Do your Autistic Symptoms disable you?

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^It's the same for me, too. I don't know if I could live alone.

@Idealist-

You might be right. I've often wondered if my psychological problems make me look slightly like Asperger's, especially when it comes to isolation/socialization issues.

^ And with that in mind, I think I'll stay off WP because I'd be trespassing now. Maybe I'll get a diagnosis in the future.

Bye, all!

Hey Red Robin,

You're not trespassing, even if you don't have a diagnosis.

You know that there are many people here who are self-diagnosed.

You also know that this Site is not just for the Aspergian/Autistic. It's for everyone who seeks to better autism.

Yes Kraft is correct Red Robin, you should stay. Hell none of us here are definitively diagnosed with %100 accuracy since their is no true medical test to test for an actual genetic link yet. We're all only "official" Aspies because we gave the correct answers to a questionnaire and had the "proper" childhood to be apparently positively ID'd. AS could have nothing to do with Autism or it's exactly what it is. There's also an entire subforum here on the WP dedicated to "Other" psychological conditions so you are most welcome. I enjoy reading your posts.

Obviously you weren't talking to me but this is still good to know. Going to stop saying I'm not sure if I am this because it sounds like it doesn't really matter as long as you identify most with it.


I do think my symptoms can feel disabling even though they should not be a disability...maybe because they have a disability in them though.
For instance my hyper senses (except for my eyes I have bad eyesight) should be a gift but because I can't find my angle esp when I need to fine tune them can be aggravating. I may feel the physical pain and then realize something is wrong before it gets worse but when I go to the doctor's it's like I might as well not even have the observation because I have trouble figuring out where exactly the pain is coming from. This is the spatial deficiency aspect though I know but can happen with the other senses too. When someone talks quietly it can take a lot of concentration anyway because I can't comprehend the speech.

Also aside from the disabling aspect it can be hard to deal with this because when I smell something it can easily bother me to the point I feel sick. Sometimes I can't even put perfume on like I'd like because I'll end up with a headache.

Probably the worst part about it for me is I am high functioning. Too normal looking for many people but yet too messed up inside to get much help. Guess that's why I didn't get a coach at all mostly just regular therapy until I seeked it out myself a few months ago and when you're an adult it's even harder because they expect you to do it more on your own.


But you're only 17 so you shouldn't be too hard on yourself. I'm nearing 30 so the clock is ticking for my future.

'Impaired' is the word I'd use too. I can function enough to keep a clean house, feed myself, get high marks at university and hold down a part-time job, but I don't think anyone has a clue how much I struggle to manage that. It seems to take all my energy and slightly more, so that I go slowly downhill for a few years, then have a crash and need to recover before I can gear up to start the whole cycle again. Against that background, friendships are hard to find and maintain, let alone relationships, and I don't have the energy for extra-curricular activities. So although I wouldn't call myself 'disabled', it does limit what I can do.

Ha, that sounds like me. Except I'd add that 100 = as close as possible to perfection as I can get. The anxiety and struggle that goes into that is insane and not good for me, yet I try for it anyway.

Hey Nickchick,

Welcome!

Re. subject: Yes, they do - at least they impair me to much to keep down an ordinary job.
I didn´t feel it, when I was a music teacher, because I staged the situation myself and knew my stuff, - but in the whirlwind of social ping-pong, imprecise language (half sentences), shifting functions and demands of speed and overview in ordinary jobs, I don´t do sufficiently, so jobs have been a tour de anxiety.

My executive function is somewhat lacking, so my home chaos is drowning me because of rather small interruptions (as they come in a normal life).
At least I have an explanation to all this now, which is good

In essence it's about what seaweed said on page 1: "Even if it seems like someone is doing well on the outside it doesn't necessarily mean they are doing well on the inside."

You might see from the outside a person on the spectrum who seems to be working, holding onto a place to live, having a marriage or kids. Therefore you think, well, that all looks like normal stuff with no disablement, how can they have autism or have a diagnosis when part of the diagnosis is impairment in your life?

Well it's all about how much that person may have to struggle to maintain those "normal" bits of functioning. I work and run my own business, but a hypothetical NT person doing what I do probably doesn't have the following while THEY are doing the same things I do:

1) Panic attacks almost every morning, with me saying out loud "I don't want to go I don't want to go I don't want to go!! !! !! !" And then having to force myself to go to work anyway, filled with misery. A lot of people feel that way but my hyper anxiety and panic attacks arguably make it a harder experience for me than the non-ASD person next door. That's a pretty significant impairment to the smooth functioning of my working life even though I'm still "working" to an onlooker.

2) A massive cloud over my head as tax time looms, when I don't even owe anything and my forms are simple, ie, I HAVE nothing to fear or worry about. But my executive functioning woes make me feel stress and anxiety just about doing something, even when the actual content of that "doing" is no big deal. Therefore the push I have to give myself is arguably worse than an NT experiences in these matters, even though nobody likes this stuff, NT or otherwise. Possibly I have a worse experience of the stress than even an NT who hates it too.

3) Sensory issues every time I do my grocery shopping, so that the whole process is an ordeal for me in ways a person without an ASD probably doesn't even imagine.

4) Everyone wears clothes, people with ASD wear clothes -- everyone seems to look like it's no big deal about their clothes......but the difference is, I'm the one fighting down the impulse to writhe and scream and tug my clothes around because every little wrinkle feels HUGE to me, one slip of a bra strap feels distracting beyond reason, and lables itch like crazy because every sensation is magnified.

5) I have my own place and I live independently, but again, the difference between me and a non-ASD person lies in how much of a struggle that experience feels like just to keep the place running.

These are only a few isolated examples -- there are many, many more ways in which life feels much weirder, more of a struggle and even devastating, for a person with ASD even when they "look on the outside" like they're just the same as allistic/non-autistic people.