Questions For Adults Who Were Dx Late?

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Everyone has posted exactly what I was after. I'm almost pretty sure I don't have ASD now as I cant recall having any issues as child or growing up. I believe I have some traits but they seem to stem from a drug induced psychosis in my late teens. I'm sort of sad realising this fact because all I want is to feel "normal".

1. Did you know you had ASD before your Dx? I suspected that I might have Asperger's. But I also suspected several other disorders (Schizoid, Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder, etc.).
2. What made you get a Dx or was it advised by someone else? Once I learned about Asperger's, I spent most of my waking hours trying to figure out if it was the cause of my various "issues". I read ~ 20 books on the subject and anything else I could find online. It became an obsession. It was all I thought about. I had spent my entire adult life trying to understand why I was so different. So, I had to know for certain.
3. Was there anything in your childhood that you personaly remember indicating ASD? There were a lot of little things (including multiple visits to psychologists, trying to understand why I had issues coping with life)
4. If you struggled with life before a Dx , did just knowing your had ASD help your struggles? Yes, it helped me accept myself. I no longer had to "fight" who I was.
5. If you had comorbids , were these treated differently after Dx? No.
6. If you had comorbids , were these a direct result of ASD? I don't know.
7. What were the pros and cons for you after recieving a Dx? See #4

Me, 43, Wife two children (One dx'ed with HFA and the other is a little young yet, but we see some of the signs) Have worked solitary jobs most of my life. Brother is not dx'ed but is on the spectrum...no questions, my nephew (his son) has been dx'ed, and If I had to make a judgement call knowing what I know now I would say that my mother is on the spectrum as well.

1. Did you know you had ASD before your Dx?
No, I did not know. What I did know was that the ADHD and Depression dx's did not explain my life experiences.

2. What made you get a Dx or was it advised by someone else?
For me I have been on a quest to figure out why I am the way that I am. For me, my motivation for dx was to first confirm, second to allow for other support services, and to make sure that moving forward I was focusing on treatments that would help the WHOLE me and not just pieces of me.
3. Was there anything in your childhood that you personaly remember indicating ASD?
Looking back, ASD explains all of the things that I can remember, from emotion regulation, to sensory issues, to conflicts with people, to not connecting, rigidity, etc

4. If you struggled with life before a Dx did just knowing your had ASD help your struggles?
For me, struggles are struggles regardless of the why. what knowing allows me to do is operate from a place of understanding ....I do this, because of this, or I don't understand this because of this. I feel that knowing will help ensure that I am not destined to blindly make the same mistakes over and over again.

5. If you had comorbids were these treated differently after Dx?
I am in the process of finding that out now.

6. If you had comorbids were these a direct result of ASD?
Yes, without a doubt

7. What were the pros and cons for you after recieving a Dx?
knowing there was a reason, help my wife understand me better, help me understand my wife and other NT's better, sense of relief that I don't have to keep searching for an answer, because I have found it. Now I can get build a framework that will allow me to hopefully move through the rest of my with less complication. Cons...I do worry about the stigma associated with ASD, and peoples misguided points of reference.

This is exactly what I'm doing now , it's starting to affect my life ( well not really , it's more like my life is now about finding out if I have ASD or not). I need to take my foot off the gas and try and think about something else.

1. Did you know you had ASD before your Dx?
Kind of suspected it but it was not very important to me.

2. What made you get a Dx or was it advised by someone else?
Sibling intervention

3. Was there anything in your childhood that you personaly remember indicating ASD?
Just that I was very different them most people and paid the price. I did have special interests and was "painfully
shy:"

4. If you struggled with life before a Dx , did just knowing your had ASD help your struggles?
Helped

5. If you had comorbids , were these treated differently after Dx?

6. If you had comorbids , were these a direct result of ASD?
Do not have money to persue diagnosis of possible co-morbids, cancer recovery is the priority

7. What were the pros and cons for you after recieving a Dx?
Big improvement in self esteem from knowing I was born this way and my problems are not from charactor flaws.
Knowing why I am reacting the way I am has been helpful and sometimes knowing in advance that a upcoming
situation is "triggering"

1. My awareness of the autism spectrum was stereotypical of what most people had back in the day so I never considered that I was on the spectrum

2. By chance I happened upon a newspaper article mentioning aspergers as being a "form of autism" and decided to look it up on the internet. Upon the revelation I spent the better part of the next year going back over my life to create a dossier of my mental history before going to get my DX. For me, getting that DX was a way to give myself some closure.

