Self diagnosed aspergers

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Why did you self diagnose.. ....did you ever try to get a real diagnosis


I have tried to get a diagnosis but I was diagnosed with sensory processing disorder and social anxiety and empathy problems.......I will be getting a second opinion soon because these were the questions the therapist asked

" do you like science.... What about math?"
" if you saw a fat person you would probaly say somthing like ..."you're really fat that's not healthy' if you had aspergers ......would you say that?"

Me: no?.. Probaly not

"See aspies have no idea that other people have feelings "

-_-

Also I was only exsamined for 4 minutes...... And then told I have the things I listed above and sent me away

Well, I have no official diagnoses. So my honest feeling is I think I do have some odd personality quirk and Aspergers could be one of many possibilities.

My self diagnosis is just that something is askew in my head in some way.

I find that by itself is actually kind of helpful. I just carry around an idea that, for whatever reason, I have more difficulty with some aspects of life.

Anyone who tells you that people with AS "have no idea that other people have feelings" is probably not qualified to diagnose AS.

Some individuals with AS do not know to consider the feelings of others much, however most know that others have feelings, and do not act without regard for those feelings. It's my experience that much of the time when someone with AS hurts someone's feelings, it wasn't intentional, and was often due to a miscommunication or misunderstanding. The person may have not been able to perceive the emotional status of the other individual, for example, or the person with AS may have simply been telling the truth at the expense of the feelings of the other individual not because they were not aware that doing so would hurt their feelings, but because they were under the impression that honesty takes a higher priority than it actually did in that situation.

In my case, the light finally dawned in the wake of my best friend's daughter, who I claim as one of my nieces, being diagnosed with Autism. Not only did I have many of the same problems she did growing up, when I was in my early 20's I was no more ready to go out into the world than she is now. The more research I did on the subject, the more the past 50+ years began to make perfect sense.

There are quite a number of reasons why I have no plans to go for an official diagnosis:
* there are no medications that I need for it, nor are there any programs for someone my age.
* Dr Grandin's advise is to avoid diagnosis unless it is needed to obtain needed services
* I have little faith in "modern" medicine and getting an "expert" to agree with me will not make me any more certain that I am right -- having the same "expert" disagree with me will not make me any less certain either.
* I usually subscribe to the Duck principle: If it walks like a duck, sounds like a duck and looks like a duck, it is very likely a duck.

For me, the bottom line is this: The theory that I am an Aspie suggests a whole new set of tools to help me get through my day -- those tools are helping greatly.

I read about stims -- I've always loved rocking chairs and porch swings. I had forgotten how much I used to love spinning until I fell into the couch. Last time I found myself fighting meltdown, I tried deliberately rocking and spinning and the spinning especially did wonders for my nerves.

I have always loved to pile the blankets on the bed, but that gets way too warm during the hot weather. Reading about weighted blankets, I started sleeping with my body pillow on top of me, either draped across my shoulders or balanced on my back. The first time I tried it, I about melted into the bed. I am now in the process of pulling the needed materials together to make a weighted blanket.

I would probably never say to someone who is fat that they are fat. Why should I care?

I am not diagnosed at the moment, but the process is theoretically ongoing (no news for months, though). I don't like to term myself as "self-diagnosed", however. I prefer to think that I probably have Asperger's syndrome. I don't like it when things are unofficial or informal. I also fear I would not be the best personn to judge my behaviour in a truly impartial and detached manner, and for such things, I prefer some amount of external confirmation.

I am new here (no duh). I took this aspie quiz that was abput 80 intensive questions on a suspicion and got led here. I have been suspecting my toddler might have it, but my husband is normal. However, I am the odd duck out and always have been, even in my family who disowned me because I could not be what they wanted. I want to understand why I can't read my husband, why I am so anxious around people, why I find it awkward to say hello or shake hands, why I seem to get unsettled so easily, why I can gab through a first meeting and then am unable to a second and even find myself avoiding future meetings. The list goes on. I want answers so I can at least try to fix this and maybe help my son too.

A proffessional diagnosis is what I want, but money is tight.

Aspie-quiz. is the test I took

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

And things different people have written here at our site have helped me with a variety of social skills.

In my case I am making peace with the fact that I am what I am. Family tried to tell me a long time ago about AS but I was determined to 'power through it' as I bought into stereotypes that it was a low-functioning condition (yes, I thought RAIN MAN and my half brother). I always thought I just had to try harder or didn't have the right role models. It was only recently that all the social disappointments and job denials were no fault of my own I've come to find out, I never had the slightest inclination I was born without a social gene and there were others like me. Learning that made my situation more like looking the color of my skin on the outside and feeling a different one on the inside, in an inspiring way

I haven't "self-diagnosed" myself, but I do believe I may have a higher functioning ASD. Starting all the way from toddler hood until now, thinking about everything, Asperger's or some other ASD is all that fits every problem that I've had.

