Soon to possibly be diagnosed with autism.

Post Reply New Topic

Hello, I am currently undergoing a full psychological analysis. I do exhibit autistic traits, but I fail to fully convince myself that I should suspect autism, or Asperger's - in my case. The therapist has hinted at it. Aside from having the lack of social skills, the main reason my education has been ill-stricken is due to sensitivity to noises. I was unaware of some of the symptoms of Asperger's. I came to realize that I do, indeed, spin in circles on occasion and partake in other forms of "self-stimulation." What prevents me in quickly assuming that I'm autistic is the concern that my behavior may have been caused by another source besides autism. One symptom that has me in a pensive state is my poor eye-contact. Such a thing can be caused by a variety of reasons, yet it plays a large part in detecting autism. I am disconcerted mainly because getting a diagnosis could not only be wrong, but I could potentially ignore what my bizarre behavior COULD be caused by. Questions : 1.) If I get diagnosed with autism, would it be likely I was misdiagnosed (am I just being mistrusting?) ? 2.) I seem to do the same things every day, but can that just be a neuro-typical trait as well?

A misdiagnosis of autism is possible, but you'll be evaluated with various parameters designed to identify if autism is a trait of yours or not.

As for your concerns about eye contact, etc., those can be explained away individually, but what happens when you combine them? You've listed a few autistic traits, not just one that can be explained away. So yeah, lack of eye contact could be due to low self esteem, but than what about your sensitivity to noises, for instance? I'd recommend you make a list of characteristics that seem to coincide with autism. If there's enough of them, I'd suggest you don't try to explain each one away individuals but instead take the list as combined evidence that would suggest the possibility of autism.

Hope that helps.

I think, unless one is diagnosed as a young child, it's very common to question the diagnosis.

In my case, I do have a diagnosis which I received about 3 months ago, and still find myself looking at traits commonly associated with being on the spectrum that I don't visibly have (eg. I don't feel like I have a strong need to stick to a schedule), and wondering whether it's a misdiagnosis.

I think, though, that it's far more common to feel uncertainty about the diagnosis than for the diagnosis to actually be wrong. Just go through the diagnosis and do your best to accept the result, whatever it may be.

Remember that, no matter what the result is, it doesn't change who you are. You are still the same person as you have been your whole life up to now.