the self diagnosed

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Yeah something like that, I don't know the exact reason I am just pretty sure they can't. But if their diagnoses does count as being official then that's probably a good thing but as far as I know therapists aren't liscenced to do so. Also they did notice things were off, even the teachers that didn't contribute to the ostracism mentioned various things to my parents.....but they didn't see any reason to do anything since I was doing fine acedemically. I had counseling when I was 15 for depression and anxiety which proved to be rather useless. And I didn't really have friends, except for a couple years we moved a lot and most years I didn't have any friends.

That rarely happens with girls with AS.

Honestly, if I didn't self-diagnose, I would not have gotten attention of the right people and would not have been diagnosed with AS. That's just how bad the system is. It tends to show up more subtly in most women - our ways of coping are more socially acceptable - and teachers just weren't educated about AS back then.

No, that person would still have AS. That person probably has other mental disorders or problems from internalizing the difficulties they face and trying to mimic or be like NTs when they are really very different, especially if they are unaware of their AS. A truly happy person would not do this and would accept themselves, quirks and all. They would not be afraid to show their differences.

Then, when these differences show and they have reached self-fulfillment, would you say the person has AS? Which would you say is better off? Which would you say doesn't have AS? Is one person more entitled to self-fulfillment?



What resources are you talking about?

I can't get a diagnosis. I never say that I have it though; I just suspect. My signature helps clarify though.

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I was not actually arguing that any of them -wouldn't- have AS. It was a question for the originator of this thread.....

I was being a bit facetious, but it basically stated that if you self diagnosed, then you clearly don't have AS -enough- to need the diagnosis to get aid.


There are many of us, who are past the age of having the sort of help that would make a big difference at this point. The help such people, including myself need, is the ability to better understand ourselves and how we work....whether that comes from being somewhere like WP, or an actual mental health professional.

I don't want to get involved with any sort of argument here. Just posting to say that self diagnosing can be harmful to your psyche. You may have diagnosed yourself with entirely the wrong thing. Which in turn means that you've cut yourself off from the help you really do need for your specific problems. The whole point of the psychiatrist trip is to get help for the things that are making your life difficult or even unbearable. The diagnosis is only one small step towards a much larger goal.

so please, take care of yourselves everybody.

It seems this potential harm is frequently overstated. I would simply recommend that if one finds that they are experiencing fairly distressing impairments, that they see a professional if at all possible. I am in no position to tell them whether their self-evaluation of what they have is wrong.

I can't find the "surely someone would have noticed that something was wrong" post, but this is in reply to it.
You'll find a lot of people, particularly those who grew up before AS was well-known, who had plenty of people who noticed that something was wrong, but who attributed it to things like laziness, shyness, and so forth rather than to disability. If you're thought of as lazy, shy, not trying hard enough etc., you won't get help, you'll just be told that you know exactly what you're doing wrong and to try harder.

^^^^^

This is exactly what I grew up with. Well, a portion of it. There was also being called "stupid" and "incompetent" and being punished because after trying as hard as I could and failing, I'd get in trouble for not trying at all.

That's how it is for me. I have found three choices for adult diagnosis thus far, and all cost more money than my minuscule government assistance can cover. With a family that can't help out and no prospects for income beyond what I get (not a livable sum - I couldn't pay rent if I had to) it is unlikely that I'll get an official diagnosis soon. Do I want one? Yes.



I think the conclusion is pretty obvious for some of us.

I was in kindergarten by the time AS was in the DSM ('94.) I was tested for Autism as a child, but simply due to a lack of delay in speech (hint hint) I was not diagnosed as 'Autistic.' My IQ at the time was 180. I had few friends, was constantly preoccupied with special interests, and suffered from migraines (which I still have and found they are due to sensory overload.) I had one friend (her younger brother has an ASD) from first grade up through ninth.

My teenage years were wrought with depression. I was realizing I was different and couldn't figure out why. I started doing terribly in school due to lack of concentration and over-stimulation. I broke down in tears "for no reason" and frequently ran out of the classrooms. I dropped out of high school with an overall C- average in my senior year, then got 99% overall on my GED with less than three hours of studying.

My relationships have been short-lived and usually ended in my partner not understanding why I am the way I am. I had no idea. I've had more jobs than I can count, and none have lasted more than a year. I still get made fun of for my 'off' gait and monotone voice, not to mention being a 'fake' and copying peoples' characteristics, style of dress and speech, interests, etc. I cannot maintain eye contact for more than a second or so. I have highly focused interests, repetitive taste in music, clothes, movies, food, cannot touch/smell/taste certain things, burst into tears over certain noises, and am more attached to my cat than to any human I know.

To this day, I have one friend (whom I live with) I see regularly and two or three people that I maintain a text-based communication with semi-frequently. I've had opportunities to start new relationships, but the thought of dating makes me cringe. I leave my house possibly twice a week at most, and my friend that I live with does all of my grocery shopping, most of my cooking, and has to remind me of daily essentials that I would otherwise forget. I've been unemployed for a year, recently got tested for epilepsy ("seizure" episodes) which turned out to be a manifestation of intolerable anxiety.

Over the past few months, I have had three people ask me if I have an ASD, or if I have ever heard of Asperger's. I literally cried for hours when I read the criteria and symptoms. I knew that I had the answer I've been looking for since the first time I wondered why I was different.