3. All the signs were there, awful meltdowns that drove my mom to the brink of insanity, little desire on my part to interact with other kids, stacking and lining toys, sensory issues, etc.

4. Life for me has always been a struggle, but knowing I'm on the spectrum has helped me approach things more effectively.

5. comorbids have never been serious enough to warrant any kind of treatment.

6. Yes

7. Pro - being able to approach now with the proper perspective; Con - knowing that this is something that will always be hanging over my life, and making things much harder for me.

1. Did you know you had ASD before your Dx?

I suspected, as so much of the criteria in Tony Attwood's book fit.

2. What made you get a Dx or was it advised by someone else?

I was having trouble at work with concepts like teamwork, chain of command, communication, answering rhetorical questions, answering questions that were apparently asked of other people besides myself and not knowing that. Stuff like that. I was starting to feel like I needed the protection of an official diagnosis.

3. Was there anything in your childhood that you personaly remember indicating ASD?

Only that I struggled socially and was a huge bully-magnet. I had no idea at the time that it was ASD, though. I just knew I was weird and other kids didn't like me. Teachers liked me. Classmates didn't; or if they did, not for long.

4. If you struggled with life before a Dx , did just knowing your had ASD help your struggles?

It helps in some ways. In others, I sometimes catch myself doing things that I wouldn't have given a second thought before, but now I think "I wouldn't do that if I weren't autistic."

5. If you had comorbids , were these treated differently after Dx?

Not really. I had blood chemistry labs done every time I went in for psych evaluation and treatment. Always, my labs came back normal. I always said that if there is no chemical cause, I don't want pharmaceutical treatment. Before and after, my depression and anxiety respond best to hour-long therapy sessions where I talk about stuff, the shrink listens, gives me his or her take on my stresses and a little advice on how to cope better. I did a short stint on a mild anti-depressant medication when I was pretty young. It didn't help much, and it bothered my mom that I was taking it. So I quit.

6. If you had comorbids , were these a direct result of ASD?

Probably, if not directly than at least indirectly. If the anxiety and depression were triggered primarily by social rejection, and the social rejection was rooted in my peers being put off by my Asperger's and my Asperger's rendering me incapable of relating normally to my peers, then I would say yes, my co-morbidities were caused by ASD. There's also the eating problems. They are, I believe, caused as much by food allergies as well as by ASD. But between the allergies and the sensory issues with taste and texture, it was pretty much inevitable that I'd be a picky eater. I am less so now, but there are still things I won't eat like berries, bananas, yogurt and salad dressings/condiments of any sort other than ranch dressing.

7. What were the pros and cons for you after recieving a Dx?

I have peace of mind knowing that there is a cause. I no longer worry about being fired because of ASD-related communication issues. Sometimes I get more support from family. Those are the pros.

Cons--I get some flak from people who think that because I know what it is, I can overcome it just by deciding to. Sometimes I get told that I'm using it as a crutch or an excuse to behave badly or to not even try to get along with people. Sometimes I even get told that it isn't a real diagnosis; I studied ASD like I was cramming for an exam, and went to a psych eval armed with all the info I needed to get just the dx I wanted. And there are probably opportunities that aren't even offered to me anymore, on the basis of "she's autistic, so she wouldn't like it, so we won't even ask her."

1. Did you know you had ASD before your Dx?
No. I worked with autistic children for years, and my nephew is autistic. I did not see any parallels. (Others did--I was looking with much too narrow of a scope.)


2. What made you get a Dx or was it advised by someone else?
My psychiatrist was ready to say he didn't know what else to do with me, but my wife asked him for a referral to "rule out" ASD.

3. Was there anything in your childhood that you personaly remember indicating ASD?
Everything that is memorable about my childhood was because of ASD, particularly noise making/vocal stims, my way of walking, social awkwardness.

4. If you struggled with life before a Dx , did just knowing your had ASD help your struggles?
Considerably. I cried right there in the psychologist's office.
5. If you had comorbids , were these treated differently after Dx?
Yes, by those who understood the connection. I went to a psychologist for years who, I think in retrospect, didn't really agree with my diagnosis. This led me to the psych ward for a couple of stretches, and my wife to researching other resources. I now go to a place where the therapists and med prescribers all focus heavily on ASD.
6. If you had comorbids , were these a direct result of ASD?
Yes. Anxiety, depression, and OCD behavior in my case are all clearly rooted in my insecurity and self loathing as a person who has always struggled.
7. What were the pros and cons for you after recieving a Dx?
I can't see any cons. Pros include the beginning of self acceptance, improved relationship with my wife, better preparation for my son's diagnosis, which came 2 years later... I could go on and on!

