Asperger's Syndrome -- is this you?

I had never heard of this condition before, but saw this on another site and thought it might be appropriate to post some of it here. It opened my eyes to a few things and made me interested in finding out more.

The official criteria needed to be diagnosed with Asperger's are as follows:

A. Qualitative impairment in social interaction, as manifested by at least two of the following:
marked impairments in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, and gestures to regulate social interaction (Aspies are always being told "Look at me when I'm talking to you." They often continue whatever they are working on, not realizing that it is considered to be rude.)

failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level (They tend to go off by themselves during downtime rather than socialize)

a lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people (e.g. by a lack of showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of interest to other people) (Although once started, they can "talk your ear off" about their specialty subject, they usually are not the ones to initiate the conversation.)

lack of social or emotional reciprocity

B. Restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities, as manifested by at least one of the following:
encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus (Many Aspies choose one or two subjects and become complete experts. Often the subjects are under the umbrella of Math, Science, Engineering, Computing, or Science Fiction.

apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals (Aspies have fixed ways of calming themselves when stressed or over-stimulated)

stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g., hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements) (Aspies who are overwhelmed need to distract themselves from the worst assaults on their senses. This describes an extreme form of this distraction.)

persistent preoccupation with parts of objects (This seems to be related to the fact that Science and Engineering are the primary focus for specialty subjects.)

C. The disturbance causes clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning

D. There is no clinically significant general delay in language (e.g., single words used by age 2 years, communicative phrases used by age 3 years) (In fact, as mentioned above, hyperlexia is often present.)

E. There is no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or in the development of age-appropriate self-help skills, adaptive behavior (other than social interaction), and curiosity about the environment in childhood

F. Criteria are not met for another specific Pervasive Developmental Disorder or Schizophrenia


A more intuitive definition of Asperger's by a mother of an Asperger's child is :

I saw that someone posted the DSM IV criteria for Asperger's but I thought it might be good to provide a more down to earth description. Asperger's Syndrome is a term used when a child or adult has some features of autism but may not have the full blown clinical picture. There is some disagreement about where it fits in the PDD spectrum. A few people with Asperger's syndrome are very successful and until recently were not diagnosed with anything but were seen as brilliant, eccentric, absent minded, socially inept, and a little awkward physically.

Although the criteria state no significant delay in the development of language milestones, what you might see is a "different" way of using language. A child may have a wonderful vocabulary and even demonstrate hyperlexia but not truly understand the nuances of language and have difficulty with language pragmatics. (In particular they are more literal and have trouble with figurative language, especially idiomatic expressions, metaphors and [to a lesser extent] similies.) Social pragmatics also tend be weak, leading the person to appear to be walking to the beat of a "different drum". Motor dyspraxia can be reflected in a tendency to be clumsy. (Between their social problems and the increased likeliness of clumsiness, Aspies are the last to be picked for sports teams.)

In social interaction, many people with Asperger's syndrome demonstrate gaze avoidance and may actually turn away at the same moment as greeting another. The children I have known do desire interaction with others but have trouble knowing how to make it work. They are, however, able to learn social skills much like you or I would learn to play the piano. (Aspies do not seem to have the "built-in" ability to learn social skills like others, but they can learn them intellectually and then apply them, in essence "programming" themselves to act as if they were more social.)

There is a general impression that Asperger's syndrome carries with it superior intelligence and a tendency to become very interested in and preoccupied with a particular subject. Often this preoccupation leads to a specific career at which the adult is very successful. At younger ages, one might see the child being a bit more rigid and apprehensive about changes or about adhering to routines. This can lead to a consideration of OCD but it is not the same phenomenon

Many of the weaknesses can be remediated with specific types of therapy aimed at teaching social and pragmatic skills. Anxiety leading to significant rigidity can be also treated medically. Although it is harder, adults with Asperger's can have relationships, families, happy and productive lives.

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There are things about this site that are especially appealing to Aspies. Details and conversely inconsistancies are the point of a nitpicker site, and that is what Aspies thrive on. Aspies want the world to be black and white and to follow the rules. Shades of gray, shadings of the truth affront their sense of right, of "fit."

The Cambridge Lifespan Asperger Syndrome Service(CLASS), an organization in the United Kingdom that works with adult (age 18 or older) Asperger's patients has developed a simple ten question checklist to help identify those individuals who fit the common characteristics of Asperger's patients.

I find social situations confusing.
I find it hard to make small talk.
I did not enjoy imaginative story-writing at school.
I am good at picking up details and facts.
I find it hard to work out what other people are thinking and feeling.
I can focus on certain things for very long periods.
People often say I was rude even when this was not intended.
I have unusually strong, narrow interests.
I do certain things in an inflexible, repetitive way.
I have always had difficulty making friends.


* Autistics do not necessarily have low intellegence, but it is difficult to tell because their way of relating to the world makes it hard to administer standardized tests

There is this forum where many ASPs post and you can see what it feels like.

Yeah, it sounds familiar.

It sounds like every single person I've ever met who is a self professed "geek" or "nerd."

I think it's just putting a label on something that's perfectly natural in order to allow people to feel sorry for themselves because life is hard.

Social interaction isn't easy. Dealing with people isn't easy. Language isn't easy. Communication is damn near impossible.

