The Diagnostic Path Starts for me today

Post Reply New Topic

There are, but I wouldn't use this site as a statistical sample. The adults who discover they have AS due to their kids having it, are most likely mild, and they skirt the border of normal and disorder (Wing's words). Attwood will tell you that marriage is exceedingly rare too, and it's only in the highest functioning individuals (he talks of it on his site).

I'm sorry but now I'm really confused because you all say that marriage is found in the highest functioning of people with asperger's. When I got my diagnosis, I wasn't even considered borderline. I expected to be borderline and the therapist along with her professors concluded that I was definitely autistic. And, yet, I have had a 13 year relationship and still in it.

The only thing I can think of is that I'm an exception to the rule? I'm not questioning that these people aren't right...I'm just confused. Can you clarify? And, along those lines does high-functioning equate with being borderline? because, I was under the impression that the two traits while necessary for a diagnosis didn't exactly go hand in hand with the severity of the autism.

And, if there is indeed, no correlation between how high functioning you are and the severity of the autism then Wing would be wrong as it pertains to my case and would best be illustrated with Attwood.

marriage might well be a rarity, but point made: it does not mean you don't have AS, and so it shouldn't be ruled out based on that (or any) factor alone. i have also heard of people being denied diagnosis based on the fact they are able to drive; there is a recent thread about driving and plenty of diagnosed people responded that they drive comfortably (among them Alex Plank).

(i am not married, for the record; i have been unable to sustain relationships and would never attempt to have children, but i recognize problems with functionality vary from one person to another.)

I'm reading a book of writings by women on the spectrum (Women From Another Planet) and in the introduction several of them speak of being unable to leave long-term relationships because they cannot care for themselves.

I have to agree with Katzefrau. You cannot deny a diagnosis because of one or two details. The experts and professionals even say that people on the spectrum are just as diverse as the people who are not on the spectrum but we share common traits or characteristics. It's these general traits and characteristics that define us not the specifics or gritty details.

I totally agree with you, were there a legitimate external cause/trauma/event that caused my particular issues then I would submit that I would not fall within the spectrum. However, that being said, as I was growing up, long before my fevers or concussions, I was engaged in Atypical behavior for my peer group.

In second grade, when everyone else was doing a poem report on something from Shel Silverstein, I did mine on the Poem "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson.

By Third Grade, when we had to do our big "Book Report" and most kids were choosing Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Encyclopedia Brown, or similar books, I did mine on "Roots" by Alex Haley.

Also in third grade, when we explored the stories of the local native tribes from my little corner of Oregon, I went so deep into the topic that I had my Grandmother bringing me to the county seat so I could look through the old survey archives to see where the tribes lived during which seasons, where camps were, what the observations of the European settlers were, planned out hikes to the remote areas where they had camped, found arrowheads, spear heads, knives, and other tools, and worked with the local tribal council to have the area set aside for full review by a archeological team. In short, I obsessed about it to the exclusion of almost everything else.

All in all I think the testing was fair, however, I do not fully agree with the results.

It does strike me as interesting that Executive Dysfunction has nearly all the hallmarks of Aspergers, however, the critical item missing from Executive Dysfunction is the ability to form a tight emotional bond....Since the Doctor could not lump me 100% in the AS grouping because of my emotional connection with my wife, Executive Dysfunction was the next included "placement" where the pieces fit.

Off to work, more later. Thanks for reading.

I think part of the problem is that the docs have to prove that you had problems before that. The docs did not know you before that so unless you had some kind of school stuff like IEPs or seeing people when you wer in school; the docs may not be able to prove that you had problems before. There also is an assumption in my area that people have to be diagnosed with AS before they are 21 because the problems have to be recorded/documented to prove that the symptoms began before the person was 21. Developmental disabilities have to begin prior to age 21. What really sux is lots of social services/programs that could help people with developmental disorders like autism/AS out are only available to people who have official diagnoses of it. Even thou a person may have all the same symptoms/issues/problems; they can not qualify for services that would help em. That's what happned with me; I do not have an official diagnoses so I can not qualify for those services when I know people who do not even need em & not getting much benefit who are allowed to access em. People are so hung-up on the correct diagnoses that they forget about helping the individuals

Glad I read this thread because I'm attempting to seek diagnosis and have started with a friend who works with people who should be able to get me going in the right direction. The problem is getting her to stop saying, "OH...THERE'S nothing WRONG with you. YOU'RE just shy and withdrawn."

It's important to know what others have faced in getting a diagnosis - the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Does this look similar to the designs you had to create, or were they more challenging?
PATTERNS link

Yes, they looked similar. There was one pattern that broke all the rules though that I did not get. That one is not shown in your examples. There actually were a couple that were harder, add to the challenge that the images were in a bound book, and were rotated slightly from one section to the next. (Some had the bottoms and sides as the flats of the shapes, other times the points of the shapes were at the top and bottom.)