Does my criteria make me seem like someone with Aspergers?

[BrainSurgeon2014]

Here are some of my criteria that makes me think that I do in fact have Asperger's Syndrome:
-I have vastly different interests than everyone else. For example, I like listening to video game music (which I will elaborate on later) which, for some reason, everyone else doesn't seem interested in. I also don't share similar interests with most people, like during conversations, I tend to talk about what I want to talk about and when other people talk about what they want to talk about, I either have no idea what they're talking about or I am not interested in the topic (or a mixture at times, actually, most of the time) and I just tune out.
-I have difficulty making friends. I am interested in making friends and I want to be accepted but I have difficulty having others like me for the reasons listed above and below. And to be honest, my intents on having friends aren't to have "soulmates" or to have people to connect to on an emotional basis but to enhance my social status and to get what I need. I want someone to talk to about my issues but I'm not really interested in hearing about their own issues nor am I able to help. Also, the majority of my friends (like 90% of them) are either a few years older or younger than me. I tend to have trouble making friends with people my own age (which has been pointed out a lot).
-I know a lot about topics that I am interested in, to the point where other people are not interested in what I have to say about the topic (even those who are interested in that topic, just not to the extent that I am). For example, I am an expert on books and video games that I like; I tend to analyze, say, the storyline and come up with my own discoveries and I am fixated on those thoughts and those thoughts only for a while, to the point where I am not interested in anything else.
-I tend to say inappropriate things at times. For example, in a college setting, people seem to get away with saying "dirty" stuff like innuendos and mildly inappropriate things but around 85% of the time, when I say something among the lines of "dirty", I apparently went too far or it was the wrong time to say it so I get in trouble.
-I tend to show repetitive behavior like flapping my hands or shaking my legs (but my previous psychologists have deemed that as anxiety issues which I will elaborate on later).
-I don't really feel bad when others feel bad (or vice-versa; I don't feel good when others feel good). I do understand why others feel a certain way when they do but I can't really share their emotions, whether their situation happened to me before or not. Also, I don't really feel bad for others (or at least not as much as other people do) when something bad happened to them (especially if I feel that they brought it upon themselves). For example, I don't really feel bad or worried when someone refuses to eat or when someone is hurting himself.
-I know eye contact is a major factor. As a kid, I never made eye contact with people. Recently, I've trained myself to look people in the eye when talking to them but I always find it more comfortable to look at other places when talking to someone. Also, there are times when I forget to fixate on the person's eye and my eyes wander off (it's like I have to purposely fixate on someone's eye now).
-I absolutely hate it and I get freaked out when I've planned out something and something happens that makes it so that I have to change my plans.
-Although I wouldn't use the word hate this time, I definitely feel uncomfortable when people touch me and when I hear loud noises.
-Lastly, those who know people who have either autism or Asperger's ask me if I do have either autism or Asperger's, even when I never told anyone that I think I may have it. In fact, I learned about AS when someone told me about it and asked me to look into it.

I've been to a few psychologists and all of them considered the possibility of me having Asperger's at first. I took a personality test and when measuring me on the Hans Asperger scale, I am on the higher end of "Borderline" (with the three criteria being Unlikely, Borderline and Likely). However, in the end I've been diagnosed with ADHD (which I do show symptoms of like attention issues and anxiety) and social anxiety disorder. However, social anxiety is more correlated to a fear of socializing and not about the inability to socialize, which is the complete opposite of my issues (I'm usually not nervous or afraid of socializing unless it's a new situation for me, my problem is that I have trouble behaving in a social situation). Right now, I am taking medication for anxiety, attention span and depression. I was hoping that someone on here could give me some feedback on whether I've been correctly diagnosed with ADHD and social anxiety or if I should consider seeing another psychologist and getting another feedback.

 

[Ruby]

From what I've read, it seems quite likely you have ADHD, but I don't think you have social anxiety. Social anxiety is so intense that you may avoid the situation & I think the anxiety would be experienced more than just occasionally. You definitely have some traits for autism including difficulties with social skills, difficulty emphasizing with others, sensory issues & repetitive behaviour. I however am not sure if you have enough traits or whether the traits are strong enough to meet the diagnostic criteria for an autism spectrum disorder, but it's very possible. The anxiety that you're experiencing can stem from lacking social skills & worrying the situation may not work because of your autistic traits. It is common for people with autism to have anxiety & it's not uncommon for them too have ADHD.

Whether or not you should see a different psychologist depends on how much this issue bothers you & how true you feel that your other diagnosis is. If you think that a diagnosis of autism would benefit you, then I suggest seeing someone else. If you don't care about what someone else labels you as & feel that you can get through life without a specific label for your differences, you can let it go or you can self-diagnose. You can do this by taking the AQ test. Without being officially diagnosed, you can get help from the internet & books. If you get diagnosed by a professional, however, the diagnosis is more reliable & you can get professional help for your difficulties.

Overall, I recommend seeing someone else as it seems like the professional who diagnosed you with social anxiety had mistaken the social difficulties of autism as being signs of social anxiety. If you do see another professional, I recommend telling them that you think the criteria you just listed are criteria for autism.