Deal with it.

Just because your kid likes to watch cartoons doesn't mean he's got a disease or a problem (ADD). Just because I am awkward in social situations and have an obsession for more knowledge and understanding of certain systems doesn't mean I have a problem or a disease (Asperger's).

I used to think maybe I had Asperger's. I read several accounts written by diagnosed Aspergites. They all sounded *exactly like me* except for *one thing*.

They all love to complain about how hard they've got it. Well, screw 'em. We've ALL got it hard, and I don't need to be diseased in order to admit that life is a constant struggle. Whining about that fact won't win me any friends -- but I guess it might win me a medical diagnosis.

For a year, I sat next to someone diagnosed with Asperger's. Let me tell you, it was not just about being a bit awkward and not enjoying social situations. It was definitely not just being a geek or a nerd - and in the field I work in, those are not hard to come by, so my conclusion is not for a lack of suitable people to compare with. The difficulty with social nuances ran much, much deeper than that.

JamesM said:

For a year, I sat next to someone diagnosed with Asperger's. Let me tell you, it was not just about being a bit awkward and not enjoying social situations. It was definitely not just being a geek or a nerd - and in the field I work in, those are not hard to come by, so my conclusion is not for a lack of suitable people to compare with. The difficulty with social nuances ran much, much deeper than that.

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And you didn't change seats because.....?

It always irritates me when I see rigid "definitions" of autistic spectrum conditions, because there is no absolute set of criteria by which anyone can assess such things. There are certainly tell tale signs but in many cases they are subtle and most "normal" people simply do not have the capability to understand what autistic people experience - which works both ways, autistics can't understand certain "normal" behaviors.

Firstly autistic conditions lie on a "spectrum" - which means that everyone has elements of the condition to some degree, but some individuals experience it to a much greater degree than others. You will note that I say "autistic conditions" rather than "autistic disorders" because apart from the cases where someone is severely dysfunctional there is little evidence that such conditions actually are a "disease" or a "disorder". There are a great many autistic people who consider themselves to be perfectly "normal", and who genuinely believe that "normal" people are the ones who have a disease or disorder or who are dysfunctional! It's a kind of in joke in the autistic community that normal people have a "disorder" called "NT Syndrome" - which is short for "neurotypical".

A clinical diagnosis of "autism" or "Asperger's" depends largely on the assessor and on a set of vague and variable criteria, so a diagnosed case is no guarantee of any particular level of the condition, nor does it imply that undiagnosed people (or those diagnosed otherwise than as "autistic") have any rigidly specific set of characteristics. To put this in perspective, I have a "condition" which some assessors would qualify as "autistic", but which others wouldn't. My son also has the same condition but in a generally more pronounced degree, although he and I have many things in common, in some aspects we are complete opposites. The official diagnosis of my condition is "profoundly gifted" - which most people would assume is totally divorced from any autistic condition. It isn't, it's firmly on the spectrum, but somewhere between "normal" and full blown autism, and biased slightly more toward the "autistic" end than the "normal" end.

What is interesting is that most of the features of my "condition" are identical to autistic ones but are automatically assessed differently simply because I don't have the official "autistic" label. In my case they are classified as "eccentric" or "special ability". If I were officially diagnosed autistic, they would be classified as "disorders". Which frankly is BS. They are exactly the same conditions.

It might be useful to explain some of the things which I experience which are typical of autism and which some "normal" people will be able to relate to to some extent.

The first and foremost is sensory hypersensitivity - in many ways this condition sets the stage for numerous "autistic" behavior patterns. I have "abnormally" acute senses, far beyond most "normal" people. When I was assessed as a child, this was completely missed by the assessors and I only found out about it by accident later in life. The first aspect of it that I was aware of was discomfort with clothing. To me, many materials are rough and irritating - most clothes make me itch - which was a nightmare when I was a child because nobody else could understand this. If I complained, my mother would feel my clothes and pronounce that they were not rough etc. They weren't - to her. Nowadays I have learned to ignore the irritation, it's still there but it doesn't bother me any more. The second aspect was hyperhearing. I often have great difficulty understanding normal speech - but it's variable, sometimes things are perfectly clear, other times it seems to me that people are talking like they have a mouth full of cotton wool. I hear noises they make but it doesn't sound like intelligible speech to me. When I was in my late teens I was sent to a hearing specialist for tests because it was assumed I had a hearing disorder. The results were puzzling in the extreme - instead of having reduced hearing competence they found I had hyperhearing, I could hear much better than "normal". The range of my hearing is much greater than "normal" I can hear well into what is classified as ultrasonic (I can hear up to about 28 Khz, most people can't hear much above 15 Khz). The specialists at the time were at a complete loss to figure out why I had problems hearing normal speech. I now know that the problem is not the speech itself, I can hear and understand speech perfectly. The problem is that because I hear so much more than most people, the speech is constantly drowned out by other noise that normal people can't hear at all. I constantly hear high pitched background sound, there are various degrees of whine and hiss and speech is superimposed on top of that. Because I'm so used to the background hiss I normally tune it out of conscious awareness, but I can still hear it nonetheless and it interferes with other sounds. In a quiet environment I have no trouble with speech at all.

