How did the AS diagnosis make a difference in your life?

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For me all it did was get me mistaken for something I was not in high school! I found it rather discriminating and insulting! Furthermore, the assessment had some mistakes that made me seem more wierd and ignorant than I actually was (and none that made me seem better than I actually was).


Other than that, it never affected me.


What did the diagnosis do to you? Did it prevent you from committing suicide when you were planning to before the diagnosis? Did it affect what other diagnoses you were given (generalized guessing on the part of the shrinks?) Did it affect what kind of therapy you got for normal disorders like depression (again, generalization on the shrinks' part)? Did it make you switch to a special school? Did it cause your boss to fire you or decide not to fire you after all? Did your friends abandon you when you told them? Did they shun you? Did they make fun of you? Did your parents start talking down to you more? Did your teachers spend their free time giving you extra help they wouldn't have given you otherwise? Did your shrink put you in contact with an AS group where you met your spouse? Do you get free money from the government as a result? Did the judge not charge you with a criminal offence due to the AS? Have your kids been taken away from you due to your AS? Did people start encouraging you do do computer stuff or scientific stuff because they made the generalization that you'd do better at that? After they heard you had AS, did your classmates start giving you a wide birth as if you were diseased or dangerous? Did people apologize for messing with you after they learned you had AS? Did your shrink refuse to give you antidepressants because of your AS? Did anyone say that you should be institutionalized, upon hearing you had AS?


So how did the diagnosis change your life?

It helped me get SSI. I did get the education I needed, it helped my parents understand me better and teachers, and it stopped my elementary school from putting me in a class with kids with behavior disorders.
My mother stopped getting mad at me about my anxiety, stopped punishing me for failing to act my age, she stopped getting mad at me about my obsessions.

Even though other kids didn't know of my aspie traits, they still underestimated me. They thought I couldn't drive, and was incapable of being in drama class but they all knew I was very smart. I knew trivia and had a better memory than them. I was very gifted compare to them and I could absorb facts easily than them.


I now tell people I am diagnosed with AS but I don't truley have it because I didn't have enough for the criteria but meet it sometimes so I am borderline. But I only tell them if they ask what mental disorders I have or what have I been diagnosed with.

It gave me a big clue about how to rearrange things so that I don't really mind being alive. The weighted blanket should arrive soon.

Well, it improved my own mental wellbeing somewhat. I was very relieved to finally have the answers. Although I was already under the impression that I had accepted myself, I realised after my diagnosis that I hadn't really. But now I think I have.

My parents were at the assessment, and so although my dad hasn't really mentioned it much, my mum will now bring it up sometimes. It can be annoying when she attributes things to AS that I don't think are necessarily affected by it, but I do appreciate that she is far more understanding.

At university I now qualify for extra help, and DSA (I have my assessment for that later this month). The DSA will allow me to 'purchase' a mentor. At the moment my mum has been attending the Disabilty appointments at university with me, and then accompanying me to different departments to sort different things out (funding services, undergraduate centre, etc.). It's far too overwhelming for me to deal with those things on my own. However, without the diagnosis I would probably not accept myself enough to allow her to accompany me. Without the extra help and the 'network' that is being built up to make sure I know who to approach when I have problems, and to make sure all my tutors understand AS (and me), I think I would have had to drop out of university.

It's really beneficial to me to have a recognised reason for being the way I am (at university, I mean). Whereas before I would have avoided the things that overwhelm me, or that confused me, I now feel I can explain the specific issue I have to someone in order to overcome it somehow. I already knew I was different to everyone else, but now it's recognised I feel 'allowed' to ask for help. And, in my opinion, it's most important that I get through university and pass my course, even if I do need more assistance than everyone else. In my opinion, any help I do receive just puts me on even ground with the rest of the students (or closer to even ground), rather than giving me an unfair advantage.

