Can you tell me if this sounds like Aspergers to you?
Question:
I can't stand looking ppl in the eyes and stare at their mouths.
I get into a subject and go overboard. When I was a kid, I studied bugs. As an adult, I got hooked on collecting Barbies. And now, I'm "working on" my album. That's all I ever talk about.
I'm really smart but just can't understand why ppl behave the way the do. I see ppl manipulate others and am severly puzzled on how that just happened.
I would rather not keep close friends...but I have some people I keep at long arms length. I don't even want my family too close.
Who should I see about getting an actual diagnosis?
Answers:
I would think you are on the high achieving end of the Autistic Spectrum (Aspergers). Sometimes being aware of what this means is very helpful for suffers, as they can develop more techniques to help them in their daily and social lives. I have known many Aspergers people and the more I learn about Autism, the more autistic traits I recognise in a lot of people around me. It is just another spectrum that people can be on and makes everyone unique. Aspergers people are very good at certain things, often highly intelligent, are very focused and meticulous. They can also be very charismatic and magnetic people. There is heaps of positive information about Asperger's syndrome all over the internet.
I recommend any book by Michael Fitzgerald on Asperger's (e.g Autism and Creativity), as, whilst explaining what the Autistic Spectrum is, he postulates that many of the great artists, writers, thinkers eccentrics and revolutionaries of all times (Yeats, Lewis Carrol, Saki, Wittgenstein, Andy Warhol, Socrates) were on the Autistic spectrum and that their Aspergers traits or 'skills' led directly to the great strides they made in the arts, philosophy and science.
I'm just saying this so you don't think that, if you are diagnosed with Asperger's, you don't suddenly feel like a medical patient with a terrible 'condition' which will obstruct you in your life!
Well if you are aware and in control of your language, then you don't have Tourrette's. However, just the way you are able to describe your situation points out fairly clearly that you don't have Aspergers either. To me it doesn't seem like you have a disorder at all, perhaps just a few personality quirks. If you feel you must shop for a diagnosis, then go see a liscenced psychiatrist, who is a medical doctor that can also investigate disorders of the mind.
This does sound like Asperger's syndrome. I worked with a boy last summer who had Asperger's, so I got to know more about the syndrome and about him as a person. He often would say whatever was on his mind - he didn't have the "filter" to tell him what wasn't appropriate to say. He is a big fan of our professional sports team, and can name many, MANY players from the last 40 or 50 years - even those who weren't big names or were only on the team for a year or two. When it came to that area, he was absolutely brilliant.
As for an actual diagnosis, I would start with your doctor and see what s/he has to say. Find out who they would recommend you see for this. You sound really smart - being able to identify what is going on with you, as well as how people treat each other, shows that you are a very perceptive person. Good luck!
You did not describe a lot of symptoms. You need to be more specific but in general, individual's with Asperger Disorder lack the appropriate social cues, often wanting to spent time alone and are interested in abstract things. You can go to a psychologist or a psychiatrist for an evaluation and there are some testing that can be done in order to determine if you have Asperger.
A non professional cannot give your an accurate assessment. Because symptoms of many disorders overlap, I suggest that you seek out a psychiatrist as they are trained to give you a differentiall diagnosis. The can identify the distinctions of different disorders. They don't make a clinical diagnosis based on similarities as one disorder to a non professional can mimic another. It's the distinctions that identify exactly which disorder the patient is suffering from and only a specialist is qualified to make such a diagnosis. You can always tell when someone is lacking in knowledge when they make an educated guess based on similarities of the disorder. For whatever reason you exhibit such behaviors, a psychiatrist is the best way to go. Good luck!
Tourettes always involves a tic. See Asperger's at http://www.ezy-build.net.nz/~shaneris... on pages 21, and 1. Create a mental model of a "normal" person, and always ask yourself: "What would a normal person say, or do, in response?", and be guided by that. Save the cussing for times and places away from work colleagues. Imagine yourself to be back at school, when with people from work, with the teacher behind you, so you have to be nice. Look at the top of their noses, instead, but don't stare. Use those websites, locators, and search engines, and call the various associations, state and national. Get busy!
You might have schizoid personality disorder. Its very similar to aspergers in a number of ways.
With SPD, people are indifferent to praise or rebuke. It makes no difference to them. They are more likely to cuss.
With AS, people are incredibly intolerant of change. Some changes, not all, but especially forced or surprise changes, can be physically painful.
You should see an experienced psychologist to see what you have for sure.
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