I have always found that light is uncomfortable. If I go out in sunlight I am frequently blinded. If I drive at night, the normal headlamps of the oncoming cars are exceptionally bright and actually painful to me. Again, the problem was misdiagnosed in my teenage years. I was diagnosed with "migraine" - but later realised that the extreme headaches were always caused by bright light. I didn't realise that I had extended visual range until one day when I working in a spectroscopic lab and using an old fashioned optical spectrometer. I was asked to measure lines in a sample and when I submitted the results my supervisor told me that they were impossible because some of the lines I had measured were outside the human visual range. He was convinced I had cheated and looked up the spectrum in a book. On my insistence he tested me with a random sample and again I was able to identify lines that were officially in the infra-red and ultra-violet ranges. It caused quite a commotion in the lab, we ended up testing everyone in the lab and I was the only one who could see those lines - what I saw as a clear red line the others saw as complete black.

I have similar issues with smell and taste. Most people smell funny to me. If I stand near a woman with perfume the smell can be overpowering. And certain smells or tastes are so overwhelming that they cause me to vomit. One such smell/taste is cherry. Something in cherry is so awful that it makes me spontaneously vomit.

All of the above has a major impact on my social functioning. To give an extreme example, I was once standing on a bus and the person standing next to me opened a can of cherry soda. I immediately threw up on that person! I couldn't help it or stop myself, it was so quick it just happened. And like I said above, I often cannot hear what people are saying. If I am on an open street with cars going by I cannot hear speech. All I hear is the whine of the engine or the hiss of the tyres on the ground. Over the top of that, speech sounds like a garbled mumbling noise. If I'm standing in sunlight, reflections off objects like metal or windows are experienced as painful jabs in the head. If I go into a supermarket it is hell for me. I didn't mention above that I always consciously distinguish the separate sources of sounds. So in a typical supermarket firstly there is tinny, whiny, hissy muzak blaring at me. Often there will be other music going at the same time (for example if they have a section which sells music or TV's then the sounds of all those are heard separately and clash with the muzak). Then there are dozens of people talking. I can hear each individual conversation (but they're not intelligible to me, all I hear is separate sources of mumbled "quacking" noises). Then there is somebody's mobile phone going off (or maybe more than one) and I hear a piercing tinny shriek. And then someone will be wearing a walkman and I can hear a horrible tinny hiss and shriek from that. The tills in the supermarket are often beeping as the goods are processed. There may be 20 odd tills all beeping at the same time and I hear each individual beep separately and as a distinct source. Every time someone puts a can in a basket I hear the loud "click" as metal hits metal, or the rattling of plastic bags. The wheels of the shopping trolleys make a squeaking noise - and so on. I simply cannot describe how this feels, but to me it is a living, painful, hell.

This causes massive and immediate stress. It takes me hours to calm down afterwards. Firstly I feel a desperate panicky need to "escape" while I am in the shop. I have a desperate need to find somewhere quiet and dark. But because I have to do some shopping I have no choice but to bear it. This makes me extremely irritable. I will be curt and rude to people, I will be snappy and irritable. I don't want to see, hear or encounter people at all. If anyone approaches me and tries to talk to me it's almost like a physical assault at those times.

I experience the same thing but to a much lesser degree in ordinary social situations. I can "function" perfectly well in normal society but I've trained myself to do so, and it requires constant effort. I can bear the company of other people for up to a week at a time - any more than that and I go into "meltdown" because all the tiny stressors just add up. Most autistic people are even more sensitive than me - I can imagine what they feel, it must be horrible, Many "low-functioning" autistics have perfectly normal intelligence (in fact, most autistics have elevated intelligence) but they are diagnosed as "retarded" because normal social functioning is so painful to them that they shut down and withdraw - many never learn the basics of social interaction because it is too painful to bear. And because they never learn how to act socially or even how to communicate they are unable to do either - which leads to the diagnosis of "retardation".

There are many other subtle aspects to all this. I rarely sleep. I can't sleep. I typically sleep one day a week - and usually by then I only sleep because of sheer exhaustion. I do go to bed every night and lie down and relax but I am conscious most of the time. I need to wear ear plugs as well. Tiny noises make it impossible to sleep anyway.

The "problems" nearly always manifest in interaction with other people. It's because other people "intrude" into my "space". A person to me is a sensory assault. I can't stand being touched. Well, to clarify, of course I dont mind someone like my wife touching me, but if anyone touches me suddenly and unexpectedly I have a knee jerk reaction to withdraw. I go to a party and a woman comes up to me and touches my arm. I am not expecting it and I immediately jerk my arm away instinctively. I have no conscious choice in the matter, it just happens. But socially, it's awkward. I can't explain in such situations, most people would never understand, so all I do is say "I don't like being touched". It's the same if someone gets too close. Some people like to stand very close when they are talking to others, I experience that as an intrusion, I want them to back off. If they persist and if they cross a certain line, I'll physically stop them from getting any closer. Their smell, even the sounds of their body, are intrusive.

