As male I was diagnosed with Asperger's when I was in infant school, after a school teacher noticed that I wasn't tending to move towards others as might be expected.
I would say on balance my life has been pretty normal:
- Haven't had any problems academically (sailed through education, and ending up with a Masters degree, all with little to intervention, especially by upper secondary school years, sixth form and university)
- Never had any problems with organisation, planning ahead or setting goals. Always had strong personal drive, been a big picture person, with vision, accuracy and ambition and desire for optimisation
- Didn't have any problems learning to drive
- Don't personally feel misunderstood by others
- Am generally very considerate and easy to work with (multiple work references, and family members have commented on this)
- Haven't really had any big behavioural problems or defiant behaviour difficulties which have continued beyond pre-teen years. In Year 7 I was part of an Autistic support group where one of the members said he was potentially facing exclusion for trashing a classroom at lunchtime because he was angry - and was confident that that's definitely 100% not me.
- No problems with any form of addiction
HOWEVER:
- I still experience virtually no direct empathy towards others. Again, I'm highly considerate/respectful towards others, and know really well HOW to behave, but rarely, if ever do I experience other people's emotions/problems as my own. My systemising quotient is hugely ahead of my empathising quotient (as I'm sure it is for many of us here)
- I only learnt a year ago that NT people are more able to simulate other people's thoughts/emotions as their own in real time.
- I still find it really hard to intuitively read situations, internalise some unspoken social norms for myself (this is both a blessing and a curse), read facial expressions and to be able to generally read between the lines. Social situations rarely feel effortless to me, and am frankly not even aware of the hidden social layers of life half the time. Most of my focus tends to go on the 'factual content' of what someone says.
- My emotional maturity lags behind my intellectual maturity. I haven't got a clue what I'm feeling half the time, and why! And I can feel pretty inhuman, disconnected from others, and sterile and as if something deep is missing. I tend to view emotions as irrelevant, irrational and messy.
- I absolutely do experience romantic attraction, but do not automatically see an instantaneous link between experiencing those feelings and wanting to talk to the person. Not necessarily shyness, just one doesn't logically follow from the other.