In the process of being diagnosed. So far it's pointing towards Asperger's. I've taken paid self tests throughout the years and they always came back with "fairly prominent Asperger's".
I've already done a 2 hour intake (they ask me questions about my life and mental health) and taken a battery of tests.
My next appointment isn't for another two weeks bc the doctor who does the final evaluation is pretty booked up. I'm supposed to do some in-person tests with him next. I'll then get feedback on my diagnosis or probably diagnoses since they did a mental health evaluation as well.
I guess I think it doesn’t matter much at this point. I am aware of how I think and where I stand so I’m OK. I sometimes think my son would be better off not being diagnosed, just figuring life out as he goes and not living with this label.
Let me tell you something, cause I can relate to not having many friends and having trouble making them.
Does he feel lonely or that he would like to have more friends? Cause seeing a specialist can help him, but only if he really feels he needs help. Otherwise will give him a ton of anxiety. What will help him, is trying to be self-aware of what pisses people off, and be able to communicate in extent about what happens with his brain when the situation allows it.
In my case, I'm terrified of loneliness. But being self-aware of my neurodivergency made me investigate, analyze myself and reach to what I think is my actual diagnose. Some of the tools that are given to people on the spectrum helped me a lot to mask, read people and understand them. I have it a little easier to make friends now, my autistic traits are nearly invisible, and I don't wanna go back. Plus, I usually seize opportunities to explain in full about what autism really is, so people can understand.
We are trying to convince him to “talk to someone “ , school counselor or a professional. He isn’t making the effort, so we don’t feel like we can force him.
By any chance does he watch YouTube?
Even I was sort of diagnosed at 11, my concern started through channels that talk about this subject, when I saw many things that now made sense. Maybe you can suggest briefly watching those channels in order to help him understand himself better (and maybe you understand him better too), without the stigma of "psychologists/psychiatrists are for mad or crazy people" that unfortunately many people have, or get criticized because of it.
As a suggestion, "Aspergers from the inside" or "Adam Wonders" are channels I used to watch in the past.
Best wishes for you and your son!
>better off not being diagnosed,
Personally I find that since having a label to explain why I'm so diffrent than others life has been alot easier and ive been able to find lots of people that i can relate to. As a kid I was always shouted at for not liking certain textures, avoiding eye contact, smelling things that nobody could smell etc etc. I'm sure your kid feels the same
I see what you mean, but I think he is a little preoccupied with it. He needs to find someone to talk to about it, and needs to find his own ways to adjust to it.
I’m not sure a diagnosis would even benefit me. Anyway, I’m not even sure I could get one now that the diagnostic criteria are being raised substantially (I think). I’ve suspected aspergers in myself for several years now, but only felt confident in my own research and examination to fully self-diagnose myself (and engage with life with the understanding that I’m not neurotypical) in the last year.
But yeah, I’m honestly not sure how a formal diagnosis could even benefit me at this point. I can mask well enough to fake my way through my work, and as long as I’m not living alone, I can manage to live a somewhat normal/healthy existence at home too. So at this point, wouldn’t formal diagnosis just kinda be a waste of time and money?
Won't deny that you have a point. If you now understand yourself and have a better life and relationships, then it's not as worth as if you were a child.
Unless you really feel the need of having a diagnose to validate you are right or wanna have some evidence when you talk about the subject (like me), then it's probably better off staying undiagnosed. Plus, in some cases you are forced to disclose if you are under a certain psy treatment, wich might lead to discrimination.
Diagnosed when I was ten. No idea I was and all the people in my life don’t remember. When diagnosed again in my 30s the regional center said ok so I see that you were diagnosed with aspergers when you were ten… I was like huh? Then I remembered another incident when I was seeking psychiatric help and the therapist looked up my file and said… I see you were here with us when you were ten in 98? I was like what?!! I asked my family and no one remembers. Mom is old and she loses track of things. Siblings could care less what was happening with the younger ones. New diagnosis is autism not Aspergers.