I find it difficult and uncomfortable to look people in the eye. If I look people in the eye it feels like they are burrowing into my head. I can fake it though, I look at the bridge of their nose and they think I'm looking them in the eye - but I'm not. I can't "read body language". Again, to qualify that, I can read "body language" - if it is simple and straightforward. But most "body language" is complex and ambiguous to me. Often people say one thing but their body tells something else. And internal conflicts within the person appear to me as ambiguity or conflict in their body language. I find that confusing so I stop interpreting any body signs, otherwise I'd be spending most of my time calling people liars! I usually directly sense people's overall motivation. If someone comes up to me and tries to make "small talk" it's like an insult. Because I immediately sense that they don't really want to have a meaningful conversation and they are acting out a programmed role, I may even sense that the person actually dislikes me and is being hypocritical in talking to me at all. Therefore to me, most "normal" people act like robots. They are following a "social program" and have no mind of their own so to speak. The need of a "normal" person to socialise is to me an obsessive disorder on their part! There is nothing wrong with me in my own mind, there is something seriously wrong with "normal" people to me, because they have this blind, programmed, obsession to "socialise" in a meaningless way! Also to me, most "normal" people are blind, deaf and somewhat stupid and/or ignorant! It's not arrogance, it's simply what I perceive.

I have no problem with the presence of people per se at a reasonable distance. I can easily give a lecture to 2000 people. I have no sense of "stage-fright" - that is a concept I can't understand at all. But if I have to interact socially on a one to one basis it can be very uncomfortable - particularly if that interaction is "meaningless socialisation". So to many people I am at best "eccentric", whereas to some I am "rude", "cold" or "distant". But I enjoy the company of some people. Sensitive people who don't intrude or force themselves on me. People who only talk when they have something meaningful to say. People who actually listen to what *I* am saying and are genuinely interested in talking to me, not acting out their blind social programming, because they think it's "polite". But at the same time I know what to say, and what to do to appear "social" if I have to. I just dislike the meaningless "ritual" nature of it. But I'm not stupid, I know enough not to wantonly insult people or act grossly - well, most of the time anyway!

There are so many little things that "normal" people take for granted that are a source of discomfort to autistics. For example, the telephone. To me it's an instrument of the Devil, a device of pure evil! Because it has a tendency to make a sudden and irritating noise when it is least expected. And then people want to talk but I can't understand what they are saying over the hiss and whine of the circuits (not to mention the background noise both where I am, and where they are). And then people want to "socialise", they want to say meaningless, trivial things that I don't know how to answer. They talk and talk and I'm not sure when it's polite to say "goodbye" and put the phone down (which is all I really want to do anyway). I have a Pavlovian reaction to telephones. If the telephone rings I feel an immediate pang of sheer panic, because it means I will have to talk on the infernal device! If I have to call someone I have to force myself to do so over a sense of ever increasing panic. When a call ends, the feeling of relief is indescribable. The "engaged" tone is my friend!

And I must stress that I have never been a "geek" or a "nerd", although people often refer to me as "a genius". When I was at college in the 70's my friends nicknamed me "The Fonz" after the TV character because I was seriously "cool"! Even now, I am always in demand socially. I have lots of acquaintances who want to see me - often. I get invited to every party. I never actually go though! But out of all the people I know and who technically consider me to be a "friend", I only have about 3 real friends (not counting my immediate family) that I would be happy to see! And all of those have a degree of "autistic" behavior.

I enjoy interacting on this forum. Most of the people on here are at least reasonably intelligent and educated and some are extremely so. The interaction is "social" but generally meaningful in some way, and even the meaningless bits are tolerable and I have the choice whether or not to participate, which makes a world of difference. I have a perfectly good sense of humour and I enjoy the silly jokes etc. So I am not "weird" in the sense that most "normal" people mistakenly associate with "autistic". Most autistics are not overtly "wierd", it's only ignorance and stereotyping that makes people believe that all autistics must act like "Rain Man" (some do act that way of course, but it's not necessarily typical). But to me most autistics are quite "normal", its "normal" people who are abnormal!

I've only scratched the surface above. But I wanted to give some sort of picture of what it is like for an autistic person. Lots of people think they may be "autistic" because they are socially inept or uncomfortable, but that is really nothing to do with the true autistic spectrum. Autism cannot be diagnosed from some predetermined list. A lot of what is called "autistic dysfunction" is a direct result of sensory overload as I hope I have shown above. It's not a total inability to act socially, it's extreme discomfort with "socially programmed" behavior patterns because they lead in various ways to extreme sensory discomfort.

This is already too long, but I wanted to add that the problem is becoming more acute for people like me because of the nature of society these days. When I was a child, I had much fewer "problems" than I do today because in those days things were much quieter and calmer. There was less traffic, there were fewer people in any given space, people were more polite and less "in your face". You could go to shops without being assaulted by muzak, blaring ghetto blasters, walkmans, mobile phones etc. Shops didn't have to have flashing lights and bright colors everywhere, and so on. Social patterns have become more and meaningless and ritualized. I strongly suspect that all of this is why more and more people are diagnosed as "autistic" these days. The problem is not that more people have suddenly become "autistic", the problem is that social change has led to extreme sensory overstimulation which triggers more and more people over the threshold of overload. The average Victorian "eccentric" would automatically be classified "autistic" today.

Anyway, the hypersensitivity is very much a precursor to all other "autistic disorders". If anyone believes themselves to be autistic but does not have the hypersensitivity then I would say that it's unlikely that they are truly on the autistic spectrum. Autism is much more than social ineptitude.

