I am struggling quite a bit especially social and in my work place with colleagues and psrticularly my superiors. I know this is a very old post but I’m really hoping you’ll respond- about how many of these would you say the average person relates to? The only problem is that I do not know what my parents would say if I showed them this. THAT IS THE DIFFERENCE. At which point I can come out of the closet and be even more of an activist, which is currently restricted to being rowdy on Twitter . According to this I am totally on the spectrum!” I do experience significant ADHD and have many similar characteristics as women on the spectrum. Thanks. I was diganosed with Schizoid Disorder, Avoidand Disorter, Anxiety , but reading here i marked 90% of the checklist and it made me feel like i make sense at least, so is good to read about other people’s diagnosis. Ugh!! Of course, they do not, or at least not to the degree that I do and not the frequency that I experience in adulthood or while growing up. Holy cow! I’ve always wondered why I felt so different, like I was such a deep thinker and everyone else was so shallow. Autistic people & empathy: what’s the real story? Autism Spectrum, like what used to be Aspergers in the DSM, are less on the spectrum and thus have less difficulty with empathy. Support our autistic bloggers and artists. Thanks. Would the men commentating please take a step back and breathe. Embrace it. I scored my self in each category, and discovered I can relate to at least 70 per cent of the listed characteristics. This was in mid-life a few years ago, and let me emphasize that no one had the slightest clue. I’m wondering if science and technology fields would be of special interest to people with Asperger’s? This is very well made, and pretty thorough. Going through this list, I relate strongly to 96% of the characteristics mentioned. This is meant as a springboard for discussion and more awareness into the female experience with autism. But I relate to a lot of these traits. I have read several websites and articles regarding ASD in males and females and also for a generalisation of behaviour in both sexes; I have found this website to be the most informative on female ASD behaviour yet also the most misleading due to it’s overwhelming categorisation. Thank you so much for sharing it. Don’t many of these traits apply to most people? Trust yourself. These aren’t symptoms, but rather a compilation of common experiences and characteristics of women on the spectrum. Learn how your comment data is processed. I have often heard that I should’ve studied Psychology. Neurodiversity: a person, a perspective, a movement? Thank you so much for sharing this with the world <3. She comes highly recommended from another Sacramento aspie lady I befriended on reddit. To the senior ladies, I’m 62, I check off most of these traits, and i always felt like I never understood the rules, that I wasn’t given the instruction manual that everyone else got. For fun, I like to follow the latest debates on the Dewey Decimal System. Thank you for this list! Well conceived, detailed and thoughtfully written. Truly don’t understand this. Honestly, I read this article and thought “Holy cow! wow! Emily, I understand your frustration as I have lived my life (many decades) in a world where my perceptions are trivialized. I have struggled with mental illness most of my life and had often wondered if undiagnosed Autism was part of my issue. Getting the diagnosis has changed my life for the better. NO!! I also have and crave for very few very close friends. I’ve often wondered if there is a connection between AS and Synesthesia. Getting an answer was great and awful. Anxiety all the time, awkwardness bt even family (sth to my self), doesn’t wanna go out and hang out but at the same time feel extremely isolation when being alone (almost about to go crazy.. worring i might go Schizophrenia..) First, I resented my father, second, now I’d rather live like him not noticing myself. Where do humor and irony fit in? Note that translations below may apply to the previous version. It’s not meant to diagnose. I don’t have it, but I have been compiling a list of what colors people see numbers as. I am sure you are on the right track. Take A Look At Who … I often drift away and zone out. When I was small, I had deep thoughts of the world seen through my eyes, then this world only exist to me because I’m seeing it and that I’m special because the world is seen through me, through my eyes. An excellent list. *Lauren, sorry. Many people have 10-20% of those traits but 90%? Our mission is to provide a forum to connect with those who wish to employ these abilities. It is not all inclusive. I often can’t remember what I have been saying in the middle of a sentence because my brain works too fast— I have creative bursts which is followed by plummets where I shut down and hole up for weeks. At the moment it’s the most detailed list which again fingers me as an aspie. I have great communication skills, look people in the eye, and love to be the life of the party but it means I have this emotional hangover for days that I need to recover alone. In my case, it literally saved my life, though I might not look that way from the outside. I remember her blank stare and long pause before ‘’….yeah..?’ Satisfied and mortified all at once I went back to my empty seat on the bus. The entire list provided above seemed to me to be a blue-print for (especially highly intelligent) female social troubles and struggles to find their place in society. And needing a lot of alone time to recover from social interaction, isn’t that just being introverted?? I am very grateful for these points – I was signposted to them as a starting point for diagnosis, so I am about to write everything down and take it from there. I believe this list has a lot of behaviors I have been exhibiting. So much cringeworthy material: in fifth grade, I had no friends in a new middle school, and had ‘heard’ kids my age liked bands including Green Day. I live in your area and I thought I might recommend some local resources. Good luck! I highly doubt it. Takes about 2 minutes to take and provides instant results, no registration required. I’ve been hated, mocked and ridiculed my entire life for my disability and in my opinion, it is the neurotypicals who are forever 12! Only recently have I been able to unmask myself and my vulnerablilities as they feel to me and ask my friends if they experience the same thing. A message to bullies and those they bully, Organizations that Support Autistic Entrepreneurs, An Autistic shaman shares why autistic people make good shamans, Sees things at multiple levels, including her own thinking processes, Analyzes existence, the meaning of life, and everything, continually, Often gets lost in own thoughts and “checks out” (blank stare), Finds it difficult to understand manipulation and disloyalty, Finds it difficult to understand vindictive behavior and retaliation, Feelings of confusion and being overwhelmed, Feelings of being misplaced and/or from another planet, Abused or taken advantage of as a child but didn’t think to tell anyone, Survives overwhelming emotions and senses by escaping in thought or action, Escapes regularly through fixations, obsessions, and over-interest in subjects, Escapes routinely through imagination, fantasy, and daydreaming, Imitates people on television or in movies, Treated friends as “pawns” in youth; e.g., friends were “students” “consumers” “members”, Makes friends with older or younger females more so than friends her age (often in young adulthood), Imitates friends or peers in style, dress, attitude, interests, and manner (sometimes speech), Obsessively collects and organizes objects, Escapes by playing the same music over and over, Escapes through a relationship (imagined or real), Numbers bring ease (could be numbers associated with patterns, calculations, lists, time and/or personification), Escapes through counting, categorizing, organizing, rearranging, Cannot relax or rest without many thoughts, Sensory Issues (sight, sound, texture, smells, taste) (might have Synthesia), Feelings of polar extremes (depressed/over-joyed; inconsiderate/over-sensitive), Poor muscle tone, double-jointed, and/or lack in coordination (may have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and/or Hypotonia and/or POTS syndrome), Eating disorders, food obsessions, and/or worry about what is eaten, Misdiagnosed or diagnosed with a mental illness, Experiences multiple physical symptoms, perhaps labeled “hypochondriac”, Wonders who she is and what is expected of her, Since puberty has had bouts of depression (may have PMDD), Flicks/rubs fingernails, picks scalp/skin, flaps hands, rubs hands together, tucks hands under or between legs, keeps closed fists, paces in circles, and/or clears throat often, Friends have ended friendship suddenly (without female with AS understanding why) and/or difficult time making friends, Raised hand too much in class or didn’t participate in class, Little impulse control with speaking when younger, Comes across at times as narcissistic and controlling (is not narcissistic), Often sounds eager and over-zealous or apathetic and disinterested, Holds a lot of thoughts, ideas, and feelings inside, Feels as if she is attempting to communicate “correctly”, Obsesses about the potentiality of a relationship with someone, particularly a love interest or feasible new friendship, Confused by the rules of accurate eye contact, tone of voice, proximity of body, body stance, and posture in conversation, Questions the actions and behaviors of self and others, continually, Feels as if missing a conversation “gene” or thought-filter, Trained self in social interactions through readings and studying of other people, Visualizes and practices how she will act around others, Practices/rehearses in mind what she will say to another before entering the room, Difficulty filtering out background noise when talking to others, Has a continuous dialogue in mind that tells her what to say and how to act when in a social situation, Sense of humor sometimes seems quirky, odd, inappropriate, or different from others, As a child it was hard to know when it was her turn to talk, Finds unwritten and unspoken rules difficult