I Had Asperger Syndrome. Briefly.

I think perhaps the key point here is the fact that the young man in question states quite clearly that he was going through a socially awkward phase. Surely if he had Asperger's he would have exhibited some Asperger-like traits before his late teens. (regardless of whether they were recognisd as such or not, they would still have been present to some extent - wouldn't they??) Perhaps his mother's biggest mistake was not taking into account whether or not his social difficuties (eg “failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level”) had existed prior to this. However, you would expect a mother trained in psychology and who claims to be an 'Aspergers specialist' to have thought about this before branding a typically stroppy, withdrawn and faddy teenager with Aspergers.

On the other hand, maybe he actually does have Asperger's, but due to the right support/education/opportunities in life or very high levels of functioning in other areas has found ways of circumnavigating the difficulties caused by his Asperger's: apparently (according to my psych), this is why my Asperger's was not diagnosed until I was 40. After struggling throughout school, followed by many unhappy years with various mental/social problems, I found the strength (with support) in my late 20s to stop numbing myself with drink/drugs, put myself out there and grab some qualifications and work opportunities. As a result, although it was not easy, I think I'm capable of passing myself off as neurotypical for the most part, and even though I still struggle outside of my own small social group, I have learned the rules of social engagement through studying others, and trial & error. I'd say I'm now quite expert in judging how others are thinking/feeling etc, and am also a very good actress, in that I make sure I give the correct responses and behave appropriately!

To all intents and purposes, I probably appear 'cured' of the difficulties I had in my youth - but inside I still dread nearly all social interractions with people outside of my friendship group and can never relax as the brain cogs are whirring 19-to-the-dozen due to constantly assesing the behaviour/mannerisms of others and the appropriateness of my responses to them.

With my own friends however (who are generally somewhere to the left of neurotypical and have been through similar issues to me in the past), I am usually very comfortable and generally feel able to empathise instinctively.

Perhaps it is for these reasons that as longman said, "....there is an established myth about aspergers, widely prevalent amongst GPs and other health workers, that it is "something you grow out of"." Because on the whole, it is people like me who are willing and able to shout our mouths off about our autism!

I guess this is the problem with any 'spectrum' condition - that the media and general public only get to see the stereoptypes - and with autistic adults, these appear to be either classically autistic adults who are minimally or non-verbal, often requiring high levels of support (and portrayed in the media as 'sympathy cases'), or as Daisygirl pointed out, adults with Asperger's who have been fortunate enough to have been instilled with middle-class aspirations, a reasonable education and enough love and support to get out there and write books/appear in the media etc.

I find that the more I learn about Asperger's and Autism, the more questions it raises!

P.S Sorry for the length of my post.......I have a tendancyto do that sometimes! Perhaps I should have said 'hi' before steaming in there eh?!

P.P.S 'Hi'

I think perhaps the key point here is the fact that the young man in question states quite clearly that he was going through a socially awkward phase. Surely if he had Asperger's he would have exhibited some Asperger-like traits before his late teens. (regardless of whether they were recognisd as such or not, they would still have been present to some extent - wouldn't they??) Perhaps his mother's biggest mistake was not taking into account whether or not his social difficuties (eg “failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level”) had existed prior to this. However, you would expect a mother trained in psychology and who claims to be an 'Aspergers specialist' to have thought about this before branding a typically stroppy, withdrawn and faddy teenager with Aspergers.

On the other hand, maybe he actually does have Asperger's, but due to the right support/education/opportunities in life or very high levels of functioning in other areas has found ways of circumnavigating the difficulties caused by his Asperger's: apparently (according to my psych), this is why my Asperger's was not diagnosed until I was 40. After struggling throughout school, followed by many unhappy years with various mental/social problems, I found the strength (with support) in my late 20s to stop numbing myself with drink/drugs, put myself out there and grab some qualifications and work opportunities. As a result, although it was not easy, I think I'm capable of passing myself off as neurotypical for the most part, and even though I still struggle outside of my own small social group, I have learned the rules of social engagement through studying others, and trial & error. I'd say I'm now quite expert in judging how others are thinking/feeling etc, and am also a very good actress, in that I make sure I give the correct responses and behave appropriately!

To all intents and purposes, I probably appear 'cured' of the difficulties I had in my youth - but inside I still dread nearly all social interractions with people outside of my friendship group and can never relax as the brain cogs are whirring 19-to-the-dozen due to constantly assesing the behaviour/mannerisms of others and the appropriateness of my responses to them.

With my own friends however (who are generally somewhere to the left of neurotypical and have been through similar issues to me in the past), I am usually very comfortable and generally feel able to empathise instinctively.

Perhaps it is for these reasons that as longman said, "....there is an established myth about aspergers, widely prevalent amongst GPs and other health workers, that it is "something you grow out of"." Because on the whole, it is people like me who are willing and able to shout our mouths off about our autism!

I guess this is the problem with any 'spectrum' condition - that the media and general public only get to see the stereoptypes - and with autistic adults, these appear to be either classically autistic adults who are minimally or non-verbal, often requiring high levels of support (and portrayed in the media as 'sympathy cases'), or as Daisygirl pointed out, adults with Asperger's who have been fortunate enough to have been instilled with middle-class aspirations, a reasonable education and enough love and support to get out there and write books/appear in the media etc.

I find that the more I learn about Asperger's and Autism, the more questions it raises!

P.S Sorry for the length of my post.......I have a tendancyto do that sometimes! Perhaps I should have said 'hi' before steaming in there eh?!

P.P.S 'Hi'