This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

I think I may have asbergers syndrome

Scroll to see replies

Demian

You've just described half of world's young male population.

I'm pretty sure you don't have Asperger's.
These are probably just self-confidence issues. Nothing a serious romantic relationship won't fix.
And family issues. Who doesn't have family issues? :smile:

This is only a modest opinion. But I believe you shouldn't worry yourself about being a little different. We can't all share the same personality.

This

Reply 21

Anatheme

jjackson18624

Also- http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html

If you havn't heard of him Baron-Cohen's a really famous psychologist.
& I got 33 xD

I almost thought it would be Sacha Baron-Cohen, haha. I ended up with 11 :colondollar:

Reply 22

dsp911

''People with Asperger syndrome often display behavior, interests, and activities that are restricted and repetitive and are sometimes abnormally intense or focused. Asperger syndrome is an autism spectrum disorder, and people with it therefore show significant difficulties in social interaction, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests.''

Ring a bell? yeah me too...

Reply 23

username396452

I took that Wired test, and got a 35. I am not pleased...

Anway, to the OP...My little brother has been formally diagnosed and has been in and out of erm, centers, involuntarily for years. From what you have described it could be a very mild form or low end of the spectrum. Socially you may attribute shyness to Aspergers, however as others have pointed out, many Aspys are actually quite sociable. The key may be your inability to handle criticism in your passions which my brother has taken to the extreme of cutting off all family members, refusing to speak to me for 2 entire years, and eventually adopting an "I'm right, everybody is wrong" attitude. One of the main symptoms of Aspergers is the inability (not unwillingness or uncomfortableness) of responding to social cues. Can't read facial expressions, have no comprehension in tonal voice, and just can not comprehend why their actions would offend others.

Generalized anxiety sounds like this would be separate from your Aspergers traits, perhaps a form of social anxiety. Likewise, OCD and ticks can exist independently. You really should seek professional advice if your behaviour bothers you but don't assume the "worst" that you could be at a very high level of the autism spectrum. Unfortunately Asperger could come as an addition to a "cocktail" as with other disorders where it is often mixed with other issues. Like paranoid schizophrenia in the case of my family member which did lead to suicidal tendencies :frown:

. Maybe look if there is a history of mental illness in your family which could contribute.

Your concerns are absolutely manageable and the first step in seeking professional guidance is that you're made aware of the exact ailments. It's promising that you even recognize and can locate your symptoms and acknowledge them, as often "crazy does not know it's crazy!". My little brother has refused diagnosis and had to be literally dragged into it and it was a very painful process. But he has gotten better. And he is functioning well now. There has been several speculations about me which I refuse to honour or submit to because even when my shortcomings are pointed out I am confident that I can function. You have to ask yourself, is it really bothering you that you feel that something's not right? Would diagnosis really improve your overall quality of life? You sound alright by me, take care.

Reply 24

jjackson18624

Anatheme

I almost thought it would be Sacha Baron-Cohen, haha. I ended up with 11 :colondollar:

congrats on being 'normal' :p:

Reply 25

Afrotortina

Heya,

I'm mildly autistic with Semantic-Pragmatic Disorder, so I'll try my best to help. To me, I'm normal, coz I don't know anything else but they found diagnosed me when I was 2..

ANYWAY... can I ask how you are with routine and sarcasm? And did you have any problems with speech and communication when you were a child? I'd definitely ask your parents about it (as they will know a lot about your behaviour) and maybe try ringing the Austism helpline?

Good luck! And if you are autistic... it's nothing to be ashamed off! Im proud! :biggrin:

Reply 26

Afrotortina

jjackson18624

congrats on being 'normal' :p:

What is 33??

Reply 27

Eclectic Styles

Feza

Feza's post

Reminds me in a few ways like this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EI2afDGo8m8

Confidence is so overrated...

Deviance is much better... :evil:

crazyb

You get diagnosed as having asperger...

Then what?

It'll change nowt - only label you as being 'different' and make you even more insecure.

Yep.

It would be interesting to see how many people are officially aspergers and how many are self-diagnosed. I get the feeling many self-diagnose just to find blame for their behaviour with the real problems laying elsewhere.

Take everything you read on these Asperger threads with caution.

Take a sample of TSR users and the incidence of claimed Asperger would be much higher than that of a sample drawn from the entire population.

Once again, yep.

This guy's definitely got it going...

AshleyT

I'm pretty sure you don't have Asperger's.
These are probably just self-confidence issues. Nothing a serious romantic relationship won't fix.
And family issues. Who doesn't have family issues?

Hey, AshleyT, I'm guessing you have Aspergers, too?

I say that because you seem to be quite well spoken though you're making a few `odds and bumps` here and there with your posts... :top:

Did I guess correctly? (Please, oh please... :woo:

)

Liquidus Zeromus

Doctor, now.

Not really.

dsp911

Some stuff plucked from the Internet...

WaltzvWendt

Socially you may attribute shyness to Aspergers, however as others have pointed out, many Aspys are actually quite sociable.

Why do people (especially diagnosed Aspergers!) use that term, "Aspys"? It's really quite childish and just serves to make us sound quasi-retarded.

I prefer the term `Lunatic`. It has the kick of a madman with the perplexity of side-humour and that `Oh, no, that's alright thank you very much, I'll just be going now...` ring to it, too.

But yeah, apart from that, some decent points raised there, so good stuff all around.

Afrotortina

Semantic-Pragmatic Disorder and some other stuff...

That's a new one for me. Hmmm... :bebored:

Reply 28

Anatheme

Afrotortina

What is 33??

"Psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen and his colleagues at Cambridge's Autism Research Centre have created the Autism-Spectrum Quotient, or AQ, as a measure of the extent of autistic traits in adults. In the first major trial using the test, the average score in the control group was 16.4. Eighty percent of those diagnosed with autism or a related disorder scored 32 or higher. The test is not a means for making a diagnosis, however, and many who score above 32 and even meet the diagnostic criteria for mild autism or Asperger's report no difficulty functioning in their everyday lives."

Reply 29

username396452

Afrotortina

What is 33??

From the quiz site In the first major trial using the test, the average score in the control group was 16.4. Eighty percent of those diagnosed with autism or a related disorder scored 32 or higher.

congratulations, you are likely 'artistic' :p:

(or that's what the computerized algorithm thinks :wink:

)

Reply 30

JoeTSR

jjackson18624

Also- http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html

If you havn't heard of him Baron-Cohen's a really famous psychologist.
& I got 33 xD

thought I was gonna score really high there... yay :smile:

Reply 31

Kettle

Thanks for the replies thus far. Some interesting responses and mixed opinions.

As someone pointed out, the only way I can find out is to get myself checked with the doctor.

But also as someone else pointed out, the NHS may lie to save money.

And as someone else pointed out, if I do have aspergers, it wont make a difference.

A lot of people don't think I have aspergers from my post. That's fair enough. Tbh, all I know is 'somethings not right with me'..

But as I said, I can't really sum up everything on a message board. I think with these kind of things, you probably have to know the person to judge, and I bared that in mind even before I posted this thread.

But yeah, thanks for all the opinions. Tis appreciated

Reply 32

jjackson18624

Kettle

Kettle- one thing I will say is that you MAY get extra time in exams, because aspergers is linked with co-ordination and writing speed. So if your already in education, or thinking about doing a course in the future, it might be useful to get diagnosed.

Reply 33

Demian

Regarding this, I believe that being diagnosed with a mental illness has more appeal that having normal, everyday problems. It almost seems that a mental illness has a romantic feel to it. It certainly means that one can't be necessarily held accountable for all his actions if he suffers from an "illness". It's nothing he can do, it's the illness.
Actually it's not.
From my point of view, Asperger's is the new Bipolar.

This is just a general statement. It has nothing to do with the OP or others on this forum.

Reply 34

Afrotortina

WaltzvWendt

(or that's what the computerized algorithm thinks :wink:

)

Well at least the test works, as I am! Score!!

Reply 35

Afrotortina

jjackson18624

Also, if your off to uni, you get a Disabled Students Allowance grant! And i got 25% extra time in exams!

Reply 36

Afrotortina

Eclectic Styles

I prefer the term `Lunatic`.
Thanks, really sensitive.

That's a new one for me. Hmmm... :bebored:

http://www.mugsy.org/spd.htm gives an outline, but if you cba to read:

Features it includes are:-

* delayed language development
* learning to talk by memorising phrases, instead of putting words together freely
* repeating phrases out of context, especially snippets remembered from television programmes
* muddling up 'I' and 'you'
* problems with understanding questions, particularly questions involving 'how' and 'why'
* difficulty following conversations

But there are important differences between bright autistic children with semantic pragmatic difficulties and bright autistic children with Asperger syndrome. Children with semantic pragmatic difficulties have usually learnt to talk late, whereas (according to diagnostic guidelines) children with Asperger syndrome were able to talk in sentences by the age of three. Also children with semantic pragmatic difficulties do better on performance IQ tests than verbal IQ tests, whereas with children with Asperger syndrome the results tend to be the other way round. However, if a child with semantic pragmatic difficulties eventually becomes a fluent talker, the difference between the labels 'high functioning autistic' and ' Asperger syndrome' becomes fairly academic.

Hope this helps! :smile:

Reply 37

Demian

WaltzvWendt

you know, I used to feel this way just because I couldn't cope with what was going on with my brother. Countless times of anger yelling at my mom, "there is nothing wrong with him!!!! he's just an @$$hole!". But I think it's unfair to label true (and often medicated) 'sufferers' as not actually having what is perceived as a sickness. And a lot of the times, it's not even those that have aspergers that recognize it where the real impact lies. It's in their friends and families that are affected sometimes more so. I know there are a few that take pride in what they are and don't see it as a disability, maybe I'm still as pig-headed or prejudiced as I ever was. But some variants can be HIGHLY disruptive. What has always killed me inside was defending him and trying to reason with him to change his behaviour but knowing that I never can, because his brain is not like mine. I appreciate the disclaimer at the end, but do be careful. What may appear a romantic diagnosis to some could be the only key to re-entering society for others.

Maybe it's my poor English but I wasn't talking about the 'true sufferers'. I was talking about perceiving yourself as 'not normal' thus imagining you might have a mental illness that could be held accountable for your unhappiness. It is sometimes easier to accept the fact that you have a mental illness than trying to find the true source of your problems.
I repeat, this is not about the correctly diagnosed Asperger's sufferers. It's just that not every sadness is clinical depression and not every social awkwardness is Asperger's.

Reply 38

username396452

Demian

Oh ok. Fair enough. Just had the mistaken impression that you may have thought aspergers or bipolar were sane cries for attention and not true illnesses in general. The description of 'illness' and then the following phrase "it's not." threw me off.

Anyone lucidly questioning their sanity, read the book "Madness and Civilization: The Birth of the Asylum" by Michel Foucault for alternative interpretations of psychology and normality :biggrin:

Reply 39

Demian

WaltzvWendt