Is Asperger's possible without friend-making deficit? What else could it be?

[BigSnoopy]

My brother is an adult, who has never been tested for AS, but the more I learn about it, I wonder if it's possible. He has some slight Dandy-Walker, but not enough to need the shunt or anything; a few things like Coloboma are present, though; his vision is 20/800, and he has hearing loss that's partly correctable with an aid..

Anyway, he can be rather literal at times, though not to a huge extent. He has trouble communicating his concerns to others, and when he does try he can ramble a lot sometimes becuase, as he says, he's "not sure how much information they need." He's very bright, and retains an incredible amount of what he reads - he loves reading, to the point where he has a wide variety of interests, and one coudl argue, if it is AS, that his passion is lerning itselfHe also has more trouble than normal getting used to new patterns and such. At times, if he's "zoned out" thinking about something, he will rock a little as I've heard those with AS do, and he focuses intensely on some things - like the Chronology he wrote for "Full House," sorting episodes onthe calendar, writing a lot of stuff in betweent hem to explain so-called incosisstencies, etc..  he exhibits no echolalia of speech, and never did, but there is echolalia of thought at times, as at rare times thoughts go through his head as if he's processing them.

However, here's the difference - he interacts well socially. At times when younger he had to be encouraged to quite a bit, because he really wasn't sure how to introduce himself into a game other kids were playing. He'd have his own imaginary friends and imaginary world at times as a kid. He loves to laugh and joke with friends - one of his biggest problems was when some school friends started swearing and telling dirtier jokes as they got into high school and especially college, as he felt they were "always supposed to be nice," but now he has friends at his church who don't swear and enjoy good, clean fun like he likes. He'll do lots of stuff with them, just like when he was in college. When he sees people accept him, he doesn't have any real problems - he syas it's like there's some inner monologue saying, "These people like me."

So, part of me suspects AS, and I'm just asking for my own piece of mind, really. But, is it possible to have AS and not have the social interaction problems? I mean, hes' shy at times, but not overly so. He'll get out and meet people, and his only anxiety is when he feels pressure to be mean or vulgar, which I suspect was behind his problems with a few old friends.

Thanks.

[msms63]

My 23 yr old son has never been diagnosed, but Im 100% SURE  hes an Aspy...socially
withdrawn, yet can have exquisite converstions with those he knows, almost to the point of saying HUSH! Zones in on one subject and thats it....THE MAN READ THE ENTIRE
DICTIONARY....3 TIMES! Completed 3 years of college, b4 transportation,(altho he can drive, he doesnt want to, seems to have depth perception issues) became an issue. Extremely smart, altho lacking in empathy often, has a little sister who thinks he hung the moon, as do I. Im not sure if there are set rules to Aspergers

[BigSnoopy]

Thanks. Ironically, I'd accidentally posted this here, instead of the 'ask a doctor" forum," though it does help to hear others' perspectives. And, I just checked back, and they said Asperger's, at least, is diagnosed based on severe social interaction problems, as well as repetitive motions,etc.. So, it sounds like in neither of these cases could it be  considered AS - however, there's always that PDD-Not Otherwise Specified, which sounds like an all-inclusive way of covering things that are close, but don't really fit (or that would make it too inclusive if they didn't narrow it a little.)

[BigSnoopy]

Of course (wish they let you edit posts, I thought of this right after I posted, and decided to include it later anyway), I've read lists of people who historically might have had Asperger's, and they include Einstein and even Thomas Jefferson.

So, perhaps the social interaction part is just doctors being extremely cautious now; one can have some trouble, but not necessarily a lot. And, I would think that Jefferson would be someone who would have shown a lot of empathy for common people. (My brother would probably get along well with Jefferson.)