I might've been wrongly diagnosed.

[Isak]

Before you start reading, note that I know next to nothing about my own diagnosis. I'm just basing what I think on what I read online with a 15min browsing session. (credible sources of course)

I was diagnosed with aspergers syndrome at 9. (I'm 17 now) It never really bothered me in the slightest. More often times than not, I forget that I even have it. But lately I've been having issues dealing with it as a fact. Mostly because I don't think I have it at all. Seriously, I think I might've grown out of it. (Either that or I never had it in the first place.)
There is only one typical symptom I can think of that matches one of asperger's. And that is burning passion in something. And that is software. I do web design. Other than that, I have an interest in FOSS (look it up), but even then, I got no plans in learning coding languages other than what I feel comfortable in. And I'm kinda embarrassed of talking about my hobbies with my friends. That doesn't sound very asperger-ish does it?
Another contradicting trait I have with the *typical* symptoms is reading the expressions. Believe it or not I'm an expert in reading the mood. There is a lot more but I should keep it short like that. I know how boring it is to read someone else's 2000 line essay about their lives.
What do you guys think? Am I just delusional?
Apologies if my grammar is off. I'm a foreign-speaker.

 

[Tom]

No, not delusional. I think its good to evaluate the situation. One thing I believe is that there is a lot of confusion and disagreement and differing opinions within the professional medical establishment about autism. There is no simple yes/no test. So there certainly are misdiagnosed and undiagnosed people out there. Maybe a lot of them. It also makes sense from a standpoint of looking at it critically as you reach maturity/adulthood. As far as your case goes, there is not much to go on, so I would just say continue your research and investigation.

 

[Graphin]

I only know that aspergers might manifest differently in different people and the experience of being an aspie is often misrepresented or shown in just one way. yay FOSS

 

[Fino]

I used to think I was an expert at reading the mood, but I can't remember why I thought that LOL

 

[Progster]

I think that you either are or you aren't autistic, you can't really be 'mild' or 'severe'. What varies, and causes the the impact of the autism to vary is other issues or comorbid conditions, such as depression, anxiety, OCD or ADHD, and also how good one's coping strategies are. Also environment plays a role - if I'm in a calm environment, in the countryside away from people and their demands and sounds, then autism no longer poses a problem, and it might seem to me that I don't have Asperger's, but as soon as my circumstances change and I have stress and demands that my exceed my ability to cope, then Asperger's is going to come back. It never really goes away - it can't, because Asperger's affects the way my brain processes information and that's not ever going to change.

 

[Vince]

Since autism is a spectrum, and seems like an ever-widening one, it follows that there will be people with symptoms which are debilitating in society their whole lives and others whose symptoms are less difficult to compensate for. To "grow out of" a structural neurological disorder is unlikely and would be similar to cream and coffee having reverse entropy and separating back out of being mixed together.

But who cares?

I can think of two possible explanations and I'm sure there are 7 others I can't think of.
1) Your symptoms at age 9 arising from some other behavioral issue were similar enough to Asperger's to lead to a misdiagnosis in the first place. Human psychology is unimaginably complex. We humans like and need to simplify things just to survive each day. Plus we tend to think we're better at things than we actually are, so, ironically, misdiagnosis itself is a kind of psychological glitch on the part of the one doing the diagnosing (the Diagnoser?). This same phenomenon (look up Dunning-Kruger if you haven't heard) may incidentally lead you to believe you are an expert in "reading the mood" when you may or maybe not be so good at it, which probably doesn't matter either way - I'm just illustrating a point. Whatever behavior you had at 9 you may have "grown out of" or at least compensated for. Either way, getting better at dealing with life's suffering is hopefully what people do as we get older and is pretty universal, so good on you.
2) You have Asperger's after all and have learned to compensate for it well enough that it's not as much an obstacle as it was before you knew anything about how to compensate for it, so good on you.

I mentioned that suffering is part of life and that's true for everyone. Whether your suffering is more difficult because you have Asperger's or less because you don't isn't really the equation. Every Aspie on the planet will experience it a little differently than every other if you look close enough. But there are a myriad of things people get to struggle with and work out as life goes on. Singling out Asperger's is only looking at one dimension. If you think having Asperger's is what defines you then you're kinda missing most of the rest of the complexity is that really defines you I think. Realizing that you aren't defined by some single dimension of living is one thing you're supposed to do as you get older.

For some folks it definitely helps that they have a valid diagnosis, for some the diagnosis simply helps them understand themselves, and for others it just doesn't matter. That's emergent of the "spectrum" part I'd think. If while navigating along the path of a life between the extreme ends of 73 different facets which teetering too far either direction ends in disaster, instead you've found ways to settle nearer the harmonious center, then good on you! Thus my "who cares?" declaration.

Stay diligent. As I've aged, one thing I've found is that center keeps moving around on you as well, so there's that . Still, barring major catastrophe, things seem to get gradually easier on the whole the more time you have to figure things out.