Page 1 of 1 [ 11 posts ] 

crazybunnylady
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 26 Mar 2016
Gender: Female
Posts: 159
Location: United Kingdom

04 Jun 2016, 5:56 pm

So I have a developmental disorders assessment on June 15th. Tonight I met with my mum and we went through the questionnaire that was sent to me (I'm booked in with Prof. Digby Tantam at Dilemma Consultancy in London).

The questionnaire seemed like it was geared towards classic autism. We went through it and we could only identify with a couple of the questions. Well only one properly and that was toe walking. I did it all the time as a kid and still do. The other one was a fascination with watching things spin and I can relate to that a lot but my mum never saw me do it.

We then went through Tania Marshall's Aspien Woman book and through the common traits list at the back and I identified with most of them. My mum was oblivious to a lot of it but when I explained things to her it made sense to her.

Now I'm very confused and a bit worried about the assessment. It seems that I've got a lot more 'Aspie' as I've got older and most people seem to say that it's more obvious when you're a child then tends to ease off or you hide it better.

In some ways I was 'worse' because instead of just wanting to push people who got too close to me I actually did, now I know it's not ok. And I used to have a massive vegetable phobia up until the age of 18, now I'm a vegan and eat a lot of raw food. But otherwise I'm a lot more affected by sensory stuff and drained by other people these days and have a lot more meltdowns. There was a lot of stuff in my childhood that I kept inside.

I just hope it doesn't affect the diagnosis too much, receiving the completed questionnaire with like 2 positive answers out of about 50. My mum may be on the spectrum herself or at least is very introverted so I think a lot of stuff just seemed normal to her.


_________________
Your neurodiverse (Aspie) score: 134 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 79 of 200
You are very likely neurodiverse (Aspie)

Diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome 15/06/2016


AspieUtah
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 20 Jun 2014
Age: 62
Gender: Male
Posts: 6,118
Location: Brigham City, Utah

04 Jun 2016, 6:03 pm

Chances are more likely that the survey that you completed was intended to rule out classic autism. This would allow your diagnosticians to focus on the Asperger end of the spectrum in face-to-face discussion. At least, that is my theory. :) Good luck on your assessment!


_________________
Diagnosed in 2015 with ASD Level 1 by the University of Utah Health Care Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinic using the ADOS-2 Module 4 assessment instrument [11/30] -- Screened in 2014 with ASD by using the University of Cambridge Autism Research Centre AQ (Adult) [43/50]; EQ-60 for adults [11/80]; FQ [43/135]; SQ (Adult) [130/150] self-reported screening inventories -- Assessed since 1978 with an estimated IQ [≈145] by several clinicians -- Contact on WrongPlanet.net by private message (PM)


skibum
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 18 Jul 2013
Age: 58
Gender: Female
Posts: 8,430
Location: my own little world

04 Jun 2016, 6:33 pm

Best wishes to you on your assessment and keep us posted on how it all goes.

I definitely got "more Autistic" as I got older, no doubt. I am "more Autistic" now than I have ever been. But in reality, you are not actually more Autistic. As Autistic as you are when you are "most Autistic" is how Autistic you have always been. So some of us actually don't even know the extent of how we are affected by our traits and symptoms. The reason you seemed more mild before is that the stresses and triggers that show your traits were not as acute when you were younger. As we age, our stresses and responsibilities change and often times they get more difficult for us to deal with. When that happens, our Autistic traits and symptoms show a lot more strongly and a lot more frequently. So it gives us the impression that we are becoming more Autistic.

Autism, at least on the Asperger's or high functioning end of the spectrum, fits in the social disability model meaning that our traits and symptoms show up as a response to social and environmental factors. For example, it the day is completely quiet, no one will know that I have massive sound sensitivity that makes me have huge meltdowns. As soon as someone drives by blasting a stereo, all of a sudden I become "Autistic". It's not that I wasn't Autistic before that person drove by, it's just that my situation and stress factors were such that my symptoms did not show. So if when you were a child, the stresses you faced were mild enough that your symptoms did not come out as much, and if now your stresses are much stronger and much more frequent, you will think you are much more Autistic than you were as a child. But in reality, you are as Autistic as you were then, but you were just in a much better situation that worked better for you back then.


_________________
"I'm bad and that's good. I'll never be good and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me."

Wreck It Ralph


ZombieBrideXD
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Jan 2013
Age: 27
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,507
Location: Canada

04 Jun 2016, 10:36 pm

God the word aspie makes me cringe..

But technically you can SEEM more autistic as you get older but it's not because the symptoms worsen, it's because social demand increases with age and some autistics can't keep up with the expectations.

