Does this sound like Asperger's? (Not diagnosed)

I have not been diagnosed with AS but I've had a handful of people suggest it as a possibility. Teachers, family members, and a friend of mine with AS. I never asked my psychiatrist even when I was in the hospital because I was too scared of rejection or humiliation.

I have been "diagnosed" (can't be official until age 18) with Social anxiety disorder, adhd, and borderline personality disorder.

Some things about me that some find 'quirky' that might point to AS:
- Extremely obsessed/fixated on a topic for periods of time, it switches randomly. Sometimes lasts a few hours, or days, or months. Sometimes I have a few at a time. Currently fixated on puzzles, police, and ancient egypt. When I'm fixated, I do that thing all the time and get angry if people try to make plans including me, when all I can think about is fulfilling my obsessions with reading, writing, pictures, and activities. I used to talk about police all the time, until people started getting annoyed and asking me why it's all I ever talk about, so now I keep my obsessions to myself.

-Awkward: I've always been socially awkward my whole life. Clumsy around people, my speech is embarrassing, I never approach my friends I wait until they come to me,
If I have knowledge about something and someone asks me a question about it , I freeze up and look like an idiot. Laughing or smiling at inappropriate times.

-No eye contact: This has caused many problems for me. Teachers giving me bad grades for presentations, adults shouting at me to look them in the eye when they are talking, people think I'm not paying attention, etc .

-Strange movements: Constant cracking of knuckles,back,neck,feet,toes, etc.. if I have nothing to do I pace back and forth while silently clapping my hands, sometimes I randomly hit myself in the face, etc.

-Body language: teachers have always wrote my mom about my social skills.. especially body language and eye contact. I don't understand body language and facial expressions. Someone could be telling me something that could be interpreted a different way, and I'll always take it the wrong way because I can't understand the look on faces.

-Habits: compulsively correcting people's spelling and grammar in casual conversations and while teacher is teaching. Things have to be done in fours instead of threes. that's all I can think of right now.

-Memory: Can't remember a conversation I had a few minutes ago, yet can remember very specific dates within the last 8 years, which shocks everybody. I can remember conversations word by word too, and every persons birthday that I ever learned.

-Particularity: clothes in closet must be organized in colours- blue, purple,black,grey,red. Very picky eating- avoiding certain smells and textures.. I won't eat jello,pudding,ice cream, etc. I eat yogurt if it's filled with crunchy granola. I enjoy foods I have to chew. Things must be done 4 times , never 3, and if someone does something 3 times I must correct it .

-Sensory: Loud noises make me quickly shout and jump. Certain noises make me want to rip my head off. I kicked a little girl once at the hospital because she was singing a hannah montana song. I can't stand paper ripping, people whistling, drums, cymbals, sneeze, breathing, chewing, squeaking,clicking. I can't stand lights. I can't wear clothes with tags. Hate jeans. Hate eyeglasses, hate sandpaper and rough/picky textures. etc. I don't touch people and I don't let people touch me.

-Other: I enjoy being by myself. I get easily angered if something is not how I was expecting, etc. I also take things way to literal. Like, people say "don't beat around the bush' and I get confused , wondering how it relates to the conversation, when all I imagine is a drummer running around a bush beating on a drum. Seriously! And people say "two peas in a pod" or "A chip in your shoulder" or "zip it", and I take it the wrong way.


Sorry for the long post. Just need some input, please .. thank you a lot ..

My thoughts...

Okay, social anxiety disorder is going to complicate things here, because it shares a lot of symptoms with ASDs, so the best clues about whether you should get an eval for autism will be your non-social cognitive traits.

Typical of autism; these very strong obsessions are more like intense hobbies than like OCD-style anxiety-related obsessions. By the way, I went through an Ancient Egypt phase, too, and I don't blame you for getting fascinated with that one. A culture so different from everything around it, plus so much preserved for us to study... and you have to admit the freaky factor of all those mummies is a bit morbidly fascinating.

Could be entirely explained by social anxiety disorder--fear leads to lack of practice, constantly being worried about looking like an idiot, being embarrassed, being reluctant to approach others... There's no telling.

Consistent with autism, but also with ADHD, which you are diagnosed with. Many people with ADHD (I can testify to this personally) find it much easier to think when in constant motion.

This is a little more trouble than you would expect with just social anxiety disorder. SAD would mean some social impairment from simple lack of practice, or misinterpreting social cues to be more hostile than they actually are. However, actually not understanding facial expressions to begin with is an autistic trait.

Not a big red flag for anything, but does point to a bit of a black-and-white perspective (either this or that, no middle ground). This is a trait of autism, but also of borderline personality.

Depends on how much this bothers you and why you do it. If it's more of a superstitious thing, it could be anxiety-related; if it's more because you like four and prefer things to be predictable, it would be closer to autism. Or it could just be a personal preference, especially if you are no more than mildly annoyed if you are forced to do things in threes or have your clothes out of place. If it is an actually overwhelming problem for you, causing intense anxiety, taking up a lot of time, or preoccupying your thoughts, it could be more of an OCD-like thing. On the other hand, many people with autism need predictability and order because they have so much trouble switching mental tracks from one thing to another, and will get "stuck", unable to switch. Schedules, lists, repetitive routines, and an organized environment tend to make it easier for them to function, but can also create problems because of the inflexibility of the routine.

Having a good rote memory combined with a poor memory for more vague, inferential information could be an autistic trait, especially if you are the sort of person who likes to collect and arrange data. Quite a few autistic people, rather than lining up toy cars, line up facts.

Sensory overload--Can happen by itself (sensory integration disorder) but is quite a common feature of autism. Being either hypersensitive or not nearly sensitive enough is an extremely common autistic trait.

You're an introvert. Nothing to worry about here. Introverts tend to think more deeply, be more self-aware, be more sensitive to the world around them and more easily overwhelmed by intensity, and have deeper relationships with smaller circles of friends. It's more of a personality thing than anything else.

You're aware of this happening, so it's probably not too bad, but these are mild problems with figurative language and consistent with autism.

Bottom line, I think there's enough here to make it sensible to get an evaluation.