• Replies 16 replies
  • Subscribers 81 subscribers
  • Views 6115 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

AS or introversion?

...

I'm on the waiting list for an assessment. At the moment I don't feel I identify with being on the spectrum but this on/off pattern is something which has been with me for a few years now. I asked my GP to refer me.

I know some aspies are introverted, I know some are extroverts or ambiverts. I've been reading up about introverts and also highly sensitive people. So I can identify with being an introvert and also HSP, but the sticking point which I can't seem to get to the bottom of, is social communication. I think I mask very well but I know I have problems with communication and conversation. I feel this is a different strand to introversion and HSP. I know they can all cross over. But I haven't found anything which suggests a highly sensitive person could have difficulty with social interaction (other than sensory factors having an impact eg in a noisy environment). And being an introvert doesn't mean you have difficulty having conversations, it's more a preference for how you spend your time and how your energy is expended.

Can anyone offer any ideas or thoughts? Thank you.

Parents

  • Hi, 

    I'm really curious about this question too. 

    Increasingly over the past 5 years, I've been trying to work out if I'm 'just' a sensitive introvert, with social anxiety and mild depression or if I have ASC.

    I'm a woman in my mid-forties (no kids, so no hints there about my genes) who works and studies. I need to rest a lot outside of work/uni. and stick to low key activities. I have a need to spend a lot of time on my own. 

    I do seem to be more emotionally sensitive than my peers and cry easily when I am feeling emotionally overwhelmed (happens quite frequently). 

    I notice that sometimes I cry at odd times but the common factor seems to be that a change has just taken place and that it's an expression of anxiety. I have also noticed that my executive function becomes impaired when I'm extremely anxious and feeling overwhelmed. 

    The previous comments about struggling to connect and converse with others in large groups ring true (I can manage 1:1 and small groups ok), but feel lost in environments where I have no clear purpose or role. I mostly avoid these types of social settings. 

    I walked and talked 'early' when I was young, but my mum can't exactly remember the age. My parents can't remember too much about my early life that was unusual. Both of them have characteristics that could possibly be interpreted as autistic traits, so I may not have been different in their eyes. I remember having an early interest in ship chandlery wholesalers and light industrial goods suppliers (the first 'book' I read was the yellow pages as it had adverts for these types of retailers). My dad has described my ability to focus on things when I'm interested in them as like 'a ballistic missile'. 

    Does any of this sound familiar to anyone (especially women who have received a diagnosis later in life)?

Reply Children
No Data