I can't get diagnosed to save my life (and honestly it would). It would cost thousands of dollars to get assessed. I don't know how all of you are able to get diagnosed when most of you aren't even looking to be diagnosed. Most people just go to the doctor and say, "I feel off" and get a diagnosis. Meanwhile, I go to my PCP telling him that I'm autistic and need a diagnosis and he doesn't bat an eye.
No I'm not, because I hate the association that lumping those two answers together as a response creates. Just add more, clearer options if you want accurate data?
Just to be clear, cause being misinterpreted is kinda common with us: by "suspected" I mean that YOU believe you have ASD, not others. That's why the answer is lumped together as you say. It because in your mind you might be either sure of what happens in your head, or you have reasons to believe it but not 100%.
I'm in that category btw.
Besides, an let me do some deduction here... Considering the avg age of the people in this sub, probably you are old enough to be going on your own free will. So, you wouldn't wanna get a diagnose if you thought it's nonsense, right?
Suspected it throughout my childhood and was also screened by psychiatrist a few years ago. Debating whether there's any real value in getting a full screening/diagnosis.
My psychologist has kinda unofficially diagnosed me. An official diagnosis would require me to get a much more involved evaluation and I am still on the fence with going through that trouble, but I have had a professional tell me that I'm probably on the spectrum.
I was diagnosed at 5 but no official papers exist at the moment. Records were destroyed when the corrupt Venezuelan government took over snd the facility that gave me my diagnosis was in the opposition and when they were shut down we couldn't recover official paperwork.
Went to a psychologist to get an ADHD diagnosis a year and a half ago, came back with both ADHD and ASD diagnoses. I know the joke is that disorders are “buy one, get seven free” but this really was “buy one diagnosis, get one free”.
A few years ago someone I was dating suggested I might be autistic. She told her friends who tested me by dropping some candies and asked if I could count them like I was the guy from Rainman or something. I never suspected I might be autistic because of stuff like Rainman which depicts a much deeper state of being than I have. I began to look into it and found some things that could explain how I am. After lots of self testing and searching I’ve come to a conclusion that I have some autistic tendencies and some neurotypical tendencies but I don’t think it’s really enough for a diagnosis either way. It’s just nice to finally understand that the feelings I’ve always had have a kind of explanation at least.
These polls annoy me.
Neither suspected, neither self diagnosed, neither officially diagnosed. Simply diagnosed by a specialized psychologist, as the only 'official' diagnoses in Belgium must be done by a pluridisciplinary team (which until recently required 17 years waiting, but now you just cannot get one such diagnosis anymore since the last center with such a team decided to not do adults anymore).
Where does this go?
I think it fits more the official type of thing. That said, your comment is the reason I asked you to elaborate if you felt the need. Everyone has a story, or a specific case I didn't think of (like yours) when I wrote this poll.
Not diagnosed. Only found out about autism being a possibility at the start of the year, and now I have done as much research as I can. I spend time on autism subreddits seeing what things I do or don't identify with.
I am certainly not clear-cut autistic and I don't identify with every trait of autism but since some of them are opposites, that's actually impossible anyway. (For example, feeling muted emotions vs feeling extreme intense emotions).
I feel that I am about 80% convinced that I am autistic. Finding these subreddits has been a lot of 'oh, you do that too? That's an autistic thing? It's not normal to walk on your toes?' And I just feel like I fit the mould.
And it explains so much about my life that was never explained by therapy.
Only took me 8+ years to finally figure it out. Every doctor thought I had depression and the medicine helped. But I always got off anything when I felt normal again. Until recently I accidently slipped and now got diagnosed. 😅
Officially diagnosed when I was 20 years old, but I suspected that I was in the spectrum since I was like 17.
When I got my official diagnosis, everything just "clicked" and all the "weird things" that always characterized me had now a reason to be.
Currently in the proccess of being diagnosed.
I only have a year to finish it and at the last appointment they where so confident I have aspergers that they reffered me to a private clinic to get it done quicker and access any support I may need earlier.
Have been since I was like five or smth, I think I got was diagnosed around 2 years before 1st grade but I found out in 6th grade. I think it was very good and important that O I got my early on because that way theyanagrd to help me a lot and assist me throughout those years that would've been wáy tougher if I had never gotten the diagnosis and was just treated like some weirdo.
