Think I'm at the self diagnosis stage.

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So as I've said here before, a coworker said I reminded her of one of her friends who has Aspergers.
I asked a friend who's known me for 6 years and has worked as a behavioral therapist for autistic kids and she said she thought for years that I was on the spectrum.

Over the next 4 days I stayed up until 3 or 4 every night reading about Aspergers and seeing a LOT of myself in the descriptions.
I joined WrongPlanet after a week or so of reading the posts and being able to say "Wow, these people think the same way I think!"
I've taken every aspie quiz and autism test I could find online and I scored in the AS range on all of them. I don't take that as a definitive answer, but I do think it's a good indicator.
I decided to email my mom about this and she agrees that I have a lot of the symptoms and that if I think I have AS I should get tested. She's not totally convinced though. Here's a quote: "You do have several of these symptoms, but not all of them." I don't think she understands that you don't need to have all of the symptoms to have AS.
Several of my gradeschool teachers thought I had ADD. My mom didn't believe them.

I want to get an official Dx, but I don't have a GP right now. Mainly because doctors make me very uneasy.
You'd have to drag me to a doctor even for something simple.

For the self diagnosed here:
I don't like the idea of saying I have AS when I don't have a Dx. But I'm pretty much totally sure I'm an aspie.

How do you convince other people that this is a real thing and you're not being a hypochondriac?

Its difficult to convince others that have known you for awhile that you have AS, many are mis/uninformed about Asperger's/Autism. What I personally did is find books that I knew they'd be interested in to, for example, for my dad I let him read "Look me in the eyes" and it was able to convince him.

That's the issue I'm dealing with now. I told a couple people who've known me for a while. One friend who's known me since highschool flat out refused to believe that there's even a chance I have it. The other friend pretty much blew AS off as a fad diagnosis.

The only ones convinced I have it both have backgrounds in working with people with ASD. (The coworker that first brought it to my attention is going to school for psychology.) And they suspected it before I had heard of aspergers.

Hey Jetbuilder. For a while I wondered if I was on the spectrum. I took all the online tests and they all confirmed i was on the spectrum. However, just to make sure, I decided to get an evaluation from a professional. I was screened by Clinical Psychologist Cary Terra, LMFT in Seattle and she agreed I definitely have Asperger's Syndrome. That's a relief to me. My suspicions were right.

Now, as it turns out, I'm having the same problem as you. Two of my siblings wish me luck in making the best of things but two other siblings totally disagree with the diagnosis! They've known me all these years and suddenly - poof! - out of the blue I have Asperger's? Preposterous! I won't argue with them. I know I"m an aspie. To be honest, they don't know me as well as they think they do because I've lived apart from them for years. Also, aspies have such a talent for masking" their symptoms that they should all get Oscars for acting "normal" every day.

I don't go to parties. I don't socialize with anyone. I'm not in a relationship. I play Fallout 3 all day. I quit my job when they told us - out of the blue - our schedules would change, and we know what schedule changes does to people like us. I'm also focused on building my digital classical music collection. Thus far I have thousands of works by 420 composers - and growing. I spent the last year writing, recording & producing an album. I was so deeply focused that I didn't want to do anything else till I was finished.

I was self-diagnosed but now I'm sure. Folks I've known in the past - and some of own my family members - don't buy it. But I've read the stories of the people here on Wrong Planet, and you know what? I feel like I'm home.

Even with a Dx, some people will say they have known all along that you are on the spectrum, some will be surprised but believe you, and some will shrug it off, doubt it, or outright contradict it. You cannot convince everyone.

At my age (49) I am more than HAPPY to be labeled & diagnosed as having Asperger's. Hell, I'm even planning to buy a medical ID bracelet that says "AUTISM." Why? After a while you get TIRED of being inundated with the same probing questions: "How come you're not married?" "How come you're not a doctor? You're smart." "Are you getting a mortgage?" "Have any kids yet?" "How come you're so weird?" "Why do you refer to yourself in the third person?" "Stop shaking your legs!" "Have you met a nice girl yet?" etc, etc.

