10 Signs and Symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome in Adults

Recognizing Signs of Asperger's Syndrome in Adults

Aspergers syndrome is an autism spectrum disorder characterized by challenges in social interactions and communication combined with restrictive, repetitive patterns of behaviors or interests. Many adults with undiagnosed Aspergers struggle socially and professionally because their symptoms are misunderstood. Learning to identify key signs can help assess whether an evaluation might provide helpful answers and access to support services.

1. Difficulty With Nonverbal Communication

A core sign involves problems understanding or appropriately using nonverbal communication tools like eye contact, facial expressions, body language and gestures. Adults with Asperger's often avoid eye contact, have stiff or exaggerated facial reactions, demonstrate odd posture or movements, or misread nonverbal cues from others.

2. Trouble Building Friendships and Relationships

Many capable adults with Aspergers have no or very few close personal friendships or romantic partnerships over time despite desires for connection. Factors like not understanding social rituals, mistaking signs of friendship or love, or managing personal care independently but not maintaining reciprocal bonds contribute.

3. Tendency Toward Long Winded Speeches About Special Interests

Adults with Aspergers frequently engage in long monologues about subjects they find fascinating whether the listener shows interest or not. They may struggle to recognize when others feel bored or want to transition topics. This can negatively impact building rapport in new relationships.

4. Pedantic or Formal Speech

Spoken language often contains unusual prosody, rhythm, rate, volume or tone. Speech may sound stiff, formal or emotionless rather than reflecting context appropriate inflection and emotion. Some display echolalia repeating words or phrases verbatim from prior conversations out of context.

5. Interpreting Things Very Literally

Because language nuances like sarcasm, irony, metaphorical phrases and jokes trick language processing differences in Aspergers, adults often interpret each word literally. Figurative speech goes over the head. Without tonal cues signaling humor or absurdity, silly statements seem serious and confusing.

6. Heightened Sensitivity to Sounds, Textures or Other Sensory Input

Many adults with Aspergers suffer overwhelmed sensory processing in loud crowded bars, echoing halls or classrooms, offices with humming lights or ventilation noise, clothing tags or seams rubbing skin, dioxide smells, food textures and more. Exposure provokes anxiousness or meltdown behaviors to escape.

7. Rule Bound Thinking and Rigid Routines

Black and white thinking leads to rigid rule following and inflexible routines organizing environments or self care rituals to cope with uncertainty. Adults with undiagnosed Aspergers may seem uptight needing precise schedules, become highly oppositional or have emotional meltdowns when unexpected change disrupts structures imposed for stability.

8. Clumsiness and Poor Motor Coordination

Often starting in childhood, some articulate adults display marked clumsiness and light physical awkwardness like walking on toes overly focused downward, odd hand flapping when excited, difficulty riding bikes or catching balls, poor driving skills, woefully illegible handwriting or inability dressing themselves properly without assistance.

9. Problems Organizing and Completing Tasks

Executive function and planning challenges cause adults with Aspergers stress trying to organize multi step projects for school or accurately complete detailed tasks at work. They commonly lose track of time, miss administering key parts of complex jobs, overlook impacts on colleagues working interdependently or fail meeting rigid deadlines.

10. Symptoms Lead to Clinical Anxiety or Depression

Many undiagnosed adults battle secondary mental health issues like chronic anxiety trying to adapt socially combined with severe depression or defeated self esteem not understanding their lifelong neurological differences. Getting an accurate diagnosis opens doors to tailored support and life skills coaching.

Seeking an Asperger's Syndrome Assessment

If numerous signs on this list seem eerily familiar, seeking professional evaluation can help identify if Aspergers syndrome or similar autism spectrum profile explains lifelong issues feeling socially disconnected, forging friendships or romantic bonds, communicating struggles even when intellect seems high, adapting well to transitions, organizing effectively or managing emotions.

Start by discussing symptoms with your primary care doctor or a psychologist. They can refer you to diagnostic professionals able to administer autism spectrum disorder assessment batteries gauging social cognition, communication challenges, reaction to change and sensory sensitivities. Identifying Asperger's from objective testing can provide answers while pointing the way forward with evidence based interventions and supports.

1. Talk Therapy

Ongoing counseling helps adults with Aspergers process diagnosis, improve self-awareness about differences and develop mechanisms to minimize anxiety or depressive feelings from social struggles often accompanying the condition. Individual or group talk therapy models like cognitive behavioral therapy allow safe space airing worries and learning new social emotional skills missing in Aspergers brains.

2. Social Skills Training

After diagnosis, tailored social skills education from speech therapists, support groups or autism professionals provides instruction and practice with everyday interpersonal skills many neurotypicals take for granted. Building skills reading facial expressions and body language, respecting personal space, taking conversational turns, making chitchat or eye contact improves social capacities and confidence.

3. Sensory Integration Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy activities retrain sensory integration pathways helping desensitize extreme tactile, auditory, visual, vestibular or proprioceptive sensitivities causing distress. Soothing repetitive motions, deep pressure, breathing exercises, agility drills and tailored environments make overwhelming input more manageable.

4. Organization and Planning Coaching

For tackling executive functioning weaknesses causing problems managing time or completing complex project steps at work or school, many adults benefit working with organizational skills coaches. These specialists teach useful supports compensating for impaired planning, prioritizing, task initiation, attention shifting or emotional control interfering with productivity.

5. Physical Therapy for Motor Challenges

Some adults displaying obvious movement clumsiness and poor coordination benefit from tailored physical therapy regimens building balance, stability, motor planning and strength. Individualized activities and adaptive devices help improve safety and confidence during everyday actions their bodies struggle smoothly executing.

6. Anxiety and Depression Medications

Because clinical anxiety affecting over 40% and depression impacting over 37% of those with autism often accompany adult Aspergers, many find relief gently correcting chemical imbalances with medications like selective SRRI antidepressants or anti-anxiety agents. Under medical supervision, these enhance mental health and quality of life.

Embracing Life with Asperger's Syndrome

Getting diagnosed and plugging into supportive resources allows adults with Aspergers finally embrace their natural born neurological differences instead of forcing rigid conformity or struggling alone. Connecting with communities, experts and tools tailored to autism spectrum brains provides personalized assistance learning to communicate, organize and care for sensory needs in a neurodivergent world.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new treatment regimen.