Diagnosis: your opinion on this....

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My mother (who works as a teacher in special education) and I chatted a while ago about life, and she became convinced I has AS. To be honest, I knew a lot about it, to the point of having one of my bets friends with it, and having a charcter with AS created, but I had never seen it in me.

When she mentioned it, I saw a few of the traits of AS in me, but not others (I have no idea if I look people in the eyes when I talk to them, I cna talk to someone if I am talking about something I am interested in or once had an interest in, say for example I talked to someone I don't really like about a movie I was obsessed with at one stage, but wouldn't really talk to him about something like The Inbetweeners or AKON because I have no interest in those things, I have a huge sense of justice, I am really, really, really obsessive, 2 of my friends have AS, I have a lakc of self confidence, I am easily stressed, hate changes of plan, hate when stuff is not definite, and sometimes take things literally, but I don't know if I'm ACTUALLY taking something literally, or if my brain just is because I have a lot of other traits of AS.


I for one would love to have AS. Maybe it brings me closer to the character I made, maybe it just feels right. It feels comfortable, like a perfect fit for my personality, and I am terrified of getting a diagnosis.

Why?

Because WHAT IF THE PSYCHOLOGIST SAYS NO?

"Just be yourself" my mother keeps telling me to be. What if I don't show any traits, what if I come across as someone without AS, who is just weird? I am terrified of having the psychologist says no. Sometimes I get annoyed if others cannot grasp concepts as easily as me, somtimes I get annoyed when someone gets a question wrong when the teacher has just given the answer.... I show a fair few of the traits, but on the other hand, I DO have empathy for a few people, like some of my family, and the person I'm obsessing over at the moment.... but I just don't want to be turned away, denied.

I NOTICE in class when someone states something wrong, but am I just too polite to point it out? I try to be polite.... a lot of the time.....

I feel with this whole AS thing, My Mom says she's sure I have it, 100%, and she's so convincing, I believe her, but the way I was before it was brought up was just a feeling like "I'm normal. I'm not really social, but I'm a normal person, without any conditions or disorders", and now someone says that I have AS, I'm like "whoooooah- great, but how come if I knew so much about it, I didn't apply it to myself?"

And I don't want to see a professional psychologist do get this over with, I just want to see a local one.

But does that work?

How do you get a diagnosis quickly, and does anyone think I have AS from what I said above?

Helllllppppp...... ...!

I can't tell from what you wrote (but I am not a diagnostician). Then again, it took me years from the moment I first thought I might have any ASD until the point I was convinced of it, and I still have doubts often, which is why I'll be talking to my therapist once I can see said therapist.

If you're not really sure what to think right now, the tests in this post might give you some feedback (or might leave you more confused): http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt113459.html

It can take a long time for people to convince themselves. Like I said, it took me years. Probably 10 years from the first time I thought it until the point I thought I really had it, and then another three years of denial after that before denial became impossible and I became invested in working it out. I don't recommend anyone else take this much time.

One thing about AS (or any autistic spectrum disorder) is that it's a pervasive condition, and it's easy to assume that the way you think or interact with the world is common to most people because there's no easy point of reference to differentiate. I couldn't really determine anything about myself until I started learning what other autistic people had to say, and in a few cases what they had to say about me.

From what you've wrote here it seems like you are on the autistic spectrum. Just remember that it's a spectrum, so it can be presented in a lot of different ways.
BTW, being able to talk to someone if it's about something you're interested in is typical of AS.

I understand your fears. I had the same fears before I got my diagnosis. Just relax and be yourself. I know it isn't easy (new situation, new people, etc), but try.
Also it might be more noticeable than you think. I thought I wouldn't be able to get a diagnosis based on the talk with me and would need to rely on the talk with my parents. Afterward, I was told that they (the people who evaluated me) could tell just from the talk with me that I was autistic.

I did the Aspie quiz today and scored 150 out of 200, and it said it was "very likely" I was an Aspie.

Hm, we now have an appointment that we might book.

Amazingly, when I was 8, my school sent a psychologist to assess me, (which I knew about but I had NEVER expected that it was to psychologically asess me, I thought it was to do with my intelligence at the time) and the guy said it was worth checking in whether or not I was o the autistic spectum, because the psychologist thought I was.

Wow. o.o