Anyone Else Feel Like They Have Asperger Syndrome?

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Doug5

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Ive always had a hard time interacting with people. I always thought it was cuz of my hearing loss. Could I have Asperger? I have fanantical interests in cars.
 
I actually think that Asperger's is overdx a little. There are people with it.....but it does seem that a lot of normal human quirks are being overpathologized. We all have our obessions.
Trust me............just mild trouble with interacting with people is NOT Aspergers. Someone following people around campus, someone who thinks that anyone who interacts with them is a "fwiend", someone who has really strange obessions............yes they have Aspergers.
 
A friend of mine has Asperger so I know what it looks like. He does the hands thing. Maybe he rubbed off on me. The another place where we are different, is that I know my fanactical interest in cars doesnt interest most people.

It does seem like theyve over done it like ADD. The thing Ive noticed about being hard of hearing is the lack of facial expression during communication. For example, I concentrate on reading lips so maybe I miss reading facial cues. Also, Ive noticed deaf people sometimes have a strained confused look when communicating with hearing people. Cuz theyre trying so hard to understand what is being said. A problem I have is that I have painfull arthritis, so I often have a pained look on my face. Maybe that puts people off. I have yet to fit in anywhere. I always feel left out like an outsider.
 
is that I know my fanactical interest in cars doesnt interest most people.
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Yes, but how fanatical is it? Do you tend to ramble on and on about cars or is it just a complete fascination? I do think there's a difference between a fanatical interest in something, and Asperger's. Lots of nereotypical people have fanatical interests. You're aware that most people aren't interested in cars.........that really isn't an Asperger's trait. Aspie folks tend to be kind of self centered and presume that everyone is interested in computers, or '80's music or the skin on arms being streachy. (and yes.....I knew a kid who was obessed with the skin on his arms)
 
I, too, feel like an outsider. I just don't know why. I know I used to be real shy when I was little. Maybe that is the reason. I usually am quiet and not talking much. Maybe people think I am stuck up when I am really shy and not knowing what to talk about.
 
I was diagnosed with Asperger's at age 9.

I think deafdyke is lying about it. We had a huge fight over this on AIM and she insulted me a ton, and I don't think she knows what she's talking about when it comes to autism of any sort.
 
There is much more to any form of autism than just "fanatical interests" in a particular object and social aversions. A person is not diagnosed solely on those two things. My son is PDD-NOS. He has speech problems, fine motor problems, is fanatical about Super Mario Brothers at the moment (used to be anything with wheels), he is well ahead of the standards for math and phonetic reading but is behind in reading comprehension. He seeks out social situations but often acts inapporpriately. He also displays emotions differently from most and is prone to self injurous behavior. He also is extremely sensitive to noise and sounds which can lead to melt downs. This is only a part of what makes him autistic. If you feels you may have this syndrome please go get tested but I doubt you do based on what you have reported and if you have any questions feel free to pm me.
 
I don't think being socially awkward makes you have an autistic spectrum disorder. it just means you're shy or.. not a social person.

I do agree that AS is seriously over diagnosed. I'm all for people who need the diagnosis to receive support in school/work/whatever under ada laws, but there's a certain point where you have to accept that deviation doesn't always equal disorder.

Neurodiversity isn't terrible. :)
 
Yeah, I dont really think I have Asperger but I feel so socially awkward. Anyone ever hear of Avoidant personality Syndrome?
 
When I have a conversation with someone who doesn't know how to talk with deaf(you know the one who talk fast and quietly). I just pretend to understand them by going "uh huh, mmhmm, oh yeah?" because it seem to me, it's really awkward to ask to say it again for million times.


Group conversations are always in the pain for me. It's such a brainwrecking to keep the conversation up, so I'm pretty much get left out and sit back silently.
 
Doug5 said:
Yeah, I dont really think I have Asperger but I feel so socially awkward. Anyone ever hear of Avoidant personality Syndrome?
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Yeppers. What do you want to know? You can pm me if you don't want to ask your questions publicly. I'm a professional counselor.
 
think deafdyke is lying about it. We had a huge fight over this on AIM and she insulted me a ton, and I don't think she knows what she's talking about when it comes to autism of any sort.
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WTF? I am not lying about anything. I do know quite a bit about autism especially since a lot of my friends work with autistic kids. I had about four years worth of interaction with a student, at my college who had VERY severe Asperger's/ PDD-NOS. As a matter of fact, there are people with my syndrome who have autistic features!
It might be non-verbal learning disorder. Its sort of like Aspergers, but its not really on the spectrum.
Then again.........are you hoh and were you raised mostly oral? A lot of hoh and oral only people have social-emotional issues that can and do mimic Asperger's/NVLD/etc.
Do you have a learning disabilty of any sort? It might just be a part of the LD. (eg generalized developmental issues)
 
Volcanbaru said:
When I have a conversation with someone who doesn't know how to talk with deaf(you know the one who talk fast and quietly). I just pretend to understand them by going "uh huh, mmhmm, oh yeah?" because it seem to me, it's really awkward to ask to say it again for million times.