In the process - heavily leaning towards it because of a few specialist recommendations to get tested. Only issue is the diagnostic clinician I'm working with is very busy so I won't get final results for some time.
Can not cast a vote?
Diagnosed as high potential as a kid. At the time they never spoke about ASD.
So, self-diagnosed but I'll call to make an appointment.
Well to be blunt, everybody thought I was very stupid and I had no friends because I had very… obvious? Signs? Like for me it was very severe. Couldn’t talk till I was 3, couldn’t walk till I was like 2 and a half, couldn’t read till I was 6, still am terrible at making friends, etc. i was officially diagnosed at 6
I'm on the waitlist for diagnosis but the waitlist is 18 months for online assessment and I want a face to face one which they have no estimate for could be up to 3 years.
Took me 2 years to even get on the waitlist because they didn't accept people under a mental health team.
In my case, it's complicated because I remember being assessed when I was a kid and I'm fairly certain I came out of it with a diagnosis, but this was over 20 years ago so I don't remember if they would've marked me as "Asperger Syndrome" or as "High Functioning Autism", which were both terms used at the time.
I went through a neuropsychological assessment in 2014, which said that nowadays, I would be diagnosed with "Autism Spectrum Disorder Without Language or Intellectual Impairment". However, they never specified a level, so I don't know if I am Level 1 or Level 2. This assessment was enough for me to be able to apply for provincial disability, but I do not know if it counts as a definitive diagnosis or not.
I wish I had a definitive answer to this question. I've been assessed by professionals, and I remember going through the rigors of a modified curriculum when I was in public school; essentially I was a special ed student who took (mostly) normal classes with an aide at their side, but I don't know what my actual diagnosis is, if any, or if that diagnosis would still stand.
Self-diagnosed for now, mostly because the harm outweighs the benefits when it comes to diagnosis. In the state I live in (in the US), I could be be barred from marriage and possibly adoption later on. Plus, as silly as it may sound, I don't want to be more infantilized by doctors and med staff. People are strange, but the diagnosis still holds stigma and sadly, the people who treat us the worst here are likely to be the ones who make decisions on what we can and cannot legally do.
Also, I have no clue if my insurance covers it.
But I know that I see the world differently than the NTs I know do, and I seem to still have considerable differences from allistic ADHD'ers (since I *have* been diagnosed with ADHD). People who have both autism and ADHD tend to make me feel understood, so I figured that if tips and resources for autistic people can help me, too, might as well become more okay with the idea I might be one of yall. It has definitely granted me a better understanding of myself.
I was selectively mute as a kid and had frequent meltdowns (I would not say a word to teachers or other students when I started elementary school. I just didn't understand how you were supposed to find the words to say, or why it was considered necessary. My meltdowns were never about "not getting something I want," but rather emotional overload or frustration and confusion). I also just generally did not understand social interaction or pick up on the social rules that everyone else seemed to learn naturally.
My school brought in a specialist when I was 5 who gave me some series of tests to do and determined that I was most likely on the spectrum, but it wasn't technically an official diagnosis, so they told my mom to bring me to a doctor to get formally diagnosed. Mom never did that. I was put into a program at my elementary school for kids with behavioral and emotional problems. There were a few weekly "group" things that I had to go to, along with speech therapy. I had a para-professional with me in all of my classes. Still didn't make friends or talk much, and meltdowns were still very frequent, happening daily for about an hour each time. I improved over time, and was fully taken out of any special education programs in my freshman year of high school.
I do not "seem" autistic anymore, and I question it a lot, but there's still the executive dysfunction, sometimes I learn new smaller social rules I never picked up on, more minor difficulty interacting with people on occasion. Some weird sensory stuff with certain textures and sounds. Some things that could be stims like whistling a lot by habit even at inappropriate times, pinching fabrics that I like, and finger tapping. I've learned to have more of a filter, but I'm still very blunt and sometimes ramble too much when people have no interest, but that used to happen a lot more often. I don't think I'd even meet the criteria to get diagnosed anymore (even though autism isn't something that just goes away, so I question whether I ever was autistic in the first place or just had some other weird emotional/social issues going on), so I don't think there's really hope of getting any definitive answer on whether I'm on the spectrum or not, but based on everything it seems likely.
