For many years I've thought I might have a disorder on the autistic spectrum, probably mild Asperger's syndrome. Last week a male friend described both myself and a female friend as autistic - which despite having thought it about myself at least - upset me, for my own sake and for hers.
I've taken the test for Aspergers traits designed by Prof Simon Baron-Cohen, a recognised world expert on autistic spectrum disorders - it's not an diagnostic test, merely indicative.
I scored 28 out of 50. Neurotypical men (ie normal people) usually score up to 17, neurotypical women up to 15, and 80% of people with Asperger's and other autistic spectrum disorders score 32 or above. I scored 28 which places me in the borderland of Asperger's.
It's not a surprise and it's not upsetting for me. It makes sense of a lot of my problems. My favourite TV comedy at the moment is "the Big Bang Theory" in which one of the funniest characters, Dr Sheldon Cooper, is clearly a superbright Asperger's personality with OCD, itself related to Aspergers. He's a character in whom I recognise an extreme version of myself.
The test is available here
I was surprised to hear that Prof Baron-Cohen has discovered that a greater proportion of women have Asperger's than used to be believed.
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