so I think I have aspergers

[carrias]

title sais it all really, I decided to look into aspergers after my autistic training partner left for egypt (long story) because I realised how similar we are in some things and it turns out I have several features - I don't know if I have enough to make me fully aspergers or not and tbh I'm freaking out a little about the whole thing.

 

oookay, I'm 19 - studying sciences and maths at college - hoping to do theoretical physics next year. one thing that made me suspect I may be autistic in some regard is that my course has an autistic majority, and the higher up you take it the stronger this majority is, but there is more than that. apparently obsessions are a feature and it's definitely one I have, short and long term. in addition to martial arts and video games I solve more than a dozen types of twisty puzzles (from rubiks cubes to terraminxes, where a terraminx is the biggest twisty puzzle ever to be made commercially), write codes and play chess and thud, each with varying levels of obsession over time. short term wise I've learnt to paint, draw, make origami, throw knives, juggle different knives, cook, write, free run, design multiple games and create a series of towers out of spaghetti and jelly babies the tallest of which was over seven feet from the ground. I'm very into philosophy and science and tend to view the world in a very analytical, logical way that I've read about as being related to autism. the stuff I read just seemed to be me, with things like the tendency to get out of my depth when there's more than one other person there, a desire for rules and highrachy, some technical name referring to an attachment to close spaces and sleeping bags, a strong aversion to being interrupted, a strong sense of social justice and a tendency to defend concepts and ideas - and that's just off the top of my head!

 

I am going to get a professional opinion at some point, but given my families weirdness, having been brought up as an ex-pat in belgium, a childhood diagnosis of dyspraxia, issues with depression and ME, and my own unconventional nature, tendency to overcome, high intellect and bisexuality I don't exactly have high hopes.

 

what was I meaning to ask? that's difficult, because it goes along the lines of "everything". do you guys think I do have aspergers and how would I tell would be a damn good start, but the only reason I'm not writing more questions is that the list goes on and on and I have no idea how they should be prioritised

 

PS: I've remembered something I should have put up there somewhere - I have, the easiest way to describe it is a sort of autograph in my head, only not just for graphs. sometimes I can see trends as physical things, other times I can plot graphs in my head or write collections of algebraic terms on a board that I can't see but can sort of feel, with the same kind of sense that tells you where not to put your feet if you close your eyes in a room you know. I once dreamed about a rubiks cube that I could vividly see and feel, and at other times I can create simple four dimensional (at least they feel like four dimensional pictures look) shapes - does anybody else get any of that??

[LancsLad]

Carrias, I feel a bit guilty about this but there are a lot of people coming to the forum with very similar posts and it can become really time consuming trying to give a full answer to every one of them. There are only a few of us trying to handle these questions and so what I am going to do is direct you to a few other similar posts. Feel free to then come back with your thoughts and I willl be happy to deal with more specific points, because this 'do I have Asperger's question' is impossible to answer and as such is not the easiest thing to reply to.

 

other posts;

 

Does it sound like I may have Asperger's (Zizmarley) General Discussion.

 

Looking for advice / a pointer in the right direction. I think I have a problem (Luciano) Help and Advice.

 

What can I expect after a diagnosis of Aspergers (Dekasapace) Beyond Adolescence.

 

Adult Aspergers assessment (Pappy) Beyond Adolescence.

 

Hope some of these and other posts might help you think through things a bit. I would also look at other posts and responses made by people in the assessment process to see what sort of feelings this generates in these individuals.

 

Carrias some peopel come to the forum and simply want someone to say yes you have to make them feel either better or possibly to have a downer on themselves many people here with the condition simply will not do that for very good reasons. if you want to seriously research a bit more into the consition I wouls recomend a book by Tony Attwood called The complete guide to Asperger's Syndrome. I found it informative and unbiased in giving a fair account of the condition, there are sections related to adults its not all about kids and teenagers.

 

Just a few thoughts.

[Tally]

Hi Carrias, and welcome.

 

There is a stereotype about Asperger's that we are all really nerdy and into Physics. The autistic people you are meeting on your course probably do meet that stereotype, and it sounds like you'd meet the definition for nerdy too.

 

Part of the diagnostic criteria states that people with autism or Asperger's have difficulties which affect their everyday life. There's nothing in your post to suggest you have many difficulties. Obviously it would be impossible to tell us everything about yourself, so you may just not have thought to mention your difficulties. But you're unlikely to get a diagnosis of Asperger's purely on the basis of the things you've mentioned in your post.

 

One thing that did catch my eye was you mentioned that you'd been diagnosed with Dyspraxia. There is quite a lot of overlap between Asperger's and Dyspraxia. Most people with Asperger's have some difficulties with motor co-ordination, and most people with Dyspraxia have some social difficulties. You would have to have fairly major difficulties with both to get separate diagnoses of both conditions. The Dyspraxia diagnosis may already explain any social difficulties you have.

 

I second LancsLad's book recommendation. The Tony Attwood book is very thorough and is one of the few books that talks about adults with AS. It would be good for you to learn a little more about AS to help you decide whether it's worth pursuing a diagnosis of AS.

 

But diagnosis or not, you may well find that strategies that help people with AS are helpful for you. Particularly since you have Dyspraxia, which can cause some similar difficulties. So learning about AS might help you find strategies to help even if you feel you don't have AS after all.