I am formally diagnosed with moderate Asperger’s disorder (also known as High functioning Autism).
I am also a college student, hold jobs, and have a neurotypical (non-autistic) boyfriend. I’m going for a degree in Classics.
I’m willing to answer almost anything.
When were you diagnosed?
In your experience, what is the biggest misconception people have about someone with your diagnosis?
Do you have to take medication?
And which classical languages?
When were you diagnosed, and what were the major defining factors of your disorder? How much of a struggle was it to attain what appears outwardly to be a “normal” life?
I think some of us adults who’ve never been diagnosed occasionally wonder whether we’d fit the criteria.
I was diagnosed on Christmas Eve of last year, at age 19*.
I am not on medication, mainly due to a combination of personal choice and the fact that the only thing I’d love to have controlled, the tics, are not controllable.
The main facets Asperger’s syndrom are social and physical. I have both aspects, but because AS/HFA is a spectrum disorder, other people’s MMV as far as symptoms.
Personally, my social functioning is so-so. I am literal minded, often finding it hard to tell whether someone is having me on. Typical of HFA, I have intense but narrow interests in things that ohers evidentally find odd. it’s often hard, for example, for me to tell whether a comment was rhetorical or not.
Physically, I have poor motor function. I engage in almost constant steriotypical movement, or stimming. I flap my hands and rock, hum, jiggle my leg and several others. I also tic, especially when stressed or nervous. I can control the most overt stims in public, but not indefinately.
Also, many autistics perceive sensation in unusal ways. My sense of hot and cold is apparently skewed–the first time BF and I showered together, I almost scalded him-- it only felt pleasant to me. I prefer my food cold–hot food tastes odd. My pain tolerance level is quite high, but casual touch doesn’t feel good much of the time**.
Acting normal is moderately difficult . I once heard an analogy made that autistics learn basic social skills like NTs learn to play piano. For example, my preferred way of expressing happiness is to flap my hands- I rarely smile. I also have a fairly flat affect–like Daria. So to express happiness and pleasure to NT, while not looking happy to others, is hard.
The biggest misconception is that having HFA makes people social misfits doomed to a life of misery, and that all of us are suffering terribly all the time. While this may be true for some, most HFAs I know have interests they enjoy and roughly the same ups and downs as anyone else. YMMV, of course.
** A very limited number of people can touch me enjoyabley. Otherwise, it makes my skin crawl.
Heh. “This approach didn’t work the last 537 times I tried it, let’s see if I get lucky this time!”. :dubious:
When you first met him, did you try to control stimming around your boyfriend? Now that you are in a relationship with him, do you feel comfortable enough to just engage in stimming when he is around? How true is it that Asperger’s syndrome people lack ability to empathize? Do you think Bill Gates has Asperger’s?
At first, I tried hard not to stim noticeably at all. I told him the first date, and he nodded as though he knew what Asperger’s is. A few weeks later, I referred to myself as autistic. His eyes got very wide and he said “You’re autistic?!”
Now I feel more comfortable, but it took some getting used to from his side. The rocking really seems to disturb him–the flapping and humming not so much.
As to empathy: Kinda sorta. If my loved one comes to me with a problem, often I don’t quite grasp what the issue is, especially if it’s an emotional thing. So yes, it can be hard to imagine someone else’s feelings.
It tends to be easier when the issue is straight forward. It’s easier for me to empathize an emotional crisis if it’s termed in " I feel x, because y", as opposed to " He said, she said."
However, lack of empathy doesn’t mean lack of compassion. I may not always understand emotionally. but I can listen and offer comfort.
IANA diagnostican, but if I had to hazard a guess, then I’d say Bill Gates has some form of autism.
Cunctator–
Greek and Latin, mainly Latin.
Thanks for your openness, I hope you decide to stay around.
I’ve only had personal experience with HFA children, and even that’s limited experience. I apologise if these are crass or silly questions.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon is held to be an accurate view of an HFA teenager by the reviewers I’ve read - have you read the book and what are your thoughts?
Also, how do you feel about lying? Do you use ‘white’ lies? Do you recognise when you’re being lied to?
