DO YOU HAVE SYMPTOMS OF ASPERGER'S SYNDROME?

I dont know if I have a syndrome but,

I am good at picking up details and facts.
I have limited but intense range of interests, especially specific intellectual areas
I have always had difficulty making friends.

problems communicating, such as difficulty making conversation or understanding others

^ That one right there causes me the most problems in life.

I do certain things in an inflexible, repetitive way

Unimportant things, stupid things, like the way I eat, or watch tv? Yes. Work or other important things? No.

I know it fits me...I was dx'd with it years ago, and I had an autistic childhood.

I have always had very powerful interests....they are actually more like intellectual obsessions. I go through a cycle of interests and abruptly switch from one to another. Right now, I'm at "Bible stuff" in my cycle. But if I get bored with it, I will hop to the next interest and will find it very difficult to think about "Bible stuff" when I'm into my new interest.

I seem to have lucked out with the social stuff. That used to be a huge issue when I was little. Now I seem to handle it okay, tho I can really be antisocial if I wanted to. If I have an anxiety about a person or situation, I avoid it like the plague. I get tired easily from social interaction, and some intense situations like job interviews can wipe me out completely for weeks. The thing I seem to have really got a handle on is reading faces and inferring ppl's emotional state. That used to be a "black box" for me when I was young.

Did you see this math whiz on David Letterman a few nights ago? He said he had AS, and he also said he had synesthesia, which is interesting because I have synesthesia too and I know other synesthetes who must have AS as well. But I certainly ain't no math whiz; I am in fact dreadful at it. My skills are more with language, which is funny because I had such a hard time learning language in the first place. The funny thing with me is that I was reading before I learned to speak. In fact, in part because of my synesthesia, I had a hyperlexic interest in letters and words, so that perhaps my very first intellectual obsession was over letters and numbers, and their intrinsic colors and shapes and personalities.

The classicist....A diagnosis is much more clear if you know something definite about your early childhood....because the symptoms are usually far more stronger in kids than adults (as ppl learn to adjust and compensate as they grow up). I had almost all the signs of autism as a child but wasn't as severe as the usual autistic child, so they didn't know what to diagnose me as.....AS was not yet available as a diagnostic category. When I was a young child, my parents would have answered "YES" to these questions:

• Does your child either ignore toys most of the time, or almost all the time play with 1 or 2 things?
• Does your child seem uninterested in learning to talk?
• Does your child seem to understand only part of what is said to her?
• Does your child only try to communicate when there is something she wants and can't get for herself?
• Will your child lead you to a desired object as a way of showing you what she wants?
• Does your child prefer things she can play with the same way, over and over, such as a "See-n-Say" or toys with buttons she can push?
• Does your child seem particularly fascinated by motion? Will she flip pages of a book, sift sand, spin objects, or watch running water just to see the movement?
• Does your child seem unusually interested in mechanical things, like light switches, door latches, locks, fans, or clocks?
• Does your child seem unable to learn through watching and copying others?
• Does your child play with toys in ways that really aren't the main way the toy was meant to be used?
• When excited, does your child flap his hands or fingers?
• Do you feel that your child acts too upset when there are changes in routines and schedule?
• Does your child seem very concerned with order when he plays? Does she like to line things up, or sort things over and over?
• Does your child know which way you will go when you go in the car, and will get upset if you go another way or somewhere she doesn't like?
• Does your child not seem too interested in other children?

Early on, my mom had to communicate with me by drawing pictures to ask me what I wanted. I had my hearing tested many times because I acted as if I were deaf. When I started going to school, I went to a school for deaf and learning-disabled children where the teacher would communicate mainly with pictures and hand gestures. By first grade, I had dramatically improved in speaking ability and in understanding the speech of other people, and by second grade I was mainstreamed, tho I had intensive therapy for many years, especially to improve my deficits in auditory processing. If I saw something visually, I learned it very easily -- which is why I am great with with written language, photos, etc. But if I hear something, I often forget it as soon as I hear it, which makes spoken language very difficult, and even now I probably cannot learn to be fluent in a foreign language tho I can easily become literate in it. Another aspect of autism/AS are sensory sensitivities. I had many phobias as a child (and still have many today!!) because of seeing or hearing things too suddenly. I remember how much the vaccum or garbage disposal would terrify me, how I had to run out of the house because of the disgusting sound made when my dad sharpened knives, and anything with styrofoam blocks today is far more than I can stand (such as opening boxes containing them, the tactile and auditory sensations they cause hurt), the clapping at the JW meetings would be more than I can stand, etc. Another big thing was the high-pitched noise I would hear from the television when it is on. That sound drove me nuts sometimes! And when I was 7 and 8, when I first had to go door to door, I knew if someone was home from across the street because I could hear that high-pitched sound emanating from the house. And then they would not come to the door, and I knew they were there, with the TV on mute, because of that irritating high-pitched sound.

