I understand that two traits of people with Asperger's are that they like to have fixed routines have difficulties relating to other people.

Well, I'm completely the opposite. I DESPISE routine. I need change all the time, and the thought of a routine like taking the same train to work and back every day sends shivers through me. This is a problem in terms of sticking at a job for more than a few years at a time.

And I don't have difficulties relating to people at all. I remember a game we once did at school in an economics lesson to do with competition in a market. It involved four or five of us. The idea was that each of us set a price at which we were going to sell our product. We didn't tell the other classmates what price we were going to choose, but we able to agree with them if we wanted that we would fix the price at a certain level. If everyone stuck to that price then there were reasonable profits for each of us. But if one person breached the cartel and offered a much lower price he made huge profits. And if more than one person breached the cartel we all made a loss. So there was an incentive to work together but a bigger incentive to cheat. I was brilliant at it - I just knew what other people were going to do each time, and took maximum advantage of it. So I don't think I have any difficulties relating to other people.

But I do think that other people have difficulty relating to me. They seem to say the bizarrest things to me, maybe out of fear, I really don't know. For instance I once got rejected out of hand from a job on the sole grounds that I was "too pleasant". This was for a job with a bank, not the mafia or anything like that. There are quite a few examples of (intelligent) people saying things to me that just seem utterly stupid. This is a problem for me, in terms of forming good relationships with people.

Do you think I have anti-Asperger's syndrome? Perhaps this is a syndrome waiting to be discovered?

If it's not interfering with your life in any way, then there's no problem. Liking change and being able to deal well with people are two attributes that are able to make a person adapt to the world with ease. In Asperger's, we are unable to cope because the world goes against what we need. A syndrome in psychiatry is characterized by symptoms that are seen as bizarre to other people, that cause distress in some way to the person, and that limit the person's functioning. If you're having any problems in those areas, then it may be some form of personality disorder, but otherwise, I think that you're fine.
-GatsbyLuvr1920-

OK, thanks. Yes, I guess it doesn't amount to a syndrome on your definition. Although it is a problem. Anyway, I would make the point that liking routine to some extent can help you fit into a job. Nearly all jobs have an element of routine. And if you have too much empathy for other people, that can make them feel uncomfortable with you - it's as if you can see right through them. So although having Asperger's is certainly a problem, I think that the symptoms are a representation of traits that we do all need in small doses to get through an imperfect world.

Abru,

Everyone with Asperger's is different. I like routine to an extent, but I also like a change in my routine if it provides a better option than what I originally intended to do. I would have a lot of trouble with the kind of group project you describe, but I'm getting better at that.

People have told me that I am a nice person. It is easy for me to empathize with people if I share common interests.