A Delayed Introduction

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Well, I've been on here for about two weeks and I've yet to properly introduce myself. So, I should do so right now.

I am a 24-year-old young man who graduated from college last year with a B.S. in Psychology and is going to be going to graduate school in Tennessee next August to obtain a M.A. in Experimental Psychology and hopefully move on somewhere else to obtain a PhD so that I can become an academic professor and conduct research pertaining to autism, gender dysphoria, and possibly other disorders. Currently, I am attending a Pharmacy Technician program at a community college nearby so that I can secure possibilities for future employment; it's a good, constructive way to pass the time I guess. Right now my recreational activities include going online, playing games on my computer and Dreamcast, editing mp3s, and talking to people online. I don't have any preoccupying interests outside of what goes on in my head (a lot of things do).

I was diagnosed with AS when I was 16, going-on-17. While I can see a grain of truth to the diagnosis, I have never really felt that it described my problems all that well and that in fact some of what I have is in actuality contradictory to the diagnosis. Unfortunately, I was basically the only one in the whole world who believed this for a very long time and as such it caused a whole lot of drama for me, especially concerning family matters (just imagine what it would be like to have a label that you know for a fact is not true forced on you by just about every important person in your life; it's psychological rape, basically). While my family still maintains that I have AS, I have sort of moved on knowing that I know far more about autism and AS than they do and as such I would be more qualified to know whether or not I have it.

I can't stand those who self-diagnose. I'm sorry, I just can't. Mostly because I don't understand why somebody would willingly choose to have that label applied to them when I've tried so hard to get away from it. Well that, and the fact that most of them don't even know what the hell they are doing.

I seem to have problems with my dopamine levels. I've been on drugs to control issues related to problems with serotonin; unlike with most people with AS, they've done nothing for me. I've been on Risperdal since 2002 though and it has basically been the only medication that has worked for me. I exhibit symptoms that are suggestive of moderate OCD and mild/borderline Tourette's, although I have an offical diagnosis of neither. I feel that the label that would be closest to accuracy for me would be PDD-NOS, since I do exhibit mild similarities with autistics and AS folk but not enough, and I have a whole lot of other things going on that are uncharacteristic of both. The only reason why I even consider myself "on the spectrum" to even a mild degree is because when I was one year old I developed fairly moderate autism with speech and motor delays, and although I was somewhat socially related to others around me I did have significant delays in that field as well. I don't really have any of these problems anymore; I can make friends, I can have normal conversations, I have normal emotionality, I usually speak pretty well (although not always). Usually when I act weird it's because I'm tired.

I've met several people with autism and AS both online and off; with the exception of three people (all girls; I always found that sort of odd...) I have connected with/related to none. Most of those who I met IRL were nice enough people, so it wasn't due to any disliking or self-loathing; I just couldn't find myself in them. All of the three that I have been able to connect with have all been online, and I'm currently friends with one. We talk online somewhat regularly and I really like her a lot.

So, that's the Number_11 story, more or less, although there may be a lot more that I'm missing. Glad to be here.

Nice to meet you, Number_11.

Welcome to WrongPlanet!

Welcome to WP.

An odd statement to make. You say, yourself, that you consider yourself to be mis-diagnosed as AS and that you should be diagnosed as PDD-NOS. That sounds astoundingly like self-diagnosis, to me.

I self-diagnosed. Shortly thereafter, I chose to obtain an official diagnosis. In the UK, that is cost-free. I gather that obtaining an official diagnosis in the States (and elsewhere) can be a costly business.

Furthermore, in some cases, people are concerned that, if they pursue an official diagnosis, there will be repercussions (due to stigmatisation, etc.).

Finally, many older people are quite happy to forgo an official diagnosis, as it tells them nothing, and they correctly consider themselves to be more competent than the diagnostician.

I can see your point, but I don't consider it as such. I haven't really put that label on myself, it's more like I believe that I should have it as opposed to AS. Actually, I may have already been rediagnosed as being PDD-NOS when I when to see a doctor that I approved of back in late 2004/early 2005, but I have no way of knowing for sure.

yep, your the topical AS, haha I write & type a lot too but today I decided to short hand cuz my hands hurt from typing too much, LOL

Still, welcome again, to a non-un-self-official-dis-diagnosed maybe aspie. It's just a pity that one isn't on the drop-down list.

I think you'll find that there are very few instances on this board of erroneous self-diagnosis. I've not seen any. Maybe that's not the case elsewhere.

Hi Number_11,

welcome to WP.

Hi,

Welcome to WP...

Not sure what to make of your statements...

They seem contradictory since you've self-undiagnosed.

I had a lot of other things to say but it seems that lau has already said most of my good points. It costs a lot in Australia to get an official diagnosis if you're an adult. The only reason anyone would seek a diagnosis here would be to;
a. Get support funding or access to additional programs
b. Determine the impact on their children

For most adults, the funding isn't available, so there's no reason to be diagnosed.

One caution for you as a newbie (which if you've been here a few weeks, you'll probably already be aware of)... If you've got a problem with the status of people's diagnosis, don't let it get personal - people have been banned for less.

Other than that, welcome and I look forward to meeting in the posts..

Hi Number_11 I feel the same way as you do. I feel I fit PDD-NOS better because of what I went through when I was little. I was delayed in development and I did things late. Was I a little professor like other aspies were? No but it's not in the criteria so I'm sure I didn't need to be one when I was under ten. But my diagnoses stayed the same after I talked to my shrink the first time who happens to be a autism specialist too. She also talked to my mother to know more about me.
Do you think it matters what label you have?

Welcome Number_11, hope you find yourself at home here.

I guess that it just depends on how strongly it's applied to you. If my family barely reacted to my diagnosis and treated me more or less the same way as they did before, it probably wouldn't have been so horrible for me, even though I still probably would have thought that it didn't fit. But things rarely ever work that way in families.

Welcome to WP!

I have dopamine-related problems as well. In my case, this manifests itself in that, without proper medication, I'm highly susceptible to delusion and psychosis. I'm taking Zyprexa (olanzapine). In the past I've been prescribed Risperdal as well but this excited some nasty side effects, which is why I switched to taking Zyprexa. Which works fine for me. My symptoms have just about vanished.

Nice to meet you. It seems that people like us are sort of the minority.

I've never had things such as delusion and psychosis (at least I don't think so), but there have been times where I thought that I was on the verge of them. The feeling "I've always known that I was just crazy" may not be the truth, but I did believe it with enough justification. I have a deceased half-uncle who became schizophrenic from drug abuse, but that is probably something completely unrelated to what I have.

Welcome to WP!

Tim