to grasp, remember, and apply, Feels extreme relief when she doesn’t have to go anywhere, talk to anyone, answer calls, or leave the house but at the same time will often harbor guilt for “hibernating” and not doing “what everyone else is doing”, One visitor at the home may be perceived as a threat (this can even be a familiar family member), Knowing logically a house visitor is not a threat, but that doesn’t relieve the anxiety, Feelings of dread about upcoming events and appointments on the calendar, Knowing she has to leave the house causes anxiety from the moment she wakes up, All the steps involved in leaving the house are overwhelming and exhausting to think about, She prepares herself mentally for outings, excursions, meetings, and appointments, often days before a scheduled event, OCD tendencies when it comes to concepts of time, being on time, tracking time, recording time, and managing time (could be carried over to money, as well), Questions next steps and movements, continually, Sometimes feels as if she is on stage being watched and/or a sense of always having to act out the “right” steps, even when she is home alone. I printed it out for my 15-year-old daughter to read. yet, I would have never thought that I in any way, shape or form have any connection to autism or asperger’s. Still, the idea of being given a new framework for understanding my lifelong struggles (“neurodivergent” vs. “mentally ill”) feels almost too good to be true. I have suspected for a while that I may have aspergers, and if this test is accurate, I most definitely do. My time in school (and before) was not pleasant: i overshare, I dressed inappropriately until recently, I had trouble concentrating and following through with assignments, and interacting with superiors in a less emotionally reactive way, and due to these difficulties many folks began began to treat me like I was dumb (I also have comirbid illnesses like bipolar, body dysmorphia and panic, and paranoia which make functioning on a daily basis difficult). Every quiz or test I take comes back that I may be an aspie or on the spectrum. I have just had a diagnosis of ASD and at least 95% of this describes me to an almost creepy degree! I am a 41 year old mother of 2 boys who were diagnosed with High Functioning Autism. It must have been really hard every time you went to psychologists. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. If you’ve responded to 70+% of the points as ‘yes’ and assigned 60+% or higher to the majority of them then you should consider that you probably are on the ASD. The particular thing I see about myself is the trouble with the whole idea that involves social masks, but this could be not a “born this way” thing but a particular way of reacting to a traumatic experience.- that could be both ocurred to the person or somebody else that we care, or even an imaginary experience. Maybe that’s why I understand him so much and understand my students. Thank you so much for your time, expertise and effort in compiling this. It’s me. I read as much as I could of the comments, looking for another man saying the same, that I am a man but have these characteristics, but I was so enthusiastic and in a hurry to declare it so could’nt read all the comments, so if anybody else reading this, has the same experiences or even knows someone alike, pleas reply. The checklist is for Females, and it is different because by virtue of the intense genderfied social conditioning, we don’t register the same traits. Experiencing Asperger’s I understand how trying to communicate or describe something to others can become extraneous in detail as more often than not my own replies can be novellas when a simple yes or no was all that was expected. Hats Off! Hi Kai, I’m sorry to hear about your experiences with therapists. replying to Sam’s reply to Carter…you might try some of the DES boards, Diethylstilbestrol….precious group of folks. There so many things on this list, actually over 100 of them that I display. But this list is completely undeniable. Wow! Well, food for thought…..I wonder when the next time will be when I read this list…. I’ve only just started exploring this as a diagnosis because of my sensory overload issues, but if this list is an accurate representation, then I may have my answer. I wondered if there is medicine that ppl take. Does anyone have a lead? I make eye contact, I didn’t line up toys as a kid (but you should see all my spice jar labels :p) and I speak very well with professionals and have a ton of empathy and ability to read body language. It is often hard to find people or anyone to relate to or who understands you. I have problems with sensory overload, loud noises and smells, but that’s because I have migraines. The first time i heard this (in the Divergent mind audiobook) I had to sit down at the table and cry for a moment, i was so overwhelmed. I am a primary school teacher because I am not confident in dealing with ordinary people. In some ways, the opposite of what many women in the spectrum display. But I don’t have ASD. It’s also interesting how despite my intelligence I am unable to express it vocally, only