always loose my courage. Like the other Wednesday I came off the bus and went into my hous - then I saw I needed some milk. I have a supermarket only up the road, which is less than a five-minute walk - but I just could not go back out. I had lost all my courage. And it was the time all the kids were coming out of school, and in between my house and the supermarket there is a primary school - so I didn't fancy meeting all the kids anyway. The supermarket gets really packed after school times, and I just could not face it.
Is this Agoraphobia, or is it social phobia?

Also, when I am walking along with a friend, and there are people walking towards us, I hate it if they pass on my side, and not my friend's side, if you know what I mean. I've always got to step behind my friend to let them by, whilst my friend walks in a straight line and doesn't have to keep stepping aside to let other people pass us on narrow paths. Catch my drift?
Could this be social phobia?
Also, there is a town called Braintree where I go to on the bus, and then there's this seperate shopping centre nearby called Freeport, and from Braintree to Freeport there's a free bus. That's not so good, because in the school holidays, lots and lots of teenagers all gather there to get on this free bus to hang around at the shopping centre. So many gather there, that I am reluctant to get a job in Freeport because I hate the idea of waiting with all these teenagers. Plus they all pile on to the bus, pushing others out their way and making adults feel intimidated, and then there is so many people piled onto the bus that there is no room for anyone else, so they have to wait for the next ride. And on the next ride more teenagers pile on, and there's a mature adult like me who needs to get to work, and there's all these pushy, boisterious kids who have no important responsibilities who all get priority on the bus.
So I can't wait with all the teenagers - I'll just be dreading every holiday.

So is this Agoraphobia or social phobia?

It could mean two things. It could mean AS/NT, or in my case, it could mean, HFA/AS.

borderline aspie = aspie with a lazy evaluator who has no confidence in their work.

'Borderline Aspie' is probably a label made to solve the problem of the fuzzy cut off point between normal and abnormal/pathological. The funny thing this thread shows is that it's not clear what 'Borderline 'is either.

I think I could be thought of as borderline, as I seem to have a lot less problems than other Aspies; I am very lucky! Although I do meet more of the diagnostic criteria than is necessary for diagnosis which implies it's not borderline, as I'd expect someone who is borderline to only just meet the diagnostic criteria. I actually would have met the DSM criteria for classic autism as a young child, although the echolalia and the atypical play disappeared quite early. I've recently started to understand that I do have sensory issues but they're mild. I don't have a routine but I am far more likely to get upset if there are unexpected changes to plans, or if I can't predict what's going to happen in a stressful situation, and I can get very confused and not be able to do what I need to be doing if something unexpected happens.

I guess you could say I'm a "borderline Aspie". I was evaluated for AS, but the NLD seemed to fit a little better. (However, I do have intense special interestes, which isn't usually an NLD trait.) I don't have the same degree of social problems that many Aspies have, although I do have them, and I can't make eye contact. I do have sensory issues, but they usually just make me very uncomfortable, rather than flat-out non-functional. I stim, but I can usually control it - I don't know if that even came up in my evaluation. I only speak in a monotone when talking on the phone. I'm not particularly literal. I can function in NT society, I just come off as a little eccentric, maybe a bit aloof - it just takes a great deal of effort on my part, and it took me a long time to get to the point where I am.

Zombie thread resurrectrion alert, original post is over three years old.


M.

For example I can't enter a candle shop or the detergent aisle at the grocery store because of all the strong competing smells.

I'm a borderline aspie. I call them borspies.

I don't have many problems as lot of aspies do or much sensory issues.

Look:



Where does profoundly debilitating autism end and classic autism begin? Where does it end and AS begin? How many of these classifications and subgroups do we have?

At which size does a meteor end and asteroid begin?

Where does red end and yellow begin in a rainbow?

How cold is too cold?

How hot is too hot?

How long is a piece of string?

Autism is a curve and we all fall somewhere within. Not only that, but everone's manifestations are all different due to different co-morbid conditions. Those are indicated by the different icons within the graph.

At one point a person might still have some AS tendencies, but can appear "normal" to all but the most astute observer. I'm one such person.

Everyone is different.