Hello. I'm new and I'm not sure if I have Autism.

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I'm 13 years old and have no idea if I have Autism or not.
My parents and my schools have always thought I have Autism but because the waiting lists were so long, I was never diagnosed. I honestly don't know if I have Autism. I go through very obessive phases where nothing else matters. I usually obsess about bands or genres of music (right now it's Blur and Pink Floyd, an interesting combination - I know!) so much that I spend hours listening to them and abandon socialisation and schoolwork. I only have one close friend that I trust. He has Aspergers and I find it easy to relate to him beacuse his social skills aren't so great either! I do well in school, just not in Physical Education or any sort of socialisation. I don't really like people, but I like speaking to people online. I don't know if this has anything to do with this but I'm really senstitive to lots of things. I really don't like polestyrene, velvet and rubbers. I also really don't like it when lot's of people talk at once and sometimes, even if there's only one little sound in the background, I get really anxious and I just want to cry. My mum says I have really strange emotions and reactions to things like when I watch horror movies or other "scary" things I either think their funny or I don't have a reaction. Or when I watch "sad" things I don't really understand that they're sad. I'm sorry this is a bit long but I'm very confused.
Thank you

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Hey IndieKid welcome.

Thank you all for being so welcoming

But does this poster have autism.

I haven't actually been diagnosed with autism so I don't feel like I should have an opinion.

But perhaps an older poster should offer some useful insights.

Its just a thought.

I mean welcoming is ok, but useful advice is maybe a bit better.

Welcome to WP!

Thanks guys! I was wondering if anyone could offer me any advice? I honsetly don't know if I do have Aspergers or not?

Hi!

It's really difficult to judge whether someone is autistic based on a few snippets of their writing or brief online interactions, and people who have met you IRL are usually in a better position to judge. Have you talked to your family and/or people at school about how you feel? As you are under 18 and in the UK, it should be fairly straightforward to get a formal assessment by a psychologist, and your GP or your school should be able to refer you to someone who can assess you thoroughly. Though waiting lists are long, it might be worth getting added to the waiting list sooner rather than later, as you might be coping quite well now but things could change as you get older/go to college etc. I am at university at the moment and would have found things much easier if I had been diagnosed right from the beginning!

Hi, thanks for your advice! I haven't talked to anyone in school for ages about it. I was in the process of being diagnosed when I was about 6 or 7 but we just gave up because it was taking so much time and energy to get a formal diagnosis. My parents admit that they think I am autistic but they aren't doing anything about it.

No problem!

I wonder if you would feel able to broach the subject more seriously with your parents? If they think it's likely you have it anyway, and if you explain to them that you think you would benefit from a diagnosis, I'd hope they'd take you seriously and consider going back to your doctor. They clearly thought it was important enough to try and get you diagnosed when you were younger, after all!

Obviously you don't have to do anything about it if you don't want to, but since you're posting here, I'm guessing that not knowing whether or not you're autistic is bothering you. If so, there's nothing to be lost by trying to get assessed again. I don't know what stage you got to in the assessment process last time, and I don't suppose you remember, but things have moved on since 6/7 years ago when you were last "in the system", and the NHS are now supposed to make assessment pathways clear and explicit. I have been doing some research this evening, and it looks like your GP needs to refer you to the community paediatricians (there's a list of people on page 4 at this link http://www.alderhey.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/2013-Directory-of-Secondary-Services.pdf). Hopefully your GP should know what they're doing, though! Their waiting list is only about 18 months at the moment, apparently. The assessment process varies from area to area, but when I was assessed at 14, it was a few meetings with a psychologist, plus some questionnaires that me, my family, and my school filled in.

To change the subject - Pink Floyd were one of my first musical loves, too! Them and Muse.

Thank you, I'll try to approach the topic with my parents. I'm really grateful for all of your help!
And I love Muse too, saw them back in June!

Cool! I've seen them half a dozen times now; most recently back in March when they did their small venues tour. Seeing them again in Manchester in April, can't wait

I hope things go well with your parents, too.

I'll try to speak to my parents soon, I just don't know when.
I guess I've seen Muse more times than I thought. I've never missed a single Reading Festival since 2002 (the year I was born) so I googled all of the lineups from each year and I've seen them in 2002, 2006 and 2011. I can't remember the one from 2011, despite it not being that long ago. My 9 year old self probably slept through most of it, to be honest. It was on the Sunday, after all!

If you see a psychologist try to find one that specializes in autism. After I had my first mental breakdown I found the psychologist was just playing social games and didn't diagnose me properly.

Psychology is not a real science, and generally performed in a very arbitrary whimsical way.

Thats just my experience any way.

Yeah, when I was first about to be diagnosed, the psychologist had no idea what they were doing. They specialised in Dyspraxia, which was what I was originally going to be diagnosed with, and knew very little about autism. I guess I've just never had much luck with psychologists.

Things have changed and Liverpool now has an explicit pathway for diagnosis of ASD. I'm not sure if you're in Liverpool itself or nearby, but I would think you'd have to go into Liverpool anyway.

I was at Reading in 2011 too! Hearing Space Dementia live had always been a dream of mine