Assuming your boyfriend is included in the limited number of people, how long did it take for him to get there? Could anyone get there through familiarization, or do you have to “click”?
How do you feel about garden-variety geeks who self-diagnose as Asperger’s?
Thanks for starting this thread.
I have a twelve year old son who has been diagnosed with PDD/NOS, with some but not all of the symptoms of Asperger’s. He’s high-functioning as well, with full language, for example.
So my question is: Looking back, what would you have wanted your parents to do when raising you? What do you think would have worked best, what would have been counterproductive?
Do you view autism as a disease, a disorder, a healthy part of who a person is, or some combination of the above?
Would you become NT if you could?
Do you ever watch Boston Legal? Have you seen the character with Asperger’s, Jerry? What do you think of him?
I think they’ve done a great job. He’s a great character. I know someone with Asperger’s although I don’t know anyone with tics.
Welcome to the SDMB, Lysitheia!
My son has Asperger’s (he’s Mama Zappa’s son also, I’m sure she’ll be around shortly). He’s about to turn 14. Even the few things you’ve posted so far give me hope. Thanks.
[lurch]Youuuu rannnnng?[/lurch] 
What he said :). Our son, referred to on the boards as Dweezil, has a diagnosis in the “high functioning autistic” / “Asperger’s” area; he gets special-ed services under the autism label. I don’t think he’s as high-functioning as you are as there was no way we could have gone 19 years without labelling him somehow; it was clear by 2.5 years that Something Was Amiss.
What if any special-ed support did you get in your elementary / high school years?
Do you feel your family is more accepting of your diagnosis than they would have been a few years back?
Do they now try to find examples of “sub-autistic” behaviors in themselves? (Typo and I went through all the DSM criteria when Dweezil was diagnosed, and for practically each one went “Yep, yep, yep, that’s me just a little, that one too, that too but I usually suppress it, yep, explains a LOT about me”.
Are there other neurological issues in your family, such as ADHD, bipolar, or whatever? (I’ve taken to describing our family as a “genetic trainwreck”; our daugher has an assortment of emotional issues that impair her schooling; my brother has a son who has fairly severe autism and another with emotional issues worse than my own child).
You mentioned “tics” - Are those verbal / physical tics such as with Tourettes? I hadn’t really ever heard of tics with autism. My son does have the squealing / bouncing / flapping behaviors, which I thought of as stimming vs. tics.
Sorry this is such an obvious question, but the movie, Rainman–what did you think of the Hoffman’s portrayal of an HFA?
I have indeed read “Curious…”. I thought it was just okay. The main character seems to be classically autistic, rather than AS as the blurb said. I’d like to see more media where the characters are less ‘adorably quirky’ and more dealing with everyday issues we all deal with.
I understand the occaisional need to lie but don’t especially like it. I do it terribly, but often have a difficult time telling when I’m being lied to.
A bit of both, as far as touching. Even if I know someone, I may not really want them touching me. On the other hand, some people just click. With BF, we sorta clicked, but he had to convince me to try certain things ( like putting my head in his lap-- still feels funny, actually).
If an occaision calls for social touching, like a handshake, I can manage it pretty easily. Anything like a hug, is either a challenge or as mentioned above.
I am conflicted about self diagnosis. Most of us who aren’t diagnosed as children have some inkling that something is just not like everyone else. If someone can’t afford to get diagnosed, I can understand the impluse to want to fit in somewhere. On the other hand, when people use it as an excuse to act like an ass, or minimize it with “I’m weird, I must have AS, he he he” I get upset. Have AS/HFA doesn’t excuse anyone from fulfilling the social contract–it means they have to try three times as hard, if anything.
Speaking of acting, is an autistic actor a contradiction in terms? Would it be possible for a (highly functioning) autistic person to be an actor (i.e. to play a role on stage or screeen)?
Not the OP here but I wouldn’t describe Hoffman as all that high-functioning. He was not able to live independently, he could not handle many day-to-day issues. He did have some “savant” tendencies (memorizing phone books, IIRC; I have not been able to watch the movie since Dweezil was diagnosed).
That said, from a parent’s aunt’s point of view I find his portrayal reasonably credible. I’ll be very interested in hearing Lysitheia’s take on it.