I am wondering if a person I know is an adult with Asperger's Syndrome. He has some but not all of the listed characteristics--outbursts where he expects the listener to know what he's been thinking, hypersensitivity to sound and smell, self-injurious behavior such as picking his nose and his scabs and small wounds and then eating what he finds, inflexibility in his routine, especially if his things are touched or moved, lecturing at rather than speaking to people, not realizing how large he is and invading personal space. It is difficult to tell whether this is an extremely selfish and self-absorbed person or one with a mental disorder.

RubyPitbull

It is hard for anyone online to diagnose what you are asking without actually being able to meet and test this person.

However, from your description (very good by the way) this is not simply a selfish, self-absorbed person.

What you have described is someone with some sort of disorder. As to what exactly it may be, well, it could very well be Asberger's. Asberger's is like autism only in that very few people with these diseases act/react exactly the same. Yes, there are baseline tests that are done for it to be diagnosed as such. Hard to say on this one, but there does seem to be a disorder.

So, as annoying as this person may be, unless you are in a position to get him tested, please try to be kind. If it annoys you (which I can understand from some of the things you are saying he does), try to distance yourself as much as is possible. If this is a work related issue, keep everything on a business level and when he starts picking his nose, if he starts lecturing or yelling, even if he is in your workspace, get up and walk out. If he is standing too close, move completely out of the way. Try to put a desk between the two of you. I have worked with some people ( one that could be this guys brother!) and that is how I handled it.

Hope this helped.

simian

There isn't really a "test" for Asperger's. Regardless of whether he would actually meet the diagnostic criteria or not, it sounds like he has some issues with social skills. How (or if) you should say something really depends on your relationship with this person. If it is a friend or family member, you could probably say something or just give gentle (and sensitive) reminders when he is doing something inappropriate. But if it is a coworker, it is not personally your place to say something. Maybe in that case you could speak to someone in human resources about it.

RubyPitbull

Sorry Simian, my wording was a bit deceptive up there. You are right, There isn't a standardized test for either disorder -- I was trying to make a point that they both are not easy to diagnose.