What's wrong with my friend?Does he have Aspergers?

Question

I’m worried about a friend. He has a habit of repeating a phrase or word many times a day for no apparent reason, unconsciously, and he cant seem to stop. Some of his phrases are quotes. I originally put his repeating of these down to attention seeking, but some he doesn’t know what they mean, where they come from, or why he can’t stop repeating them. He also does it when he’s on his own and unaware he is overheard. The comments aren’t addressed to anyone, they just come out anyway. The phrases are not appropriate or related to current conversation or events.
He answers direct questions with his nonsense phrases, even when it makes people angry, and even when the question is repeated several times. It upsets him greatly when he's told how annoying it is, he says he is just playing.
I’ve noticed he is worse when he’s upset or stressed.
My sister has suggested he may have Aspergers syndrome. My friend is 30 in March, wouldn't he have been diagnosed by now

Answer 1

Sounds more like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder which is often stress related. This may have been developing for a while. It is unlikely to be Aspergers as they tend not to have many friends as they can't relate to people very easily.

He should go and see his doctor, who can direct him to the right help.

Answer 2

It is certainly possible that he has Aspergers syndrome. Though whether it is Aspergers or something else such as Tourettes is difficult to say, without a little more info, and while Aspergers is probably top of the list for you, it would certainly be a good idea to find out by assessment what his problem is, as this would be the start of making life easier. A good place to start is by persuading him to visit his doctor, preferably with a friend who can fill in the blanks that he leaves out, the doctor can arrange for him to see a specialist.
On the subject of diagnosis, my eldest son has Aspergers syndrome, and did not get a diagnosis until he was 14! Before we got this diagnosis we tried getting help for him, but were turned down by both his headmaster and the Local Education Authority, (LEA). In the end we paid for an assessment by the Dyslexia Association, they recommended that we get a medical assessment by the NHS, which we did, they told us that he has Aspergers syndrome, but the LEA would not accept this (even though we had all the right documents) they insisted on him being reassessed, which was done by all the same people, who said all the same things and made all the same recommendations. Think that's it? Not so simple as that, they wanted to send him to a completely unsuitable residential school, and would not countenance his being sent to the school that we considered would suit him. We therefore appealed their decision and won. He has since successfully completed a degree in physics. I myself had no idea that I might have a problem of any kind until we had our son assessed, but the process got me thinking, a little while after, I arranged to be assessed myself and was found to have Aspergers syndrome, at the age of 42!
Based on my experience I would say your friend could easily have been 'missed', as all the LEA's seem to want to do is to save money. There are many sites on the net and Amazon have books on it too. If you live in the UK try the National Autistic Society. They should be able to help.

Answer 3

As the mother of two boy's aged 11 and 12 both of whom have Aspergers I'd say that your friend should go to their doctor, but i do not think he has Aspergers. People with Aspergers tend to find socialising with others difficult (Think Roy Cropper from coronation st. He is a typical case of Aspergers) but most people with Aspergers can learn how to get on with others. My eldest son Say's he just pretends to be interested in other peoples conversation topics! Your friend may be racting to stress. It is very possible that he or anyone could have be undiagnosed because they are thought to be attention seeking, Misbehaving, or yes there is a problem but with long waiting lists Doctors and teachers know that unless the condition is very severe they will not get any help unless there parents are prepared to push/ fight for them. Even then with such long waiting lists it can take over two years from visting your doctor to get help and actually getting a diagnosis.

Answer 4

Where's his family? If he's 30, and has a family somewhere, maybe you need to contact them. Maybe he has a chemical imbalance of some kind that needs to be treated with drugs. Maybe he needs to be on his medication. How long have you known him ? He could have had a bad accident and got hit in the head. Maybe you are his only hope. If you are his friend, get him to the right doctor. Call a good doctors office. At least contact somebody that gives a sh**.People don't just all of a sudden start acting funny . If it was Asperger's he would have had problems from birth. (Asperger's are usually smart.)

Answer 5

* Narrow interests or preoccupation with a subject to the exclusion of other activities;
* Repetitive behaviors or rituals;
* Peculiarities in speech and language;
* Extensive logical/technical patterns of thought (often compared to the personality traits of the popular Star Trek character, Spock);
* Socially and emotionally inappropriate behavior and interpersonal interaction;
* Problems with nonverbal communication;
* Clumsy and uncoordinated motor movements.