Hopefully it will also be of some assistance when I look for a career or another job. I will be more prepared to seek out the correct conditions beforehand, instead of applying for jobs that then turn out to be 'wrong' for me. The job I do now is wrong for me, but it's some comfort that I now know why I feel so ill after only four hours of work (the social aspect - I work in retail - drains me completely), and so I'm more likely to either refuse to do too many extra hours when asked, or to agree to only do a couple of hours.

Funny you should say that. My depression all but vanished, after I found out about AS matching so well. It might be simply because I am getting more involved with my interests, etc..



They don't know



Actually, they have both resigned themselves quite a while ago to the fact that I really DO know something. They often call just to ASK me questions.



They never seemed to be real teachers, to anyone.



Well, I never thought about that. That might be another reason to get diagnosed,



With me, I just appear a bit odd, uncoordinated, sensitive. That affects me socially, and limits some things I can do, but otherwise I probably seem normal. I was also already employed with computers.

It helped me better understand myself as well as better understand my autistic son as well.

No formal diagnosis here, but I'm going to pursue one, and I can tell you what I hope to get from it:
A better understanding of when I don't read people well, and when some things are appropriate or inappropriate to say.
An opportunity to learn to moderate my voice and tone - really the only falling outs my wife and I have are when she thinks I'm being aggressive or confrontational toward her over an issue. I rarely am, but it comes across that way. I need to learn how to not do that.
A better understanding of what I can and cannot do in the workplace. I'm working a low wage data-entry job right now, it cuts down on the contact with other people and doesn't stress me out too much, but I've got a college degree, I'm a clever guy. There must be something better and more fulfilling out there that I could do, if I could just figure out what it is. Also, I should find out what I'm not well suited to. I've always liked the idea of working with people, gotten into those sorts of jobs, and been truly awful at them. Hopefully I won't make those mistakes again.

Havin AS meant dat i went in 2 mainstream skool n realise i didn't have a learnin difficulty so therefore i was quite clever in certain subjects such as maths ,IT n geography n knownin about meself wot r advantages n disadvantages so routines played a huge part in my life n makin friends is still difficult 4 me.

How did getting diagnosed change my life???

Well, it gave me an explanation of why I felt so different and disconnected from people.
It helped me to realise what I need to practise to over come social obstacles, for example, practising my small talk and learning when it is appropriate to say certain things or not.

Getting diagnosed as also helped me in terms of my educational needs. For example I get help with assessments at my course on topics such as effective communication and interview skills.

My friend (one in real life) did not shun me when I told her. She has actually been a lot more understanding and accepting of my little "quirks" that may not seem 100% "normal". She has asked questions about AS and has really been supportive of me.

Some online friends are fine with it aswell. One of my ex-friends from high school has even joined an Autism awareness campaign after learning a lot abou it.

And no, Getting diagnosed does not stop me thinking about suicide. But I have not attempted it in two years which is great. and don't thinkI ever will attempt it again.

So overall, getting diagnosed for me was a positive.

Nothing for a long time, I just denied I had anything wrong with me like that for years until I learned to accept it.

It hasnt really changed a lot with me, I am the still the same old kid as i was when i was a little boy doing the same old things on my computer, playing games and doing my own stuff. However on the other hand at least it releases the real reason why i am in the background most of the time but to the odd few NTs they dont really understand AS. Being aspie makes me different from the norm, and being different from the norm makes me proud.

Asking an NT usually gives you the answer to what are your interests and hobbies... "Shopping, Socialising, going out to the pubs and clubs and making new friends." It makes me wonder why i bother asking. because thats there NORMAL answer.

I am 23, diagnosed at 13, but didnt realise until a few years later after my mum said, "you have some sort of syndrome but i cant remember how it was pronouned." but that got me online and try to find out what she was trying to pronounce, it didnt take me long since it was about the 6th line on the google search engine at the time after typing in the word "syndromes" and and spotted "aspergers" as thats what she was trying to say. Dont blame her for the pronounication since the guy was austrian, maybe i wasnt supposed to know i had this until i was a little bit older like 16 or 17 after all so i can understand whats it all about!! !