through writing (typing specifically). Why my thought process is so much more complicated than everyone else. I rember the first time I came across an article on the condition and the same day I had come across a guy who had obviously some issues but at the same time had a huge interest in rugby and appeared to be able to read the paper so I thought perhaps that might be his condition. That makes sense.” , What led me here? I would self identify as autistic. I’d like to query the checklist as it is so broad I can verify that almost every female I’ve encountered in my 36 years of existence fits in to one or several of the 10+ categories described upon it and none of them have, or been diagnosed with, any form of the Autism Spectrum. Thanks beforehand. (I’d recommend the use of they/them instead of she, personally.) Catch-22. Male can act the way he wants to in my country compared to women, and women must be charming, feminine, lovable, and empathetic. I have always been different to everyone around me.. And I will go through the process to officially get diagnosed myself. I have a laundry list of mental health diagnoses that don’t quite explain all of my difficulties, but ASD seems to cover it all. He scored very high (mid 30s out of 40. Thank you for what you do. Medicare Record. Her original post can be viewed here. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. There are some aspects that do not fit, but I find that it usually coincides with something that I studied heavily as a child. I would always say: ‘She is the normal one of all three”. I’m freaking out a little bit because I hit pretty much all of those check marks – and most of my life I’ve been described as a bit ‘out there’ etc. NT people relate well to ‘some’ of our challenges, however they overcome with very little support usually required. The earth was thought ‘scientifically’ to be flat for a long time. Take a look inside Everyday Aspergers. The Art of Autism accepts many art forms, including blog posts, art, poetry, video submissions and requests for book and film reviews. Not to mention, autistic cis guys can also have these traits. Please share. I was also naive and too honest. The thing is though that I never can relate to what people are going through on an EMOTIONAL level, but only on an intellectual. Yes, many people experience different feelings and things as part of being a human but what sets someone with a diagnosis, VS. someone without is the SEVERITY AND HOW IT EFFECTS THEIR EVERYDAY LIFE, THIS IS SIMPLE PSYCHOLOGY. I have some specific ones such as repeating numbers, liking patterns in numbers, loving words and their roots, etc. I am a paediatrician who sees a lot of autistic girls and I think the list is pretty accurate. I was highly sensitive and prone to meltdowns at home when too frustrated by injustices or misunderstood and thus treated unfairly as to my intentions. Won’t every woman find a number of these issues fit with her? In addition to checking ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to each point assign a percentage of how much it applies to you if you’ve checked ‘yes’. Feel free to adjust and/or ignore my suggestion. I am now diagnosed with HFA (previously called Apsergers Syndrome) as a direct result of reading this post and realising I might be Autistic. I have also found many books by the Vietnamese meditation (Zen) master, Thich Nhat Hanh, to be very helpful. Along, with some of the other points made in the list, outside of different types of anxiety and things like that, that so clearly is not seen in neurotypicals. I think you have made an amazingly accurate list!!! I never had maternal instincts….did not really want a family, until I started losing pregnancies. Copyright ©2011- 2020. Knowing she is staying home all day brings great peace of mind, Requires a large amount of down time or alone time, Feels guilty after spending a lot of time on a special interest, Uncomfortable in public locker rooms, bathrooms, and/or dressing rooms, Dislikes being in a crowded mall, crowded gym, and/or crowded theater, Sensitive to sounds, textures, temperature, and/or smells when trying to sleep, Adjusts bedclothes, bedding, and/or environment in an attempt to find comfort, Dreams are anxiety-ridden, vivid, complex, and/or precognitive in nature, Highly empathetic, sometimes to the point of confusion, Highly susceptible to outsiders’ viewpoints and opinions, At times adapts her view of life or actions based on others’ opinions or words, Recognizes own limitations in many areas daily, if not hourly, Becomes hurt when others question or doubt her work, Views many things as an extension of self, Fears others opinions, criticism, and judgment, Dislikes words and events that hurt animals and people, Collects or rescues animals (often in childhood), Huge compassion for suffering (sometimes for inanimate objects/personification), Sensitive to substances (environmental toxins, foods, alcohol, medication, hormones, etc. Please trust your gut and don’t let them discourage you! But I don’t know who I am; never did. This 3 Minute Asperger Syndrome Test is delivered to you free of charge and will allow you