Good luck. It consumed me for probably ~ 2 years.

Thanks , I'm very fickle but am trying to curb my new obsession. I don't think I could last 2 years though as my obsessions tend to intensify as time passes , usually to a point where I forget to eat & drink & skip sleep. I'd be more likely to have a breakdown than obsess for 2 years.

Seems pretty Aspergian to me....

This thread was really helpful to me, as I recently switched to a doctor that specializes in autism, and I'm really worried about the direction my life is taking.

[b][b]1. Did you know you had ASD before your Dx? [/b][/b]No, I didn't know it existed. I did, however, know that something was definitely off with me, and that other people knew this and avoided me.

2. What made you get a Dx or was it advised by someone else? I was sent to the hospital by my school counselor. The doctors at the hospital told me, but when I was discharged I didn't follow up for the next 8 years. I recently sought help because a new job was revealing sensitivity issues and making me extremely irritable and ineffective at my job.

3. Was there anything in your childhood that you personaly remember indicating ASD? Yes, I was largely non-verbal, and at times mute. I didn't like group activities and felt awful during unstructured play times. In general, I have just been very confused for most of my life.

4. If you struggled with life before a Dx , did just knowing your had ASD help your struggles? So far, it helps me calm down in situations with other people, especially work parties, just knowing that there are things I'm missing, and maybe the reason the people you were just talking to just seemed to disappear into thin air without reason isn't that you're terrible or boring or something. Maybe something caught their attention during a moment when I was noticing something else. I feel less bad about myself in these moments.

5. If you had comorbids , were these treated differently after Dx? I went to a regular therapist for eight years in between the hospital diagnosis and my new doctor. He treated me for anxiety and depression. I kept trying to tell him that I'm not depressed, but he didn't believe me. My new doctor is still new, but there seems to be a different strategy. It feels like he knows what problems I experience.

6. If you had comorbids , were these a direct result of ASD? I don't know. My original doctor believed everything came from neglect and emotional abuse. Could be...my childhood home(s) weren't so nurturing! I have no idea.

7. What were the pros and cons for you after recieving a Dx? Pros: feeling better. Feeling braver, knowing that there is WP as a resource, in a way I appreciate the details that I see/hear more, because I guess I never knew that it was different from others. Cons: I'm going through kind of a crisis in my doctoral dissertation work, because it occurs to me that my advisor isn't just crazy, he's just neurotypical. Should I continue writing my dissertation if the way I go about the topic is so myopic that most people will simply not relate to it? Is my perspective worthy of being heard? (I hope that in time I will come to say a loud YES to this question, but at the moment I'm struggling with it.)

I definately have a lot of traits that could be considered Aspergian and can relate to a lot of things I've read here.
What doesn't fit is I cannot find enough evidence in my childhood memories - I had what I believe was a pretty normal school life , I believe I "fitted" in. Yeah I had no confidence with girls ( that never changed ) , school work was boring to me and I just wanted to goof off and I spent a lot of time on my own in my bedroom playing ZX Spectrum ( pun not intended ) games.
I think I may of developed traits due to psychosis or made very very mild traits worse. I can almost imagine how my ASD test will go - I will be told that although I have some similar traits , the first 18 years of my life show no evidence hence I don't have ASD.
If ASD was something that you could develop then I would be 99% sure I have it.
My GF is the one who suggested ASD ( I had very limited knowledge up until 2 weeks ago ) and I recently read about Asperger traits in woman and it was scary how many traits she has. Her childhood shows signs of ASD and she has always felt misunderstood - apparently I am the only one who gets her - What a strange twist of fate it would be if she had it and I didn't.

I do see your point.

There really must be a childhood history of autistic/Asperger's like symptoms in order for you to have the disorder.

If you haven't heard of something called the "Broad Autism Phenotype" (BAP), I recommend you read up on that.

The fact that you've taken on this as a "special interest" indicates that you, at least, possess some Aspergian traits--though, perhaps, you don't have "full-blown" autism/Asperger's.

Yeah I've looked at BAP but there is no ASD in my family as far as I know.

It's possible that you fit the criteria for the BAP.

Autism is not a totally inherited disorder.

I have no autism in my family, for example.