Can Asperger Syndrome 'flare up'?

[Puppet90]

This might be a bit of a long-winded post, so I just want to apologise in advance.

A bit of background is needed first off to fully explain what I mean by the title of this thread.

In 2006 I was diagnosed with AS, and at the time I was 16. By this point I had lived most of my teenage years and my childhood what I feel 'without' AS. By this I mean, that although I was told it is something that had always been there, as I or my parents and family hadn't known about it, I wasn't treated as someone with AS, but rather just a slightly 'serious' and 'odd' child (words of some family members when asked what I was like).

I was only diagnosed as a 'mild case' of the syndrome, and I made a conscious effort to actually ignore the diagnosis. I got told a few basic things about it, and was given an information pack, but I didn't take the initiative to look into it any further at the time. (There were other personal issues and events which occurred around the time which meant my focus was elsewhere.)

 

Anyway, skipping forward a few years, I got seemed to get on with my life in a fairly normal sense, however until recently I had never really noticed (in any significant sense) my AS. Lately, I've been noticing a lot of things that I've been doing that seem decisively Asperger related. (Not understanding jokes, mismanaging friendships, taking phrases/sayings too literally etc.) All things that when diagnosed I was informed were general traits of the Syndrome.

 

So my question is, can AS be degenerative and get worse with time, or can it become suddenly 'worse' for periods of time? Failing this, is it just me becoming more aware of it?

 

Thanks in advance for any help or advice offered.

[A-S warrior]

well, it can get worse in your own mind because as you get older your exposed to alot more in life and you become alot more aware of it. my sister forinstance, went through childhood absolutley fine and when she made it to about 22 she then started to struggle. shes 27 now and acts like a teenager because she cant cope, shes living with her boyfriend and is also struggleing to understand pepole at work. shes not diagnosed but i have a-s and these things tend to run in the family. but yeah it doesnt get worse, you just become more aware of it. for me its improved but i was diagnosed at 5 years old, so ive had a lifetime of battles.

[Tally]

Hello Puppet, and welcome to the forum

 

AS is not degenerative, but it can become more obvious at times of stress when your coping skills are stretched to their limits. Going into new environments can also present difficulties that you haven't yet learned coping skills for. For example, a new job or moving out of your parents' home can need a totally different set of skills than you've ever used before.

 

Most people with Asperger's I've met (and including myself) can still be quite immature by the time they reach 18, but seem to "catch up" by the early 20s. You must be about 22 now, so it would be quite typical for you to be changing a lot and becoming more aware of yourself and the way you come across to others.

 

If it's to do with increased awareness, this is actually a very good thing. It means that you understand your difficulties better, and that is very important if you want to develop skills for coping with them. Although it can be a painful process to realise you have difficulties, eventually it does get better because you learn new skills and actually become more able than you were before.

[Puppet90]

well, it can get worse in your own mind because as you get older your exposed to alot more in life and you become alot more aware of it. my sister forinstance, went through childhood absolutley fine and when she made it to about 22 she then started to struggle.

AS is not degenerative, but it can become more obvious at times of stress when your coping skills are stretched to their limits.

Thanks for this information. This is the crux of what I what looking for!

 

 

Most people with Asperger's I've met (and including myself) can still be quite immature by the time they reach 18, but seem to "catch up" by the early 20s. You must be about 22 now, so it would be quite typical for you to be changing a lot and becoming more aware of yourself and the way you come across to others.

 

Maybe, although the recent awareness of it has come out of some of the problems it has been causing recently! I'm nearly 22 (in August) but I moved out of my parents home 4 years ago, began to live on my own (albeit with my girlfriend) almost 2 years ago now, and so in that respect I've already dealt with a lot of change that was maybe premature. [There were other things happening between diagnosis and the present that I won't go into that aren't normal experiences by any stretch of the imagination and resulted in me having to 'grow up fast'.

 

If it's to do with increased awareness, this is actually a very good thing. It means that you understand your difficulties better, and that is very important if you want to develop skills for coping with them. Although it can be a painful process to realise you have difficulties, eventually it does get better because you learn new skills and actually become more able than you were before.

As I mentioned, recently it seems to have caused more problems, and this has led to me noticing my AS a lot more. Although until reading these replies it felt like my AS was getting worse causing the problems. (I hope the difference is clear there!).

I'm currently at Uni in my second year (I had 2 years of 'gap'), and it is certainly the social side of things that has gone downhill. In my first year, I made a small but solid group of friends (about 7-8 of us overall) from my course. However, during the last academic year things have taken a turn for the worse. Although not all of cam be blamed on my AS, as some of it is certainly to do with their own issues and faults, I can't help but think that it has played a part. Since September, it has been one event after another that has led to at least multiple people falling out with me. Usually over misunderstandings or feeling that I'm too 'Black or White' in my response to situations.

Although losing friends has happened to me before, it has never been as stark as this, nor as sudden. Usually it actually happened out of a forced change such as me moving house (I moved a lot while growing up) rather than a particular argument or falling out. Although I did have trouble keeping in contact with people once I had moved.

It has ended up, that as we approach the end of the academic year, out of the original group of friends, that aside from my long-term girlfriend, I only have one person who I can count on.

Thankfully the academic side of my degree hasn't been affected by this, but the recent events (although I haven't gone into too much detail, as that would take up so much time!) certainly made me realise the condition of my AS lately.