Self-Victimizing by autism diagnosis

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Hi everybody,

I am curious how many people here on WP see or feel themself a victim of their diagnose?

Acting to your diagnose while symptoms previously not present, thoughts of 'suffering from' your diagnose or anything in this line.

Feel free to extrapolate your opinions.

Cheerfully,
Wallourdes

I have been dealing with psychological disorders and problems socializing for my whole life. Learning about AS has been very informative, but it does not redefine my view of myself.

Not really. I was crashing and burning long before my diagnosis, my diagnosis just explained why.

But for people who do have the problem, here's an article dealing with it:

http://www.donnawilliams.net/gettingalabel.0.html

"The doctor's theory that we have an allergy to alcohol interests us. As laymen, our opinion as to its soundness may, of course, mean little. But as ex-problem drinkers, we can say that his explanation makes good sense. It explains many things for which we cannot otherwise account."
("A.A.", the book)

To bring the above thoughts into this discussion, and in my own words:

Thoughts of AS/HFA/Aspergers greatly interest me. Being self-assessed, my own opinion as to its soundness may, of course, mean little in relation to myself ... yet it does make good sense. It explains many things for which I cannot otherwise account.

No. It just got me more help in life and having a explanation for my problems and being understood better by my family. It's also there for others to understand too.

I do not think so. As it turns out I have had symptoms all along and just didn't know they were symptoms until I bothered to look. If I'd never bothered to look at autistic blogs and thought "wow, this actually describes me," I may never have known.

I actually feel better than I have in a long time because now I know.

No, I don't feel like a victim of my diagnosis, for Asperger's/autism has been who I have always been. The diagnosis explained why I have always been this way. I was happy to learn this about myself. I needed to know why I had the traits I have.

I refuse to see myself as the weak, helpless victim.

I got dx'd compeltely out of the blue and never had any sort of disorder or label so it was like this baseball bat hitting me on the head. I had to go through the "grieving" process and part of that included feeling sorry for myself. I think I am largely over it now.

A victim of diagnosis? Lordy no.
It came as an immense confirmation and explanation of what I already was and why I behave the way I do.

I'm not officially diagnosed with an ASD, but I do have some diagnoses. I've never felt like a victim of any of them. They're simply part of what defines me.

Sure, I struggle. We all have something in life that we struggle with, even NTs.

I was suicidal and depressed before I got my diagnosis. I still hold a grudge against my dad for that failed opportunity to have gotten my diagnosis 4 years earlier than I did. Would've saved me from making so many wasteful and pointless choices in high school.

I think some of us may have missed Wallourdes' intended question:

In other words, and after we find out, how often might some of us "play the part" a little more than was evident before?

Not really because I am high functioning and can do things like shop, drive, live independently, ect. If my independence was compromised I might feel victimized.

when modern astronomy accepted the view that the earth revolved around the sun, instead of the other way around, nothing changed about earth or the people on it. The orbits of the celestial bodies however could be understood better in terms of mathematical orbits rather than guessing or believing in supernatural forces at play.

A label fix a name to a set of experiences, like an equation can fix an orbit to a set of points. Nothing has changed about the things themselves, only the way we talk about them.

Victimization is just another way of saying nothing is abnormal, we can all just pretend that what's happening isn't really happening. I think many people have been doing that their whole lives, and it didn't help them one bit.

I can't agree more with this. I never had an official diagnosis, I figured it out on my own by reading books and doing lots of research. Realizing I have AS now has made my life better because it gave me an identity. Before, I went through life accepting that I had difficulties, trying to strive for things I could never achieve. Now, that I am very well aware of the reason behind my difficulties and actually understanding the mechanics behind them, I still haven't been able to eliminate them, but to some degree I can kind of take control, kind of like taking control of a dream after being made aware that you are dreaming. The anxiety still exists, the social difficulties are still there, but at least I know why, and knowing has made me more confident.

The two psychologists I went to both agreed that I had AS, but they never gave me an official diagnosis. I know I have it, and I'm proud of it, and proud of the person I am.