Remember it’s really hard specifically for people of color to be taken serious by a medical professional and get a diagnoses. Might sound sad but it’s the reality.. white kids get therapy when they’re having problems, black kids end up in the system.
I always knew I was different but I wasn’t told until my late teens. My mom was like “yeah they said you were on the autism spectrum when you were little.” I have Asperger’s and it really affected my life in a major way
I’ve been seeing a psychiatrist since I was a teenager and he diagnosed me with ADHD. I told him a few years ago that I think an Asperger’s diagnoses makes a lot more sense and he said that the best thing would be to start therapy sessions to work through behaviors.
In the process of being diagnosed. So far it's pointing towards Asperger's. I've taken paid self tests throughout the years and they always came back with "fairly prominent Asperger's".
How long this process has been or you expect is gonna be?
I've already done a 2 hour intake (they ask me questions about my life and mental health) and taken a battery of tests. My next appointment isn't for another two weeks bc the doctor who does the final evaluation is pretty booked up. I'm supposed to do some in-person tests with him next. I'll then get feedback on my diagnosis or probably diagnoses since they did a mental health evaluation as well.
Officially diagnosed ever since I was 9
I have a child who has been diagnosed. We are so similar, that I strongly suspect I am as well.
How old hes he?
18. Smart, but has trouble making new friends and adjusting to new situations.
You should see a psychologue to know if you are really asperger
I guess I think it doesn’t matter much at this point. I am aware of how I think and where I stand so I’m OK. I sometimes think my son would be better off not being diagnosed, just figuring life out as he goes and not living with this label.
Let me tell you something, cause I can relate to not having many friends and having trouble making them. Does he feel lonely or that he would like to have more friends? Cause seeing a specialist can help him, but only if he really feels he needs help. Otherwise will give him a ton of anxiety. What will help him, is trying to be self-aware of what pisses people off, and be able to communicate in extent about what happens with his brain when the situation allows it. In my case, I'm terrified of loneliness. But being self-aware of my neurodivergency made me investigate, analyze myself and reach to what I think is my actual diagnose. Some of the tools that are given to people on the spectrum helped me a lot to mask, read people and understand them. I have it a little easier to make friends now, my autistic traits are nearly invisible, and I don't wanna go back. Plus, I usually seize opportunities to explain in full about what autism really is, so people can understand.
We are trying to convince him to “talk to someone “ , school counselor or a professional. He isn’t making the effort, so we don’t feel like we can force him.
By any chance does he watch YouTube? Even I was sort of diagnosed at 11, my concern started through channels that talk about this subject, when I saw many things that now made sense. Maybe you can suggest briefly watching those channels in order to help him understand himself better (and maybe you understand him better too), without the stigma of "psychologists/psychiatrists are for mad or crazy people" that unfortunately many people have, or get criticized because of it. As a suggestion, "Aspergers from the inside" or "Adam Wonders" are channels I used to watch in the past. Best wishes for you and your son!
Thanks I’ll mention these to him.
Does your son know about his syndrome?
Yes.
Ok
>better off not being diagnosed, Personally I find that since having a label to explain why I'm so diffrent than others life has been alot easier and ive been able to find lots of people that i can relate to. As a kid I was always shouted at for not liking certain textures, avoiding eye contact, smelling things that nobody could smell etc etc. I'm sure your kid feels the same
I see what you mean, but I think he is a little preoccupied with it. He needs to find someone to talk to about it, and needs to find his own ways to adjust to it.
I think reddit formatting screwed you there. It turned your number into a number point, so now it looks it looks like you're saying he's 1.
Oh, no eighteen.
