Help?

Post Reply New Topic

Hey everybody. I was going to make a thread to introduce myself, but I wanted to get this over with first. I'm kind of on limited time because I don't have access to a computer/internet. That is, unless I'm visiting with my dad...which I currently am. I've been an on and off lurker here for about 4 months (I know, shaaaaame x3), though I didn't sign up until late April. Bear with me if you can, because I tend to blabber.

Initially, I just came here for information on AS after I sort of stumbled on the Wikipedia page for a band called 'The Vines'. I'm a bit of a Wikipedia fiend, and usually when I find something I don't know about on any given page, I just have to see what it is. After I read the very LONG definition they have for Asperger's Syndrome, I was kind of shocked at how much of it seemed familiar. I tried just leaving it at that, but after a week or so I was right back on the computer in the school library, absorbing all the information that I could get at. I told my mum about it a couple of days after that, and she thought I was kidding so I printed out what had to have been 50 pages on AS for her to read. Thankfully, she's pretty open-minded so it didn't take much convincing after that. I've taken all the tests that I can find, and they all (more or less) say, 'you're an Aspie'. I haven't told my dad yet because I don't think he'll believe me unless I bring him an actual diagnosis, and that's what I need help with.

Does anyone know how I can go about doing this in Canada? I don't really know where to begin looking, or even what I should be looking for. For most of the year I live in Fort Coulonge (on the Ontario/Quebec, near Ottawa) border, and I'm in Toronto every summer and new years, so I'd like to find someone (a specialist?) in either of the two provinces. My mum wants to take me to the family doctor (who is in Toronto) and ask her to point us in the right direction, but I'm not sure how far we're going to get with that. Would it be a waste of time? I did find Ontario's AS Society (aspergers.ca), but their programs and services section is “under development”. >_>

I know that I don't really need to be diagnosed, but I feel like it's something I have to do to prove to myself (as well as the rest of my family) that I'm not crazy. A lot of the time I think that I'm just trying to make up an excuse for the way I am/act, and I believe that this is the only way I (personally) will be able to fully accept it. I've always felt a little 'off', but I never considered that there might be a reason for it. :3

Thanks for letting me take up five minutes of your time, and I'd greatly appreciate any kind of help you guys can give me.

Oh, and I'm Michelle by the way. -waves-

Welcome to WP!

Tim

I'm not diagnosed, either. And my story is very similar to yours. I feel the same way as you do, about the reasons for wanting to know if you have it. I'm 48 tomorrow... been a long time dealing with this. I say go for it and try hard to find someone who not only knows about AS but has diagnosed and counseled AS people, too. Good luck to you honey!

isn't any neurodiversity considered crazy in our world today? I'll just speak honestly and say that I would think a diagnosis would be more a label and proof of your craziness to your parents!

Thank you. ^-^



Yeah, my entire extended family is sort of based around the whole "It's not true until it's officially confirmed" (ie. in newspapers/articles, on TV (with exceptions, of course...), books, people with diplomas, etc.) thing. I think they kind of rubbed that off on me, unfortunately. x3 I might just start trying to get an actual date out of my mom, because she tends to put things off for as long as possible, and I know it's going to really bug me until I get one. I'm hoping for sometime near the end of this month....but thanks a LOT for the uh, luck. I'm definitely going to need it.



My mum's pretty supportive of me, even though she finds that I'm a difficult person to deal with. I think/hope my Dad will understand if I do get diagnosed, because I know for sure that if I told him today he wouldn't believe it at all. Like I said, a lot of my family has to see the "proof" before they consider anything to be true. And if any of them does end up thinking that I really am crazy, then I probably shouldn't be around them anyway, for that exact reason. In the end, I'm really just doing it for me.

Cynically (but practically), being diagnosed with this kind of thing can probably be useful in certain situations. For example, and I don't know if this is necessarily standard, but my University's disability office lists Asperger's as one of the issues it can provide support for (although this does actually strike me a little odd given that, as I understand it, typically Asperger's doesn't affect non-social development; I guess it must be arguable that having difficulties with interaction can affect your studies).

It affects organisational skills and other areas of executive functioning.