Need Actual Human Feedback | Autism PDD

One thing you didn't mention was self-stimulating behaviors (stims).  The stereotype is wrist-flapping, but there are many others.  It seems that most autistics have at least one stim, so I was curious if you had one too (for that matter, most NTs have stims too, but "socially acceptable" ones like humming,  stroking one's beard, etc).  See link to chart below.

My son started coping with his autism better when we started to understand his sensory issues.  You mention examples of sensory hypersensitivity -- picky eating (oral defensiveness), dislike of kitchen towels (tactile defensiveness), and dislike of loud noises (auditory defensiveness).  If you need help understanding your sensory issues, a good place to start is the checklist linked below.

Even though you didn't ask for online resources, I'm including a few (feel free to ignore them).  I really hope you find the answers you seek, and new and better ways to cope with the challenges you face.

Good luck with everything. 

Diagnostic checklists for adults:

http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=128&a=6730 - 11 question screening test for adults

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html - Simon Baron-Cohen's Autism-Spectrum Quotient quiz for adults

Sensory-related checklists/charts:

http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/sensory-processin g-disorder-checklist.html - for identifying sensory symptoms

http://www.tsbvi.edu/Outreach/seehear/archive/mannerism.html #Chart - for identifying self-stimulating behaviors ("stims") under various sensory categories

Amanda, I will still fight for hours not to vomit!

Just curious...Did you take the test on www.brainchild.com , at least I think that's the link, but I'll double check...

You sound like an adult Aspie to me, but I wish someone would help you in OK...

Just curious...Did you take the test on www.brainchild.com , at least I think that's the link, but I'll double check...

You sound like an adult Aspie to me, but I wish someone would help you in OK...

[/QUOTE]

OOPS...It's www.childbrain.com !!!

Hi.  I know this may not be the appropriate category for this question on the forum, and that there are some excellent links to diagnostic criteria for autism and related disorders here...but I need some actual feedback from people who can look over the specific things I write about and give me individualized answers.  I also realize you are not all doctors or autism specialists here, but I'm just looking for some "layman's" input, as I can't get any help from doctors in my area.  I will be eternally grateful for anything you can tell me and will take your replies not as a diagnosis, but as some helpful info and opinions from kind people going through similar situations. 

My question is:  based on the following list of symptoms and behaviors, is it possible or likely that I suffer from Asperger's Syndrome or ASD?

I've dealt with many strange, troubling feelings and behaviors since I can remember.  I was called everything from "spoiled" to "dramatic" to "picky" to "narcissistic" from a young age, which has taken a toll on my self esteem.  I'm now 23 years old and have outgrown many of these strange symptoms, but new ones have come since then.  Here's a shortened list of some of the oddities I've lived with since creation:

Memorized a 28-page book word-for-word and read it to grandparents at the age of 2.  The book was only read to me one time prior to my memorizing it, which I still recall quite vividly.

An all-consuming phobia of vomit and sickness that has plagued me since age 1.  I've spent nights barefoot in the snow to get away from ill family members and haven't thrown up myself in 13 years.  My grandfather, brother, father, and aunt all suffer from varying degrees of this fear.  My paternal grandpa hasn't vomited since 1973.  Yes, he remembers the year.

Random obsessions with people, TV shows, and other things that consume my every thought and come on at random.  This has been an issue since age 12.  I cannot control what I become obsessed with and the obsessions often last up to 2 years at a time, although this has decreased a bit.

An uncanny ability to memorize TV show and movie dialogue, as well as complex music lyrics in a very short period of time. 

A very limited diet.  After becoming ill at around 2 years of age, I self-limited the foods I would eat to the point of malnutrition.  I've never tasted a piece of fruit or a hamburger.  Textures, smells, tastes, etc freak me out.

As a child, I didn't play with other kids and would walk around outside with a stick or other object in hand and pretend to broadcast TV shows and music videos and commercials to an audience I fully believed to be watching me.

I cannot tolerate certain loud noises, grocery stores, clothing stores, and parties...I get overwhelmed and tired very easily.  In fact, I'm exhausted all the time.

As a young child, I would play the same music over and over until the tape broke and would not use paper towels to wipe my hands.  I required a "kitchen towel" and would cry and scream if I didn't get it.

I feel very nervous in social situations and avoid them to the point of depression and loneliness.  I've never started a conversation with anyone.

I feel physically ill a lot--exhaustion, fatigue, allergies, anxiety, sore and swollen knees, etc.