Good luck on whatever you choose to do. ☺

 

[Saragrl]

I like listening to video game music (which I will elaborate on later) which, for some reason, everyone else doesn't seem interested in.

I love video game music. I once spent a week in the army with a guy who also shared this interest. We each took turns humming a mega man level and the other had to try to guess the level boss, we knew almost all of them by heart. I later found Japanese music. Many people think it's all pop, but there is an incredible amount of different genres. My music library is like 60gigs Japanese music and 2gigs English music. I love Japanese gothic bands, as so much of their music sounds like Castlevania games.

Send me a PM if you want to chat about it.

 

[BrainSurgeon2014]

From what I've read, it seems quite likely you have ADHD, but I don't think you have social anxiety. Social anxiety is so intense that you may avoid the situation & I think the anxiety would be experienced more than just occasionally. You definitely have some traits for autism including difficulties with social skills, difficulty emphasizing with others, sensory issues & repetitive behaviour. I however am not sure if you have enough traits or whether the traits are strong enough to meet the diagnostic criteria for an autism spectrum disorder, but it's very possible. The anxiety that you're experiencing can stem from lacking social skills & worrying the situation may not work because of your autistic traits. It is common for people with autism to have anxiety & it's not uncommon for them too have ADHD.

Whether or not you should see a different psychologist depends on how much this issue bothers you & how true you feel that your other diagnosis is. If you think that a diagnosis of autism would benefit you, then I suggest seeing someone else. If you don't care about what someone else labels you as & feel that you can get through life without a specific label for your differences, you can let it go or you can self-diagnose. You can do this by taking the AQ test. Without being officially diagnosed, you can get help from the internet & books. If you get diagnosed by a professional, however, the diagnosis is more reliable & you can get professional help for your difficulties.

Overall, I recommend seeing someone else as it seems like the professional who diagnosed you with social anxiety had mistaken the social difficulties of autism as being signs of social anxiety. If you do see another professional, I recommend telling them that you think the criteria you just listed are criteria for autism.

Good luck on whatever you choose to do. ☺

Hi Ruby, thanks for your reply! Yeah, like I said, I am already diagnosed with ADHD as well as social anxiety which I doubt I really have. And I was wondering if I have Aspergers Syndrome, not actual autism. I know that my symptoms are characteristic of autism but they are not severe enough. I know a couple people with autism and their characteristics are similar but way worse than mine (actually, what they do are things that I used to do as a little kid but grew out of years ago).

And if it's alright with you, can you tell me if the other traits I listed are characteristic of either Asperger's or ADHD (or both)? Here they are:
-As a kid, I had a facial tick problem and I was taken to a specialist because of that.
-Also, I was relatively late (but not super late) in learning to speak and communicate. I still have vague recollections of being unabe to perform some of the motor skills that other kids were able to do in Kindergarten.
-And I'll elaborate more on my interests. I am only really into something if I enjoy it. If not, I cannot concentrate on it for more than 10 minutes. I have this habit of making a super-rigid schedule of everything I do but if it is consisted of things that I am not actually enjoying, I have a really hard time keeping the schedule. If I do enjoy it, however, I am really good at keeping the schedule and also, if something or someone causes my schedule to be altered (like, for example, my mom telling me to help her with grocery shopping for an hour), I get really upset, stressed and usually angry.
-In terms of social interactions, I am not actually afraid of being in a social setting. It's just that I get reprimanded a lot about being "rude" or "inappropriate" when I never meant to be so. So there are times when I just give up and isolate myself from social settings because I was fed up with people reprimanding me for doing stuff I never meant to do. And, like I said before, the only reason why I even try to join social settings is to enhance my social status, or to be exact, to seem "normal", not because I want to connect with others on a personal level.

And if I may ask, are there more important symptoms of AS that I have not mentioned yet? The reason I am worried about a proper diagnosis is because the next time I get in trouble for saying inappropriate things in a social setting (and yes, it has happened before), I can have a proper explanation for why I did so and how it was not malicious but just the way my thought process works.

 

[Ruby]

Hi

If you aren't afraid of social situations at all, then you don't have social anxiety.

Also, Asperger's Syndrome is still autism, but it's a type of high-functioning autism. The reason that other people you know with autism have characteristics that are stronger than yours is probably because they have moderate or severe autism. Maybe they do have high-functioning autism if the amount of language they have is normal for their age.

-The tick problem could either have something to do with autism or ADHD
-A delay in language is not a sign of Asperger's, but it's a sign of other types of autism called classic autism & pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). People with Asperger's don't have delays in language
-Not being able to perform motor skills to the same extent as others or having a delay in motor skills is a sign of autism
-Not concentrating on something unless you're interested is a sign of autism & if a person with autism is particularly interested, they can be hyper focused & become obsessed with the topic
-Not coping with change is a sign of autism
-It's quite common for people with autism to be seen as rude or inappropriate in social situations. People with autism usually lack the ability to know what is socially acceptable & what isn't

Here are some symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome. You don't have to have all of them for a diagnosis:
Asperger's Syndrome (Asperger Syndrome, Asperger Disorder) Causes, Symptoms, Treatment - Asperger's Syndrome Symptoms - eMedicineHealth