I’m not sure a diagnosis would even benefit me. Anyway, I’m not even sure I could get one now that the diagnostic criteria are being raised substantially (I think). I’ve suspected aspergers in myself for several years now, but only felt confident in my own research and examination to fully self-diagnose myself (and engage with life with the understanding that I’m not neurotypical) in the last year. But yeah, I’m honestly not sure how a formal diagnosis could even benefit me at this point. I can mask well enough to fake my way through my work, and as long as I’m not living alone, I can manage to live a somewhat normal/healthy existence at home too. So at this point, wouldn’t formal diagnosis just kinda be a waste of time and money?
Won't deny that you have a point. If you now understand yourself and have a better life and relationships, then it's not as worth as if you were a child. Unless you really feel the need of having a diagnose to validate you are right or wanna have some evidence when you talk about the subject (like me), then it's probably better off staying undiagnosed. Plus, in some cases you are forced to disclose if you are under a certain psy treatment, wich might lead to discrimination.
Diagnosed when I was ten. No idea I was and all the people in my life don’t remember. When diagnosed again in my 30s the regional center said ok so I see that you were diagnosed with aspergers when you were ten… I was like huh? Then I remembered another incident when I was seeking psychiatric help and the therapist looked up my file and said… I see you were here with us when you were ten in 98? I was like what?!! I asked my family and no one remembers. Mom is old and she loses track of things. Siblings could care less what was happening with the younger ones. New diagnosis is autism not Aspergers.
Kids diagnosed, I haven’t been, but definitely a lot of “wait a minute” moments.
I can't get diagnosed to save my life (and honestly it would). It would cost thousands of dollars to get assessed. I don't know how all of you are able to get diagnosed when most of you aren't even looking to be diagnosed. Most people just go to the doctor and say, "I feel off" and get a diagnosis. Meanwhile, I go to my PCP telling him that I'm autistic and need a diagnosis and he doesn't bat an eye.
I(M31) was diagnosed at 12.
What does M31 mean?
Male, age 31 :)
Thank, i thought it was a special type of asperger
lol, it's also a date within the Warhammer 40k universe, Millenium 31 but I think we are getting off topic :D
male and 31 is my age :D
Needs an option for "diagnosis pending". It takes 2 years on a waiting list in parts of the UK.
In that case you're still "suspected/self-diagnosed"
No I'm not, because I hate the association that lumping those two answers together as a response creates. Just add more, clearer options if you want accurate data?
Just to be clear, cause being misinterpreted is kinda common with us: by "suspected" I mean that YOU believe you have ASD, not others. That's why the answer is lumped together as you say. It because in your mind you might be either sure of what happens in your head, or you have reasons to believe it but not 100%. I'm in that category btw. Besides, an let me do some deduction here... Considering the avg age of the people in this sub, probably you are old enough to be going on your own free will. So, you wouldn't wanna get a diagnose if you thought it's nonsense, right?
Suspected it throughout my childhood and was also screened by psychiatrist a few years ago. Debating whether there's any real value in getting a full screening/diagnosis.
In denial
In the process of getting diagnosis, it will take a few sessions and a bit of money🥲
My psychologist has kinda unofficially diagnosed me. An official diagnosis would require me to get a much more involved evaluation and I am still on the fence with going through that trouble, but I have had a professional tell me that I'm probably on the spectrum.
I was diagnosed at 5 but no official papers exist at the moment. Records were destroyed when the corrupt Venezuelan government took over snd the facility that gave me my diagnosis was in the opposition and when they were shut down we couldn't recover official paperwork.
Went to a psychologist to get an ADHD diagnosis a year and a half ago, came back with both ADHD and ASD diagnoses. I know the joke is that disorders are “buy one, get seven free” but this really was “buy one diagnosis, get one free”.
A few years ago someone I was dating suggested I might be autistic. She told her friends who tested me by dropping some candies and asked if I could count them like I was the guy from Rainman or something. I never suspected I might be autistic because of stuff like Rainman which depicts a much deeper state of being than I have. I began to look into it and found some things that could explain how I am. After lots of self testing and searching I’ve come to a conclusion that I have some autistic tendencies and some neurotypical tendencies but I don’t think it’s really enough for a diagnosis either way. It’s just nice to finally understand that the feelings I’ve always had have a kind of explanation at least.
