EvilKimEvil wrote:
I can also relate to PrisonerSix's post in that my parents would have reacted by trying to "cure" me. They labeled me as defective without an AS diagnosis so the diagnosis would have strengthened their case. Actually, when I was about 5, my mom and my pediatrician thought I was autistic, but the psychiatrist they took me to said I did not have autism because I had a large vocabulary for my age. She diagnosed me with ADD and encouraged my parents to use negative reinforcement methods similar to dog training in order to "correct" my behavior. Being diagnosed with AS probably would have made the experience worse.
However, I think that if I had been diagnosed with AS when I was a younger adult, it could have made my life easier. It could have helped me to understand that I was ostracized because I was different, not because I was defective. I also could have made better decisions about my education and career. For example, I might not have let my dad talk me out of applying to PhD programs in the hopes of becoming a professor. I might have been able to use the diagnosis to explain to employers that I'm not stupid or emotionally fragile. And I might have suffered from less depression and anxiety. Since I figured out I probably have AS, I haven't experienced any depression or anxiety. I think it's because I no longer blame myself for all the difficulty I have getting along in society.
So I think it's true that diagnosis (including self-diagnosis) can alleviate depression and anxiety, but for me, all the rest is speculation.
My mother often said to me that I was "different" but would never elaborate. I was never diagnosed with anything in fact, I seldom went to the doctor. The one thing was diagnosed with, tibial torsion(a bone in my leg was slightly turned) was never treated because my mother didn't like the treatments offered, which were either surgery or leg brace. In order to force me to stop resisting the campaign to make me "normal," my mother tried to convince me my leg would get better if I just kept it suntanned. Getting a suntan was one of the things my parents forced me to do to make me appear "normal."
I just wish my parents had left me alone to be who I was, and let me grow into the person I wanted to be, instead of trying to fit this square peg into a round hole.
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PrisonerSix
"I am not a number, I am a free man!"
04 Oct 2007, 9:10 am
