In my ongoing efforts to solve the puzzle that is "me,"  I have been considering that I may be on the high-functioning end of the Autism spectrum.   I have certain behaviors and tendencies that seem to overlap with some Asperger's traits.  I also sometimes post on a message board called 'Wrong Planet' under the name 'zeitgeistbuster' 

Does anyone here fall on the spectrum or suspect they do?   

I hope you don't mind me posting here, but I have Aspergers (was diagnosed when I was 16), and I think due to my diagnosis even I put off the idea that I was trans due to the 'oh it's just part of your Aspergers' line, heh.

Maybe if I squint real hard... but I fall more into the OCD patterns.

Decidedly, if anything being trans and adjusting to that probably masked my realization that I'm strongly aspie for a long while.

I'm not, but I work in a Social Inclusion Unit which takes children with ASD and I studied it intensely for my degree and masters degree so if I can be any help, please let me know

me!!!

Yes, I don't know but I suspect. I do know that I have sensory processing disorder. I can't seperate things out, it's all happening at once. I have a new car and I had to order it without a radio. I can listen to the radio while riding in a car but everyone knows they have to turn it off if they want to talk to me. I don't know if my disorder is the same thing or not. Worst ever? At the beach on a busy day with 4 of my friends. One of those huge kite competitions was going on and everyone stopped in the middle of the bustling boardwalk and was looking up at them and was talking about them. The looking up made it worse, I couldn't see their mouths which sometimes lets me focus on one thing and understand something.

Also don't know if this is the same thing, just something that people have commented on my whole life. I rock from side to side, I don't know why. I don't even know that it is happening unless someone says something. The only reason I bring it up now is because my brother always tells me to,"Knock it off Rain Man." When he sees me doing it.

Again, I don't know if any of this is on the spectrum.

The rest? I am smart, I know that I am but I have always had trouble putting my thoughts into sentences. When I was really young I had to start memorizing responses. I, quite seriously, spend an hour or two laying in bed going over conversations every night. I have thousands and thousands memorized and people still comment that I am repetive. I don't know what to do about it. Worse thing there is like this afternoon when I had to tell my boyfriend something and had no time to memorize it or put it into words. Luckily he is very patient when that happens, most people are not.

This is going to sound stupid and probably has no relevance but I love and hate vacation. I love it until the end of the day and I have to go to sleep in something that is not my bed. It's like a buzzing in the back of my head that steadily gets worse until, after a few days, I am crawling out of my skin. I don't care what the next attraction is. I don't care if we made it to Epcot or not. I just want to be home. Like I said, stupid huh?

I don't know why I am the way that I am so I definitely don't hold it against anyone for not understanding me. How are they to understand that they can hand me a rubik's cube, or any puzzle really, and I can figure it out relatively easily, yet can't even manage my own life well. I mean, I do manage my life, it's my responsibility. I just have to set failsafes, have safety nets and use countless reminders and still come close to ruin once and a while.

Anyway, I have begun to wonder and then this topic comes up. 😊 So... maybe?

Michelle

@Mirath:

No, I don't mind you posting here!  I'm glad to hear from you.  I have wondered about a mixture of things between ASD, Dysphoria and Anxiety.  So it's good to hear that others have mixed them as well. 

I don't have a Diagnosis.  Have you found your diagnosis helped you navigate the world at all?  I've heard that one of the purposes of diagnosing ASD/Aspergers is because that diagnosis can open doors, especially for kids who are developing and going through the school system.  I can say that has been true for one friend of mine, who has been a very strong advocate for her son (who has Aspergers). 

@SashaGrace , I appreciate your offer of assistance!  I find the subject fascinating, so it's nice to hear you have studied it.  I think the brain is interesting, and I am definitely a person looking to understand 'who am I?'  If I can think of specific questions to ask you, I will  

My personal traits that I am curious about include:  sensory issues, especially touch.  Another thing is that sometimes I just don't feel understood.  When I was young, I this would come up a lot.  Not just being understood like 'What do you mean?' when I"m talking, but also just feeling like the alien in my family.  I have this sense that my family just didn't know what to do with me a lot of the time, and ended up treating me very gingerly. 

I don't want to get into it all right now, just sharing.  It's nice to hear from you all!

Hey there @FinallyMichelle , thank you for sharing your experience!  You may be on to something there   The things you say about memorizing conversations and also sleeping in a different bed make me think of things I've read over on wrongplanet.   That sensory processing disorder sounds like it can be very tough. 

I wonder, do you ever take like your own blanket or pillow with you?  I wonder if that might help a little bit.   

When I was young, like a young teenager, I used to correct people's grammar when they weren't talking to me.  I couldn't help myself, I hated hearing bad grammar, so I would correct them.  Like, I would shout across a classroom to do it.  Didn't win me too many friends  

I also couldn't eat any foods I didn't like.  I would rather starve.  It was a texture issue.  Basically any vegetable.  The texture would make me want to vomit. 

I sometimes also think that people can read my mind.  I don't literally think that, but for some reason I think that people know what I know, and I will get very frustrated and spin out when trying to explain something to them.  I've had people say to me "I don't know what you're thinking!" 

Hey Deb 😊

Thanks for not thinking I am crazy, or not minding anyway. 😉

I don't know much about the subject but it sounds like your experiences are in that direction. Very compulsive. It sounds like you had some support so that is good. Years ago I started to read on the subject but that is all I did, start. The first part was about lack of empathy and non-verbal cues and I never made it past that. I am not like that so not to worry, or so I thought. I wonder if that is what is what is considered high functioning?  😊 One of my best friends is very much like you. She has a lot of difficulty with smells though. She is almost unable to interact with people and has difficulty staying employed. For whatever reason we remain friends through the years. Actually, I love her and won't let her go so maybe that's why. She also likes to correct grammar. 😊 I must drive her nuts sometimes.

