Poll: How many of you have Asperger's/Autism?

[Wuvlycuddles]

I got no idea whats wrong with me. Pretty sure its not Aspergers though.


Whats it called when you bullshit/fake your way through social interactions, live mostly inside your own imagination and feel completely dead inside the rest of the time?

Whatever it is, I got that. Good times.

 

[flaminghand]

I supposedly have Aspergers, but it is foolish to assume that is neccesarily a bad thing. Yes, I am socially awkward, so what? My grades were some of the best in my school.

I would also like to inform that I break social norms on principle, why?, Because they often makes no sense if you give them any thought.

To be honest I am doubtful of some criteria, limited intrests? Well, let us say this, ponies are not even close to what is supposed to be my limited intrest. I am mostly intrested in politics, religion, mythology, games, fantasy, sci-fi, horror, gore,murder,criminology and...well...ponies.

Does that sound like limited intrests to you.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Oh great, now everyone and their mother has aspergers, lame!

I had it before it was cool.

It's The Big Lebowski all over again.

 

[Vault101]

Is "limited interests" one of the decriptions?

because how do you define that? I would think that somone who goes out to clubs/party in their spare time...and not much else has "limited interests"

 

[teqrevisited]

I don't but I have a cousin who has pretty bad aspergers. He's alright if you know how to be with him but he has absolutely no empathy so you have to be careful when you make passing comments or jokes like "Wouldn't it be funny if..." because he would do the unthinkable without hesitation.

 

[UrieHusky]

I take it, you don't live there any more?

Nope, I moved to Auckland like.. a year and a half ago? something like that

 

[Owlslayer]

Well, I´m not 100% sure what the symptoms are for those, but I´m pretty sure I don`t have them. I mean, I would have been told I´d have them, if i did, right?
Then again, I haven`t really visited any psychologists or whatnot as long as i remember. Oh well.

 

[Doclector]

Apparently, I have it. I definately ain't normal, but I don't really care how, as all the knowledge of having it ever gave me was an under-estimation of myself and all the name gave me was a s***load of prejudice.

I think the one thing I've learned from it all is that going to a psychiatrist is always a bad idea unless you're either at the brink of killing yourself, or at the brink of killing someone else. They're hard to get a load of, make tons of excuses, and then when you get to them, they'll give you heaps of mind altering medication, put you away in a pisshole asylum, or they'll go the whole hog and do both.

Yes, I realise this is not the entire profession, but seriously, would you take the risk?

 

[SH4DOWSL4Y3R]

i actually have got medically diagnosed aspergers, although i was only diagnosed at around age 11-12 after having the diagnosis of ADD for about 6 years beforehand.

i've been through all kinds of meds, including a particular one that absolutely destroyed my normal appetite ( it's been about 7 years since i stopped taking that one but i still find it difficult to get my self to eat during the day, although i have been recovering my ability to do so rather nicely which is good).

another one that i had apparently actually put me at risk of having heart attacks (thankfully only a low risk), which i wasn't told about until after i changed from it (having used it for about two bloody years beforehand, no less).
suffice to say, i've decided to keep away from the drugs since around mid 2010, since i don't very much like the idea of the health risks they present.

i have had some kind of bothersome experiences due to the aspergers, as well as some annoying stuff that developed into character traits i still possess.

one example being when i was a lot younger and far too trustful of other kids pretending to befriend me so they could take stuff from me, or use me to do stuff i would take the blame for
(the concept of lying took a while for me to understand at first, so i was very vulnerable to getting tricked).
this caused me to eventually become rather cold and distrustful towards people that are nice to me that i don't know.
although i've started to be less on edge about it, i'm never quick to trust people and often assume they have some kind of ulterior motive for speaking to me.

another minor annoyance is my tics, which i must be aware of in the presence of others lest extreme embarrassment come flying my way.
my most prominent ones are clicking my fingers rapidly while riled up about something, or tapping my knees, my stomach, or tables with my fingers (although the table tapping is easier to pass off as a minor quirk than the others).

i'm also as thick as anything when it comes to understanding emotional subjects.
i can identify basic happy/angry/sad obviously, but i am hopeless when it comes to stuff like empathising with someone, which makes me feel bad due to not knowing how to console others.

regardless, while theres probably a billion and three other petty things i could complain/jabber about, i'm sure a large portion of you wont bother reading the rather disorganised wall of text that's there already and another chunk of you will decide i'm lying and haven't got aspergers in the first place.

anyways, to round all of this mess up, i'll finish by saying i don't see it as something to try and get a free ride out of and i don't try and hide behind the disorder.
i try to act normal and people just view me as kind of shy, i'll often tell somebody i have aspergers if it comes up or i've known them a while, but i tend to not go around shouting it from the rooftops.

