Diagnosis in adults

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Hi all,

My son was recently diagnosed as being on the spectrum so we have been doing a lot of reading and having a lot of meetings etc which have been very helpful in understanding and dealing with him in the best way. He is amazing and I'm glad that we have had this help so we can try and make sure that he will always be happy.

In doing this and during our research a lot of the 'symptoms' rang very true for myself. A lot of the time it feels like I am reading about myself and it does explain a lot of why I am like what I am.

To name a few;

- I am obsessive, I get obsessed in subjects and speak about them.. probably too much..
- I find it difficult to see things from other people's points of view, I have to put a lot effort into empathizing with people. People often think that I am selfish/cold when I feel I am not.
- I have difficulty expressing my emotions and understanding the emotions of others
- I suffer from anxiety

I could write pages but you get the idea..

I have started the ball rolling but I am worried that it is pointless to get diagnosed this late in life. I am in my thirties now and although some of it has been a struggle I am relatively successful and have a good life now.

It would have certainly been very beneficial to know when I was younger maybe I wouldn't of had such a bad time growing up.

Has anyone else been diagnosed as an adult? did you have a positive or negative experience with it?

Hi Soul_Doubt! Welcome to WP!
Your experience is actually quite common (your child being diagnosed with an ASD and you seeing the traits in yourself). If your kiddo meets the criteria and you have similar symptoms, it's rather possible (particularly with your issues with emotional expression and seeing things from other peoples' point of view).
In terms of being diagnosed as an adult: I am 29 and was diagnosed a few months ago. I honestly thought it would be this magical, transformative experience that would drastically alter the way I viewed the world and, subsequently, lived my life... That's not what happened.
What did happen, though, is I was able to reframe a lot of things in my younger life that I saw as detrimental (e.g. not having a lot of friends until high school, constant obsessions, etc.) and having an explanation that normalized those things (I am not alone with these concerns, there is a whole community that is formed because of these similar experiences).
If you think a diagnosis might help you to sort out your life and help you find success, I say go for it! If you are happy as you are, maybe leave well enough alone.

Hi,

Thanks for responding,

I think this is kind of what I am hoping for - and a way to possibly cope with some things I do that affect my day to day life but I know there is not an all encompassing fix.

I'll fill out the forms I was given (been sitting on them for a few weeks now) and see how it goes : )

I was diagnosed recently in my sixties. It still feels strange but also explains so much. I never need to wonder now why I have trouble with friendships or why people have thought I was odd. My outbursts are classic meltdowns and the insight into this is really helpful. Although I have not come to terms with it, I now think more about the effect what I say and do has on others and I am very glad I have been diagnosed. I am more or less retired after a good career but a diagnosis earlier would have been useful as I often was criticised for not letting things go because of my strong sense of justice. Hope all goes well for you.

Welcome Soul Doubt,
There is a strong genetic component to ASC's as I'm sure you know by now.

The benefits of a late diagnosis are not large, there may also be some negatives, to do with legal issues, health insurance, emigration etc.

I suggest you do some research and weigh up the pro's and con's before you make a decision. Both on here and the web in general.

A self diagnosed confirmation will still allow you to learn about the condition with your son.

A formal diagnosis will remove any doubt as long as it is conducted by a professional with appropriate experience in ASC's.

Good luck.

Last edited by neilson_wheels on 02 Jul 2013, 4:19 am, edited 1 time in total.

Panddora
I also have a problem with not letting things go. I have been making a big effort recently to keep these thoughts inside rather than verbalizing it but it has been a problem for most of my life.

neilson_wheels
I had no idea about the emigration and legal issues. I'm pretty 100% about my self diagnosis to be honest - I wouldn't want to cause myself any hassle further down the line. I will definitely think about it.

I also have a son with autism, He is 7 years old, and is absolutely wonderful, such a joy to be with. As a result of his diagnosis, I ended up being diagnosed with Aspergers myself.