Yes, I am self-diagnosed. Should I be any less deserving of saying "I have Asperger's" simply because my symptoms have made it impossible to have the adequate resources to get an official diagnosis? I don't think so.

No argument here; I just have something to share that I find interesting in relation to this.

I have been diagnosed over the years (age 12-20) with depression, anxiety, bi-polar, dysthymia, BPD, and even questioned on DID. I have done therapy for all of these (a patient since the age of four,) but even with an intensive two year period of five hours of therapy a week, every week, nothing ever helped. BPD seemed plausible, but I discovered that my success in DBT was due to echolalia; I was simply copying the behaviors of the therapists and 'star' members of the groups. Once I was out of DBT, I started to slip back into the same dysfunction prior to therapy. I have not been in therapy for two and a half years now since I felt so frustrated that I wasn't getting what I needed, and I couldn't vocalize WHAT I needed because I had no idea. I just knew it wasn't working.

AS is the first disorder that fits 99% of the symptoms I've been cluster-diagnosed with over the years. I personally think that it was mis-diagnosis due to the gender stereotype of women and psychological disorders. So, I guess I feel like my biological gender's stereotype and the therapists that chose not to look past it caused me to get held back from the help I really needed.

I just found it ironic and pretty interesting, in light of what you said. I do agree though, if possible, it is best to get a qualified professional to make the official diagnosis.

i was diagnosed with ODD as well as AS, and the ODD component of my personality was the most problematic to other people, and so it was focused on with much interest.

i like to annoy people and i can not help it. i like to see people's faces configured in a way that i would never normally see, and i like to subtly annoy people if i find that they have a fault in their patience with me.

people can easily be pressed to their limits of integrity, and i sometimes consider people to be like toys that i can play with and test stuff on.

i have a major problem with people who try to assume authority over me based on whatever their notions they may harbor.


i think that you exhibit some characteristics that would lead me to believe that you may have "unresolved" ODD.


here is an example of some behavior i exhibited recently that i would think is rooted in my fundamental ODD.

a few weeks ago, i got a phone call from the gas company (agl), and i was told that i owed them "sixty seven dollars and NINE cents"

i started to laugh for some reason about the "nine cents" idea, and so i said to the caller "ok. i will pay electronically the bill which is 'sixty seven dollars and FIVE cents' right now".

the caller became worried and tried desperately to alert me that it was not $67.05, but $67.09 that i should pay, but i pressed "ok" to the transmission of $67.05, so i owe them 4 cents.

i really want them to send me a letter telling me that i owe them 4 cents.

i will roll on the floor with laughter when i get a "final demand" notice for a payment of 4 cents.

This. I completely agree. I saw many people thinking they had AS just after taking an high score on the aspie quiz. Not to offend the self-diagnosed persons here, but nothing is as accurate as a diagnosis made from a REAL, QUALIFIED and TRUSTWOTHY psychiatrist. If I should trust the e-diagnosis, I would show all symptoms of bipolarism and OCD, but I don't think I really have those disorders.

I once received a mobile phone bill for £0.05. It cost them far more in postage to mail me the bill than the amount due anyway.

So I sellotaped a 5p coin to the automated payment slip, wrapping the coin very tightly against the slip with several laps of tape. These slips go through automatic reading machines so mine likely jammed up the machine. The coin was taped so well to the slip it would have taken someone several minutes to peel it off or cut it out. It must have made difficulties for them in other ways too because the only accepted means of payment was a cheque (check) enclosed with the payment slip.

However, the following month the amount outstanding showed zero. So they'd obviously managed to sort it. No doubt with some muttering and cursing at their end. They probably just tossed the slip with coin into the rubbish bin but cleared my balance to zero anyway.

Well in my experiences these psychiatrists know less about the Autism spectrum than I do. When a so called expert tells me I can't have AS (even though I meet all the criteria) because being employed means I am not "significantly impaired" by it, I wonder how on earth Engineers I know have been diagnosed with it formally. For crying out loud, I work full time but if I were to lose my job I would be royally f&(#ed because of my severe issues but since I have a job now, I suddenly don't have it. Whatever

I literally have every major AS symptom and can't say that about any other disorder. Believe me, it took about 10 years before I finally did the formal research in that I was convinced beyond any reasonable doubt. Just because I can't get it formally written on a piece of paper doesn't change my issues one bit. Add to that I mentioned my suspicions to a counselor I know from work about having Aspergers and she chuckled and said that I was probably the last person to figure it out. Why waste hundreds of dollars I don't have when there is no benefit whatsoever?

To the OP. You seem to be a bit arrogant to me. You have the luxury of having the very existence of the words Asperger's Syndrome during your developmental years. It did NOT exist when many of us were young. I repeat, "ASPERGER'S" DID NOT EXIST! The diagnostic process is geared towards those who are young. Many doctors do not deal with adults. I refuse to lay out the reasoning for my belief in my autistic nature. I do not need to explain myself to you. I bet school was a lot easier for you since you were not being labeled simply as having behavioral problems. Being told simply to learn how to be like everyone else. Labeled as being difficult. I had no extra privileges. No choice of where to take tests. None of the advantages of those who are like me and who have been blessed enough to have been given an understanding of themselves. No extra help.

All of that being said. I have long been willing to get a formal diagnosis at the one place that said they would help. As soon as you send me the check for the initial $2,000 dollars so the process can get under way, I'll get right on that. The head of that department, the one who is an Asperger's specialist, the one who said I should be tested, would probably be happy.