Do you know of any (diagnosed) aspergers who are "popular" socially?

[howow]

Do you know of any (diagnosed) aspergers who are "popular" socially?
Not just have a few friends but lots. If so, I'd love to hear such stories :)

Okay. Don't get your knickers in a twist!
I know that I can diagnose ASD, but I have been part of the assessment process.
I also know that my grandfather (who was born 110 years ago) and father and me to an extent were / are on the spectrum. I don't have to justify myself to you any further. I'm not being nasty btw. All the best @janmeyer

yes, my dd is 16 and her social skills are better than many adults.
She can communicate well with people of all ages and from all walks of life.
it has often been stated that she is taken as a member of staff at school by parents, inspectors, visitors and prospective employees.
They don't wear a uniform, and I think it's the aspergers that gives her a sense of grandeur, that sometimes can get her in trouble.
She was diagnosed in Y7 at CAMHS.

Sorry that crucially say CAN'T diagnose!

Whoops forgot to say, she is the most popular girl with her peers, and is most likely HG at school next year.

My DS finds socialising difficult but can be the life and soul of the party in the right circumstances. He led the fun after lights out at cub camp last year 😫. The leaders were more pleased to see him looking confident and happy than anything else, it's not like anyone actually sleeps much on camps anyway 😂

My cousin who's in his 20s. When he left school at 18 he signed up to lots of different groups and volunteer programmes of his own back. We were surprised at the time as he was very antisocial and wouldn't say much in front of strangers, but it helped him come out of his shell a bit and he's kept at it and has diffrent group he attends each evening. He even goes to Zumba then a coffee with the widows group on a Saturday morning, the little old ladies all dote on him.

He's a great social network around him and I worry less about him now.

My mum. She's literally the most difficult person I've ever met in my life but she's very clever and communicative, and she forms deep friendships which get very intense.

She can't and won't do any form of 'small talk' so her friends are people who share her political and cultural views. She doesn't have loads of friends, but she's had a few friends pretty much all her life and she picks up new ones along the way too, more than I do anyway.

Interesting that most popular aspies mentioned here are males.

Men/boys are more likely to be forgiven their social faux pas whereas women/girls are punished more for it. I think the more popular women/girls with aspergers tend to fit into the manic pixie dream girl stereotype and are usually attractive enough to be forgiven for acting unusual.

My brother has no diagnosis and states he definitely does not have autism, having researched it himself. But most people who know him do ask, because he has traits which are popularly (I'm not saying this is right) associated with autism.

Like my mum, he has very long standing friendships. He's also a serial monogamist. He hasn't been without a partner in his adult life, and absolutely reviles the idea of short term relationships or one night stands. He has three long term relationships in his past, and has kids with two of them. He's back together now with the one he doesn't have kids with.

He's always had a busy social and cultural life.

My son (diagnosed by NHS panel) - ASD but Aspergers in old money. Friendships can be tricky for him but he’s not short on company.

Thanks all for your insights - I got a lot more than I was expecting :)

I was asking primarily for me.

I'm sorry just read my post and it sounds smug.
It's not meant to. I'm just so proud of this side of her personality and what she has become.
needless to say she has also put us through hell, and we were under CAMHS for 2 years, with lots of additional SS referrals for various things.
So, finally coming out of the years of what I can only describe as torture, we have things like this that we can tell people. Rather than, ss called today, they want to see us.

@JanMeyer I agree with you. And @ElizabethMainwaring telling someone not to 'get their knickers in a twist' when they are quite rightly pulling you up on something that's extremely important to autistic people, is beyond rude and patronising.

My son is diagnosed and is very popular.
He’s a real marmite character, people either love him or hate him.
He’s not charming at all, he’s blunt, rude, and very funny.

Me 😎

I am NHS diagnosed

When I'm out with friends they always comment on how many other people I know who seem to turn up as well

I'm quite funny but shit at emotions so I don't think I'm a go-to for that stuff. Although I do fairly frequently (!) get emotional emails from people thanking me for having been there for them at a difficult time in their lives.

And a lot of people ask my advice on other stuff and then follow it good luck to them.

Me. Im really lucky to have lots of amazing friends and several really close ones.

What stories are you after?

@CommunistLegoBloc
Sorry that I offended you.

My friend is officially diagnosed with autism, she has so many devoted and amazing friends.

My eldest daughter, she is going through the diagnostic system right now, she gets a lot of trouble from some people because of how she is but she also has friends and is bubbly and likeable.

I'm diagnosed ASD and I have a lot of friends, a few close ones and many who I don't see often at all.

@JanMeyer why does self diagnosis bother you?
Its hardly an impressive diagnosis that everyone wants to be, nor do you get any money or help for it. A lot of people have many barriers to getting a diagnosis, especially if they are autistic.
Was I not autistic in the years before I got an official diagnosis?
I think self diagnosis is valid personally.

My DS (16) is very popular. He can be blunt, argumentative and tactless as fuck at times but he is also funny, loyal and charming. He has lots of friends, both girls and boys. He has a diagnosis of ASD.

@Branleuse Because some of those people go around talking about autism and it's "gifts" and calling anyone who disagrees that autism isn't totally wonderful and awesome a self hating autistic. They then accuse those of us who have a diagnosis of being abelist and acting as a gatekeeper when we point out that they're pontificating on a disorder they may not even have. Ditto when we point out that anyone can diagnose themselves with anything, doesn't mean they have it though.

When you have these self diagnosed adults (who declare an actual diagnosis is unnecessary) who have jobs, relationships and a life in general - going around saying autism isn't a disability and is a special gift, imagine how that makes an actual autistic person feel who can't do any of that. But hey they're a bit quirky and socially awkward, so they must be autistic right? 😡 It's like the "must cause clinically significant impairment" part just doesn't exist. Instead autism is being rewritten by self diagnosers as just being a quirky misfit.
That and people using it as an excuse to act like an asshole. Those are some of the reasons why i have a problem with self diagnosis.

@JayMeyer

That’s the most accurate explanation I’ve read for how some of the self diagnosed people behave. They can cause a lot of pain for actual autistic people.

Well said @JayMeyer

Whoops just released the tag autocorrected on my previous post. @JanMeyer

And mine @JanMeyer