Could I have had/have Asperger's?

Hi everyone

I'm a bit confused and not sure whether I have a mild case of aspergers or not. Now to meet me these days you would definitely have to say no because I am fashionable, love nightclubbing and enjoy socialising but only to an extent. I also do not take things literally and am pretty quick witted. I can read facial expressions well and can be empathetic, however I do very occasionally speak before I think esepcially when I'm stressed and feel under pressure. I am also pretty good with eye contact. I am however considered the strong silent type to an extent, more like the cool guy that doesn't blabber on but comes out with some cracking one liners from time to time and am a natural leader amongst my friendship group.

Now then the reason I think I may have mild AS or it might be a sensory processing disorder that I have somehow recovered from is because when I was younger I used to flap my hands a lot and would think about favourite video games and movies etc, creating new stories in my head involving those things whilst I was doing it, plus my hand writing is pretty poor even today and I can still concentrate on something I am interested in for a good while. I am also fascinated by deep topics but certainly don't go on and on about them and could easily tell if somebody is getting bored, however when I was a kid that was not the case so much. I also have an incredible photographic memory, my father does too. Actually come to think of it he has an AS trait he rubs his hands together and hums when he's excited about a project he's undertaking or whatever but he's very social and an ex pub landlord although he admits he can be shy sometimes. My brother also hums and sucks his fingers when playing video games or doing whatever he's enjoying at the time.

It might have simply been a sensory proceesing disorder because I suffered with pretty bad ear infections when I was kid, in fact at times I was almost stone deaf so maybe being fairly intelligent aswell I retreated into myself a bit to provide the stiumlation I need? I'm not diagnosed with anything I might mention and am now 26 years of age working as an IT contractor, even though I find IT pretty boring and monotonous actually and need more variety so again that's at odds with the disorder? I'm also into my weight-lifting and do not fit the usual stereotype of AS at all. I would say if I was AS I'd be more in the vein of Paddy Considine.

Looking forward to speaking to you guys
Sam

i think i can confidently say you don't have AS. many children have minor developmental problems that pass with time. it's not remotely unusual and not anywhere near a develpmental disorder like AS, which, by it's very definition, is pervasive. i think you're massively over-analysing this. if i were you, i'd forget it completely.

The one thing I do have though and of that I am certain is the pure o form of ocd, so over analysing tends to be my middle name

I am limited in my knowledge but I would imagine that to have asperger's you would need to have a larger collection of traits and also that these traits combined cause problems with living your life. it does not seem that your traits have actually caused you any problems? How did you come to learn so much about asperger's and what initially made you think you may have it?

I also think that the most important traits of asperger's are those that apply to social interaction and I think asperger's is a lifelong syndrome that persists.

Up until about the age of 10 i would flap my hands with string, twigs, straws whatever, whilst being in my own world imagining scenes from my favourite video games/films etc. i was also petrified of the fire alarm had had terrible coordination. I was in special education then but now I'm graduated from University. I've never been diagnosed with anything.

as shock said, it sounds like you don't have it. Even if you do, is it worth worrying about? to me, it sounds like you're living your life perfectly fine and it doesn't matter if you are diagnosed or not. Also as shock said, if I were you I'd forget about it and not worry about it.

You're right and thanks for being reassuring but I do know there is a mild manifestation of the syndrome you only have to look at the actor Paddy Considine or perhaps more famously Dan Akroyd to realise that some people seem like they do not have it.

You could be on the spectrum, it's hard for us to say, but if you take the online tests and look at the symptoms you could take a pretty good guess. But I wanted to address one of your main questions; The thing is, you either have aspergers or you don't, it's doesn't just go away. You can, however, learn to compensate for much of it. I am in my 40's and now I show very little signs of it outwardly. As a kid I it was very obvious but as I aged I learned things like eye-contact, how to communicate better, how to tone down my "stimming" (e.g. hand-flapping etc), and other things. It's still there, in my head, but outwardly I show very few signs of AS.
You're only 26 so I would doubt you would be able to compensate THAT much, but it's possible. Only you can judge this for yourself.

Of course without knowing me you'd never know. That is true I am young but here are my traits forcand against:

For:

1. Didn't learn to tie my shoe laces until I was 12
2. Accordingly I knew the highway code when I was 3 (always have had a photographic memory)
3. Stimming- hand flapping, chewing
4. Would talk endlessly about 1 thing until i was about 14
5. Poor coordinstion when younger
6. Can obsess over certain things

All of the above could point to "Sensory Processing Disorder though especially when you look at the against but bearing in mind the against only really set in mid teens before that I was a different person:


1. Fasionable
2. Can easily tell if someone is getting bored
3. Very strong theory of mind, for example, my girlfriend said to me the other day "how did you know I was going to say that?"
4. Comfortable with eye contact
5. Enjoy nightclubbing but maybe alcohol helps hidden social issues hehe
6. Not nerdy, even though I work in IT (not that im sterotyping AS)
7. Self consious about appearance

What are you trying to gain through a diagnosis? As slugger said, we can't really tell you if you are or aren't on the spectrum. I am very curious what you're hoping for with an answer. Lets say, for a moment, you're on the spectrum. Then what? Lets say, for another moment, that you're not on the spectrum. Then what?

Maybe if you're that worried about it, you should go in for an appointment to get "checked out". My question, in all honesty, is what you're hoping to attain from a diagnosis (one way or the other?)