Does this make me autistic?!
Question: I've got a bit of a dilemma because i find it difficult to go to parties and stuff, but at the same time i don't like being thought of as a loner. I've got hardly any friends phone numbers on my mobile because i have a fear that they will not respond to me if i ever text them, and in general face to face contact i'm a bit wierd too. Sometimes when i talk to people i pull funny faces without realising and then people say "what's wrong?" and i'm confused cos i didn't realise what i was doing. I'm very sensitive to how i feel most of the time but it seems i often say and do the wrong things with other people. I find it very difficult to relax enough in a conversation to make the conversation go much further than "how are you?" politeness. I have asked a few people that in my life but i find it very hard to do because of fear of rejection.
I hope you understand what i mean.
Answers: I've got a bit of a dilemma because i find it difficult to go to parties and stuff, but at the same time i don't like being thought of as a loner. I've got hardly any friends phone numbers on my mobile because i have a fear that they will not respond to me if i ever text them, and in general face to face contact i'm a bit wierd too. Sometimes when i talk to people i pull funny faces without realising and then people say "what's wrong?" and i'm confused cos i didn't realise what i was doing. I'm very sensitive to how i feel most of the time but it seems i often say and do the wrong things with other people. I find it very difficult to relax enough in a conversation to make the conversation go much further than "how are you?" politeness. I have asked a few people that in my life but i find it very hard to do because of fear of rejection.
I hope you understand what i mean.
No, i doubt you have autism. It is possible you may have 'Aspergers syndrome', which is simply a display of certain characteristics, but i'll leave that up to you to research. However even then, i don't think you have even that, as you have trouble socialising because of fear of rejection and not because you simple DON'T want to socialise, as common of people with Aspergers or Autism. As for general autism, highly unlikely, but high-functioning autism (aspergers) is a possibility, however from what you've described still not likely... Anyways, here is a set of characteristics people with Asperger's have and how they differ form autism, do you fit into any of this?
The essential features of Asperger's Disorder are severe and sustained impairment in social interaction and the development of restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interest, and activity. The disturbance must clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, and other important areas of functioning. In contrast to Autistic Disorder, there are no clinically significant delays in language. In addition there are no clinically significant delays in cognitive development or in the development of age-appropriate self-help skills, adaptive behavior, and curiosity about the environment in childhood.
A. Qualitative impairment in social interaction, as manifested by at least two of the following:
Marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, and gestures to regulate social interaction
Failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level
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)
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
Apparently inflexible adherence to specific, non-functional routines or rituals
Stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g., hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements)
Persistent preoccupation with parts of objects
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)
E. There is no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or in the development of age-appropriate self-help skills, adaptive behavior (other than in social interaction), and curiosity about the environment in childhood.
F. Criteria are not met for another specific Pervasive Developmental Disorder or Schizophrenia.
What distinguishes Asperger's Disorder from autism is the severity of the symptoms and the absence of language delays. Children with Asperger's Disorder may be only mildly affected and frequently have good language and cognitive skills. To the untrained observer, a child with Asperger's Disorder may just seem like a normal child behaving differently.
Children with autism are frequently seen as aloof and uninterested in others. This is not the case with Asperger's Disorder. Individuals with Asperger's Disorder usually want to fit in and have interaction with others; they simply don't know how to do it. They may be socially awkward, not understanding of conventional social rules, or may show a lack of empathy. They may have limited eye contact, seem to be unengaged in a conversation, and not understand the use of gestures.
Interests in a particular subject may border on the obsessive. Children with Asperger's Disorder frequently like to collect categories of things, such as rocks or bottle caps. They may be proficient in knowing categories of information, such as baseball statistics or Latin names of flowers. While they may have good rote memory skills, they have difficulty with abstract concepts.
One of the major differences between Asperger's Disorder and autism is that, by definition, there is no speech delay in Asperger's. In fact, children with Asperger's Disorder frequently have good language skills; they simply use language in different ways. Speech patterns may be unusual, lack inflection or have a rhythmic nature or it may be formal, but too loud or high pitched. Children with Asperger's Disorder may not understand the subtleties of language, such as irony and humor, or they may not understand the give and take nature of a conversation.
Another distinction between Asperger's Disorder and autism concerns cognitive ability. While some individuals with Autism experience mental retardation, by definition a person with Asperger's Disorder cannot possess a "clinically significant" cognitive delay and most possess an average to above average intelligence.
While motor difficulties are not a specific criteria for Asperger's, children with Asperger's Disorder frequently have motor skill delays and may appear clumsy or awkward.
I'll leave it up to you what you feel you have to do next... Any more questions e-mail me. :)
you probably don't have autism, your problem is being antisocial. this sounds like mild asperger's syndrome and it certainly doesn't affect your intelligence. to make sure you should get a diagnosis with your doctor
I seriously doubt you have autism. I have a friend who's autistic, and it sound like the very opposite. He's not very much into the whole party scene or being with the in crowd, but he certainly doesn't give two shits about what ANYONE thinks about him. I have the same problem as you though. I'm not afraid to text people but it's hard for me to talk to people, whether they are my age or older, and I find ti very hard to go into public places, but it's mostly my resentment of people. But no, this doesn't make you autistic.