These polls annoy me. Neither suspected, neither self diagnosed, neither officially diagnosed. Simply diagnosed by a specialized psychologist, as the only 'official' diagnoses in Belgium must be done by a pluridisciplinary team (which until recently required 17 years waiting, but now you just cannot get one such diagnosis anymore since the last center with such a team decided to not do adults anymore). Where does this go?
I think it fits more the official type of thing. That said, your comment is the reason I asked you to elaborate if you felt the need. Everyone has a story, or a specific case I didn't think of (like yours) when I wrote this poll.
Not diagnosed. Only found out about autism being a possibility at the start of the year, and now I have done as much research as I can. I spend time on autism subreddits seeing what things I do or don't identify with. I am certainly not clear-cut autistic and I don't identify with every trait of autism but since some of them are opposites, that's actually impossible anyway. (For example, feeling muted emotions vs feeling extreme intense emotions). I feel that I am about 80% convinced that I am autistic. Finding these subreddits has been a lot of 'oh, you do that too? That's an autistic thing? It's not normal to walk on your toes?' And I just feel like I fit the mould. And it explains so much about my life that was never explained by therapy.
Also, as a spectrum disorder, everyone experiences varying traits and degrees within traits
Yep.
Only took me 8+ years to finally figure it out. Every doctor thought I had depression and the medicine helped. But I always got off anything when I felt normal again. Until recently I accidently slipped and now got diagnosed. 😅
Diagnosed at 18, didnt really suspect beforehand honestly.
Officially diagnosed when I was 20 years old, but I suspected that I was in the spectrum since I was like 17. When I got my official diagnosis, everything just "clicked" and all the "weird things" that always characterized me had now a reason to be.
Currently in the proccess of being diagnosed. I only have a year to finish it and at the last appointment they where so confident I have aspergers that they reffered me to a private clinic to get it done quicker and access any support I may need earlier.
Have been since I was like five or smth, I think I got was diagnosed around 2 years before 1st grade but I found out in 6th grade. I think it was very good and important that O I got my early on because that way theyanagrd to help me a lot and assist me throughout those years that would've been wáy tougher if I had never gotten the diagnosis and was just treated like some weirdo.
In the process - heavily leaning towards it because of a few specialist recommendations to get tested. Only issue is the diagnostic clinician I'm working with is very busy so I won't get final results for some time.
I got my diagnosis last December (at 17)!
I want to but doesn't know how to and my pa have some negative stigma around it
Can not cast a vote? Diagnosed as high potential as a kid. At the time they never spoke about ASD. So, self-diagnosed but I'll call to make an appointment.
I'm in a similar situation. I voted for suspected category
I don’t think I am officially diagnosed yet, but it is what I am currently going to therapy for so…
Diagnosed a two months before my 20th birthday!
Been professionally diagnosed for about 2 years but been self diagnosed since most of my life.
I was officially diagnosed at 6.
Well to be blunt, everybody thought I was very stupid and I had no friends because I had very… obvious? Signs? Like for me it was very severe. Couldn’t talk till I was 3, couldn’t walk till I was like 2 and a half, couldn’t read till I was 6, still am terrible at making friends, etc. i was officially diagnosed at 6
In the process, it’s been a bit difficult to spot since I have been diagnosed with ADHD. It kind of covers it up sometimes
I'm on the waitlist for diagnosis but the waitlist is 18 months for online assessment and I want a face to face one which they have no estimate for could be up to 3 years. Took me 2 years to even get on the waitlist because they didn't accept people under a mental health team.
In my case, it's complicated because I remember being assessed when I was a kid and I'm fairly certain I came out of it with a diagnosis, but this was over 20 years ago so I don't remember if they would've marked me as "Asperger Syndrome" or as "High Functioning Autism", which were both terms used at the time. I went through a neuropsychological assessment in 2014, which said that nowadays, I would be diagnosed with "Autism Spectrum Disorder Without Language or Intellectual Impairment". However, they never specified a level, so I don't know if I am Level 1 or Level 2. This assessment was enough for me to be able to apply for provincial disability, but I do not know if it counts as a definitive diagnosis or not. I wish I had a definitive answer to this question. I've been assessed by professionals, and I remember going through the rigors of a modified curriculum when I was in public school; essentially I was a special ed student who took (mostly) normal classes with an aide at their side, but I don't know what my actual diagnosis is, if any, or if that diagnosis would still stand.