Well It cursed me for life with NTs. Anger and suffering! Parent's trying to help but don't get the Aspie way of thinking.

And I guess the good things about it besides my interests is that I know that for some crazy reason, we all understand the way we think.

All you need is someone who has Asperger's and the connection is complete.

Better self-awareness has helped me change my strategies for dealing with life's difficulties such as job interviews, social situations and sensory problems. Better understanding has also been a boon to my relationship

As someone who's diagnosis is recent (but suspected for years), the confirmation of it has caused something that has become VERY troubling lately. A rift between what SHOULD be 'allied forces' working toward a common goal of understanding and helping ME. I've got a friend I met online earlier this year who I've become very close to. She's was nearing her wits end trying to understand what was so 'not normal' about my past and current situation, until I finally had my suspicions from my mother confirmed by a doctor recently about a.s. cleared things up in her mind. What developed now is NOT what I had hoped for. My mother cares for my 14 year old son, who has 'full blown' (low functioning) autism, and her energies and efforts are highly focused on his care. It was out of the things she's learned about my son's disorders that she was suspecting a.s. in the way I have lived and grew up. My friend has taken extraordinary efforts to understand my case in a similar way, and understand the particular ways in which I need to have things like 'layered thinking' broken down, literal interpretations of discussions interpreted, and the stress over these things leading to 'meltdowns' or 'shutdowns' when they lead to things that create stress about or between my friend and my family members, particularly mom. When I have something pleasant like a move into a new apartment and a housewarming today, the discussion turned to a.s. when it should not have, and then mom begins to do things that she feels are 'trying to be helpful', like offer tips on hosting, as an example, and embarrass me instead of being helpful. I feel like I'm being treated NOT as a grown man, but a child again, and this is seen by my friend as disrespectful to me. Yet, I know my mother doesn't mean harm, and also wants the best for me as well, but it's driving a wedge instead of building a bridge between my friend and I. It now seems that either I find an answer to the confusion and disharmony, or lose that friendship or give up on the family. I can't seem to act as the 'go between', because of the difficulties I have in communication in general, and direct communication between my friend and mom seem almost impossible, because mom's time is limited due to the needs of my son, and perhaps a 'protective mother' reaction rather than seeing that they are ON THE SAME SIDE with regard to my issues. Both want to be helpful, both want the best for me, but it seems that there isn't unity or cohesion with regard to WHAT and HOW. Almost like there is a competition and NOT a view that there is a common concern that is involved. I don't know how common this is in families and friends (what very few I have), but I feel that I'm trapped in the middle without a clue on how to make this work out. I can only guess that this is where professional help is required to break through the barriers where dispassionate advice can be listened to and digested without family relationships and 'order' becoming an interfering and very strong barrier. This is how the diagnosis of a.s. has altered my life to this point, and why it's tough for me to get to sleep right now....

It led me to accept myself better, and that it is the reason for why I'm the way I am - not because I'm lazy/stupid/ mornic/immoral /mentalcase/antisocial/etc. I beat myself up less.

Also in some ways, I have stopped trying to be someone I'm not - because I thought my differences were due to a defficiency , and if I tried harder/ got out more/dressed up/talked more/acted like everyone else - I would somehow be acceptable. I tried, it didn't work. So I've deliberatly tried more to be "me" and work on the things Ilike - and occaisionally saying what I think without sitting and wondering how it will be interpreted. Strangely, I actually feel more connected to people- and just maybe some people will relate to me better without the "straight jacket".

Most people don't know I have Aspergers.I've told my husband, a good friend (who's son is Aspie and the reason I become aware of the condition in the first place), a few people at an Attwood lecture, and a few people at a support group. I believe my mother has known since I was a child - as one her more vitriolic insults (there were others) was to call me a "bloody autistic". (Yes our relationship is not great.)