Just Diagnosed

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Hello. I was diagnosed with ASD last week after a long time of suspecting that was the case. I am 34(F) and was diagnosed with schizoaffective (SZA) disorder about ten years ago. I started having symptoms of SZA around 15 and wasn't diagnosed until a psychotic break at 24. I like to think of that time as a detour or scenic route, as I was eventually able to find myself where I was expected to end up (by external standards). As I read about autism and memoirs by people living with autism, I can't help but feel I'm not autistic "enough." I assume it will take some time to come around to fully accepting the diagnosis and stop doubting it and myself. There are a lot of overlapping features of SZA and autism and the medication I take to treat my SZA also mitigates some of what would be considered features of autism. I keep justifying my diagnosis to imaginary others in my head and looking for signs of "proof."

I am a sociology (social psychology, conversation analysis) doctoral candidate and I've been struggling with the social components of graduate school. When people ask why I study sociology, I tell them it's because I don't understand people - which is the absolute truth. Because of my previous diagnosis of SZA and my awareness of my limitations I try not to be so hard on myself and compare myself to others, but it's hard. I'm surrounded by brilliant, driven, and well-adjusted people (many of whom are younger than me) and I wish that I were different so that I could be more like them. But then I remember all of the things I like about myself that I don't want to change. Coincidentally, my advisor's research focuses on the ADOS and "autistic intelligence" using ethnomethodology and conversation analysis. I feel comfortable enough sharing my diagnosis with him. In one of his classes he showed a documentary about autism. I related to it so much that I became very emotional, started to cry, and left class immediately.

I am married and have two dogs. I'm not very close to my family and don't have many friends (maybe 1 or 2). I've become very used to being a solitary person but one thing that I'd like to work on is meeting other people who also have ASD. Besides sociology, I am interested in dance (ballet and modern), horror films, crime dramas, gore, drawing, Art, graffiti (not street art), nature walks, and dress/shoe shopping.

I'm glad to be here and hope to learn a lot about myself and others over time.

Last edited by [email protected] on 03 Nov 2022, 9:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Hello and welcome. Not sure what the Schizoaffective thing is.
I don't know where I fit as not been assessed. (Waiting to be assessed).

SZA is schizophrenia and a mood disorder, in my case depression. I experience persecutory delusions and auditory hallucinations without medication. SZA is also associated with social and other deficits.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!


Good luck with that! I ended up dropping out of a computer science Ph.D. program due to my own difficulties with the social aspects of the Ph.D. program.

Have you managed to find a good, worthwhile combination of research project and advisor? If so, you've accomplished the single most important thing in a Ph.D. program -- something I didn't manage to do, although I had several false starts.


Sounds very interesting!

If you are participating in this or any other autism-related research, or plan to do so in the future, I wish you the best of luck with this! IMO, the world needs more autistic autism researchers!


Is this a publicly-known documentary, available on the public Internet? If so, do you remember the name of this documentary? I would be interested to see it also.


If you would like to make some friends here who share your interests, I would suggest that you edit your profile to include both the fact that you are a sociology Ph.D. student and some of the above other interests too.

Also, if you want to find friends whom you might eventually meet in-person, I would suggest including your location in your profile. Don't be specific enough to endanger your privacy, but I would suggest mentioning at least what country you are in, and, if you are in a large country like the U.S.A. or Canada, mention your state/province/region and/or nearest major metro area.


Wrong Planet is an excellent place for this, yes.

One small issue, though: I notice that your publicly displayed username is an email address. NOT a good idea, for various reasons. I would suggest that you contact the moderators (e.g. Cornflake) about the possibility of changing it, if possible, or perhaps starting a new account and asking the moderators to close out your old account.

Welcome to WP! I hope you find it to be a nice place to visit.

I was diagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder, Level 1 (Mild) shortly before my 65^th birthday. It sounds like your ASD severity is mild, like mine. If so, then if you read about Autism you'll probably increasingly see that you have ASD traits...but you are coping adequately with them. (My coping was learned through trial-and-error of the decades, without knowing anything about ASD.)

But, maybe you shouldn't spend too much time reading about ASD just yet. You have better ways to spend your time: getting that doctorate! (Don't worry, I think if you've gotten this far not knowing you were on the Autism Spectrum then you might find the diagnosis to be of not too much practical value...other than self-understanding. After the diagnosis you are the same person you were before the diagnosis, but with a better understanding of yourself. But the people that know you probably already think you are a bit odd and they'll keep on thinking that after your diagnosis.)

welcome! Multiple diagnoses seem to be common among autistic individuals and often we get other diagnoses before we finally find out about our autism. Its a lot to sort! Where better to find insights and ideas than from those of us with lifetimes of experience to draw examples from. Take your time and do your best self care as you adjust to this new perspective. This is great group. <3

You sound a lot like me, except that I was 61 when I was diagnosed. I am 64 now, and have been married 32 years. I completed a Ph.D. in 2014, and had no idea that I was “mildly” autistic. I was being treated for chronic insomnia and sensory issues to light and sound, and ultimately this led to a referral to a psychiatrist.

Since being diagnosed I think I fit the original stereotype of an Aspie. I made contact with a half brother who is also an Aspie (as is his daughter). My dad (now deceased) has a brother who is autistic, and I believe my father was an Aspie. As someone else said, you are the same person you were before the diagnosis. Don’t let the diagnosis limit your potential. Complete your Ph.D. and leverage your knowledge to help others while living a full, productive life. Good luck to you!

enigma999999999, Welcome to WP to you, also!

Thanks for the welcome!

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Welcome to Wrong Planet.

This is an interesting site. There are many people still trying to figure themselves out. I am an old timer. I am 74 years old and suffered a massive stroke about a year and a half ago. It is the type of stroke that most people never recover from. But I am still here and still learning. It is in my nature. So what can I tell you. Well I will send you down a rabbit hole.

Humans are very interesting species. If you look inside our head you will see that it has two parts. One on the left side of the brain and the other on the right side. The left side is dominant because it has a small area of extra cells, that give it vast powers. For example it is the region where our knowledge of words and reading is stored. The right side is a support region that knows music and the words in songs.

I am the way that I am because I died when I was around 3 years old. I weighed less than 20 pounds at the time and I was attacked by a bull that weighed over 1000 pounds. It was like being attacked by a dinosaur. The attacl killed me. I died. At least the left side of my brain died. My right side was given a choice whether to live or die. I looked at my parents who were at my side {This was not from my eyes, because I was looking from one side. I could see my parents and I could see my body. It was a near death experience.) And a voice gave me a decision to make. It was Live or Die. My parents were in such shock and terror and FEAR. So I said LIVE. I came back but I came back as a different person. It was my right side of my brain that came back. And it was fearless.

So let's see. What advice can I give you on your journey of life. Well first off I will recommend reading a book. It is called Whole Brain Living by Jill Bolte Taylor. It really is an interesting book. She suffered a massive stroke and came back but like me when I was a child, she came back as a different person. She came back as a right brain person rather than the left brain dominant person she was prior to the stroke. And this is her second book and it describes her understanding of the functions of each side. It is an extremely good book to start figuring out who you are and why you are different than others.

Welcome to Wrong Planet and hopefully your find helpful information along with being in a serene environment.

Willkommen