Newly Diagnosed from Northern Ireland, Belfast

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Er um Hi, the forum caption suggests I do this.

My name is Kevin McLaughlin, I'm 29 from Belfast in the Uk. I love Movies all sorts, have quite alot, a dvd database and organised filing system for them. That includes anime, Studio Ghibli, comedies. I love vintage nintendo and have every system, excluding the virtual boy, which I hope to obtain some day. my big obsessions in gaming are the legend of Zelda series and Pokemon (no smart remarks that its for kids, it involves stats, collecting and strategy, 3 likes commonly associated with us). Love superheroes, have a huge teeshirt collection of them and due to that some personaly likeness, I am compared to Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory. I find that a compliment.

I have only recently been diagnosed as having ASD. I dont know what its like for other parts of the world but in Northern Ireland there is little to no services for people with ASD or a suspect diagnosis.
I had to fight for over a year and a half to start the process of the diagnosis successfully and it was only 2 months ago that I was finally diagnosed.
now, I'm trying to reformat my life to suit my own unique way of thinking instead of (what I believe) incorrectly assimilating into a society that seeks to change what cannot be changed about me.
I'm so much happy now, and its only now that I am beginning to appreciate my strengths and learning to deal with my percieved weaknesses.

Is there anyone else from N.I on this thing and if so, did they experience the process like I did?

I'm from NI and I was diagnosed AS on the NHS in mid-April this year, aged 44. That was after a failed attempt to get diagnosed over 2002-2003 and a preliminary consultation with a private autism specialist in April 2008 which was hopeful but I couldn't afford the full assessment privately.

There are some other NI members on here. Check out nothingunusual

Hi Kevin,
I am in England but spend a great deal of time over in Ireland (in the Republic though) and I know there are other WP people not too far from you too. And on one of the discussion boards I vaguely remember a discussion about arranging a AS meeting in your area.

The other thing you have in common here is you love of vintage arcade/computer games.

I hope you're getting the support you need in Belfast. Good luck and welcome to WP

Hi, I was diagnosed with AS NI in 2005 in Lisburn, which was a huge relief, I was serverely depressed and don't remember the process very well as my parents were involved because I had huge anxiety about telephone calls and leaving the house. I remember that they said the waiting list was long. My experience was of waiting and trying to cope with huge depression every day. I had locked myself in my room because of not knowing how to cope in society. I did not understand much about the services because of my limmited life expreience. I remember that my parents said that there was only one person who worked with people who had AS, I thought that meant that there was only one person in NI that understood it or wanted to help people like us. That was my mistake. Because of that I was suspicious of other professionals and did not trust them.

Its great to hear that new people have diagnosis and the services are still active. I was discharged recently and am working with other professionals now.

My interests are computer hardware and overclocking.

I have not been to Wrong planet in a long time.

and Kevin, It is important to remember that there new legislation place that should make life a whole lot easier than ever before. In case you've not head about this it's the Autism Act 2005. I don't know if this is of interest to you (or anyone else here at WP) but I am happy to tel, you more if you want.

Welcome greetings, Kevin, to the Wrong Planet forums.

I was glad to see people replying to this its not often I get replies to postings on websites. I'm not sure how to reply so, I'm going to do it in order.

Rarepegs, I was diagnosed through the NHS, I do know one other guy who was diagnosed before me, however his parents paid for it privately which I didn't believe was an option for me. I did a lot of the work and hunting down the correct people myself. Thankfully, its a well developed skill from work. My psychologists believes it to be one of my greater strengths. lol. I call it being persistent and not taking no for an answer.

Clovis. Thank you, as above I am getting support now from my psychologist. I have asked her to re-evaluate her technique as I believe she was approaching it from an angle that I previously had with other therapists that I found unsuccessful. Having said that I couldnt ask for a more understanding person. I've not been on here long so i would love to meet others like me from Belfast too, its hard walking around talking to work colleagues daily who dont get it. I'm actually more excited about the Game part, its a big interest to me and I've seen so many post regarding pokemon and vintage gaming. Its making me so excited and happy. I'm going to have to look into the Autism Act 2005, I believe that making things better for yourself is by arming yourself with as much knowledge as possible. That a lot of public ignorance can make it easier I find. So yes, I would love to know more about it.

Sparkman, I feel the pain of your case because during the time of 1 and half years on waiting for the process to begin, I felt just as you did. I live alone, and had little support or understanding from anyone. Even the parent information portion of the assessment process was difficult because my parents refused to help, however my granparents filled in the gaps for that as I lived with them for quite a long time. I didnt leave the house for 3 months during the time and was off work, thankfully they supported me and still do through this process. Be persistent and keep up the work with your professionals, and I hope your life will improve. Also, I mod consoles too, I am planning on overclocking my snes processor to run at NTSC speeds, and with a switch but just havent got round to yet.

Jetlag, thank you for welcome and thank you all again for the messages.

Dont forget I have an inbox here and would to chat to people with AS here.

Kevin

Hi Kevin,

I don't think there's any particular right or wrong way to respond here on WP. What you've said here is just fine as it enables others to contribute or correct any errors - few if any of us are experts. What I know is what I have leaner over the last year or so.

Having the Autism Act in force (only fully in force from next yr.) is a major benefit, but with the lack of funding and suitably trained experts, it remains true that you need to work hard to get the help you need. Not all psychologists of psychiatrists are properly trained in this area.

I am not sure what tests are relied on, but they are all easy to find on line. You can take the test and obtain the result and pass these to your GP who should then refer you to 'someone'.

As far as I am aware these are the tests to 'google': AQ test EQ (or EQSQ?)test and ADOS (module 4).

I can provide you with some additional inform via a PM if you wish, I can even let you see the letter I prepared that finally got me to see the right person . Let me know if you'd like more from me, OK?

I think I have perhaps misinformed you. I am fully diagnosed now, I've been through all of the assessments and tests. So I'm a Diploma carrying Aspie, I refer to my letter of confirmation. I'm thinking of having it framed for home.

OK ! thanks. Yes have framed 'certificate' would be a great idea. I should do the same

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Hi. Welcome to WP.

I'm off to Northern Ireland in two weeks (stopping in rural Lagan Valley) and visiting Belfast for the second time. Maybe we should meet up.

Welcome to WrongPlanet.

Soon I'll be relocating, permanently, to the UK (Glasgow) & good to know of others nearby from the Wrong Planet - Aspies are virtually an unknown species in Alaska, although Alaska is my beautiful orign. I am finding my academic home-base - to relocate later this summer.

Anyway, welcome to the Wrong Planet, angelik.

Glasgow is not far at all from Belfast - two hours away from Glasgow and then a ferry ride over to Belfast.

I can be in Belfast in 25 minutes on a plane.