Well, in my parents' defense, they were completely unaware it existed for my entire childhood and were completely confused with my social problems (at one point I had begun completely isolating myself in my room and had no friends at all--and was terribly teased at school because of the obsessive and inability-to-read-social-cues parts of my disorder).
I wasn't diagnosed until I was 14 years old (2001) and I didn't even find out about it until I was 15 (2002). Although I did exhibit behavioral signs as a small child which my parents wrote off as being the result of an only child until it got seriously bad--like 'suicidal drop-out with no self-esteem' bad--to the point where I was put in an abusive tough love rehab in Mexico for 10 months called Casa By The Sea where I literally learned how to deal with people from scratch. When I got there, I'd cry if you touched my hair. That's how messed up I was. I was so distraught, the girls had to wash my hair in the shower for me. Unfortunately, there were some serious downsides to that place (they were shut down for abuse by the federali in 2004). I ended up getting pulled because I was getting tons of infections from poor health standards and because my parents got fed up with the brainwashing/seminars aspect of the program.
But one thing that did come of it was the ability to handle my Asperger's better (controlling myself in conversations--though it's still decidedly obvious what I have) and grow a very thick skin (though I can be accused of lacking social empathy in the 'real world', though I am a very emotional person with things I care about). I also went from being extremely naive and sheltered to knowing probably too much (most of the people there were there for everything from drug and sex addictions to eating disorders and people who had spent time in juvy... and even an Amish girl who had worn pants! We're talking the kind of teenagers who have had their teeth--the girl had dentures--and the inside of their noses rotted away by cocaine.). The other bonus was that I got so ahead in school that I was a 12th grader when I was 15 and read a lot of books (Les Misérables, The Lord of the Rings, Frankenstein, etc...). I pretty much memorized the Geography and World History textbooks out of boredom. Think teenage gulag where you march around in lines, get supervised 24/7 without privacy and have to ask permission to sit, stand, talk or get escorted to the bathroom.
Believe me. My Asperger's diagnosis wasn't frivolous.
The number of people that blame minor personality flaws on serious disorders that they don't know anything about/have only read simple checklists of symptoms and diagnosed themselves with is pretty staggering. No offence to anyone who actually has Asperger's Syndrome, but most people who claim to have it probably don't (I know plenty of people who have actually been diagnosed with it). Social Anxiety Disorder is another one people like to blame their problems on. Shyness != Social Anxiety Disorder. I actually have it, proper diagnosis and all, and it's far more than shyness. It's more like irrational fears about being judged/expressing yourself/your appearance/your social mannerisms.
