Mild aspergers what are your symptoms?

[momma7]

Just curious with those of you who were diagnosed with mild aspergers: was there a test that you were given to diagnosis you and what was it? And most important to me what are all of your symptoms that you can think about that you have?

 

[Suzanne]

I am not officially diagnosed and so, it would be quite understandable if my word is not taken for gospel, as it were, but since no one has answered, here is mine

At first, I thought I might be on the low spectrum and this was because of preconceived, stereotyping ie bland face, staring eyes all the time; monotone voice; devoid of emotion etc etc and then, I joined this site and find myself rather high on the spectrum!

My husband would say obsessions. In his words: I run in and out of them more than he has had hot dinners! On average they last about 2 weeks. My current one is cross stitching and colours or more to the point: bright colours.

I am either known to be very shy or can't seem to find a stop gap in a conversation. I have huge trouble with moderating my voice and often get: Suzanne, hush will you?! Or, ummm we are in the same room now, so you can lower your voice! Happens when I am either over excited or very angry.

There was a time I could not meet someone's eyes, without thinking their head was going to explode, but once I discovered aspergers, that calmed down; although recently, I have had a spat of not being able to look.

Put me in a group and you can guarantee I will only look at one person; gets completely overwhelming when there is more than one other; I hyperventilate and start tripping over my words.

I take things literally and that is even if I know it is not to be taken literally. Other times, I do not know what is being said is anything other than literal. I see the subject in my head first. So the classic one for me is: fly on the wall and I really do go eww no I rather be a butterfly. I also hate the expression: two bird's with one stone and personally never say it. My literalness has caused many problems with me. Some are humorous and others quite the opposite.

What to me is a casual conversation, is too complicated to my husband. There is no dedicated time for a conversation, unless I just don't feel like talking! Sadly, I do interrupt but it is not with intent; I just have a brain that is so active, a thought comes up and out it comes, even if the other is having a conversation with me!

I suffer from severe anxiety when I have to do things that are out of my comfort zone. I am chronically social phobic and even walking to my local chemist, which is 5 min's down the road, I have to psych myself up for it! Public transport is a no no for me. However, I recently discovered I can drive and that is the only time I am not social phobic and long for a car!

I am very unsure with footing. It seems that when I am confident, I trip up and I am an expert in find dips in the pavement. I also often get my cardigan wrapped around a door handle. I easily trip up on my own feet.

One of those who finds registration numbers on a car, to be fascinating and still cannot figure out why.

If I have to remember something, I close my eyes and image the item or number and then I can bring it back to mind.

I have a very long memory and a very bad short time memory.

I must have a routine to follow, otherwise I cannot think or work clearly.

What ever I wear, even my hair clips have to match in colour! Actually, colour is so important to me, as is music.

Have been told that I am excellent with understanding human psychology.

Loads more but that is it for now

 

[artfull dodger]

Both my therapist and the Dr that gave my my Dx didnt really put a "mild" tag to my AS, just that I have Asperger's Syndrome. It can be mild some days, and worse on others when I get overloaded/overstimulated. Just depends on the days events.

 

[momma7]

Suzanne thank u for taking the time to write[emoji106]-
Yes in conversations when we are around people he always seems to direct it solely at me, without looking at others and he interjects at the wrong times sometimes off-topic/no interests for him to hone in on and school/college work if he doesn't understand he never asks for help and so anxiety goes sky high cause he won't understand things /
I wish he had something to do that he wld hyper focus on, lol, because it's sad he has no hobbies, won't watch hockey tho he played whn he was young-and so has nothing to talk about with others, ya know?

 

[Myway]

I was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome when I was 14. My symptoms are not knowing how to appropriately socialize with others, repetitive play and gestures, high sensitivity to lights, sound, and taste, intense interests and hobbies, and hyper focus when engaged in something I like. If you have any questions feel free to ask. I might have forgotten a few things here.