(i apologise for this jumbled behemoth of a post, i really do)

 

[Vivi22]

I've never been tested for it and I don't actually think I would be considered to have Asperger's, though I will admit I'm a bit curious because anytime I look up the common symptoms I realize I tend to display almost all of them.

It's funny because not that long ago I was talking to my mom about a friend of mine who she also knows pretty well and mentioning how much like me she is sometimes and my mom actually mentioned that sometimes she behaves almost like she has Asperger's the same way I do sometimes. I had never actually mentioned my looking it up before and realizing how many symptoms I do exhibit on a regular basis, so her noticing it on her own gave us a good laugh.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

I don't as far as I'm aware but whenever people mention certain traits that people with Aspergers/autism have I always have them. If nothing else I have an extreme level of paranoia and always think the slightest thing wrong with my body is cancer or some other life threatening disease. Kinda like Melman the giraffe.

 

[AlotFirst]

Yes, I've got Asperger. And I think that the two traits I got because of this Syndrome are my poor reflexes and my fear of everything.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

(Raises hand) Asperger's here, diagnosed when I was... seven, I think. I've long since made peace with this, though, and I like having a different view on the world.

When I was little, I was obsessed with dinosaurs, but by around 6th grade, I moved on to anime, later branching out into other "geeky" interests. I also tend to talk too fast for people to understand me, and my socialization skills are... well, not as bad as they used to be. I spent a few grades in a "special ed" class, before becoming more mainstream in other coursed (except math). Other than me and a cousin with PPD/NOS, we're the only autistic people in my family... as far as I know, anyway.

It irritates me, though, then people claim to be autistic in order to be jerks/get a free pass in life. Look, I might still be staying at home, but I'm going to school, planning to get a job, and generally want to start doing something with my life! STOP MAKING THE REST OF US LOOK BAD!

...Jerks.

(Also, I'm not a fan of the idea that "vaccines cause autism", 'cause what would you prefer if you were a parent? The possibility that your kid would become socially stunted... or run the risk of them getting sick because you were so paranoid? ...I thought so.)

Sorry for ranting, I just have a lot to say on the subject.

 

[Gerishnakov]

My brother has Aspergers, was diagnosed around age 2 or 3, and seems absolutely nothing like pretty much everyone who's posted. For starters I don't think he knows what forums are.

Aspergers is a learning disability that prevents an individual from making the same connections in their mind that the rest of us learn to do. People with Aspergers tend to lead very isolated lives, so gaming is a pass time that naturally appeals to them. For instance, my brother is a keen gamer and a big (classic) Sonic fan.

The reason for their isolation comes from Aspergers sufferers' inability to form connections that I spoke of. Being prevent from forming these connections inhibits all kinds of learning, from a very early age, in true cases at least. An Aspergers child is prevented from learning simple social skills, elementary (primary for those of us in the UK) education, even things such as the ability to handle change. Certain things can be taught, but only very slowly and gradually, through slight changes to the sufferer's routine over time, and immense patience on the part of the parent or guardian.

FYI psychology has very little to do with the study of Autism/Aspergers, neurology is the correct field of study for the condition. It is not a mental illness like depression, it is a genetic disability. You are born with it, it's not something that can happen to you during life.

 

[gambler778]

Wow, 22% of people in this topic have Asperger's? I love it how people who have some tiny little social quirk immediately diagnose themselves with a mental disorder. I'm willing to bet the majority of the people claiming to have it just decided they have it.

 

[Gerishnakov]

You're probably right, not least because people with Autism/Aspergers probably wouldn't give a flying fuck about sharing it with the world.

 

[Sandytimeman]

I was finally diagnosed with aspergers when I was like 21 ish. I had grown up being diagnosed with ADHD, OCD, Schizophrenia, depression etc. I'd had riddlin, anti-depressents and anti-pyschotics rammed down my throat, it was not fun times because all of those meds had severe side effects.

Anyway because of my own bad choices in life I got stuck in retail, but I've learned to kind of project a mask that is an outgoing social person. It just takes time to learn how.