akwart wrote:
-I can be socially awkward at times, and I have a hard time making small talk. It is fairly easy for me to talk to a few select people, but with most people I hardly say anything at all. So I normally prefer to be by myself.
People with ASD often have problems with small talk.
-Sometimes I have panic attacks in social situations. Confrontational situations with bosses or coworkers, public speaking, job interviews, and going on dates are usually the worst. But sometimes even just regular conversations can cause panic attacks.
The ASD brain is known to have abnormalities in the frontal lobe which causes poor emotion regulation.
This is why confrontations can cause major problems.
In addition, a high percentage of people with ASD also have abnormalities with regards to how they process sensory information, often being not only hypersensitive, but also taking in more information than normal, which overloads the ASD brain with stress hormones. People with ASD also often suffer from abnormalities to the part of the brain that is used to regulate stress in a way that makes the person with ASD find it hard to cope with the levels of stress that they encounter in normal day life. In addition, people with ASD also have problems trying to hone in on one source of sensory information in a busy sensory environment where there are several sensory sources active at once.
-I have lots of awkward body language, lack of eye contact, and I blush very easily.
lack of eye contact can be present, as making eye contact overloads the ASD brain with lots of complex sensory information.
-When I’m stressed out I can be very fidgety, with leg shaking, nervous ticks, and teeth grinding.
ng, slurred speech, or mispronouncing words.
Such things can be regarded as "stimming" and ASD shutdowns. The grinding teeth is often attributed or a symptom of an anxiety disorder.
-I have a terrible attention span and I’m constantly daydreaming. Sometimes it’s so intense that I make lots of weird facial expressions while I’m daydreaming.
People with ASD often have poor attention span, as they are easily distracted by sensory information.
The strange facial expressions probably just one of your idiosyncratic traits.
-I sometimes have meltdowns over really stupid things, like not being able to find my remote, or my computer giving me problems.
This is common, due to rigid thinking, need to adhere to routine. etc.
-I get frustrated when I’m trying to learn a new skill, especially when the people who are teaching me start to lose their patience with me. This has given me a lot of problems when it comes to developing a successful career.
Problems with communication can make learning new skills hard.
-I spend a lot of time making long lists of all kinds of things.
Making lists, or the love for making lists can also be a trait.
-When I get depressed I sometimes drink too much, as opposed to keeping up with a lot of my responsibilities, such as cleaning my house or running errands.
Drinking as a method to self medicate in order to help with ones depression and anxiety is also very common.
-99% of the time I am extremely nice to people, probably to the point of being a "people pleaser" who has a difficult time with boundary issues. But in rare circumstances, if I'm bullied or pushed way too far, then I can potentially go completely ballistic on someone.
Yes. very common among people with ASD, but also generally anyone with any comorbid mental health disorders
May I also say that I also agree with Frord, in that none of the people on this forum are qualified health care specialists and certainly none that have the experience or specialist qualifications to evaluate or diagnose ASD.
In my experience the best person to seek out is someone who is a clinical psychologist who is experienced and qualified specifically in evaluating and diagnosing ASD.
From experience, the process isn't as simple as fulfilling a criteria by giving them a list.
My evaluation for example took considerable work and included interviews with me, my friends, my parents,
as well as evaluation of life history, conditions of birth, behaviour as a baby onwards.
Reviewing any evidence that confirms various traits.
So, I would recommend that you seek out a legitimate clinical psychologist who is specialist in this specific area, as most doctors and psychiatrists are clueless.
If you need to find a clinical psychologist who specialises in ASD in your country / area, i recommend that you contact the autism charity for your area / country.
Hope this helps.
10 Feb 2021, 5:02 am