 

[momma7]

Thanks guys- I'm listening just wondering because he has no repetitions physically that he does, also,he has zero motivation in anything other then his PlayStation at the age of 19

 

[Myway]

Thanks guys- I'm listening just wondering because he has no repetitions physically that he does, also,he has zero motivation in anything other then his PlayStation at the age of 19

How does he do socially? How much time is he focusing on PlayStation? I am a lot like that too. I focus and think about one thing all the time, but he would have to have a combination of symptoms in order to be diagnosed. What are his symptoms that are making you question?

 

[momma7]

Taking forever to do schoolwork when he was younger panic attacks, anxiety-never focusing on things just wanting to get away from it avoiding manual work avoiding chores. Two friends that he only sees maybe once every two months, no interest no hobbies, lays around has been doing this since he was young and he's 19 now it just seems like nothing is changing so that's why were working toward trying to diagnose something

 

[Marmot]

To your point of not understanding things / not asking questions in school: The biggest problem that I had in school was getting stuck (not understanding something) during a lecture or lesson and then being incapable of listening or understanding anything else that the instructor said afterwards because I would continue to dwell and concentrate on the one thing that didn't make sense to me. Most people have the ability to put a bookmark on the questions that they have and then continue to listen & absorb further points and then go back to what they didn't understand afterwards, but for me the lecture would pretty much be over the second that anything didn't make 100% sense to me.

My entire life, I attributed this folly to be some type of learning disability, but it turns out (as I wasn't diagnosed until well into my 30's) it's that darn hyper-focus part of being an aspie.

 

[momma7]

To your point of not understanding things / not asking questions in school: The biggest problem that I had in school was getting stuck (not understanding something) during a lecture or lesson and then being incapable of listening or understanding anything else that the instructor said afterwards because I would continue to dwell and concentrate on the one thing that didn't make sense to me. Most people have the ability to put a bookmark on the questions that they have and then continue to listen & absorb further points and then go back to what they didn't understand afterwards, but for me the lecture would pretty much be over the second that anything didn't make 100% sense to me.

My entire life, I attributed this folly to be some type of learning disability, but it turns out (as I wasn't diagnosed until well into my 30's) it's that darn hyper-focus part of being an aspie.

 

[momma7]

Marmot how were you diagnosed?

 

[Marmot]

I was self-diagnosed for about two years until I met / dated someone, who happened to be a psych ward admin at a local emergency room. Full Disclosure: She's a 'licensed therapist' not an actual psychologist or MD, but working where she does she has seen & heard everything / nothing gets past her, so I have accepted her confirmation as my official diagnosis. -She said that she knew I had Asperger’s within two minutes of meeting & conversing with me.

At my stage in life: I'm 39 now and a relatively productive member of society, I see no point in paying someone else to officially confirm the obvious but if I were 20 years younger and unsure I'd ever be able to get to where I'm currently at, I would definitely see things differently......

 

[momma7]

Thanks for that info-my son says he is depressed-I blv it's because he cannot find enjoyment with 99% of things - he has struggled all thru skl (even thru high skl with me having to constantly prompt/help him) and he barely got thru last year community college and didn't want to go back this year-but hubby n I said just one more year n u will graduate! U can hv a degree that no one can take away from u because YOU earned it! He said he wld try- barely passing classes and high anxiety and not really understanding or putting time in to really get it. Well he lost it and got sad and shaking saying idk what I'm doin- somethings wrong with my brain-I'm not goin back. So we all talked and agreed why try to fit a square peg in a round hole- it's just not working for him- so he dropped out Friday [emoji17]/ I'm upset and scared as a mom - worry about his depression and also how can he hid a job? He did have his first job as a cashier at convenience store- lasted a few months but anxious in front of people and he didn't like the boss -so all o can do is continue praying and look to dr to help steer me to help him in his future endeavors-

Sorry for the novel

 

[Marmot]

Speaking only from my own experience, you'd be amazed what hard physical labor and/or insane amounts of exercise will do to combat said depression & anxiety. In HS & university (which I consider the worst and most stressful 8 years of my life) I personally found that long distance running was the only thing that would equalize the pressure / keep my head from imploding so I got hyper-focused on that and ended up running marathons from age 16 onward as a pure stress reducer and nothing else. And while I'm not doing 26 miles at a time these days, it (running) is still my primary go-to when things get rough.....

