Getting a diagnosis...

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Hey,

I live in the UK, and everyone has told me the only way to get diagnosed for a ASD is through a referral via a doctor. For about a year now, I suspected I may have some form of autism, and others have too, but for the past six months I had been in denial, telling myself nothing is wrong with me. Then came along university, and then guess what? I can't socialize, not matter how hard I try. I can't keep up with conversations, I have no clue what NT's talk about nor do I understand them. I'm usually very passive in social situations, very very quiet. And now I'm noticing more and more aspie traits in myself; obsessions with quirky intellectual subjects, rocking back and forth in my chair, strange mood swings, narrow interests, hand-flapping, attached to certain objects (or a fictional character, or a real person), remembering odd strings of information... And I am also deeply introverted and eccentric. I was bullied at school, people telling me 24/7 how strange I was and that I was a psychopath. Yeah, you all get the picture...

Anyway, the ironic thing is, I'm too anxious to go out and do it. Not because I'm afraid of the diagnoses, but because in order to do it I have to go out there and intergrate myself with society on my own, since I'm at university now. In the past, somebody close would hold my hand, but now I'm on my own. I have way too much anxiety to go in and register, then phone up and make an appointment and then confront a doctor who probably never heard of AS and might invalidate me. Then I'll have to find my own way to see the specialist... This is all very overwhleming for me, and I'm terrified.

~Chris

The National autistic society are really helpfull,they can even get someone who will go with you to the doctor's.

I had to edit,i deleted Wirral because i had an after thought that not everyone is from The Wirral like me.Then i forgot to put National in it's place .
So for me it was the Wirral autistic society.

hi- dont worry. as above, id agreee the NAS are very helpful.

they can also send you a form which has a list of symptoms- it might be on their webiste. i ticked nearly all, and was able to show it to my gp who had indeed never heard of 'ziss assberkers diseaze'.
they then refer you to a shrink who will assess you, then they may send you on for testing by a specialist.
there is a test online at
http://msnbc.com/modules/newsweek/autis ... efault.asp

the exact same test is sent out by some shrinks to get an idea of your aspiness.

beware though- some of the questions are weird- eg- go to a party or museum. aspies are 'supposed' to answer more towards museum (things not people), but i find museums more annoying as they are SUPPOSED to be quiet but there are always people TALKING and TAKING PHONE CALLS etc and being annoying, where as at least one expectzs parties to be loud, and if the music is good, you can get lost in it. so i find teh level of annoyance at other people far higher in museums.
being pedantic is also rather aspie, i hear.

I scored 41. Ouch. I took that test before though, and I scored between 32-38. I got confused by some of the questions though, particularly the "pretending" ones, since acting is "pretending" and I like acting. But I realise now that the only things I was good at "pretending" at were things I were obsessed about. I also got confused by the "imagination" question. I have a vivid imagination, but I do find it hard to picture mundane things, like for example a cat. Unless I recently just seen a cat, all that comes up in my head is a 2D black cat

EDIT: I just took the test again and scored 41... again.

44

Life just keeps on getting better and better

I scored a 45 on that test. I have not been diagnosed, and even my parents don't know I suspect Asperger's (They wouldn't understand). But I am fairly sure I could have Asperger's, becuase I do things that I believe are considered stims, and I fit many of the descriptions given on Asperger's. Plus all of the tests/quizzes I've looked at online suggest I might be an Aspie.