Interesting how much of the above seems (to me at least) perfectly "normal" human behaviour. It's just a question of degree. Normal, but more so. Off to one side of the bell curve.

I have never thought of myself as in any way autistic. I did have the ability to hear higher pitched sound than anyone else in class, (long ago), but no other hypersensitivity.

Apart from P's inability to feel stage fright, I'd say I share all his experiences, feelings and frustrations as described above to some extent. I expect most people would.

Pragmatist said:

It always irritates me when I see rigid "definitions" of autistic spectrum conditions, because there is no absolute set of criteria by which anyone can assess such things

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Your post was very enlightening! But shouldn't we classify your hypersensitivity and the corollaries as some type of "disorder" ? In sites about Asperger's for example, I keep reading that Aspies have above average intelligence and nobody (who knows hs stuff, that is) said they are dumb. Isn't being "better" or simply too different than "normal" a "disorder" ? We may not know what autistic people feel and how intelligent they are, but shouldn't we somehow classify their "disorder" ? Shouldn't we call them "autistic" and if not, how should we call them ? True, our idea about autism may be completely wrong but it is still "autism", isn't it ?

Soapy Sam said:

Interesting how much of the above seems (to me at least) perfectly "normal" human behaviour. It's just a question of degree. Normal, but more so. Off to one side of the bell curve.

I have never thought of myself as in any way autistic. I did have the ability to hear higher pitched sound than anyone else in class, (long ago), but no other hypersensitivity.

Apart from P's inability to feel stage fright, I'd say I share all his experiences, feelings and frustrations as described above to some extent. I expect most people would.

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Soapy, this was part of my point, it's the nature of the "spectrum" and a question of degree rather than some absolute. The problem arises when the label "autistic" becomes attached because then it automatically preconditions some people to treat such a person with a degree of prejudice. I believe that if the ambient "social noise" continues to increase at its current rate then more and more people are going to flip over that line between "normal" and "autistic".

Scribble said above, quite rightly, that life is hard for everyone. What I thought he missed was an appreciation that it's much harder for some than others and that perhaps it would be better if people tried a little harder to understand the nature of the problem. I don't think most autistics whine about their condition to get sympathy, but rather they have a desperate need to feel included and to get people to understand what they experience. Autistics are not antisocial, they just find normal social interaction painful. Under the right conditions most would really love to be included and actually enjoy being with people - people who don't hurt them unintentionally all the time. If some of my "friends" made some effort to understand why their "in your face" style of socialising is uncomfortable to me then perhaps they would stop doing it to me - and if that happened my interaction with them would be much more productive overall. I can't help what I am, I can't "snap out of it". All I can do is explain and hope that somebody will understand. But I guess some would interpret that as "whining".

Which leads me on to El Greco's post:

El Greco said:

Your post was very enlightening! But shouldn't we classify your hypersensitivity and the corollaries as some type of "disorder" ? In sites about Asperger's for example, I keep reading that Aspies have above average intelligence and nobody (who knows hs stuff, that is) said they are dumb. Isn't being "better" or simply too different than "normal" a "disorder" ? We may not know what autistic people feel and how intelligent they are, but shouldn't we somehow classify their "disorder" ? Shouldn't we call them "autistic" and if not, how should we call them ? True, our idea about autism may be completely wrong but it is still "autism", isn't it ?

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Yes, you could in a technical sense. The problem is really the emotional overtones that come with the labels. A "disorder" implies automatically that someone is "diseased", "disabled" or "inferior" in the eyes of many. I don't consider my condition to be a "disorder", I consider it a gift. And as I pointed out above, in my specific case it is "officially" called "a gift" because I am assessed on paper that way. But if my assessment had mentioned the dreaded word "autistic" then my "gift" would automatically become a "disorder"! It's a question of consistency and recognising the circumstances over the labels.

My son is a primary example of this. His reactions are virtually indistinguishable from mine, he is very slightly more incapacitated than I am but much of that has to do with the fact that he's a young child - and the differences in the environment today compared to the one I grew up in, I was similar in many ways at his age. But he is considered to have a disability whereas I am considered to have a "a gift". It's crazy. And he has two opposing diagnoses, one expert thinks he's disabled, another thinks he's gifted!

So I have no problem with classifying the "condition" (I hate the word "disorder") but where is the consistency, and what are the precise criteria? It's all too subjective and too biased toward artificial social "norms". For example I'm a basket case in a supermarket, which doesn't bother the "normal". Place me in a forest and let me hunt for my own food and my hypersenses give me an enormous advantage over a "normal" person in the same situation. Leave a normal person in total silence for 3 days and they'll go crazy, whereas it doesn't bother me at all.

As for people being dumb there are plenty of people who hear the word "autistic" and automatically assume they are dealing with a retard. It happens all the time. The general public perception of "autism" is very far removed from the reality of the majority of cases. What saddens me particularly is that society "gives up" on many people who could be easily helped to function under the right conditions. But current educational policies in many developed countries are to try to force autistic individuals into normal schools so they'll learn "normal socialisation". This is an insane policy because it does the exact opposite. The noise and sensory overload of being forcibly thrown among a pack of normal screaming kids is enough to make most autistics go into total shutdown. Some can even become violent in an attempt to make the stimuli stop. So then they're not just "retards", but "violent retards"! It's a no win situation.