This is why my autism remained so hidden for 10 years. A 5 year old typically cried often, hates loud sounds, doesn't keep themselves clean, plays with toys and doesn't make great eye contact but a 12 year old that acts like this is a little different and a 16 year old that acts like this is even more strange.


_________________
Obsessing over Sonic the Hedgehog since 2009
Diagnosed with Aspergers' syndrome in 2012.
Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder Level 1 severity without intellectual disability and without language impairment in 2015.

DA: http://mephilesdark123.deviantart.com


ArielsSong
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 4 Mar 2016
Age: 37
Gender: Female
Posts: 673
Location: Lancashire, UK

05 Jun 2016, 3:54 am

I think it will change throughout your life.

My childhood was a disaster. An absolute mess. I didn't know why at the time, but looking back that was clearly a time when my autism was a huge factor at play. As I wasn't diagnosed I did have to learn to get by, and force myself to keep trying with things that I found hard, and I got through a decade where I was still struggling a lot, but not as much. I could hold conversations. I still couldn't build many friendships but I had a few friends and I got through university and an early career.

After a decade, that all started crumbling again. I'd spent 10 years fighting really hard to fit in, and it took its toll and I started struggling again. So I changed things in my life, made things easier. I still didn't know about autism, but I was essentially making accommodations for myself and my situation improved. And I continued on like that for another few years, with limited stress and my autistic traits not featuring all that much because I was avoiding situations where they'd have an impact.

Then, in the past year or two, they've definitely had a bigger impact again. New situations in life that I just haven't coped with. And I finally worked it out as autism and I'm going through the diagnosis process.

Fact is, I have definitely gone through up and down stages throughout my life, but it depends on my situation and wider environment. And what I've thought of as up stages are actually just more internalised fights.



leozelig
Toucan
Toucan

User avatar

Joined: 30 Oct 2010
Age: 42
Gender: Female
Posts: 283

05 Jun 2016, 5:59 am

My ASD got a lot worse as I got older because it became a lot harder to hide the fact that I was different from other people. It was just too much work to try being like them. I still try to be more like other people but I find it draining. I try to use it to my advantage when I need something but to those who are close to me, they know I have to go through a lot of stuff every day.



skibum
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 18 Jul 2013
Age: 58
Gender: Female
Posts: 8,430
Location: my own little world

05 Jun 2016, 7:49 am

ZombieBrideXD wrote:
God the word aspie makes me cringe..
Why?


_________________
"I'm bad and that's good. I'll never be good and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me."

Wreck It Ralph


randomeu
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 30 May 2016
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Posts: 628
Location: In the wonderful world of i dont know

05 Jun 2016, 9:05 am

my theory is that it depends on personality and who you are, for example i think my aspergersness (thats not a word) has gotten more obvious as im older, even so that my parents were LOOKING for autism when i was little and didn't really find it because my half brother has it. to be honest i think they were looking for classic autism not aspergers because when i explain different things to her, the classic "oh that makes more sense" began to occur. i think it also gets more obvious because when i was in primary school i had a rather large group of friends (about 6) so i was able to mask it rather easily as a kid (because id just follow them around and they would lead the conversations) so my parents never picked up on it really. so yeah i think it can be more obvious when your older but it can also be less depending on who you are.


good luck with your assessment though!


_________________
AQ score: 45

Your neurodiverse (Aspie) score: 174 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 30 of 200
You are very likely neurodiverse (Aspie)


Officially diagnosed 30th june 2017


crazybunnylady
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 26 Mar 2016
Gender: Female
Posts: 159
Location: United Kingdom

05 Jun 2016, 10:02 am

Thanks everyone your replies have put me at ease. I'll let you know how it goes :)


_________________
Your neurodiverse (Aspie) score: 134 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 79 of 200
You are very likely neurodiverse (Aspie)

Diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome 15/06/2016


skibum
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 18 Jul 2013
Age: 58
Gender: Female
Posts: 8,430
Location: my own little world

05 Jun 2016, 10:28 am

I look forward to hearing from you.


_________________
"I'm bad and that's good. I'll never be good and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me."

Wreck It Ralph


ocdgirl123
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 10 Oct 2010
Age: 29
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,809
Location: Canada

05 Jun 2016, 2:34 pm

Hmmmm.....I'd say that I have gotten less autistic as I have gotten older. But I HAVE before more area of being a "social failure" so I have before more social phobic, but not more autistic.


_________________
-Allie

Canadian, young adult, student demisexual-heteroromantic, cisgender female, autistic