New bloke here

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Hello everyone,

I'm Jan and came to this forum because of a psychologists' suggestion that I might have Asperger syndrome, two weeks ago. I'm 24 years old and currently study computer science, although not really active at school lately because of psychological problems - I have severe general anxiety and social phobia (that inhibition...) and some depression which is in my opinion dysthymia. Not wanting to make this a complete "here's my life" introductory, I'd still like to communicate some essentials as to how and why I'm here now.
I grew up in a loving and caring family with good surroundings and an environment to learn and develop. As a child, I have always felt different to most of the other kids but never really paid any attention to it since it felt like that's just how I was. I seemed to be able to make and sustain friendships and be happy (though already always somewhat anxious, very sensitive sensory, and an 'over-thinker' on area's where others seemed to succeed more naturally). My cognitive developments were normal so no reason for worry back then. It is only after high-school, at age 17, when going to university that my behaviors started to become more troublesome. I wouldn't go to classes and basically smoke weed and play computer games, habits still present. Distress over social situations and simply getting outdoors was becoming full-blown. This has led me through a yearlong path of school attendance and isolation, of living on my own - seemingly happy and spiritually weirdly uplifted (music.. a great inspiror), but at the same time deeply depressed and barely able to pay the bills - to living at my parents again .. currently going for a Bachelor's degree near home and in the 3rd year (the 'minor', AKA the 'google copy/paster' ...) and about to be a year delayed because of current half year's failure and open subjects from the second year. Because of these difficulties I finally went to see a psychologist two weeks ago. He overheard my story and said I definitely have social phobia, but that there was more underlying it; he (heavily?) suspects autism / Asperger (he seemed to prefer the latter definition [in my case?! I'm new to autism so forgive me any ignorance]). Since then I've been thinking about it, looking up information on Aspergers and I resonate clearly with the many video's, stories, and basically just mindset and life experiences / how the world is perceived, how we feel/do...
Anyway that was a hopefully short enough history. I'm here to learn about the subject and to ask you (whilst knowing you don't have the answer): DO I HAVE ASPERGERS because I can't wait for the autism/personality test early July lol.
Feel free to ask any questions, bye!

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Welcome!
There are many tests on the web that can give you an idea if you have AS or other ASD. Take a look to the AspieQuiz (look for it in Google, it's the first result)
Remember nothing replaces a proffessional test or consultation.

here's a very brief test based on the criteria docs use: www.iautistic.com/test_AS.php

welcome to WP.

Please bear in mind that the diagnostic criteria have changed (last month) and AS is no longer in the American diagnostic manual (DSM V) so even if you fit the AS presentation you will almost certainly get an ASD (autism spectrum disorder) diagnosis rather than AS. This makes no difference but can come as a bit of a shock to realise that there is no longer a clinical distinction between AS and autism.

I can assure you that your experience is not at all uncommon - AS was only beginning to be diagnosed around the time you were born and you fall into an age group where diagnosis was generally missed in those who could function more or less effectively in school due to the lack of clinical experience and understanding of AS as a presentation of autism. There are many young people who get to sixth form or university with no real support and then find the social and academic expectations change, independence becomes an issue and everything gets too much for them - the result is typically the development of mental health problems (to which people on the spectrum are unfortunately quite prone) which leads to a referral and subsequent recognition that there is an underlying cause...

The positive thing is that once you have diagnosis you may have access to specialist support through university which can supply you with mentoring, tutoring, equipment, social group, etc. The support will be focused on academic access but will include ASC (autism spectrum condition) awareness, social access and stress management if the university is any good.
In some universities this support is available on referral to diagnostic services (even though the DSA does not finance the support until diagnosis is confirmed) so it is well worth getting in touch with your disability/equality/inclusion services to see if they can offer you something for next year and to set up applying for funding as soon as you do have diagnosis - it depends on the university what level of support is available, some are better than others, but all should have something to offer. If you can get a specialist strategy tutor you will have someone to help you understand more about ASCs and yourself in relation to them which is what most students seem to find most useful in the early stages of discovering they are on the spectrum.

ASCs give you both strengths and weaknesses - if you like, your developmental balance is different from that of the general population and that causes problems but it also gives you strengths, like the ability to focus on details others miss. This is usually because you process your sensory information differently from most people - most people on the spectrum process for detail, building up a picture of the whole from the detail where those not on the spectrum tend to filter out the detail and process the general picture before looking for salient detail - it gives an entirely different perspective on the world, one that can be very interesting and useful. Unfortunately the inability to filter sensory data or to process it efficiently can cause people to become overwhelmed quite easily and for some people this means they can barely function or communicate at all while for others it makes the world a confusing and difficult place to be without support and understanding.

No one here can tell you whether or not you are on the spectrum, only a clinician can do that, but it is a very good place to ask questions and explore your ideas about yourself.

I prefer the aspie test rather than the clinical ones - if your psychologist has told you that you may be on the spectrum and made a referral then he is pretty sure you are so you'll get to do all the clinical stuff anyway and the aspie test gives you more of an idea about where your strengths and weaknesses are rather than indicating whether or not you meet diagnostic criteria which are actually pretty meaningless in terms of helping you understand yourself and develop strategies.