At last, a doctor has listened to me!

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I am a 22-year-old female, and two years ago, I finally discovered what autism/Aspergers was (I had had misconceptions about it almost my entire life). As soon as that discovery was made, I immediately started to intensely research the subject and with that, began to identify with many characteristics of this "neurological umbrella". However, when I talked about it to people I was close to, nobody seemed to believe me. I was too "normal" for them. When I brought it up to healthcare professionals, I was gawked at. One psych-ward psychiatrist even went as far as to say, "I can spot an autistic from a mile away, and you're as autistic as my left pinky toe."

So I kept mostly to myself about it. I did even further research about the subject and began to write about it, yielding a list of 115 specific traits that I identified with in a 10-page document. I posted the beginnings of that document here on Wrong Planet. But, after I finished, I kept the document sitting in my Google Docs cloud for a very long time. I would occasionally bring up my thoughts to my partner, and there were times he was more convinced than others. But that was the closest I got to anyone believing me.

I got the courage to speak up to my new psychiatrist. I was still quite nervous because of the feedback I had received in the past but decided this was ultimately in my own best interest to keep trying. She didn't seem the least bit shocked when I whispered the word "autism". She told me she had a lot of experience with people on the spectrum, and continued by calmly asking me plenty of questions. She told me at one point, "Your answers are exactly what I thought they would be." At the end of the hour-and-a-half-long session, I nervously asked her if she believed me. "Yes," she said, smiling. I closed my eyes and let out a huge sigh.

After the evaluation, she put on her diagnostic impression "Provisional ASD". It's finally happened.

Last edited by elusivesquirrelgirl on 09 Mar 2019, 4:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Great to hear that a doctor is actually listening!

It is rare to find a doctor who listens. I'm glad you found one.

Congratulations

Congratulations, that's a big step. I'm glad someone finally believed you. Do you intend to find an evaluator who can finalize the provisional diagnosis, or is having this professional agreement with your suspicions sufficient?

BTDT: Thank you! It feels like a huge step forward!
Noca: I'm so glad, too. I felt as though the universe was smiling upon me.
ASPartOfMe: Hey, thank you! I appreciate the support.
StarTrekker: Thank you, I'm extremely glad myself. I intend to move forward with finding an evaluator. I've received many, many diagnoses before this one, and my family is skeptical of the validity. I already know my own experience, but I would like for them to understand, as well. By the way, love your username! I'm about to watch some Discovery with my Dad tonight, but my favorite series is Voyager. Seven of Nine is awesome!

Trekkie solidarity! I want to see Discovery but I'm not subscribed to the channel it's on. Maybe one day! Voyager is my favourite too, I love Seven because she's basically autistic

Yes!! ! I'm so excited! I've been in a room so many times where a presenter will be like, "Any Star Trek fans in here?" to make some kind of awesome point and my hand naturally shoots up, and when I look around for some reason nobody else's is, and I'M like 'WHERE ARE MY PEOPLE!? I know you're OUT THERE!!'
But yeah, I super lucked out because of my Dad (who might be neurodiverse, too) is a big Trekkie as well, has the channel for it. I would recommend Discovery if you have the chance at some point! It's mostly about warring interactions between Klingons and The Federation, and it has Spock's non-biological sister as the protagonist! But yes, you're really quite right about Seven! Plus I had a secret crush on her, too.

You'll find a lot of star trek fans on this site. My personal favorite series is DS9, and my favorite character is Dr. Julian Bashir.

Congrats on getting someone to believe you.

I actually related to Dr. Bashir's genetically modified friends.... So smart yet they were crazy as heck...