Fear of and Necessity for Labels

I can identify with longman. I often question my diagnosis, although I do this a lot less now. I obviously have AS and  officially diagnosed two years ago, but  I am certainly at the higher-functioning end.

Here are some of my more obviously AS features when was a child:

Walking on tiptoes, although only with no shoes on

Literal thinking: thought that the school was going to burn down when heard fire-alarm, had to be dragged into school; boy told me he was going 'to kill' me after I had really annoyed him, and I literally believed him; taking safety instructions too far resulting in OCD and obsessive hand washing etc etc

Extreme disorganization, putting everything in one place at school

Hopeless at team sports

Poor understanding of fiction but a mechanical reading age of 15 when I was 10

Could not make friends with more than one person at any one time and became possessive, resulting in frequently having no-one to play with. In these situations I would annoy people or play with children who were a lot younger than me

I had severe perceptual and spatial awareness difficulties (as identified in my Statement), and I could not do the most basic of jig-saws. Maths difficulties and problems with following instructions

Extreme interests and tantrums when could not get my way. Age three I once screamed for two hours straight because I had to stay in my pushchair near a busy road

However, I could lie, although in a basic way. For example, I once threwa magnifying glass into the toilet in year 3 and when the teacher asked who had gone into middle toilet-the toilet where I had put the magnifying glass-I did not answer.  And I can be creative with my language nowadays, although this has been learned-my Dad was an English teacher. However, I am very bad at detecting irony and sarcasm in fiction, particularly drama on TV.

I can make eye-contact, but I cannot read people's eyes at all and I find that looking into people's eyes at close-range is very distracting.

I am interested in people in a formal way. I ask them question as a means of collecting facts about their lives that I then write down in my extensive note-book. I like to learn about people, but I am very easily distracted in social situations and I often end up thinking about myself. I do try not to do this, but it is difficult. I love talking and I sometimes have the strong urge to talk at length, but I do try and moderate myself. Nowadays, I have a lot of insight into my condition that I lacked as a child. My main difficulties are the extreme anxiety, need dor control and obsessional thinking

I can identify with longman. I often question my diagnosis, although I do this a lot less now. I obviously have AS and  officially diagnosed two years ago, but  I am certainly at the higher-functioning end.

Here are some of my more obviously AS features when was a child:

Walking on tiptoes, although only with no shoes on

Literal thinking: thought that the school was going to burn down when heard fire-alarm, had to be dragged into school; boy told me he was going 'to kill' me after I had really annoyed him, and I literally believed him; taking safety instructions too far resulting in OCD and obsessive hand washing etc etc

Extreme disorganization, putting everything in one place at school

Hopeless at team sports

Poor understanding of fiction but a mechanical reading age of 15 when I was 10

Could not make friends with more than one person at any one time and became possessive, resulting in frequently having no-one to play with. In these situations I would annoy people or play with children who were a lot younger than me

I had severe perceptual and spatial awareness difficulties (as identified in my Statement), and I could not do the most basic of jig-saws. Maths difficulties and problems with following instructions

Extreme interests and tantrums when could not get my way. Age three I once screamed for two hours straight because I had to stay in my pushchair near a busy road

However, I could lie, although in a basic way. For example, I once threwa magnifying glass into the toilet in year 3 and when the teacher asked who had gone into middle toilet-the toilet where I had put the magnifying glass-I did not answer.  And I can be creative with my language nowadays, although this has been learned-my Dad was an English teacher. However, I am very bad at detecting irony and sarcasm in fiction, particularly drama on TV.

I can make eye-contact, but I cannot read people's eyes at all and I find that looking into people's eyes at close-range is very distracting.

I am interested in people in a formal way. I ask them question as a means of collecting facts about their lives that I then write down in my extensive note-book. I like to learn about people, but I am very easily distracted in social situations and I often end up thinking about myself. I do try not to do this, but it is difficult. I love talking and I sometimes have the strong urge to talk at length, but I do try and moderate myself. Nowadays, I have a lot of insight into my condition that I lacked as a child. My main difficulties are the extreme anxiety, need dor control and obsessional thinking