I have a lot of those symptoms, and sometimes it takes great effort that makes me really tired when trying listen attentively to what is being said by others if it is not in my interest at the moment. My wife often gets very frustrated with me because my interest get very focused and I tend to block out other subjects(always had that problem).

I have have had this habit of just getting a ball of fuzz from a sweater or some other clothing and just starring at it squezzing it and examining it for long perionds of time. Now that my eye sight is not as keen for close up things I don't do it any more(that much).

I'm probably do not have a severe case of it but it has been a problem for me.

I have real sympathy for those that have it more intensely than myself, but at the same time realize that many with this syndrome have made vast contributions to our understanding of the world thru their intense interest in various subjects.

I have never heard of Asperger's Syndrome until now. Very interesting.

However, it appears to me that a lot of these symptoms are similar to certain other conditions:

1) Savant's- who have one particular skill that is virtually genius level (eg. playing piano, painting)

2) Extreme Shyness- Some people are so shy that they withdraw from the world and then internalize their reality modality. They then focus on a particular subject and become immersed in it, sometimes to the point of obsession. They grow up totally lacking in social skills, and as a result, cannot interact with other people. This then intensifies their inner world, their safe haven. They do not have to face the horrifying prospects of rejection or ridicule. An example is in the case of some of those individuals referred to as "Computer Geeks". I even wonder about this generation of young people where an inordinate number of them seem to be addicted to the internet to the point they cocoon themselves in their rooms and spend every spare moment on the internet, sitting in chat rooms and interacting with people all over the world from a keyboard, and yet not having any friends at school, and not even interested in real life friends.

I am not so sure about concluding that a reasonable profile of R&F JW's or other Cultic Groups being characteristically "Asperger'ous", or suffering from such symptoms, although I am sure they would all have their share of such personalities. On the other hand, I find it significant, (and a lot of professionals who specialize in this area have commented on this) that most people who join cults seem to have a predisposition towards belonging to an organization where the leadership does their thinking for them, and which creates expectations for certain behaviors, and all they have to do is practice obedience. They are followers in the strict sense of the word, and feel safe under the umbrella of a strong hand, where they do not have to risk being the centre of attention, and having to make decisions on their own. If they had to be the leader, they would flounder in indecision, and feelings of vulnerability. This is not to say that there are no effective leaders in cults; however, when it comes to following the Organization that feeds them, even these leaders are exceptional followers. After awhile, they become conditioned to unquestioning loyalty, no matter what the inconsistencies and insanities at the top.I believe this is one of the reasons it is so difficult for a converted JW to leave. The world out there is just too scary!

This does not account for all the JW's who were born into the faith, which has little or nothing to do with why they would become baptized members. However, they learn from the examples of their parents from infancy what it means to be a good JW, and that conditions them to all the right responses and behaviors.

I certainly do not have all the answers here, but sure do want to learn more about this whole subject matter, including Asperger's Syndrome. Thanks for sharing.

Rod P.

I find this very interesting.

You hear about a lot of children being diagnoised with autisium and aspherges, im really sorry about the spelling, but very little about adults and how they cope.

I was going to start a tread today on intelligence, like I want some, but Id run out of my allowance.

Ill save it till tomorrow

My 7 year old grandson has been diagnosed with Asperger's. He is very smart but school has been difficult. Here in Phoenix AZ the school system is not very good.(In fact it stinks) Even though he was diagnosed, and the school had him in a regular class where he did not belong and they knew he was very stressed ( he would spent much time under his desk) and other kids picked on him and when he retaliated they kicked him out of school. That was illegal. They told his parents to have him committed to a mental institution. There are a lot of stupid people out there in positions that affect other people's lives.

Our family is moving to Texas in June and the area we chose has top notch schools. Children like my grandson do just fine when they are schooled properly. They blossom when they have the right environment. You have to keep stupid people away from them.

Target