In a way I'm glad I got diagnosed, because apart from making sense of my life, it brings me closer to my son. Of course you don't need an official diagnosis to learn about Autism with your son, but it does take away the doubt. I never really felt comfortable saying to people that I thought I had ASD, especially when they would ask me why I thought that. Now I just say I'm on the spectrum and don't feel uncomfortable wondering if I'm just deluding myself - because its been confirmed.

Now that I have been diagnosed and have studied my condition more, I can see why I struggle with certain things, and can make accommodations for it. My attitude now is to not worry about things I can't change, and concentrate on the things I can do well.

Of course we are all different, and getting a diagnosis might not be for you, I can only tell you that for me it was the right thing to do.

Neilson-wheels, what legal problems do you mean? I can't see health insurance being a problem for most people in this country as we have the NHS.

Hello GGM, Sorry, I meant life insurance.
I have read that emigration is limited to some countries, I can't remember which ones off the top of my head.
My other personal concern is a forced disclosure due to work requirements, I do realise that's unlikely for most.

Maybe I'm just paranoid...

You could be right about immigration laws in some countries, never heard of it but I can see that it is a possibility.

I'm dubious about ASD affecting life insurance though, its not a life threatening or shortening condition. I have life insurance and I have Asthma which is more life threatening than Aspergers.

Also I don't think its legal to force disclosure of medical conditions either, medical records are protected by patient confidentiality.

Discrimination laws mean that you can't legally be excluded from a job because of your condition anyway.

Of course I don't really worry about all of that stuff now, since I'm self employed as a part time art teacher.

In my case, that I spoke about earlier in a different thread. The medical exam certificate I needed was for working offshore, the questions on it do not require identification of actual conditions, they are along the lines of:

Does the subject have a history of 'blanket term' within the last 'X' years?

This allows confidentiality issues to be avoided and exclusion is down to 'safety' issues.

This would not affect many but could be an issue for some.

I googled it apparently and found a couple of stories about Canada and Australia but I would imagine these are probably severe cases and are unlikely to affect me.

Neilson - I take it you got your offshore medical in the end?

Graham - this is also what I think, I don't really feel comfortable saying to my parents for example that I think I am on the spectrum as it would just be dismissed as me even with the overwhelming amount of evidence.

I did, thanks.

I was misdiagnosed at the time, due to the problems that this incident caused me I have chosen not to pursue a formal diagnosis since.

Temple Grandin's advice, I was interested to see, is that unless it's going to deliver services, adults should eschew diagnosis.

Since there aren't many useful services for adult autistics we'll have to be satisfied with increased understanding.

New here from the USA but I thought I'd share my experience.
My son was diagnosed with Aspergers last year. After going through the research and finding many similarities between he and I, I decided to get a diagnosis as well. I am 37.

They told me that I most likely have Aspergers as well but did not want to label me with the diagnosis unless I had a specific reason why I wanted it. I said it might help in the workplace so I could tell people "I'm not an ass hole, I have aspergers" (basically). They said even though the actual testing is difficult in adults, they could do it and I most likely would receive that diagnosis, but they recommended against it. Their reasoning was that I would most likely not receive any benefits from it as there aren't adult help programs that I could not also get by just saying I wanted help in social settings, especially since I have made it this far in life already. However, carrying that label around may make others treat me differently in ways that I would not want.

For my son going through school, the diagnosis gets him the help he needs, but for me, not so much. I have told my close friends as well as some co workers and my boss who I consider my friend, but I asked him not to tell anyone.

So I'd have to agree. Unless you can pick out a specific benefit to you for carrying that label, I would settle for knowing that I have Aspergers, just like my son, and help guide him through life knowing that I went through the same thing.

Hmm you make a good point MrMeaty thank you for sharing that,

It does make me think about why would I want to carry a label that can potentially affect me negatively if there is no real need for it. Part of me wants to gain understanding and another part knows that the people I want to understand me will never truly understand anyway so it is a bit pointless.

I hope that identifying this now with help me with guiding and understanding my son but for me I may just live with the fact that I know I have aspergers.

I have my appointment tomorrow considering just cancelling it.

Best wishes whichever route you chose to follow.