Hopefully with my bracelet I can just show it to people and they'll say. "Oh, I see. Well, okay."

People get diagnosed for a reason. They have real issues with the symptoms. People wear ID medical bracelets because they could be a danger to themselves or might be unable to tell people when they need help. Medical bracelets costs hundreds of dollars and you've got to be approved for them anyway. There are going to always be people who doubt you have Asperger's, medical bracelet or not. There are people that think AS is the new ADHD, who don't even believe ADHD is real.

The more the extremely mild types get diagnosed the more people will take this disorder less seriously. I cannot wait for the AS and autism merge. Not that it'll affect me, just those who don't fit the severity scale, that actually require different levels of support. And they wonder why the numbers of autism are rising...

Being sick of people asking you annoying questions or denying you have a disorder is not enough. To me it's hell but it's a permanent hell I have to learn to deal with.

It's an insult to me that you get diagnosed just to know, label yourselves with it so people can leave you alone.

If AS is causing you any problems in relationships, or work, or in any other way then ok get diagnosed. If it's not causing any such problems then you are just wasting your time. You probably will get diagnosed if you find a nice enough doctor but you don't need to be. Leave it for the people who will actually benefit from a diagnosis.

Your teachers probably thought you were hyperactive too and didn't understand what ADHD was really about. I have that too and it's just as bad as my autism symptoms, sometimes worse. I don't know one person with the disorder who doesn't take medication or doesn't struggle with it. Those that can't take medication for some reason really struggle with it. I don't get why so many label themselves Asperger's when ADHD has similar symptoms, even similar types of interests, intensity on those interests and even the high IQ.

I don't agree with the above post. I don't think we should enter a contest about who's more aspie or who's more impaired than who. It would benefit no one. There's not a limited number of diagnoses available, so if more mildly impaired people get a diagnosis they won't rob those who are more impaired of theirs.

People have a right to try to get a diagnosis, if they so desire. As long as the diagnosis is true, their motives for getting it don't matter. Somebody remains an aspie, no matter if they have an official Dx or not. If a Dx can relieve any amount of suffering for those who want a diagnosis, then let them have it. Any reduction of suffering is good. There's too much pain in the world.

I also don't agree with the idea that people will not take the disorder seriously, if more milder cases will get diagnosed. First of all, the truth is that AS is a spectrum and there are different levels of severity. And the truth should be known to the world, no matter if we like it or not, because it is the truth. I also believe that, if more and more cases of Asperger's will get diagnosed, the general level of awareness about autism will increase in society. If people will understand that their relative, friend or co-worker is an Aspie, they'll ultimately be able to understand all autistics and stop bullying and treating them badly out of ignorance or fear. In the end, everybody on the spectrum will benefit.

_________________
Probably 75% Aspie, 25% NT... and 100% ADHD

Aspie-quiz results:
Aspie score: 138 of 200 / NT score: 78 of 200 => Very likely an Aspie.

There comes a time in an aspie's life - after years and years and years of the same aggravating questions, innuendos and insinuations - where they go, "You know, enough is enough. I've lived a long tough life and now all I ask for is a little peace." And if my little medical AUTISM will bring that to me, so be it.

I agree; a diagnosis can be a godsend. If somebody doesn't want one, that's fine, but for those that do, it can mean the end of relentless questions from others, but more importantly, from yourself as well. Finding out I had Aspergers, even though for now it's only a self-diagnosis (hopefully soon to be official) gave me answers to the self-deprecating questions I had been asking myself since I was young; why doesn't anybody like me? Why can't I make friends? Why am I such a loser? All of that stopped when I finally got an explanation. I'm not crazy, or antisocial, or socially phobic. I'm an aspie. Labels are not inherently a bad thing.