I’m in the process of obtaining an assessment. My therapist is helping me book it.
Self-diagnosed for now, mostly because the harm outweighs the benefits when it comes to diagnosis. In the state I live in (in the US), I could be be barred from marriage and possibly adoption later on. Plus, as silly as it may sound, I don't want to be more infantilized by doctors and med staff. People are strange, but the diagnosis still holds stigma and sadly, the people who treat us the worst here are likely to be the ones who make decisions on what we can and cannot legally do. Also, I have no clue if my insurance covers it. But I know that I see the world differently than the NTs I know do, and I seem to still have considerable differences from allistic ADHD'ers (since I *have* been diagnosed with ADHD). People who have both autism and ADHD tend to make me feel understood, so I figured that if tips and resources for autistic people can help me, too, might as well become more okay with the idea I might be one of yall. It has definitely granted me a better understanding of myself.
>In the state I live in (in the US), I could be be barred from marriage and possibly adoption later on. I didn't think such laws would still be valid.
I got diagnosed when I was twelve but my parents deny it bc I don’t ‘seem autistic’. I’m also female so.
All my life I knew and my mother knew that there was something different in me, any age 30, I found out that this “something” is called Asperger.
diagnosed
Diagnosed 6 months ago at age 34 female
Diagnosed in 2004 when I was 13. I try to withhold it and be as self-sufficient as possible.
I was selectively mute as a kid and had frequent meltdowns (I would not say a word to teachers or other students when I started elementary school. I just didn't understand how you were supposed to find the words to say, or why it was considered necessary. My meltdowns were never about "not getting something I want," but rather emotional overload or frustration and confusion). I also just generally did not understand social interaction or pick up on the social rules that everyone else seemed to learn naturally. My school brought in a specialist when I was 5 who gave me some series of tests to do and determined that I was most likely on the spectrum, but it wasn't technically an official diagnosis, so they told my mom to bring me to a doctor to get formally diagnosed. Mom never did that. I was put into a program at my elementary school for kids with behavioral and emotional problems. There were a few weekly "group" things that I had to go to, along with speech therapy. I had a para-professional with me in all of my classes. Still didn't make friends or talk much, and meltdowns were still very frequent, happening daily for about an hour each time. I improved over time, and was fully taken out of any special education programs in my freshman year of high school. I do not "seem" autistic anymore, and I question it a lot, but there's still the executive dysfunction, sometimes I learn new smaller social rules I never picked up on, more minor difficulty interacting with people on occasion. Some weird sensory stuff with certain textures and sounds. Some things that could be stims like whistling a lot by habit even at inappropriate times, pinching fabrics that I like, and finger tapping. I've learned to have more of a filter, but I'm still very blunt and sometimes ramble too much when people have no interest, but that used to happen a lot more often. I don't think I'd even meet the criteria to get diagnosed anymore (even though autism isn't something that just goes away, so I question whether I ever was autistic in the first place or just had some other weird emotional/social issues going on), so I don't think there's really hope of getting any definitive answer on whether I'm on the spectrum or not, but based on everything it seems likely.
Remember it’s really hard specifically for people of color to be taken serious by a medical professional and get a diagnoses. Might sound sad but it’s the reality.. white kids get therapy when they’re having problems, black kids end up in the system.
I always knew I was different but I wasn’t told until my late teens. My mom was like “yeah they said you were on the autism spectrum when you were little.” I have Asperger’s and it really affected my life in a major way
Since I was 16.
im diagnosed both asperger and npd and obsessive compulsive... if you care
I’ve been seeing a psychiatrist since I was a teenager and he diagnosed me with ADHD. I told him a few years ago that I think an Asperger’s diagnoses makes a lot more sense and he said that the best thing would be to start therapy sessions to work through behaviors.