If that describes your friend, then yes, he probably has Asperger syndrome. Many people with AS are not diagnosed until adulthood. My psychiatrist just recently diagnosed me with AS, but said that I had mostly outgrown it (I'm 18). I've seen extreme cases with appalling social isolation and consider myself lucky that I quickly learned to compensate for my differences. It's a double-edge sword, really. The benefits include an insane ability to concentrate, a remarkable memory, a nearly obsessive focus, a special gift for humor, etc. Basically, take a stereotypical nerd, and intensify the effect, add a dash of absent-minded professor and an eccentric personality, and you've got your average person with AS.

Answer 6

Unfortunately it is possible that a diagnosis was not given, people seem to dismiss these things as attention seeking or someone messing about. There is a stigma in the UK about mental illness, people seem to brush it under the carpet.

I would recommend contacting an aspergers syndrome charity or clinic to discuss it and get some clarification of the symptoms and tell tale signs.

He should definitely ask his doctor to refer him to a specialist.

Good luck!

Answer 7

No, that’s not incorrect. I even have Asperger’s syndrome myself. you at the instant are not obliged to be this guy’s buddy merely simply by fact he has Asperger’s syndrome. some friendships merely don’t paintings out and that’s not some thing to experience accountable approximately. i'm particular he could be unhappy to lose your friendship, yet I additionally don’t think of he’d choose you to proceed merely out of pity in case you don’t rather like him. while you at the instant are not getting something out of this friendship then I wouldn’t blame you for ending it. Your buddy would hear to you and merely not be responsive to the thank you to respond, simply by fact he can’t relate to what you tell him or he doesn’t be responsive to what form of a reaction is predicted. He additionally won't be responsive to what's suitable or beside the point to assert and he would get slightly caught up in his very own strategies and hobbies, yet he can learn what’s appropriate. He can’t help having so poor social skills and his social skills gained’t strengthen until somebody helps him. he's blind to maximum social policies and gained’t be responsive to he’s doing some thing incorrect until somebody tells him and corrects him. What you would be able to desire to do, in case you prefer to grant this friendship yet another bypass, is consult with him approximately his social errors and clarify what could be appropriate for him to assert, ask etc. and enable him be responsive to while he says some thing beside the point and supply him of challenge to attempt to strengthen his social and conversational skills. merely remember that he can’t learn them on his very own and he gained’t merely “experience” issues and understand diffused tricks, physique language and such. He needs to benefit otherwise he merely gained’t notice that he’s doing some thing incorrect. in case you prefer to not provide it yet another attempt, that’s completely ok too, yet please a minimum of enable him be responsive to why. in case you don’t tell him he gained’t be responsive to and could be puzzled and sweetness for an prolonged time what he did incorrect and he gained’t have the possibility to benefit from his errors so as that he can attempt issues in yet otherwise the subsequent time he makes a sparkling buddy.

Answer 8

I tend to agree with David M. This is obsessive behaviour, which may be displayed by people with Aspergers, but it sounds more like OCD

Answer 9

Asperger's is a very difficult syndrome to diagnose. It's not clear but that it is often confused with simply being very intelligent and a little eccentric. But then "eccentric" is what we call someone we like and "crazy" is what we call someone we don't.

Your friend does sound somewhat confused, or at least pretty confusing. Has he ever talked to a doctor about this? Do you think he would be willing to? If not, just put it down to his eccentricity, and try not to let it bother you. Or try asking him to please not talk to himself when you are around, because you think he is talking to you.

My Steve used to talk to himself about whatever he was thinking about, and I just asked him to please do it quietly enough that I didn't think he was talking to me. He got in the habit of addressing me with "So, . . . " when he went from talking to himself to talking to me. I tried not to listen in, but it was understood that it was up to him to deal with any breaches of security.

Who knows? Maybe a doctor would say that Steve had Asperger's. He was certainly extremely intelligent, and very reclusive. To me, that was just being Steve. But he did commit suicide last year, so make of all that what you will.

Answer 10

Aspergers is one diagnosis on a spectrum of autism disorders, and every Aspie is one person on a whole other spectrum. Meaning, we're all different. So it's hard to say what's up with your friend.