Hi I'm new here (63 undiag)

Post Reply New Topic

Being undiagnosed myself and knowing i was different,i started questioning 4yrs ago if i 'had' Aspergers.

There after,i paid little attention to a 'label',seeing i live on the wrong planet haha,in a capitalist,greedy,corrupt system.

The system is wrong,not me or others who think differently.

I think adults are hard to diagnose,as they have managed to get by in life with there many masks.

Some have managed to hide and fit in quite well.

Some have unmasked and started evolve further,in more of a spiritual sense.

Everything happens for a reason,seek the truth and truth will free you.

There is no truth in western labels,beat life to your own drum.

Under-diagnosis of older people is a big issue that has not received anywhere near adequate attention.

About ten years ago, there was a big hullabaloo about the under-diagnosis of girls and (mostly relatively young) women. The psychotherapeutic establishment took note of said hullabaloo and made some corrections.

But, alas, there has not yet been sufficient hullabaloo about the under-diagnosis of older people. While it's easy to find lots and lots of articles online about the under-diagnosis of women and girls, I've found only a few articles online about the under-diagnosis of older people, despite this being a glaringly obvious problem. (Here is one of the very few.) Since it's a problem that's not being talked about very much, despite its glaring obviousness, I suspect that not much is being done about it, either.

Another problem: The under-diagnosis of girls and women was attributed to the greater tendency of girls and women to "mask." But there do exist some men who are good at masking too, and such men may well be under-diagnosed for the same reason.

If you ever choose to seek diagnosis again, make sure you find a practitioner who is aware of these issues and has experience dealing with older adults.

Hi Mona Pereth,

Yes I was well aware of these issues from Tony Attwood’s writings. I just hoped against hope that I would find differently. What I did get out of the process was seeing for myself how the diagnosis process is ill equipped to deal with a late 50 something male, successful in life (measured how?) and masking with ease. Girls learn fast, guys learn eventually.

How I feel is not what you see. I presume that is « masking ». I only found that word in here, the term I have always used is « hide ».

I remember that hullabaloo. Feels like ages ago now.
Where do the professions think we go after 18?
Do they think the spectrum only started when they invented it?
If they realise they only discovered it, where do they think all those previously on it might be? oh yes.. another planet!

Of course there is the idea we survived this far so we must be doing ok. I suppose there is some truth in that, for some. And anyway wait a while and we will all be gone, problem buried Sorry, solved. Time is a great healer....

I can’t think of any benefit to diagnosis now. I don’t need access to services I can’t already access if I wish. I really am no longer interested in learning how to spot NT facial tells etc. Body language is interesting. Useful too, I use it all the time, biDirectionally.

Eye contact.. still very hard. I just forget! Suggestions?

ElabR8 , I guess I agree, do tell the advantages please? Save me eventually figuring out how to describe them. For now I feel it, but can’t write it.



Anton

Hello.

Hi MG, how you doin’ ? Anton

icecreamcart,

Look back in life and all of what you have achieved without a diagnosis.

In my case as an example,i have fitted in quite well in many situations,where many would have crumbled.

IE:Drug addiction for quite some years and all that goes with it,such as countless court appearances,community orders,weekend detention,some jail time etc.

Throw in some bashings and an attempt on my life where i was stabbed,which btw was a blessing in disguise and helped turn my life around.

All the above has given me strength and a stronger will.

It also had given me the drive,the tenacity,to be goal driven and to be more financially independent and less reliant on this corrupt system.

Hence,i now reside in a small country town,mortgage free,retired and free from being a slave to this system.

I could have been diagnosed early on in life and be resigned to labeling myself disabled,instead,i wore many hats to achieve my goal.

I love being me,just me,without a label.

There is a gift,a silver lining,a lesson to be learnt,behind any experience,good or bad.

Think how your life would have been with a diagnosis earlier on in life.

Look at your strengths and what you've achieved from masking.

Etc etc.

ElabR8 , that’s one hell of a life story (unfinished!). Makes me very grateful for the life I have had. Thank you very much indeed, I will be reading your words many times.
Anton

I am fine. Somehow going through storms of life, but I am surviving. You doing ok?

Yes thanks. Had some fun trying to figure out which coastal town fits your description. Wondering of only nice sandy beaches count or are stoney ones accepted? Also do you mean plural castles or just one as that’s a big clue.

I think this would apply to self-diagnosed also. I just started reading "Very Late Diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome (ASD)". It looks promising. One could skip the professional diagnosis portions and focus on impact. Do you consider yourself undiagnosed or self-diagnosed? Perhaps transitioning? (not that I really know the terminology, but I can pretend; I'm new to this myself as of this summer).

hi Sharon, I have no idea the difference.
googling that book now..
I am hoping talking to other like minded might be useful.. not sure yet.
anton

A few castles in the area here and a few sandy beaches, harbours and one or two stoney beaches.

hi MG, ok that could be Welsh

I like the mico climate often found that side of the mountains.

One side sunny, the other side being dark.

the dark side eh? I hope you are sunny side up.

Half and half here.