I'm still a newbie here myself, but I imagine that working as a cashier & dealing with people all day would probably not be the first choice of jobs for most on this forum, so have you looked into something less socially demanding / more physical? ie: construction / labor work.

 

[Southern Discomfort]

I haven't been officially diagnosed yet but what I've read is that I have frankly an obsession with computer games, poor executive functioning particularly in planning and executing, sensitivity with sunlight - I need sunglasses a lot even on overcast days and certain isolated instances of sound; I struggle with eye contact and my speech sometimes suffer verbal 'hiccups' in the sense of getting words the wrong way around or saying the complete wrong word, also I don't socialise almost at all since leaving college outside of online groups and forums although I'm about to change that. That's me in a nutshell.

 

[NothingToSeeHere]

I was diagnosed by two clinical psychologists (or psychiatrists, can't remember). The first one just asked me a whole load of questions on a variety of topics and encouraged me to talk about why I though I might be on the spectrum (I pursued a diagnosis myself as an adult), we talked for about an hours and a half about all sorts of things. The 2nd one conducted a structured assessment with set tasks and questions. I was diagnosed with aspergers syndrome, but I consider it to be mild simply because I cope very well on a day to day basis and it doesn't impact on my life much.

Symptoms I am aware of in myself include:

Stimming (skipping, snapping my fingers, wiggling my toes etc. generally all connected to specific emotions)

Fixed interests (currently The Hobbit, I've read it a 91 times and counting and read Hobbit fanfiction too) which take up all available free time. Even when I seem to be doing something else I am generally still thinking about my interest.

Social difficulties. I struggle to maintain conversation, don't understand why people talk without purpose, and completely miss subtle hints or body language. I suffered from severe social anxiety and depression as a teenager.

Difficulty identifying my own emotions and I don't have a clue how to react to other people emotions. For example if a friend starts crying I freeze up and just sit awkwardly in silence until they stop, not because I don't care but because even at 25 I still don't know what to do.

A general sense of being different.

Mimicking close friends in an attempt to fit in and learn how to socialise properly, starting from my first years in primary school (this is generally a female trait).

Sensitivity to noise and light.

Further symptoms the psychologist identified:

Lack of facial expressions and 'anomalous' facial expressions.

Lack of eye contact.

Few attempts at starting or maintaining discourse, and those attempted appear rehearsed. No provision of 'spontaneous information'.

Lack of body language.

When telling a story from a picture book (one of the structured activities) I apparently just described the pictures and didn't actually tell the story at all.

 

[zurb]

If you are wanting to understand Aspergers better, and have the time, I highly recommend Tony Attwood's 'Complete Guide to Aspergers'.
If he is lacking motivation, it could be that he's depressed. Getting out and doing something other than gaming should help.
Getting some experience with volunteer work might also help his work prospects.

 

[momma7]

Yes hubby mentioned volunteer work too-yes I see depression for sure -will talk to dr make sure meds aren't the cause too

 

[Southern Discomfort]

I do voluntary work at a charity shop, I put games, films and music online for people to buy. It's good because it's an easy routine, I don't have to deal with a lot of people and it just gets me out of the house. Low stress, low anxiety work and I don't have the demands enforced on me that you'd get from a normal job.

 

[Miker]

Just curious with those of you who were diagnosed with mild aspergers: was there a test that you were given to diagnosis you and what was it? And most important to me what are all of your symptoms that you can think about that you have?

I have not been officially diagnosed but for me the penny dropped about a month ago! I would say that I can recognise all the points that have already made. Specifically I would point to anxiety in social situations, an inability to access a wide vocabulary during a stressful conversation, a sensitivity to loud,sharp sounds and a dislike of chaos and disorganisation.
Personally I think it is related to chemical imbalances in the brain and therefore can vary from time to time. Also think that it might be affected by diet but not totally sure.
PS I wish I could have known 40 years ago and maybe I could have chosen a more suitable career!