Group conversations are always in the pain for me. It's such a brainwrecking to keep the conversation up, so I'm pretty much get left out and sit back silently.
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I know. It sux
 
Doug5 said:
oops, I mean Avoidant Personality Disorder
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That's okay...I understood what you meant. But its difficult to say without knowing your family history and more about your symptoms, etc.
 
Doug5 said:
Ive always had a hard time interacting with people. I always thought it was cuz of my hearing loss. Could I have Asperger? I have fanantical interests in cars.
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Okay, so I'm coming in a bit late, but i'd like to add a few thoughts of mine. I don't know if the OP has Aspeger's -- i"m not a psychologist or anything. But I can say that being shy (or antisocial) and being obsessed with stuff like cars doesn't mean that you have Aspeger's. It's normal to have an obsession with something, as long as it doesn't take over your life.

But having said that, I've dealt with a few people who appear to have Aspeger's syndrome. (I don't know if they actually have that or were even diagnosed, but they were so *out there* and practically textbook cases that I'd be surprised if they didn't have it.) The thing is, these people seem to have normal or higher intelligence at first glimpse, but as you get to know them better, you notice that they have a *BIG* problem with social aspects of life. This is kind of hard to explain...for example, they can't read social cues and tend to say wrong things, which make them seem self-centered or even downright dumb. It's as if they are "social-blind", if that makes sense. Often, they have problems making friends due to this. A normal twelve-year-old kid would have more social sophistication than a 30-year-old with Aspeger's.

In college back in 80's, there was a quiet boy who was very bright and taking advanced mathematics. But he was throwing off a MAJOR "geek vibe" that scared off many people. He wasn't trying to be antisocial or anything -- he had no problem approaching people -- but he was basically clueless about socializing. He had this weird habit of hovering around other people, even if they made it clear they didn't want to talk to him. For example, he stopped by my dorm to talk when I was cleaning out my dorm (it was the end of a semster, and I was in the process of moving out). After talking with him a bit just to be polite, I told him I needed to finish cleaning my room. To anyone else, that would mean the conversation is over, and time for him to leave. But this guy didn't take the hint -- he just stood and stood there in the dorm doorway, watching me clean, like he was watching television or something. That was really bizarre. A friend of mine wondered if this guy had some kind of brain chemistry problem since the guy was so brillant in mathematics but jaw-dropping dumb in some other apsects. (We didn't know what Aspeger's Syndrome was at the time -- this was back in 80's -- but many years later when I read about Aspeger's Syndrome, I realized in retrospect that must be what the guy had.)
 
When I tell people I have Asperger syndrome people seem really surprised. Mild Asperger syndrome is very much an invisible disability. Particularly when you get older and learn more about interhuman communication. For example when I was younger if someone said 'would you like to' I took it as a question. I now know that people often say it as a request and not a question at all. I also know people say things that they don't mean which was much harder when I was growing up but I get used to that sort of thing now.

I grew up before Asperger was really known about and I was often punished for things I couldn't help doing. I ended up also suffering from mental health issues such as self harm.
 
dreama said:
When I tell people I have Asperger syndrome people seem really surprised. Mild Asperger syndrome is very much an invisible disability. Particularly when you get older and learn more about interhuman communication. For example when I was younger if someone said 'would you like to' I took it as a question. I now know that people often say it as a request and not a question at all. I also know people say things that they don't mean which was much harder when I was growing up but I get used to that sort of thing now.

I grew up before Asperger was really known about and I was often punished for things I couldn't help doing. I ended up also suffering from mental health issues such as self harm.
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As one gets older, one learns to compensate more, thus making the symptoms less visible to others. The problems with pragmatic language is often viewed as obstinance or outright refusal to comply.

You have overcome many obstacles, dreama. And have gained wisdom inthe process.
 
jillio said:
As one gets older, one learns to compensate more, thus making the symptoms less visible to others. The problems with pragmatic language is often viewed as obstinance or outright refusal to comply.

You have overcome many obstacles, dreama. And have gained wisdom inthe process.
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:ty:
 
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