Currently Getting Tested and... Afraid?

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The problem with asking a child questions like "are you stressed?" and "are you anxious?" is this. Aspie kids experience stress and anxiety on a daily basis, albeit at varying levels. So an NT adult's "stressed/anxious" is an aspie child's "normal", sad as it may sound. They rarely know anything other than stress/anxiety, and may not know first-hand what relaxed/normal is supposed to feel like. As they get older, they may learn it vicariously by watching their NT peers, but may still not know first-hand. Not to mention, pediatricians and pediatric counselors are there to help the parents, not the child.

What you say does make sense. I can't say I feel stressed if a doctor asks...

I do have nurves... I feel them...

Three things come to mind...

1. Years ago a local dentist asked me to see my doctor as acid was erroding my teeth in my teenage years... looking back it was my collage years where I was bullied and also didn't like those years, though it wasn't all bad... But I dis have a hard time. The dentist sent me to see my doctor.. I did and the doctor disn't seem interested.
2. A few years ago another dentist said I grind my teeth... I realized I was doing this in my sleep at night.
3. For years I have had acid dissolving my underpants. The bottoms of my pants... Well. Most have no underneath other then the two edges to hold my legs in!

Could these indicate stress?

I'm not sure of the word you're thinking of but for me it feels confronting and exhausting to actually process emotions (I only recently even found out what that meant). But I'm like you, I dwell on past events for a long time, especially to figure out how or why something went wrong so I can avoid it happening again. Maybe not as long as you do (decades) but I do find I can often be on like a 10 year delay before the emotion of something hits me. Like, if something sad happened 10 years ago it would only catch up to me now, it's like my brain is stopping me from feeling things in the moment or something.
By the way, I wouldn't worry about tests like that. Look at me, the professional is telling me it will likely be above average but I've only ever worked in menial labouring positions and my social skills/life administration skills are poor. IQ really is just a number. It's how it's applied that matters more, especially in the context of society. Most people out there are, obviously, of average intellect. But most of them can do things and interact in ways that to me look foreign and complex.


If it turns out I'm not on the autistic spectrum then this may just be one trait I have in common with them. Only now in hindsight and with professional help do I realise that I was quite an anxious child.