Hello all, I'm new here

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Hi,

I'm not 100% sure whether I have Asperger's or not, but I definitely have some of the traits associated with it.
It was never something that occurred to me as a possibility when I was growing up, but in retrospect it seems to fit.

I was talking to somebody who I know who has had a diagnosis of AS on Facebook sometime ago: and he said (rather undiplomatically, I thought, at the time) that in his opinion, I was "on the scale". I must confess that I probably didn't take it very well. I wasn't annoyed with him for suggesting it, so much as slightly horrified at the thought that I might not be "normal".

(Which is odd, really, because I've never set much store by being normal in the past. I very often make a point of pursuing my own interests and when I was younger held my own opinions even if my opinions were not popular amongst my peers. (I used the past tense there not because I think that that particular trait is something that has changed, but because it isn't really such an issue these days. I grew up in quite a bigoted environment, both at home and at school - my father is given to homophobic, racist & anti-semitic rants and my school was quite a homophobic environment - but as far as I can remember I had a strong sense that discrimination on the basis of race or sexuality was wrong.)

I put what my friend had said to me out of my mind for a while, as I tend to do with uncomfortable thoughts. I've been through a few things since then - periods of heavy drinking & depression - the former was a way that I had of nulling the effects of the latter. I suspect that the recurrent depression that I experience is connected to the difficulties that AS (if that is what I have) presents. And, of course, people with AS are given to repetition...

I was living away from home in a shared house with friends, but not doing a very good job of looking after myself. I was eating irregular meals, avoiding doing even a minimal amount of cleaning around the house, drinking heavily on a daily basis and missing lots of work. (The job that I had at the time was so understimulating and boring that I found it extremely difficult to cope with.) Eventually matters came to a head and I lost my job.

Since then, I've moved back home and am living under the same roof as my mother. It's been a bit tense here at times, but I think perhaps I made the right decision. When I was living away from home I felt I was trapped in a cycle that I would never be able to escape from. I've cut down on my drinking, but not given it up completely. I still enjoy having a few drinks from time to time, but I limit myself to about once a week. I've found that when I'm not drinking I don't really miss it too much as long as I can find something to do to keep myself occupied. After a period of being on employment & support allowance (formerly known as incapacity benefit, essentially) I've been moved back onto jobseeker's allowance (aka the dole) and am looking to move back into work, if possible.

So: what am I doing here? My aforementioned friend who mentioned to me that he thought I was probably 'on the scale' mentioned this site to me when we had that conversation.

Since then, I've been reflecting on things a bit. As much as I've sometimes tried to deny it, I think he had a point.
I was reading Free as in Freedom, a biography of Richard Stallman, the free software activist (it's available online - Google it, if interested). In the third chapter it touches on the subject of whether Stallman has AS : "During a 2000 profile for the Toronto Star, Stallman described himself to an interviewer as "borderline autistic," a description that goes a long way toward explaining a lifelong tendency toward social and emotional isolation and the equally lifelong effort to overcome it".

That sounded to me like a description of one of my own traits. Linked to from this chapter was this article: and linked to from that was a test.

I took the test. I scored quite highly. (I can't remember what my exact score was.) I had two thoughts:
(i) If Richard Stallman & a lot of people who work in Silicon Valley have AS, it's not difficult to see that it has its advantages in some areas. If so, I ought to make the most of it.
(ii) It must be possible to learn strategies for coping with the disadvantages of AS - difficulty reading social cues, etcetera - so that I can cope better with life.

With that in mind, I've (eventually) decided to start using this forum; hopefully I'll be able to find some helpful advice and kindred spirits here. Sorry if this post has been a bit rambling and incoherent!

Best regards to y'all,

David

Hi! David, My name is Rebecca & it took 39 years for me to the right diagnosis. I've been depressed most of my life, now realize it was because I couldn't cope socially. I was looking for a diagnosis for my son at the time & found that a neorologist made better sence than mental health ever did. I'd taken him there for years & they 1st said I "had over expectations for him" even though I have taken all the classes in early childhood & elementary Ed. (I wasn't interested in the general ed courses & exempted all my English classes). He was different at birth. In the hospital at 3 days old he growled at the nurses who kept checking his blood every few hours. He didn't cry but gave them really nasty looks & growled. By the time he was 8months old I asked the dr. if he thought my son could be autistic, because he only made eye contact with people who had on glasses, or were taking his picture (w/ a camera in front of there face). The dr. said because John, my son was already talking in 2/3 word sentences (which is really early!), that he wasn't autistic. 9 years later he agreed w/ the neorologist & also said he believed we both had it. He was also my mothers dr & after she died I asked if he thought she had it ; he said "Oh , yes I thought you already knew that". We have several family members that have gone in as adults and gotten diagnosed w/ it. I believe very strongly that much of it is genetic. But then there are lots of people think their kids were fine until they had baby shots.I've become quite "up" on Asperger's & autism- they are MY subjects of interest since I wanted to help my son be the best he could be & he is more severe than I am on the spectrum. & girls get by being excentric ( aI can't spell) ; "A woman's progative ", etc.

Don't forget to develop the advantages, and don't be too quick to label something as a disadvantage(even though having problems reading social cues is a disadvantage.) Hello, I am a teenage aspie. Was diagnosed as a little kid, but in the past few years spent a huge amount of time researching it to make sure if it's true(and I am absolutely sure that it is.) When you have a problem, you can come to the forum to seek advice. Yes, it is possible to cope with the disadvantages though not always easy. Welcome!

Welkome to WP!

Mick

To WrongPlanet!! !

Welcome.

Hello dgh82. Welcome to WP.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!