How many of you have Asperger's Syndrome?

somefitsomefat

Is that the one where you're really good at Black Jack?

(This was a joke.)

Mr_Bad_Example

Yep I have ADHD which is not that far off from Asperger's

They are completely different.

They share some traits and can be diagnosed at the same time. Doesn't make them exactly the same, but they aren't all that foreign to one another either.

AZKristi

I don't think you necessarily need to have Asperger's or ASD to come across that way on internet forums. By their very nature, digital communications take away many of the social cues (facial expressions, body language, etc) that we rely on to interpret meaning. So really, we are all experiencing (to at least some degree) what it is like to communicate without being able to fully account for non-verbal cues.

BeanQueen3000

When I was looking around for a therapist, I had one tell me he'd diagnose me with aspberger's on the spot about 30 minutes into our initial meeting. I argued with him for a bit until I realized my protests were only giving him more reason to believe it.

Parts of my personality certainly overlap with the hallmarks of AS, but I really think i might just be a strong INTJ *kitten*.

_AlabamaSlamma_

I HAVE IT, although I've never been officially diagnosed. I set the doc appt. and forgot where I put it because I was in the middle of memorizing the 1020th digit of pi.

OK, in all seriousness, though my oldest son (18) was diagnosed in the 3rd grade. I guess I've kind of made a self-diagnosis based on the fact that he behaves EXACTLY like me when I was that age.

bluetuesday5

I began to suspect I might have it when I was 17 although never diagnosed. I realised I sometimes had difficulty realising people's ulterior motives, often took things literally, didn't really get certain unwritten social rules and it had never really occured to me to make eye contact with people and use their expressions to judge their mood, etc. Add this to my obsessive behaviour as a child and I think that makes me an aspie. You learn strategies as you get older that help you to emulate "normal" behaviour.

fitfreakymom

I remember years ago that I was told by a minister at a local church where I grew up that I had no mental condition and that I just been touched by the devil and that I needed to be prayed over and possibly an exorcism, yep we left that church lol and I also believe in ghosts and am very interested in other people beliefs so they really felt I had evil in me.

benefiting

It just came to my attention today that I can come across as rude when people are joking because I sometimes don't see it as a joke and can't identify it as a joke and sometimes take offence to it (mind you I was also in a mood but anyway). It's probably happens with basic things too - like in the way I write about a certain topic that I believe in in a reply to other peoples forums or comments in my own forum, etc. I never try and intentionally hurt/be rude to people but it can come across as I am and if I feel bad most of the time I say sorry.

My question is - can anyone else relate to that?

This is interesting. When I have come across rude people IRL, it turns out they have Asberger's. I then end up avoiding them because I get frustrated trying to communicate with them. My friend's son has it, and we have been unable to hang out much because my kids refuse to be around him since he is so mean all the time.

I don't really know much about it, just that like ADHD, suddenly people are being diagnosed left and right with it. My friend's son is on meds that don't seem to help at all. Is there anything that can be done?

This is a common attitude towards those with Aspergers, and is a big part of the problem. AS is not a disease, it is a different way of thinking. The brain simply works in a different way than the general population. When people simply consider them rude or mean, and avoid them, then they contribute to the ostracism by society, simply because they are 'different'.

If you take the time to get to know someone with AS, you will find some pretty fantastic people. It takes longer to get to know them, but it is often worth it. They mostly do not realize that they are coming off as rude or mean, because they don't pick up on social cues very well. They need to be taught more directly how to interact socially. They are very logic minded and don't understand why people don't just say what they mean. Passive aggressive people would be the opposite of Aspies, but at least Aspies are honest, and you know exactly where they stand.

Children can be quite cruel when they are faced with others that are different than they. This behavior is generally taught to them by their parents. When parents don't let their kids be around kids that are different, they miss out on an opportunity to teach their kids acceptance and love towards others.

Perfectly said. Well done!

benefiting

For those of you claiming to have it/having it but not being officially diagnosed - why didn't you? Especially if you have children with it? You may have some of the traits but that doesn't mean you have it.

WendyTerry420

Yep I have ADHD which is not that far off from Asperger's

They are completely different.

Actually, they aren't

The main differences between Aspergers and ADHD deal with focused attention ability as well as whether or not obsessive behaviors and sensory issues are present.

It is possible for a child to have a cormorbidity of ADHD and Aspergers (i.e., both conditions are present). A child with both conditions will have more ADHD symptoms (e.g., impulsivity and hyperactivity) than common in Aspergers.

The problem with the Aspergers - ADHD overlap is that, at the more severe margins of the ADHD spectrum and the less extreme margins of the Aspergers spectrum, clinicians can legitimately argue for one over the other diagnosis. It is common for a child with Aspergers to first be diagnosed with ADHD due to attention and behavioral issues. As further tests are done and more specialists get involved, a more specific diagnosis of Aspergers is often made.

Most of the processes to get these labels placed are not an exact science, and the frustrating process for parents, teachers, and medical professionals is finding the right label to make sure that the right approaches are taken to help the child progress in the best manner possible.

Source: myaspergerschild.com

Not to mention frustrating for the child , as a young adult I wanted extra help for college and even though I had all my medical documents from the Royal Ottawa hospital to prove testing and diagnosis the school psychologist and the DSW team wanted to retest which is fine but then later on in life when I went back to college and went in with my paperwork I still had to meet with the DSW department and needed to do more testing. Now at 40 I want to get help for my ADHD and not sure I want to go through all the testing yet again. It feels like because people cannot physically see it then they do not believe you when you say you have it even when there are medical records to prove it.

^^ So true. Psychiatrists are a pain to deal with, imo. I can't stand them anymore. Counseling helped me. It also helped for me to get a job where I can leave my desk when I need to. If I get distracted or can't concentrate, I just leave and go for a walk. I did the testing for it and came out with 38 out of 40 behaviors, but they still want to dope me up with stuff that won't help instead of giving me what I have used before that I know works for me.

bluetuesday5

For those of you claiming to have it/having it but not being officially diagnosed - why didn't you? Especially if you have children with it? You may have some of the traits but that doesn't mean you have it.

I'm not sure. Maybe my mum didn't want me to feel different so never took me to the doctors. By the time I realised myself there wasn't a huge amount that could be done anyway, but it was helpful to read about the effects so that I could compensate for them in my behaviour, ie learning to recognise people's facial expressions and thinking about why they might be treating me in a certain way.

Maybe I don't have it and it was just a lack of social skills, I'm not really sure how anyone, even a doctor, could say, after all the symptoms are all they have to go on as far as I know, and with it being a spectrum thing it is hard to say you either do or don't. This is partly why diagnosis is so difficult. Although there is meant to be an increase in autistic spectrum "disorders", I think they are just diagnosed more frequently now.

WendyTerry420

When I was looking around for a therapist, I had one tell me he'd diagnose me with aspberger's on the spot about 30 minutes into our initial meeting. I argued with him for a bit until I realized my protests were only giving him more reason to believe it.

Parts of my personality certainly overlap with the hallmarks of AS, but I really think i might just be a strong INTJ *kitten*.

:drinker: :smokin:

fitfreakymom

lol I know what worked for me lol unfortunately most doctors will not go that route

WendyTerry420

lol I know what worked for me lol unfortunately most doctors will not go that route

Yeah, what is it with doctors who refuse to listen to their patients? So frustrating!