I haven't tried to get diagnosed because I have no health insurance and as I have never been able to work due to my issues, I have no way of getting it. I'm working on SSI right now, which is income for those who are disabled in the US and have never worked, and if I get it, I will be able to have medicaid which will hopefully pay for me to see a specialist and get a diagnosis. Until then, though, there's nothing I can do.

Same. Another reason I refuse to self-diagnose is because if just everyone can diagnose themselves, then there will be a much harder time to deal with charges of it being merely "pop psychology". Standards have to be adhered to.

As Temple Grandin said, you shouldn't seek a diagnosis unless you need to access services. This doesn't mean you can't use the concept to understand aspects of yourself and relate to others with similar problems. I don't see a need for the label to do that. In fact, it might even interfere artificially with the process. I need access to some services so I do need to seek diagnosis but I won't let it define me if that's what the result is. I look at it exclusively as a vehicle for services. I will never allow myself to be defined by Asperger's, in any scenario.

That being said I do use the term "aspie" as a looser term and I identify with that.

That's so wrong, it's infuriating...

Did you check this person's credentials?

I hope you find yourself an actual clinician who will take you through the actual diagnostic process. Best of luck to you.

I have to say that I agree with scubasteve, you should think long and hard about the "professional" who you saw.

Maybe you should do a background check on them, have they got a medical license or not. Also is their license for an area of medicine which is relevent to AS. For example the local dentist might be licensed to work on dental matters but he/she is unlikely to be licensed to deliver babies or diagnose AS.

[" do you like science.... What about math?"
" if you saw a fat person you would probaly say somthing like ..."you're really fat that's not healthy' if you had aspergers ......would you say that?"

Me: no?.. Probaly not

"See aspies have no idea that other people have feelings "
quote]

Those questions are nonsens.
I made a self diagnosis before getting a professional opinion (payed by myself). I had absolutely no problem with selfdiagnosis - it might help that I have a degree in biology and is really good at reading up on new topics. I just wanted the professional opinion because I was (am) in a really difficult situation in my life and I needed somebody to confirm that I am not totally bonkers. I did not get a real diagnosis, it was just a 2 hour interview with a psykologist specialising in Aspergers.

I don´t need a diagnosis. I will not be able to get any benefits from it, and I am still free to use all the (newfound) tools to cope, that i have learned about here on WP.

By the way, I have dyscalculia (selfdiagnosed) and I abselutely hate math.

Try to find somebody who know what they are talking about.

Helle

I probably wouldn't say anything at all if I saw a person, let alone something like that.

I have worked seasonally at H&R Block and another tax place. I found that I did pretty well at I suppose the more formalized communication involved in a tax interview.

The job typically only lasts about 5 weeks from late Dec. to early Feb. so maybe you could plan it so you don't make money past the point where it would endanger your (hopefully to come) SSI and medicaid.

They would charge about $100 to take the tax course starting late August or early Sept, which I did not like at all. Alternatively, you could ask what's involved in taking their test typically in Dec., so you might study on your own.

H&R Block is an unethical company----but the key is, I felt it was a less unethical company with me working there because I did try and inform my clients. So, all the standard dilemmas of freshman ethics class of whether it's okay to do something a little wrong to prevent someone else from doing something really wrong, in this case, I felt it was okay. This is the issue: Through their bank and loan products, H&R Block will potentially take a customers entire refund for purposes of third-party bank collection (!). Yes really, and I think it's incredibly serious and both the IRS Taxpayer Advocate and the Attorney General for California has written about this, even though it only happens to maybe 1 out of 100 clients. So, I would underline this part of the loan application in blue ink pen. And I would generally not overpreach this part to co-workers.

Also a lot of angry customers would storm the store because they had not received their loan. I learned to view the screen during the interview which asks for their driver's license number as a friend, since it really helped to remind the client this is a loan application (and simply taking money out of refund to pay for the tax prep is a bank product, which is also subject to the same risk above). And when a customer did come in angry, I learned how to look up the screen at my desk computer which would most commonly show that their return has been "accepted" at the IRS (initial step) but that the loan from the bank was not approved.

And wading through all these issues and steps gave me a lot of confidence.

And for those 5 weeks (and sometimes starting to hire late Nov., early Dec.), these tax companies are looking for employees.

In fairness I should tell you that in working at Block and the other place for 4 years, one year I was fired. In my judgment because I was proactively calling clients who hadn't been approved for loans instead of waiting them to get angry and storm the store, and to me, this was a good business decision. This awful "managerial" type (cough, cough) used another reason, but in my judgment, this was the real reason. Which means, 3 out of 4 years I wasn't fired, and I'll take those odds, and heck, it's only a temp job anyway.

Last edited by AardvarkGoodSwimmer on 12 May 2012, 5:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The amazing thing is that the person probably did have credentials! I'd say about 30% of mental health professionals are just plain lousy. A lot are in the sloppy middle who might sometimes be able to help and sometimes not. And maybe 25% (smaller percentage than the lousy ones) are actually good. But even the good ones should respect you as a human being and your choices as a human being.