Considering getting a diagnosis, wanting advice

Post Reply New Topic

Hello All,

I wanted to ask your advice on whether I should get a diagnosis for
Asperger's or not. Currently, I am self-diagnosed and know very well
about how it affects me and self-advocate frequently with professors
and get to know them well. I don't usually tell them about Asperger's
unless it comes up naturally in conversation - i.e. my English
professor found about it when I responded to the question, "Are humans
creatures of habit?". <grin>

The reasons why I am considering a diagnosis are:
1) To me at least, my symptoms are becoming lamore obvious:

*Being unsure of how literally/seriously to take the
assignment's/professor's instructions or syllabus descriptions. I
usually err on the side of too seriously, and therefore get good
grades (4.0 last semester) but also have higher stress level.
*Slight stimming in classes - rocking slowly back and forth and
rubbing hands up/down knees/thighs. I can stop this when I want to,
but it's hard to remember all the time. From what I've experienced,
most people don't even notice it - students or professors.
*Difficulty in writing - prefer to type things in class, but
occasionaly have to resort to writing by hand. My handwriting is
legible, but I cannot process my thoughts as quickly and it takes me
longer to write them out and I make more mistakes.
*Organizational difficulties - sometimes it's hard for me to keep my
activities straight and remembering all my homework deadlines. I
currently do not have a good system down for organizing all of that -
I used to have Palm Desktop set up on the computer w/ my schedule and
due dates, but I found that I had to lug my computer back and forth
and it's about 10 pounds too much for me to do so comfortably. I have
also tried paper-based systems, but found it was too hard to remember
to use them regularily - or at least hard to develop a routine for
doing so. Currently, I just keep track of everything in my head,
which works about 80% of the time, w/ 20% being muddled due to stress.

2) While my professors are currently the best I could have hoped for,
at the end of my degree, I will probably be switching campuses (within
the same town) and I may encounter professors who are not as
accomodating without a written letter from Disability Services stating
the accomodations they need to offer me - i.e. very detailed
instructions on assignments, telling me whether I am taking it too
seriously/not seriously enough, being allowed to type in classes,
allowances for stimming, etc. The letter is also standard procedure at
the University of Montana, including all of its colleges (for
Canadians, international members) - i.e. the professor does not
have to accomodate you until you have the letter.
3) It would be nice to have a letter all ready to go so that I don't
have to re-develop an explanation every single time - I can have some
basic information on Aspergers and how it relates to me and affects
me, and then they can ask me questions based off of that.

My mother is concerned though about potential negative reactions to
getting a formal diagnosis however - i.e. discrimination in future
employment, educational/occupational opportunities, etc. She also
points out that I have made it through a full year of classes and
nobody (except some fellow students) knew about it and I coped just
fine....

So I guess what my questions and requests for advice would be to the list are:
1) Based on what I've written above, do you think I should pursue a
formal diagnosis?
2) How many of you have received a formal diagnosis during your
college experience?
3) Has your formal diagnosis (or lack of one) caused you to receive
positive or negative reactions from peers and/or professors and
administrative staff?

Please let me know and provide as much detail as possible.

Thank you in advance for your responses.

Sincerely yours,

mentalman

I'm pretty much doing what you are doing now.... I just "deal with it." I view all class lectures over the internet so I can pause the lecture to write notes (or go to the bathroom!). My organizational skills are lacking, however.

A diagnosis would not really help me. In fact, I'd rather not being given special considerations that would make me feel singled out. I've tried my hardest to "be normal" and I don't need my weirdness pointed out.

Almost no one knows about my AS. I recommend NOT getting a formal diagnosis, but I can only speak from my personal experience, so my recommendation may or may not be relevent to your situation. (I'm very existential, you see.)

-Keith

There is nothing that should stop you from getting a diagnosis. A diagnosis of autism is subject to the same confidentiality laws as medical records. People cannot just access it, they need your written consent. Certain jobs may require disclosure, such as defense force jobs, but an employer can't gain access to the information wily-nily.

You should get an formal diagnosis and transfer it to your college and go through the process. I did and I recieve accomdations, such as seperate location for tests, extended time for tests, word processing for tests, and notetaking. It helps me out a lot and I have been earning an 3.5 average.

The What?

Hello All,

Thank you for your responses - it's been helpful getting your opinions and advice. I am still mulling over the decision...and probably will for a while as there are a few other decisions that need to be resolved first to see if they will affect this decision - i.e. whether to drop my orchestra class next fall because of the level of time commitment and stress it puts on me.

In response to Ghosthunter's question about how the English professor reacted when he found about my Asperger's, he and the rest of the class (about 10 students at the time) were very curious and full of questions, because none of them had heard of autism or Asperger's Syndrome before, which surprised me! They all of course had seen Rainman and I was able to use that as a connecting point in explaining how it affected me.

It was also interesting because after that class, one of my fellow students in that class (who was a mother) asked me whether I thought her son had Aspergers because she recognized some of my symptons in her son. So I asked her a bunch of questions about her son's symptoms based on my own experiences and what I've learned through reading and through Wrongplanet.net and we agreed that he had some very classic symptoms of it. So that was fun!!

Well, gotta go to a picnic, so I'll sign off now!!

Feel free to send a private message to me if you don't feel comfortable having your response be publicly available on this forum!! If you also have any more thoughts, post them here or via private message!!

Sincerely yours,

mentalman

I wish you luck in what decision you
need to make. My basic philosophy
is follow your heart and everything
else will fall into place.

Sincerely,
Ghosthunter