Anyway, the label "autistic" is as good as any other. Personally though, I wish more people understood what it actually means.

I came across a description of Aspergers Syndrome a couple of years ago, and decided that I probably have it. My husband is convinced I am - he read up on it and says it explains a heck of a lot about me.
Pragmatist - I can identify with what you go throuh. I'm not as sensitive as you are, but crowds, lots of people talking at once, lots of things going on in my field of vision - they all make me confused and physically ill. I cannot handle a lot of sensory stimulus coming in at once.
My hearing is sensitive in the higher ranges, but I think I'm also sensitive to subsonics. Once, my husband took me to a rock concert, for a birthday treat; I had to leave within five minutes - I was feeling the bass noises in my head and chest and it actually hurt. Everyone around me was diving into the mosh pit to get closer to the noise - I just couldn't understand how they could enjoy it!
I'm highly sensitive to colour, as well - if I'd been born maybe twenty years earlier, I'd have had a good career as something like a paint factory colour checker (but they have technology for that now). When we paint our walls, I have make sure we buy all the paint from the same batch of the same brand - when the piant is on and dried, I can see shade differences between different brands that are supposed to be the same shade, and it really annoys me!
I'm middle-aged now, and have painfully learnt how to interact, be "sociable", pass small-talk with neighbours. But it's just an act. Like Pragmatist, the friends I value are the ones who don't expect me to act "normal".
But, I'm not going to moan and whine about it. So I have problems - so what? That's life.

ETA: Your tip about fooling people into thinking you're looking them in the eye, by concentrating on the bridge of their nose, is an excellent one! I shall try it out!

@ Pragmatist and sophia8


I agree, sensory overload is really not good.

I suffer from worst case dyslexia, but I am doing allright now.

I'm a total geek, but I'm definitely not aps. I am very bad at retaining details, and ritual is meaningless to me.

sophia8 said:

I came across a description of Aspergers Syndrome a couple of years ago, and decided that I probably have it. My husband is convinced I am - he read up on it and says it explains a heck of a lot about me.
Pragmatist - I can identify with what you go throuh. I'm not as sensitive as you are, but crowds, lots of people talking at once, lots of things going on in my field of vision - they all make me confused and physically ill. I cannot handle a lot of sensory stimulus coming in at once.
My hearing is sensitive in the higher ranges, but I think I'm also sensitive to subsonics. Once, my husband took me to a rock concert, for a birthday treat; I had to leave within five minutes - I was feeling the bass noises in my head and chest and it actually hurt. Everyone around me was diving into the mosh pit to get closer to the noise - I just couldn't understand how they could enjoy it!
I'm highly sensitive to colour, as well - if I'd been born maybe twenty years earlier, I'd have had a good career as something like a paint factory colour checker (but they have technology for that now). When we paint our walls, I have make sure we buy all the paint from the same batch of the same brand - when the piant is on and dried, I can see shade differences between different brands that are supposed to be the same shade, and it really annoys me!
I'm middle-aged now, and have painfully learnt how to interact, be "sociable", pass small-talk with neighbours. But it's just an act. Like Pragmatist, the friends I value are the ones who don't expect me to act "normal".
But, I'm not going to moan and whine about it. So I have problems - so what? That's life.

ETA: Your tip about fooling people into thinking you're looking them in the eye, by concentrating on the bridge of their nose, is an excellent one! I shall try it out!

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I laughed when I read that because I understand perfectly. Yes, it sounds like you have some of the typical characteristics. I didn't mention before that many people on the spectrum have unusual pattern matching capabilities and often recognise "bad patterns" which they find irritating and disturbing. Your comment about the paint colors is spot on, that's exactly the kind of thing I would notice and which would annoy me too.

I didn't mention that I'm sensitive to sub sonics too. Funny enough they don't bother me in music, but some buildings make me very uncomfortable if they have subsonics, for example low rumbling from a ventilation system.

Glad to help with the eye trick!

Pragmatist,

Your explanation of autistic spectrum conditions was fascinating. I wasn't aware of many of the difficulties faced by people such as yourself.

When I was a child my parents worried that I was autistic in some way. I didn't socialise with other children and would often become 'lost' in concentration, focusing on a single task.

I just accept now that I am a bit awkward in company and force myself to go to social occasions, even though I dread the thought of them.
This is just the way I am. My wife makes sure I don't get too absorbed in myself!

edited to reconsider that I probably fall into the 'social inept' category rather than the autistic spectrum.

alfaniner said:

I had never heard of this condition before, but saw this on another site and thought it might be appropriate to post some of it here. It opened my eyes to a few things and made me interested in finding out more.

Lessee...

The official criteria needed to be diagnosed with Asperger's are as follows:

A. Qualitative impairment in social interaction, as manifested by at least two of the following:
marked impairments in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, and gestures to regulate social interaction (Aspies are always being told "Look at me when I'm talking to you." They often continue whatever they are working on, not realizing that it is considered to be rude.)

