Age of diagnosis link to severity?

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So, if one uses ^, it means the post immediately above your post; if ^^, that means it's two posts above your post?

I mentioned it because I had posted after Naturalplastic's post, but just before Firemonkey's post.

^ Yes . I'll admit it took quite a while for me to work that one out .

I got diagnosed with autism at 3 but thats cos i wasnt talking at all
otherwise I didnt display many typical symptoms but when they assessed me my results were autistic if you know what I mean

Im also got a form of dyslexia

thanx

I wasn't just a normal spoilt, sulky kid. I had behaviour issues, and when I was 5 I sometimes had temper tantrums at school that involved kicking and screaming, or I was disruptive, and I had to spend time out of the classroom to calm down. All this got the teachers concerned but when my parents proved that it wasn't my upbringing that influenced my bad behaviour they put it down to a disorder. My Aspie brother grew up in the same house as me and he was very well-behaved both at school and at home, which is probably why he got diagnosed at age 30.
At home I was a problem child, my mother was tearing her hair out (not literally), and we needed a social worker to help get to the bottom of my behaviour.

Paraphrasing my mother's words: "You were a difficult baby/toddler/child/teenager etc" . Such things weren't broadcast far and wide in middle class circles during the late 1950s to mid 1970s

If person is in their 40s or older and then their is a link because usually only the most severe got diagnosed with autism. HFA people either never got diagnosed or misdiagnosed. Even severe autistics usually got misdiagnosed.

As you know, I am in my late 50's, and I was actually diagnosed with autism because of my severe symptoms. One psychologist said that I was a "vegetable," and that I should be institutionalized.

I present rather mild nowadays.

The nearest I got to anyone realising something untoward was up was my first school in Thailand showing their concern . I was 5 or 6 then . I was assessed at Great Ormond street for what we now call cerebral palsy(the S word used to be used back then) The result was negative and no other possibilities were explored.

How much that was to do with my parents not wishing to explore things further I don't know. I'm not sure they looked beyond my being an awkward and badly coordinated child.

In truth, my mother was FORCED to find out what was wrong with me----because there was, definitely, something VERY wrong with me when I was a young preschooler.

I almost think it was luck that got me "out of myself" by the time I was approaching age 5 1/2.

I think sometimes/often ? parents are in staunch denial , even if the evidence pointing to something being untoward is fairly substantial .

I agree with that. Yes. I agree there was lots of denial in the old days. And I believe you didn't get optimal attention because of that "denial."

But I bet, if you were going into shops and knocking things off shelves at the age of 3, that your parents might have been forced to be more proactive in seeking to find the source of your problems.

My parents were forced to get a diagnosis for me too. I was only little so I had no control over it.

My impression, Firemonkey, is that you were the son of a diplomat who didn't want to be embarrassed-----and this is why your family was not proactive in seeking to help you.

And I feel that this sense of "embarrassment" is a very effed up way to be. I experienced that, to a lesser extent, with my own mother.

I don't feel like you were placed in a position where you can reach your full potential. But, at least, things are looking up for you.

I feel like I'm very lucky that my mother "pulled all the stops" in seeking to get help for me.

Last edited by kraftiekortie on 20 Nov 2019, 7:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I have no idea what I was like in shops . One of my most infamous moments was upsetting the so called 'Best babysitter in San Francisco' so much , when I was 9/10, she said she'd no longer babysit for my parents .

I was banned from my best friend's apartment quite a few times because of my behavior. And I wasn't even "blatantly autistic" back when I was 9-10 years old. I was more like an Asperger's person.