I believe that I have many of the symptoms of Aspergers but I was never diagnosed.

When I was in college an instructor in my paramedic class and later an instructor in my nursing class both told me I did not interact appropriately. My nursing instructor suggested I might have schizophrenia saying I displayed inappropriate emotions at times. I took a sociology class and began learning more about social interactions and communication and thirty years later I no longer have problems socially at least not to that degree. I told my Pdoc at my last appointment that I thought I had many symptoms of Aspergers but he laughed and said you don't have Aspergers because he knows me as the outspoken person who is not afraid to voice my opinion. He doesn't know how much I have changed. I told him we don't have time to discuss it now and I would make notes about my symptoms to talk about when we have more time.

I think one of my high school teachers thought something was wrong with me but not sure what. There was a summer program at Berea College for disadvantaged high school students to attend a six week college class on campus to help them prepare for later college. He wrote a letter saying I was disadvantaged and I didn't understand why. Both of my parents worked and we were certainly low income but we had enough food and clothes and I got gifts at Christmas and there were other students who had less. Growing up in one of the poorest rural areas in WV I think was a disadvantage to most of the students so I don't know why he chose me for that opportunity.

I was always a loner growing up though and spend most of my time alone now. I live with my son but seldom interact with people.

I only recently learned that clumsiness is one of the symptoms. I have always been clumsy. I walk into walls going through doorways. In high school they tested all of the students asking us to do things like place pegs in holes on a board and stuff and they told me that my performance was very low but nobody suggested why.

There is such a wide variation in the severity of symptoms that it is sometimes difficult to assess, I think.

What has your experience been?