Oh, big tick!

failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level (They tend to go off by themselves during downtime rather than socialize)

Another tick, but only sometimes.

a lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people (e.g. by a lack of showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of interest to other people) (Although once started, they can "talk your ear off" about their specialty subject, they usually are not the ones to initiate the conversation.)

Yep.

lack of social or emotional reciprocity

BZZZT. Complete opposite.

B. Restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities, as manifested by at least one of the following:
encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus (Many Aspies choose one or two subjects and become complete experts. Often the subjects are under the umbrella of Math, Science, Engineering, Computing, or Science Fiction.

Nope. I'd LOVE to be knowledgeable about EVERYTHING, plus speak lots of languages.

apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals (Aspies have fixed ways of calming themselves when stressed or over-stimulated)

Yeah, sorta.

stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g., hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements) (Aspies who are overwhelmed need to distract themselves from the worst assaults on their senses. This describes an extreme form of this distraction.)

Nope.

persistent preoccupation with parts of objects (This seems to be related to the fact that Science and Engineering are the primary focus for specialty subjects.)

Quite the opposite.

C. The disturbance causes clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning

I don't dance. I can't sing. Does that count?

D. There is no clinically significant general delay in language (e.g., single words used by age 2 years, communicative phrases used by age 3 years) (In fact, as mentioned above, hyperlexia is often present.)

Wrong. Chatterbox and reading by age 3.

E. There is no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or in the development of age-appropriate self-help skills, adaptive behavior (other than social interaction), and curiosity about the environment in childhood

Wrong again. "Escape artist" who regularly surprised parents with extent of curiosity.

F. Criteria are not met for another specific Pervasive Developmental Disorder or Schizophrenia

Couldn't say...

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No, I guess I'm not Aspergers.

Wrong - go back and read D and E again.

I have it. It's not much fun. I resent any implication from other Aspegers suffers that it's a 'gift' or anything other than a disability.

Oleron said:

Pragmatist,

Your explanation of autistic spectrum conditions was fascinating. I wasn't aware of many of the difficulties faced by people such as yourself.

When I was a child my parents worried that I was autistic in some way. I didn't socialise with other children and would often become 'lost' in concentration, focusing on a single task.

I just accept now that I am a bit awkward in company and force myself to go to social occasions, even though I dread the thought of them.
This is just the way I am. My wife makes sure I don't get too absorbed in myself!

edited to reconsider that I probably fall into the 'social inept' category rather than the autistic spectrum.

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Thanks. Most people aren't aware of it, which was why I thought it was worth explaining in detail. Lots of people have the idea that there is some rigid definition and that someone is either autistic or not, and that to be "autistic" implies retardation and/or weirdness which is not at all true. But it's a fine spectrum with many shades of grey and I would say that many people are near or even "over the line" so to speak without even knowing it.

What I didn't make clear is that even when someone has profound hypersensitivity like I have, that they could be unaware of it! Because it took me many years to realise that specific "illnesses" I had weren't actually illnesses at all, they were just reactions to overstimulus. I never realised I had extended sensory range, even though the clues were right there in front of me. I was always saying to people things like, "Are you blind? Can't you see that?!" when in fact that was exactly the case - other people couldn't see or hear (or taste/smell/feel) the things that I could. To give a humorous example I was once in a public park and some guy there had a couple of dogs he'd let off the leash who were running around. He pulled out a whistle and blew it and I heard this piercing shriek and got a stabbing pain in the ears. The dogs just ignored it, and he kept blowing it. It got to a point where I couldn't stand it any more, and I asked him to stop. He was very surprised and said, "It's an ultrasonic dog whistle, humans can't hear it!". To which I replied, "Well it must be faulty because *I* can hear it!" He stood there looking dubiously at his whistle with side glances at me then put it away. He got his dogs and left, but departed with various frowning glances at me. No doubt he thought I was some kind of lunatic!

The latter is just one example of the kinds of silly situation I find myself in. At the time my first thought was that the guy's whistle was faulty, it was only much later that I realised that *I* was "the problem" so to speak. Although it gave me an insight into why dogs sometimes attack their owners!

Everyone thinks that what they see/hear etc., is normal. It's only when you get to compare with others that the differences appear - and how often does anyone compare their sensory ranges with other people? I suspect that there are a lot of people who are both socially clumsy and hypersensitive who have no idea at all that they are hypersensitive. They probably just find themselves feeling stressed and sick in certain situations without ever realising why.

An Infinite Ocean said:

I have it. It's not much fun. I resent any implication from other Aspegers suffers that it's a 'gift' or anything other than a disability.

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Why "resent"? It's a spectrum - we're not all the same. For some it's not too bad, for others it's crippling. In my case, despite the fact that it can be very uncomfortable and inconvenient at times, most of the time it's no problem and often it can be an advantage. But I did mention before that for some it can be hell.

I think it's useful to help people understand the variability in the condition. As for the "gift" that is my official diagnosis. I don't have the condition severely enough to qualify as full blown Asperger's but it would be stupid to deny that it's on the same spectrum. It seems to me that it's only comparitively recently that psychologists are beginning to realise that many conditions which were assessed under totally different names in the past are simply different points on the same spectrum.

If you have the time why don't you describe how you experience it? I think it's useful for people to understand what others actually experience. Maybe it will shatter a few myths and help some be more tolerant.