Thanks for the tip with the pillow. 😊 I will try that next time. I don't know if that is all of my vacation problem. I have thought about it a lot over the years. lol Obviously! Almost everything I talk about has been dissected, analyzed and structured to where I understand enough and have gone over it enough that I have a coherent response, thought or question if needed. So, it is being out of normal. It always bothers me, not routine, not included in the things that I have figured out or not part of my list of responses. So it is difficult. Going to my brother's only gives me slight pause. Going to my brother's if he is having a party, even if it is all people that I know and care about, is so difficult that I almost never do it. I am not susceptible to peer pressure so no one can get me to go either. I can do everything if I have time to process though even if it is uncomfortable. Endure and process later. On vacation it all just piles up. Lol, and on and on I go. 😊

My sensory problem is not so bad. Not really. I have always had it so I don't really know what not having would be like. Driving seems to be really bad, everything is constantly changing, and to me every last bit is hitting my brain at the same time, so I have to stay focused. I drove the same route to work for 15 years and never knew there was a garage right beside the road. 😊 I can't seem to handle any more than just driving and music can be a big no-no. Flashing emergency vehicle lights at night can completely erase my brain. I don't know if is connected to or puts me in the spectrum but, it's not very normal.

Sorry, I am droning on. I have just never talked to anyone about any of this before. 😊

I think that it is nice that you were treated gently. My friend, her mom did but dad not at all. I don't remember my early childhood well. I have heard many times how abusive my father but apparently he never hit me. So who knows.

And on and on she goes. 😊

I am interested in what is functioning. What are the parameters? Is it the ability to interact or is it success of one form or another? Looks like I have reading to do. 😊

Thanks again for the topic and patience. You can pm me if you want.

Michelle

Hey there Michelle,

I can see that this subject has really awoken something in you!    that makes me happy.  I can really read your enthusiasm on the page.  I'm glad to get you talking about it.  I don't mind you going on and on

Unfortunately, I don't know all that much about the subject.  That is to say, I have done some reading and I have talked to people.  If I am on the spectrum, I think I'm high functioning because I can 'pass' completely.  It isn't so pronounced for me that I come across as anything more than 'kinda quirky.'  I also don't know if it's ASD spectrum or just anxiety or if it's a mix of both.

I do recommend looking at wrongplanet.net just to see what other peoples' experience is like.  That's also part of why I started the thread.  I want to hear other peoples stories to see how I relate.   

Did you ever have any big obsessions?  I was really into Garfield the Cat and Lord of the Rings and Star Trek when I was young.  I learned a lot more about those things than is possibly useful to anyone 

I'd love to hear more from others who want to share their thoughts. 


***Also, I just realized, maybe i posted this in the wrong forum?  I guess a moderator will come along and move it if that is the case. 

Hiya Deb ☺

Thanks for the site info.

I have only been obsessive about a subject like that once in my life. It was in a time that I don't want to share with the world. My friend is definitely like that though. 😁 Sound like a broken record with her huh? You are remarkably similar.

I perused the site. Oh my god the driving sounds so very like me. The rest, not so much. Found 2 tests and it turns out that if I am on the spectrum, it's only just. 😊 So I am just weird. Good to know.

Thanks for the thread and listening. 😊 If you want we can talk more on pm, the topic is very fascinating to me.

Michelle

Quote from: Deb Roz on August 02, 2017, 02:40:18 PM@SashaGrace , I appreciate your offer of assistance!  I find the subject fascinating, so it's nice to hear you have studied it.  I think the brain is interesting, and I am definitely a person looking to understand 'who am I?'  If I can think of specific questions to ask you, I will

No worries, I forget this is an international forum at times so I probably should explain social inclusion is a service within education that takes kids that aren't capable of adhering to a normal curriculum. I'm a teacher and I teach classes of kids, mostly with ASD and/or ADHD usually coupled with other learning needs. Before that I tought in a special school which had kids with multiple and profound learning needs and I've been a regular secondary school class teacher as well.

Yeah, mildly so. 2 of my 5 kids do too.


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Hey Deb,

Yeah I think my diagnosis helped me to get around the world, so to speak. It sort of opened new ways into support in both college and employment (although I do believe that at one point it led to me failing my 6-month probation, but hey).

I don't know where you live, but here in the UK (don't know if they're West Midlands only or not) but there is a company called are ploy that helps people with various difficulties, including ASD, to find employment. They aren't much advertised, I only found out about them through one person at the Job Centre.

It just helps me to explain myself somtimes, you know? And I don't know about you but having an official diagnosis gives a bit more stock to you than saying 'oh well I think I have X/Y'. But maybe I'm wrong.

It seems to be common for trans people to have some degree of Asperger's.

I do.


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I'm lacking a formal diagnosis, but show all the signs of high-functioning AD.


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Quote from: RavenMoon on August 03, 2017, 11:20:48 AM
It seems to be common for trans people to have some degree of Asperger's.

I do.


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Autism, computer and engineering work and musicians too. Must be a reason for it.


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Quote from: Gertrude on August 03, 2017, 06:43:15 PM
Autism, computer and engineering work and musicians too. Must be a reason for it.


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That's me in a nutshell. Lol. Artists too.

I'm a musician, build guitars and other things and work with computers doing graphics. Lol.


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i was once suspected to have aspergers. the "suspicion" later after my bipolar diagnosis turned to "are you sure your wish to transition is a part of your manic episodes where you make irrational-impulsive decisions"?