JCC Asperger's Syndrome

I've had odd behaviors for years, but it wasn't until my young cousin was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome that we began to suspect that I have it as well.

Does anyone else here have AS? If so, how do you cope with it?

 

You want to ask your doctor about this... not us.

 

I think of myself as having honorary Asperger's.

 

Well, I guess I'd disagree. She's asking for something much more akin to a support group than a treatment plan. It's just collecting the experiences of others that have faced similar problems. I think that's reasonable.That said, I don't personally know anyone that has to deal with this.

 

Kyle Katarn is pretty open about having aspergers. He'd be a good person to talk to.

 

That's not the point, Harpua. I'm asking if any one else has Asperger's and how they've coped with it simply because I've learned to cope and I wonder how others do. This has nothing to do with requesting a diagnosis. You're jumping to conclusions.

 

I have a colleague with Asperger's, and he has learned to function very well. He also has a unique ability to focus on a project for about 18 hours at a time without looking up, which is probably symptomatic but at times super useful for him.

 

My cousin has it too. I fit some symptoms but I'd never want to know. drugs and labels no thanks.

 

I do, and Mr Geldar does as well.

How do I cope with it? For the longest time I had well-meaning family trying to force me to be "normal", which I had a problem with as to me that meant they weren't accepting of who I was. I knew I was different, I knew I couldn't fit in, the question was what I did about it.

A lot of it is about observation and memory, the first part is the most difficult. I don't have a "social sense", so to get by I've had to observe what others do and use their tactics. I just have to make sure I watch the right people and remember books, movies and tv are nothing about real life. I call it taking the long way around. With people I know better, I often have to be direct with them and ask them to be direct with me as I'm terrible about getting hints and giving them. I also have a degree of face blindness, that's not just expressions but I also find it hard to tell people apart without distinguishing features.

Sometimes a lack of social sense can be an asset. I hate drama and conflict and prefer to step back and let people fight it out as I think there's better ways to spend your time. I don't fight about the small things, they're just not worth it. But this can lead to an unusual honesty where other people wouldn't bother. Such as telling someone that something is wrong straight out.

I understand there are some people with ASD that can be rather belligerent and use their diagnosis as an excuse to be unpleasant. These people give the rest of us a bad name as we're trying to live on a planet where we are essentially aliens. And they often don't socialise outside message boards or WoW. You do have to force yourself to socialise, I hate it, it's uncomfortable to meet new people but it's what keeps you sane.

 

I haven't asked for an official diagnosis and quite frankly don't need it, nor would I want to have to take a bunch of meds.

Anyway, I've had OCD tendencies since I was little. My books, my LEGOs, games - I usually went through an OCD phase with all of that. I would put my LEGO sets together but then take them apart and count the pieces. I got so obsessed with reading Star Wars when I was still in high school that I finally got the books taken away from me.

 

You should talk to beezel and JoinTheSchwarz they have vicious cases of it.

 

Rogue_Ten

 

Congrats. I wasn't sure what the laws were in regards to aspies having babies. Glad they allow it in your country. Are you guys worried that your individual cases might fuse together to create a super aspie baby?

 

One of my friends on the cross country/track team more than likely has it since he fits several of the symptoms. He is sometimes difficult to get along with since he won't usually pick up on social cues, and that sadly has kind of made him an outsider to the rest of the team which is rather frustrating.

 

You guys should just oust him from the team.

 

honestly tho the very fact that she's asking a star wars message board about having asperger's syndrome... probably means she has asperger's syndrome

 

I'm 50/50 about having one, TBH.

 

It would fit well with the common stereotype that cross country teams are cults.

 

I have Asperger's and while there is no magic bullet for coping with it I can tell you that a good doctor is the start of it. He can prescribe you some medicine and set up appt with a councilor to help you get the most out of life

 

For one, please don't even assume you have it without an official diagnosis. Self-diagnoses for most things tend to be rather problematic. Remember that being socially awkward does not automatically mean someone has Asperger's. There are specific criteria for a reason.

That said, there are a number of people on here who have been diagnosed with Asperger's. Kyle and Katana already mentioned it. There are a couple of others too IIRC. Honestly I was diagnosed in my preadolescence and a lot of stuff in my life has been affected by the diagnosis as much as the syndrome itself. I'm not really keen to talk about it, though. It's one of those things I try to marginalize as much as possible, mostly because of said past impacts.

But yeah, if you think you have it, look into it and get tested. Being diagnosed doesn't mean you're forced to take meds or go to therapy or anything, and it removes doubt from the equation.

 

Self-diagnosed people also tend to be the more belligerent ones as well.

 

I understand why you're urging I get tested, but it's not really necessary because my cousin displays many, and I mean many, of the same behaviors I did as a child that led to him being diagnosed.

 

If you get tested, then you will have support on how to deal with it if you have a diagnosis. It's win-win.

 

I too would support testing. Only good things can come from it, really.

The other reality though, is that all these sorts of disorders are on a spectrum. It's less about a discrete disease entity than falling somewhere along a broad continuum. Someone that doesn't meet formal diagnosis criteria but has a lot of the same behaviors could probably benefit from some of same counseling or therapeutic interventions, even though there need for it is somewhat less.

 

i just can't help it. Whenever I see "Asperger's" I think "ass burgers".