I've never misspelled a spelling word in any level of school and can spell backwards as quickly as I can forwards.  I'm on a 5th grade level in mathematics and can't do long division or any subsequent math procedure.  I was called "stupid" by my 10th grade algebra teacher.

I have a somewhat photographic memory going back to 6 months of age.  I can tell you random things that occurred in my life, as well as the year and my age at the time when they happened.  (I remember being bathed in the sink as a baby, etc.)  These are vivid memories in which I see and experience everything as if it were happening in the present moment.  However, I have a terrible time recognizing faces and remembering what people look like.

I've never been diagnosed as having Asperger's Syndrome or Autism, but the state in which I live (Oklahoma) is very, VERY ignorant to such things.  I've been given every antidepressant and OCD medication in the book, none of which helped at all. I took psychiatric meds for 6 years--from age 16 to age 22--and went through the resulting hell of gaining 50 lbs in 3 months, sleeping all the time, and having withdrawal reactions like seizures and psychotic behavior. Doctors treat me like a malingerer and don't take me seriously.  My brother, judging from what I've read in books and online, definitely has AS, but he hasn't been diagnosed either.  My grandfather is also severly autistic based on the available diagnostic criteria, but no one seems to notice or care.  I will never receive a diagnosis because I've quit trying.  I communicate well through writing and work from home as a freelance writer and fare okay in my day-to-day life, but am still troubled by the inner problems that no one else sees or can understand.  Thanks for listening.

The following is an Asperger checklist.  I came across it on a message board for people with AS:

http://www.autismresearchcentre.com/clinical/docs/CLASSPoste r.pdf

Also, according to the book "Parenting Your Asperger Child," the following are the 6 characteristics of Asperger's Syndrome:

1.  Difficulty with Reciprocal Social Interactions - Some children have no desire to interact, and others don't know how.  They don't comprehend the give-and-take nature of social interactions.

2.  Impairments in Language Skills - especially with the pragmatic (social) use of language.  Language is seen as a way to share facts and information, not as a way to share thoughts, feelings and emotions.  They will have difficulty with many areas of conversation such as processing verbal information, initiation, maintenance, ending, topic appropriateness, sustaining attention, and turn taking.  Their prosody (pitch, stress, rhythm, or melody of speech) can be impaired.  Conversations may seem scripted or ritualistic.  They may also have trouble with problem solving, analyzing or synthesizing information, and understanding language beyond the literal level.

3.  Narrow Range of Interest -  Due to anxiety, interactions will be ruled by rigidity, obsessions, and perseverations (repetitious behaviors or language).  Generally few interests; has a need for structure & routine.

4.  Motor Clumsiness - gross and fine motor.  The task can be difficult, as well as the motor planning.  Typical difficulties - handwriting, riding a bike, & ball skills.

5.  Cognitive Issues - Mindblindness (inability to make inferences about what another person is thinking) is a core disability.  They have difficulty empathizing with others.  Their rigidity in thought interferes with problem solving, mental planning, impulse control, flexibility in thoughts and actions, and the ability to stay on task.  Imaginitive play is also difficult.  The world is black and white, not shades of gray.

6.  Sensory Sensitivities - This can be in one or all of the senses, and the degree of sensitivity can vary. 

Hi Tracii.  The vomit phobia thing sounds like ME! ME! ME!

When I took a quiz I came out with symptoms of both AS and Neurotypical.  I think my father was actually MORE Aspie.

But ... one thing that rang true to me, and might for YOU, too, was that, while I could take a multiple choice test pretty well, and had a huge vocab, all the way thru grade school I lagged in critical thinking skills and essay-writing.  I could write beautifully, but without critical substance.  I have caught up on that, somewhat.  But in school (this was the 60's) I was FOREVER labeled a "gifted underachiever."   I guess that is what is now measured in kids as "scatter."  Wish I had a time machine ...

And ... you are welcome to post anywhere (at least, I think ... I know I DO!).

Tracii,

You sound very much like my daughter and she is High functioning autistic.

She has been reading & spelling since age 2 1/2 and considered gifted in this area.

A very limited diet..memorizes songs and plays them on piano.

She tends to want to be alone than with people.

She absoluteley refuses to vomit..literally! A strange sight to behold

....she also has never had fever!  She hates meat  other than chicken..hates loud noises & crowded places..getting fixated on things now and obsessions that change weekly:) She is mainstreamed for school for kindergarten and now first grade..not sure what the future holds for her but hopefully I and others will always be there to help her:)

Here is another AS discussion board:

http://www.aspergerinfo.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm&a mp;c=3&PHPSESSID=