My nephew is strongly AS and it's caused him a great deal of grief over the years, mainly because he doesn't understand people and they don't understand him. A couple of books that helped me understand his condition better were "Pretending to be normal" and "Adolescence - a survival guide". The latter was written by a 14-year old for other AS kids going through adolescence and is very good, apart from the section on diet (is it low gluten???) that rumour says was inserted by his mother.
I'm an INTP type - computer systems programmer - and exhibit some mild AS-type characterstics that help me identify with my nephew et v.v. but there is a world of a difference between my idiosyncracies and AS. Just because grey exists doesn't mean that black and white don't.

Pragmatist said:

Why "resent"? It's a spectrum - we're not all the same. For some it's not too bad, for others it's crippling. In my case, despite the fact that it can be very uncomfortable and inconvenient at times, most of the time it's no problem and often it can be an advantage. But I did mention before that for some it can be hell.

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Sorry for misinterstanding you.

If you have the time why don't you describe how you experience it? I think it's useful for people to understand what others actually experience. Maybe it will shatter a few myths and help some be more tolerant.

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Thanks for the suggestion, I will try and do this tomorrow when I have the time.

Brains are wierd

I think that it would be nearly impossible to fit into the idal normalized brain that we hear about in so many cases, our brains are blobs of grey stuff with cells and electrical signals inside, and I bet there are far more possible patterns of neurons then there are fingerprints.

I for instance have several ticks on the AS chart, including hearing sensitivity, lower social skills then normal, nonverbal stuff, and high interest in a small ammount of subjects. However, I do not think I am AS simply because these symptoms are mild and not debilitating (as far as I can see, it could be profoundly worse).

I dont think we will ever develop a complete understanding of the brain and it's many disorders. Brains are not computers, they are far above even the most powerful AI systems even dreamed of because they have conciousness, which we have not yet begun to understand.

Furthermore, these disorders are all ranges (ok, not some of the genetic ones) and while each person will fall in many places on each of these ranges, it is generaly when the disorders become dabilitating, easily noticable, or problamatic that we actualy say the person has a given disorder.

Ok, enough rambling.

Hmmm I'm not a doc but I bet You a pill will be out soon for it. I also predict that the " malady" will become more prevalent.

Pragmatist said:

The range of my hearing is much greater than "normal" I can hear well into what is classified as ultrasonic (I can hear up to about 28 Khz, most people can't hear much above 15 Khz).

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How does this work? If I remember correctly (I might not), our hearing range is limited by the physical limitations of our cochlea. Do you have some sort of super-cochlea then? And how does that tie into your condition? Same question for your extended visual range.

Just to be clear, I'm not really doubting you or anything, I'm just curious

vlix said:

How does this work? If I remember correctly (I might not), our hearing range is limited by the physical limitations of our cochlea. Do you have some sort of super-cochlea then? And how does that tie into your condition? Same question for your extended visual range.

Just to be clear, I'm not really doubting you or anything, I'm just curious

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I haven't got a clue how it works, it just happens! I doubt very much whether there is any physiological difference between my ear and anyone else's. But don't forget that I am hypersensitive. So at the limits of normal bandwidth, what may be below a "normal" threshold of perception, isn't necessarily below mine. I don't know, but I doubt the ear has some hard wired physical cutoff frequency, the response probably just tails off above or below a certain point. I don't know what my current hearing range is, the last time it was properly measured was over 30 years ago, but I do still hear things that most people can't - and it's not tinnitus. Although it's harder to localise the source of a sound in that range, I can usually narrow it down to a specific object (often electronic) which if switched off causes the sound to stop. Another thing is that in the highest ranges the sound is sometimes more "felt" than "heard" as such, I don't necessarily distinguish tones but I feel a sharp pressure which I identify as a sound.

My personal theory (which is just a guess rather than based on any hard facts) is that everyone has a wider sensory range than they realise, but what distinguishes some people from others is the level of filtering they have. I believe my filters are faulty - I don't actually physically detect any more than anyone else, but my brain doesn't perceptually filter out the extremes like it seems to do in most people. I have noticed on occasion, ordinary people reacting to things like ultrasonic sounds - ones which I hear clearly but which they claim not to have heard. They often say that they noticed some strange impression but are unable to say what it was - whereas to me it's a definite sound. They are obviously physically picking up the stimulus, but they don't actually seem to "perceive" it.

Pragmatist- I agree.
In school science class, my physics teacher used a sound tone generator to illustrate various wave phenomena. It had no "off" switch, except at the wall socket. Instead of switching it off, he turned the dial up (ie increased the frequency) well beyond what he could hear.

This had the same effect on me as scraping fingernails down a blackboard. I could feel my teeth vibrate. I could hear the output tone as a jarring , rather ghostly whistle. Very annoying. At first, he didn't believe me, so we tested it blind, with the soundbox hidden by his bench. When he realised I really could hear it, he switched it off. I have no idea what the top end of my hearing range was. (I'm certain it's much lower now!)

Point is- though nobody else could hear it, several people could somehow "tell" when it was on. We were all about twelve or thirteen, healthy and well fed, in an age before walkmans and boomboxes. We probably had better hearing than any humans before or since. Also, we were paying attention in a quiet classroom.