to obtain your scores related to difficulties with social skills, dependence on routines, and experience of repetitive motor patterns and an increased ability to focus on details. I read a lot of articles that the symptom appears differently to male and female as there are different desires meaning female wants to be socialized and able to mimicry peers (but arose gap which makes myself frustrated) while male just don’t give attention to ‘ego’.. She explained how people with asperegers often are bullied as children as I was as they are perceived as different. But that people with ASD don’t have empathy. Cause I do nearly all of of these things but I think I’m just super anxious. If someone asked me my opinion on phones or tea right at this second then I would find great difficulty in making a conclusion with all the information (or not enough!) Download. The Art of Autism. I wonder about women (such as myself) who have a long history of receiving diagnoses and treatment, including medication, for conditions like anxiety disorder, depression, borderline personality disorder, etc., who may in fact actually have undiagnosed ASD––might that help to explain why such treatments have been largely ineffective? And this list doesn’t make me think I do. I don’t think I will go get tested – where I have to go to get tested, you question the DR you are BPD and ‘difficult patient’ in need of more case management. I’ve been diagnosed with so many MI tags it seems like Spin the Wheel, Make the diagnosis. Does one’s proprioception ever cause problematic issues? There’s no such thing, scientifically, as a Highly Sensitive Person. I remember experiencing a LOT of these, more extremely as a kid before I understood human psychology as well, and before I learned people wanted me to mask my traits. There is no such thing scientifically as a Highly Sensitive Person – yet. As an introverted woman with depression and anxiety, there are certainly many of these characteristics that I identify with. i always thought i’m just really intelligent and therefore am often lonely, as many intelligent people are (which sounds horribly self-obsessed, I realize). Fascinating. We’re contacting a doctor to discuss testing for ASD. With Autistic people, we are often dependant on others to help us overcome these barriers constantly and the intensity at which we are impacted is significant and often induces physical responses including sickness for many. I think not most people but many women. Leslie, maybe you’d like to write an article about your experience. Got pimples really young, picked my skin, didn’t comb my hair or wash properly and wore my moms hand me down 90s clothes. I’m a Data Analyst by trade so daily I interpret large sets of information and find correlations and construct interpretations as my daily purpose. Short term memory isn’t so good, but at least I was in the neighborhood lol. I went through the entire list checking off all the symptoms that I could identify with. I do it *continuously*. Not everyone who was exposed is LGBTQIA, and not every LGBTQIA was exposed….that we know of….poor record keeping, mom’s ashamed if they were even told by paternalistic doctors what they were being given….hope not to spark a fire here….I was diagnosed ASD1 age 60….bookish, but so was my mother. She has … Either, some of you are in denial that you might be neurodiverse but people in society have such a huge stigma on it-so you would rather feel you have other things wrong with you, than say you are neurodiverse, or you are missing the point. I’ve felt so wrong my whole life. Samantha Craft does not hold a doctorate in Psychiatry or Psychology. I was in the weird kids club all through school, was bullied from grammar school forward so ended up shy, couldn’t understand all social cues yet somehow bordered on psychic (maybe I was “reading” people on a much deeper level), and always had trouble looking people in the eye when in conversation, and still do. Thank you for this list, it’s reaffirming and makes me feel less Borderline and more autistic, which feels more “right” even if no therapist will accept it. All very interesting! She is now having severe problems, and I think this will help her. I’m interested in learning more about aspies and empathy. I just wonder how many of the points on the list = ASD and how many = just introverted. So yes, some of these traits can affect many people at varying degrees of severity… but for autistic people, these hurdles are literally mountains to climb, huge often impossible mountains. Ive always been an artist with a fair amount of talent from a young age but i constantly feel that the only reason people like me is for my talent and ability, not for who i actually am. I wonder whether I once should change my job, where I need to see many people, well, children, because that is where I feel comfortable. I think it’s because I’m getting tired and I want to stop fighting,. So an aware Autist of ist traits will even be more accepting about everything mentioned above in other people. Do you know if the educational psychologist that tested me for the learning disabilities can also test me for ASD?